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Tuesday, January 31, 2006

St. Thomas' Sr. Youth "Culture Shock Night": Jan. 31/06

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The people of Choirland and Nurseryania exchanged visitors in order to learn about each other's societies. It was not always that easy to figure out what was going on or to fit in (or get cookies). Why was J. so sleepy? What was V.'s problem?

Rom. 14:13ff helped us out a bit -- but didn't prevent all "gaaa-ing".

Click on the thumbnails below for larger versions.

Our next Gr. 7 & up event will be Tues, Feb. 14 -- unless Richard gets a big date.

Our next event will be Feb. 14.


"Nuk, nuk, nuk!"

"I think they like odd numbers -- or was it even?"

"Gaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"Show a little respect there, V.!"

"That's better."

"Gollogoskins!!!!"

Why is his face so white?

"Hey bro, respect your youngers."

Culture shocked!!

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Tim's 36th Birthday Party

I didn't make it to Tim's Johnny Cash themed Birthday Party until 2230h, because I had to be at St. Thomas's Annual Meeting. I never did explain to them why I was dressed in black.

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Shelter House Team Jan. 2006

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Sylvia is standing in for Rauni who was sick that day.
Brendan (Dave's grandson) is standing in for Gord.

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Monday, January 23, 2006

Sally or Val?

Value Village groups all the hockey (& other sports) sweaters together (except for a few very small ones that are in the children's section).

Sally Ann (or Anne to be more elegant) puts green sports sweaters with the green shirts, red sweaters with the red, etc..

Which of these is a better plan in your opinion? I suppose I'm wondering which you predict would result in better sales (not necessarily of hockey sweaters). I know which I prefer personally, but I'd like to take this info and appeal to their marketing sensibilities --

--assuming this "poll" turns out in my favour. ;)

I did tell Sally once that they should move their display of better movies and books to the place where we see it when entering, rather than when leaving. The lady told me that it had been full that morning and now it was half empty/full. I supposed that according to my plan it might be empty by now, but couldn't prove it.

The next time I was there it had been moved according to my suggestion.

I have made a difference in this world!

Sunday, January 22, 2006

St. Thomas' Jr. Youth: Jan. 22/06

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"Hey, you're supposed to be skating!"

Fun for Parents






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Thursday, January 19, 2006

Star Trek Chair

Last night Robin and I picked up his Star Trek chair from Flipper Flannaganite, Jamie Gerow. I expect him to post a pic of him on it soon.

Then he drove his truck up and down my back alley, intending to prepare it for my use. But even with 4WD he had some trouble and so I continue to park on the street. Minus 20 last night, but no problems starting.

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

St. Thomas' Sr. Youth Group: Jan. 17/06

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Click for a larger version.


Were these St. Thomas' young people having an intense prayer meeting?

Well, no, sorry. This is a picture of "night time" in "Mafia".

But we did also have a good discussion (with Timbits) of the concept of "good people" and "bad people".

Our next meeting will be "Culture Shock" at 7:30 pm on Jan. 31.

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Stuck in My Back Alley With the Winter Blues Again

Last night was my first major getting stuck incident of this winter. I've had some minor (<5 minutes) times already.

I was at Tim's (he doesn't take Interac either) watching "The Deer Hunter" -- or most of it. I didn't realize how long it was and so c. midnight I figured I'd better get home and leave an hour or so for getting stuck in my alley.

I thought of parking in front (which, in the end, I did), but at one end a neighbour had done some clearing and so I thought I could get enough speed up to make it past the remaining few houses to my back driveway.

Wrong.

I have been carrying a shovel, ice pick, and metal tracks to put under my tires anyway. Without them I don't know how I'd have got free.

I actually didn't really feel that tired at 0130hrs, but I think I was more addled than I realized. While in the bathroom I like to use my PDA to play a Game of Hearts (or a Game o' fHearts). Last night when I came inside and did so, Player 2 shot the moon. So my usual alertness must have been reduced.

This morning I shot the moon -- and then lost the game.

Monday, January 16, 2006

Hi from Cat Lady via Photographer in Schreiber

I drove to Schreiber and back this weekend for Rev. John Sovereign's farewell. There I sat through more country music than I have for a long time. I was given the mike briefly and sang "Nobody Talks (During Coach's Corner)" for no apparent reason, while most people lined up for the food.

I was put up for the night by my niece's in-laws, whom I met at the wedding this past Hallowe'en.

Then I attended John's last service in Schreiber. I was asked to help another guy lead a song on guitar, so for what it was worth I arpeggiated while he strummed.

The weather travelling there was totally clear, but (since you asked) it got a bit slippery on the way back only once I was almost in town.

But the highlight was when Sarah the photographing daughter (whom I first met when she was a DBC camper) said hi to me (and by extension the weird church people) from "Cat Lady" Laura, who once said hi to me herself at Boston Pizza. (And I wasn't offended; I just didn't know what I should do.)

I see that Laura is leaving (as are other friends of mine) blogger and moving to wordpress. Stay in touch.

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

And so this isn't Christmas

I put my tree out yesterday. Now Christmas is over. Now I feel sad. I have to put my cards back in their envelopes and decorations back into the attic.

I want more presents.

Monday, January 09, 2006

To explain the allusions re. the play I was in at St. Mike's ("Go Tell It on the Mountain"):

"2001: A Space Odyssey": The play used "Also Sprach Zarathustra" by Richard Strauss at one point.

Jimmy Stewart: The voice actor of "Joseph" had to double as a servant and so his altered voice sounded like Jimmy.

The Village People: Twice "Joseph" referred to the residents of Bethlehem this way. One Native American headdress was in fact seen (see next item), but no police officers or construction workers.

Sea-Faring Native Americans: The playwright pictured the Magi as Oriental, (Sub-Sahara) African and Native American. It's not clear how this last one made it to the Middle East.

News from ELK

I got a card and letter the other day from an ELK that wandered all the way to Texas.

She has been teaching at Cornerstone Christian School for 5 years. This year she teaches Bible, Physical Science and PhysEd and coaches volleyball and softball.

She had eye surgery in November and her eye is healing slowly. This is the States so $$$ was a big factor.

She may come to town in April for the celebration.

Friday, January 06, 2006

Jesus and the Village People

So -- come to the play I'm in.

It's got everything: 2001-A Space Odyssey, the voice of Jimmy Stewart, the Village People and sea-faring aboriginal Americans.

Tonight (& Sunday) 7:30 pm at St. Michael's (Rockwood and Red River) - $5 at the door. (Watch out for the guy with the rope, turning over the tables.)

After that you can come and watch me play FN hockey at PA Arena along with timlap, tulrich, eric, pomo and some non-bloggers or commenters.

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

St. Thomas' Youth Group Christmas Quiz Answers: Jan. 4/06

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Click the pic for a larger version.

1) There is no problem with there being only 2 Magi, since the Bible (Matthew) says only "some", not three or any other number.

2) Those blobby things on their heads were meant to be crowns, intending to mislead you into objecting toonly two "kings". The Bible never calls them kings, but since it's possible that Magi wore blobby things such as I have drawn, we can't object to their headgear.

3) The Magi are recorded in Matthew as visiting Christ (and Mary) in a "house". A natural reading of the story gives the impression that their visit may have been a couple of years after His birth.

4) So, if we imagine this scene to be the night of Christ's birth, there is no indication in Scripture that the star was over the stable, nor that it was particularly bright. The Magi were astrologers and it may have been significant to them for reasons other than brightness (apparent size).

5) Yes, I have drawn Joseph with three eyes. He also appears to have only one leg. Mary appears to have no mouth and no fingers (or is wearing mittens). That was merely lazy drawing.

6) There is no record of anyone seeing any haloes when Christ was born. They are an artistic representation of holiness or the glory of God. So arguably they were there, but I have distributed them somewhat arbitrarily.

7) It's unlikely that a calendar would be on the wall, I suppose, but it's even less likely that it would use Latin letters and Arabic numerals. Well, it might I suppose, but there is no Scriptural support for the date of Dec. 25th for Christ's birth. It is possible that the Christians (a few centuries later) wanted to give a Christian meaning to the celebrations that people had been holding for centuries around the Winter Solstice.

8) The people at the time certainly would not have considered it Year 0. We wouldn't either, because Christ was likely born a few years B.C. (!!!) When (several hundred years later) a Christian tried to calculate how many years it had been since Christ's birth, he made mistakes. By checking with other historical data we now know that our calendar is a few years off what was intended.

9) The shepherd scene is intended to be off at a distance, not right next door, but yes, his staff is too short for his standing height -- but that was lazy drawing again. Yes, there should be more shepherds and, I suppose, at least a few sheep in sight.

10) Let's imagine that this is the first angel who appears before being joined by the multitude. In any case, in Scripture angels appear like men (or strange animals). Luke 20:36 is usually read to indicate they are sexless, but at least one translation suggests that the children of the Resurrection are similar to angels in their immortality, not necessarily their genderlessness.

In any case, the delicate, pretty angel of pop culture doesn't appear (to me) to come from Scripture. (You do think my angel is pretty, don't you?)

11) No record of angel wings in Luke either.

12) Some people are convinced of this one; I am not.
Neither the single angel nor the multitude are recorded as singing. The multitude suddenly appeared with the angel "praising God and saying, Glory to God etc." (N.I.V.)
But "praising God" suggests singing (or what we might hear as "chanting" or maybe sort of shouting in unison). I don't read Greek, but I just looked up the word for "saying" here (lego) and it seems pretty flexible. I can believe that the sentence means they "praised God, proclaiming [somehow -- chant, song, rap] Glory to God etc."

(And, as a musician friend pointed out, there is no good reason for having the third note upside down.)

13) A pig is not kosher (acceptable food for Jews). So why is there one in the stable? But as one of my youth group pointed out, how do we know that this wasn't a Gentile stable (or one kept by an unobservant Jew)?

14) When I was in Bethlehem in Feb. 2000, our guide told us that it was unlikely that trees would be wasted on a stable or a manger. (In fact, some argue that the word describing Joseph's work could better be translated "craftsman" and he might have worked with limestone as much or more than with wood.)

Anyway, the cave that is honoured as the birthplace of Christ in Bethlehem features a stone trough for a manger, not a wooden one. A picture of the alleged birthplace of Christ in Bethlehem

15) There would be no website URL on the side of the hill in Bethlehem back then.

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Christmas Quiz Answers

Click the pic for a larger version.

1) There is no problem with there being only 2 Magi, since the Bible (Matthew) says only "some", not three or any other number.

2) Those blobby things on their heads were meant to be crowns, intending to mislead you into objecting to only two "kings". The Bible never calls them kings, but since it's possible that Magi wore blobby things such as I have drawn, we can't object to their headgear.

3) The Magi are recorded in Matthew as visiting Christ (and Mary) in a "house". A natural reading of the story gives the impression that their visit may have been a couple of years after His birth.

4) So, if we imagine this scene to be the night of Christ's birth, there is no indication in Scripture that the star was over the stable, nor that it was particularly bright. The Magi were astrologers and it may have been significant to them for reasons other than brightness (apparent size).

5) Yes, I have drawn Joseph with three eyes. He also appears to have only one leg. Mary appears to have no mouth and no fingers (or is wearing mittens). That was merely lazy drawing.

6) There is no record of anyone seeing any haloes when Christ was born. They are an artistic representation of holiness or the glory of God. So arguably they were there, but I have distributed them somewhat arbitrarily.

7) It's unlikely that a calendar would be on the wall, I suppose, but it's even less likely that it would use Latin letters and Arabic numerals. Well, it might I suppose, but there is no Scriptural support for the date of Dec. 25th for Christ's birth. It is possible that the Christians (a few centuries later) wanted to give a Christian meaning to the celebrations that people had been holding for centuries around the Winter Solstice.

8) The people at the time certainly would not have considered it Year 0. We wouldn't either, because Christ was likely born a few years B.C. (!!!) When (several hundred years later) a Christian tried to calculate how many years it had been since Christ's birth, he made mistakes. By checking with other historical data we now know that our calendar is a few years off what was intended.

9) The shepherd scene is intended to be off at a distance, not right next door, but yes, his staff is too short for his standing height -- but that was lazy drawing again. Yes, there should be more shepherds and, I suppose, at least a few sheep in sight.

10) Let's imagine that this is the first angel who appears before being joined by the multitude. In any case, in Scripture angels appear like men (or strange animals). Luke 20:36 is usually read to indicate they are sexless, but at least one translation suggests that the children of the Resurrection are similar to angels in their immortality, not necessarily their genderlessness.

In any case, the delicate, pretty angel of pop culture doesn't appear (to me) to come from Scripture. (You do think my angel is pretty, don't you?)

11) No record of angel wings in Luke either.

12) Some people are convinced of this one; I am not.
Neither the single angel nor the multitude are recorded as singing. The multitude suddenly appeared with the angel "praising God and saying, Glory to God etc." (N.I.V.)
But "praising God" suggests singing (or what we might hear as "chanting" or maybe sort of shouting in unison). I don't read Greek, but I just looked up the word for "saying" here (lego) and it seems pretty flexible. I can believe that the sentence means they "praised God, proclaiming [somehow -- chant, song, rap] Glory to God etc."

(And, as a Black Mamba pointed out, there is no good reason for having the third note upside down.)

13) A pig is not kosher (acceptable food for Jews). So why is there one in the stable? But as one of my youth group pointed out, how do we know that this wasn't a Gentile stable (or one kept by an unobservant Jew)?

14) When I was in Bethlehem in Feb. 2000, our guide told us that it was unlikely that trees would be wasted on a stable or a manger. (In fact, some argue that the word describing Joseph's work could better be translated "craftsman" and he might have worked with limestone as much or more than with wood.)

Anyway, the cave that is honoured as the birthplace of Christ in Bethlehem features a stone trough for a manger, not a wooden one. A picture of the alleged birthplace of Christ in Bethlehem

15) There would be no website URL on the side of the hill in Bethlehem back then.

Monday, January 02, 2006

The Epiphany Play I'm In

"Go Tell It On the Mountain"
at St. Michael's Anglican (Red River Rd. & Rockwood)

Friday, Jan. 6, 7:30pm
Sunday, Jan. 8, 7:30pm

I play the voice of Herod (the Great!). "Animators" with large masks provide the action.

I have some $5 tickets. The playwright, Sue Simonsen, is involved with Martin Rusanga's NuVision work in Rwanda, and I think some proceeds go towards that.

(I'm sure Friday's performance will be over in time for hockey!!)

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Rock Stars MIA

For some reason I failed previously to upload Buddy Hoddy, Burton Cummings, Pink Floyd and the illustrious Bryan Adams to my page of rock star caricatures.

The Lost Key

Last night (also last year) I lost one of my car keys, probably somewhere between the back of my car and my back door in the snow, or absentmindely put down somewhere in the house. I know the very small time window in which this occured and so, unless someone else has picked it up (not very likely), I am not terribly worried, but I am down to one key now, which is a bit of a bother.

So, if you're into praying about such things, you could do so and I'd appreciate it

-- especially if your name is Anthony. (Tony?)