An Erie sky in Ada

An Erie PA sky in Ada, MI

I didn't know how beautiful Erie sunsets were until I moved to Michigan and was no longer able to see them very often. The photo at right isn't that great (taken through a screen with an iPhone), but this is how skies looked in my hometown of Erie, PA almost every night.

My location in Michigan is rarely colorful; just overcast or clear, so you get either a linty blanket that slowly turns from gauzy gray to black, or you get gradually darkening blues.

We used to tell each other when we were kids that Erie was on some list or other of top 10 places for beautiful sunsets. I believe it.

Here's one someone else took over Presque Isle, which is a 5-minute drive from my boyhood home.

Learn more about Presque Isle here >

Sunset over Presque Isle

[2014-06-13]

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My Father's Day 2014

This is the card I got from Dee Dee this Father's Day...

Lest you think there is some nascent personality disorder in the storm cloud, she added it because she knows how much I like inclement weather.

I did note, however, that we are not holding hands in the picture, and the cloud is situated between us.

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This is the cup I got from Dee Dee LAST year and was broken THIS year by MiMi:

Last year's Father's Day gift gets broken on Father's Day

There is something benign and fitting in this, I just can't put my finger on it.

[2014-06-15 - Father's Day]

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NDEs and what goes on inside the brains of nuns and Pentecostals.

Nunzilla wind-up toy

I just finished listening to a series of Andrew Newberg's lectures on "The Spiritual Brain: Science and Religious Experience." Though it's 90% brain science (he's Director of Research at Thomas Jefferson University and Hospital), Newberg is quite candid on where science is less helpful and spirituality becomes more interesting.

(What happens inside the brains of nuns when they pray? Or to Pentecostals when they speak in tongues? I won't tell you, but it's different.[1] Listen or read about it here >)

We've all heard accounts or witnessed the dying saying something in the last moment of life that unmistakably indicates they are seeing people long since dead. Sometimes they physically reach out (as my dad did), or can be heard greeting family members.

Newberg devotes a full lecture to NDEs (near death experiences) and allows for the possibility that the dying are interacting with something real.

Ascent of the Blessed, by Hieronymus Bosch,
often thought to depict an NDE (Wikimedia Commons)

But Newberg doesn't ask something I just thought of:

We usually assume that our body parts and behaviors are the result of an evolutionary advantage, benign byproducts of those, or biological bits that have fallen into disuse over millions of years (junk DNA, the appendix).

Why would the appearance of loved ones, lighted tunnels, etc, be so widespread at the point of death?

I can't think of any advantage this might confer. Lots of analogies (eg, the birth canal, waking from sleep), but not good explanations.

I realize that just because I can't think of one that doesn't mean there isn't one. I'm just asking the question because the phenomenon is real and universal so far as we know

Learn more about NDEs >

Learn more about Andrew Newberg >

(BTW, I've listened to a lot of lectures in my time, and I have to tell you Newberg is outstanding.)

[2014-06-22]

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[1]
My personal opinion is that the reason the frontal lobe goes silent when Pentecostals speak in tongues is because they aren't talking to anyone. It's not a "heavenly" language, they aren't being energized by the Spirit; they're just babbling.

I know no one who practices this, so hopefully I'm not unintentionally insulting anyone.

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Success with a WinTV tuner on Linux

After wrestling unsuccessfully with MythTV, I found to my delight that after just installing and crossing my fingers, I was able to watch digital over-the-air broadcasts with Me TV and my WinTV-HVR-950Q USB tuner.

Me TV for Linux is here >

Setting up Me TV on Lubuntu

Me TV after setup and receiving over-the-air digital broadcasts from my downstairs cave (aka office)

Very very cool channel program guide and interface for Me TV

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More good news: The previous owner of my home ran coax up the outside of the house to an upstairs bedroom and right under a window. I'll be running that line to my Linux box and putting my HD fractal antenna in that window.

If that works as I hope, I might split it to our two main TVs and cut Xfinity cable completely. I'll still need Internet, but I actually have more interest in watching free over-the-air TV than what I pay for.

[2014-06-13]

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Update:

Fifteen over-the-air channels from a second-floor window fractal antenna.

Now getting 15 channels, including Gilligan loud and clear over 64-2 WLLA-D2

Very bad weather today too, so hoping for even better eventually.

Weather in my area Wed night 6-18-2014

[2014-06-18]

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Does this selfie make me look fat?

Why do we look thinner to ourselves when we look in the mirror than we do when we take a selfie?

[2014-05-20]

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Why don't we ever get credit for having the courage to acknowledge our intolerances and the fortitude to suppress them?

[2014-05-16]

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When you learn from a writer, you often learn by accretion, by the same concept being repeated in different ways, each with subtly different meaning.

[2014-06-16]

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"Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes."

--Walt Whitman

Even when we contradict ourselves (perhaps especially then), we are saying something important.

[2014-06-16]

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"There's something special about the Americans."

Joseph Dellecolle (L) and his son Pierre-Yves in
American uniforms (Photo from NPR; see link in this post)

The most poignant story I heard about D-Day was an NPR piece in which Frenchman Joseph Dellecolle honored US soldier Lawrence Davis who landed on Utah Beach on June 14, 1944. Davis was killed five days later liberating M. Dellecolle's hometown.

Too often the public face of French sentiment on American policy is anger. This was a refreshing change.

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One Frenchman's Commitment To Keeping D-Day Memories Alive >

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Listen >

God bless David Lawrence and Joseph Dellecolle.

[2014-06-08]

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...but do you really want her to be president?

I'd be willing to bet that Ms Clinton is a great conversationalist and dinner companion, that she truly cares about women's issues, children, and those who have no voice of their own, but do you really want her to be president?

(I'm not sure where the style for "Hillary in 2016" artwork started, but it has a distinctively totalitarian energy to it, a la hammer and sickle.)

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Sinbad vs. Hillary

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Hillary clarifies what it means to be 'dead broke'

("May have not been the most artful way of saying that Bill and I have gone through a lot of different phases in our lives." Uhhh, it doesn't actually say that at all.)

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Real women don't stay home and bake cookies.

[2014-06-12]

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Hillary Clinton Snaps at NPR's Terry Gross on Topic of Gay Marriage

(Don't tell me I changed my mind, I just changed the way I think about it. Oval Office conversations will be very interesting if Hillary is behind that big desk, don't you think?)

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[2014-06-13]

There's nothing about soccer that couldn't be said for underwater basket weaving...

(I very rarely make two posts on the same day, but this one is pretty timely.)

NPR's Global Health and Development Correspondent Jason Beaubien remarked in a June 8 story on the 2014 World Cup that "soccer touches some universal chord… It's a simple sport that transcends language, that spans the world in a way that very few other human activities have."

Perhaps, but this demonstrates something more interesting to me than whatever fascination soccer holds for others: We find metaphor and meaning in things we share a passion for, small or large - a schoolyard grudge match or global soccer match, a chess game or a world war.

There's nothing about soccer that couldn't be said for underwater basket weaving if enough people found it a suitable surrogate for aggression and were willing to quarrel over it.

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The World Cup Reminds Us That All The World's A Soccer Field >

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Listen >

[2014-06-08]

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"Grow a pair." (The world needs more sissies.)

Back of 'Caddyshack' soundtrack album cover

Story: California town mayor says bullying victims need to ‘grow a pair’ >

The saddest aspect of this is that Porterville, CA mayor Cameron Hamilton is just voicing what a lot of people (men especially) already think but will share only with like-minded tough guys in the men's room, the locker room, or the bar.

Bullying is bad and bullies are mean people that need to be adjusted, educated, restrained, supervised, or tied to an anthill and smeared with jam.

The world needs more sissies with brains and patience.

This big kahuna has some big kahones

[2014-05-21]

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Why would I want to rob Peter? Does he have more money than Paul or something?

If crazy people don't know they are crazy, how do any of us know we are sane?

[2014-06-09]

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Do other countries that are predominantly a different religion have as many religious idioms as we do? Eg, "rob Peter to pay Paul," or "heavy cross to bear," or "an eye for an eye," etc. They're nearly countless and reflect a bygone time when familiarity with the contexts of those words carried most of the meaning.

I'm sure they must, though my modest attempt at some googling (Googling?) didn't produce much.

This is where "rob Peter to pay Paul" came from... >

[2014-05-18]

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Daughtry D-Day diss draws demand for redress

Chris Daughtry (Wikimedia Commons)

(Well, a demand for an "apology," at any rate, but if you can think of a different word with a strong "d" sound that means "apology," I'd like to know of it.)

Chris Daughtry ‘ashamed’ for his "I’m off the clock" remark on D-Day’s Fox and Friends >

This got very little coverage. If you searched CNN this morning [2014-06-10], top stories on Daughtry were about his expecting twins and visiting McDonalds.

Why write about this?

To ask why in the world we think we can demand an apology every time someone says or does something we disagree with on any subject we might feel passionate about.

This is utterly absurd, an extension of outrage that is not even close to slights we rightfully oppugn (regarding race or gender or sexual orientation).

Sure it was dumb and imprudent and disrespectful and unprofessional and a bunch of other things. If you don't like it, don't buy his music, go to his concerts, or watch him on TV.

Let's save our energy for people and issues that are more important than Mr Daughtry.

(Though it did give Scoop Oddbody a chance to sharpen his high school newspaper headline writing skills.)

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IMHO the only reason Daughtry apologized was to protect his career. And if anyone's curious, I don't care for him or his music and didn't know who he was until this story aired.

Chris Daughtry Apologizes for "Off The Clock" Comment

[2014-06-10]

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Let your light shine.

I listen to pastor Dave Miles's Sunday sermons every week. He's an extraordinarily caring man and I look forward to the day I can hear him preach in person. Dave is pastor at Bethel Baptist Church in Erie, PA, where I grew up and attended until I left town for college. You can hear his sermons here >

Dave made a comment recently in a sermon that we should "let our light shine" and I was reminded of a story told by my Grandma Cairns (Geneva Cairns, née Bauer):

It seems grandma's father was in church one Sunday and the pastor was preaching on letting your light shine. After the service, my pipe-smoking German immigrant great-grandpa Bauer shook the pastor's hand and said, "Fine message, Reverend. I'm going outside and let my light shine."

True story. I think my Grandma Cairns must have been little when she heard him say that. It really tickled her and she retold it many times.

[2014-06-09]

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Former Calvin College alum Cliff Bajema (from Lynden, WA) on EWTN

Calvin College alum and minister Cliff Bajema
 on EWTN's Journey Home

Calvin College alum Cliff Bajema was on EWTN's Journey Home with Marcus Grodi on Monday June 9. Calvin is my old alma mater. Bajema earned his Th.M. from Calvin Theological Seminary, but I have never met him or heard him preach. He grew up in Lynden, WA, a small town a number of people I know call home, including good friend and Calvin College roommate Mark.

This is interesting to me because of my association with Calvin College and the intense division still felt between Calvinists and Rome.

In fact, that's what I find so fascinating about these "journeys home": the wider the pendulum swings, the more intrigued we are.

Cover of a Horatio Alger story,Ragged Dick Fame and Fortune

There is no national TV show for Lutheran, Baptist, or Methodist converts. Certainly there are isolated stories within these organizations, but not consistent waves of interest across entire denominations.

These accounts resonate like rags-to-riches Ragged Dick stories, or celebrities that dry out after years of drug and alcohol abuse, or adamant atheists like CS Lewis who become evangelists.

We recognize a genuineness in life-altering events that last a lifetime; sometimes these come through gritty determination, but more often are characterized as something outside us (a strength, a spirit, a purpose) that takes up residence inside.

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Journey Home - 2014-6-9- Cliff Bajema - Former Reformed Church of America

("a hunger for the Christ I could touch and taste")

[2014-06-09]

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There's a lot of fun to be had for a penny. You just have to know how to spend it (Bethel Baptist Church, a long time ago...)

I doubt anyone does this anymore (except in smaller and safer communities), but way-back-when, among the games and activities that adults would use to occupy teens, was a scavenger hunt.

The group was divided into small teams, given a penny and assigned to a neighborhood. Each team would go door to door and ask if the neighbor would be willing to sell something for a penny. If you were lucky, you got something worth more than a penny. Then you went to the next house, explained the contest, and asked if they'd be willing to exchange something for what you just bought for a penny.

And so on, for an hour or so; then you all returned for refreshments and the big unveiling where everyone ooohed and ahhhed or groaned at what a penny might buy.

My team won. We'd turned our penny into an electric carving knife, which the friendly and frumpy hausfrau said she hadn't used for years. (Whatever we had for trade must have appealed to her).

This was a Young People's event at Bethel Baptist Church in Erie, PA when it was on the east side. Even though our team had a handful of kids, I only remember Jenny Honecker, who was my first girlfriend, and a very sweet person.

There's a lot of fun to be had for a penny. You just have to know how to spend it.

[2014-05-21]

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All in the family. ("Nobody could make this s*** up")

A Colby Jones cartoon of the young Martin Luther

Having recently become Lutheran, I'm struck repeatedly by the concept of "doing nothing" to be saved, because, as a Baptist, I felt we were the only ones that could claim we do nothing to be saved (an interesting claim - "we are the biggest do-nothings!"), but of course, we do "do" something - we use our noodle, which involves electrons, neurons, synapses, sympathetic motor activity, and some quite intentional motor activities - prayer, bible reading, public confession, etc..

What is it then that Luther was getting at, or Calvin or Zwingli or Knox?

I can't speak for the others, but for Luther, I am coming to a slow understanding that it's about the communion - not only the bread and wine per se, but the commune, the community, the communication, of Christians.

When you're a member of a family, you do things because of that relationship (help with chores, mind your elders, take care of your little brother or sister). None of those earn you membership in the family, but they're part of the package that comes with it.

If you stop doing those things, you eventually become so alienated, the relationship ends.

I'm still learning, but that gets close to my layman's understanding of sola fide.

Lutheran "family chores" (to extend the metaphor, not to trivialize) minimally include baptism, communion, and confession (the only three recognized sacraments).

[2014-05-28]

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Best quote I've read in a long time:

Tertullian said (of the Resurrection) "certum est, quia impossibile,"... The literal translation is "It is certain, because it is impossible," which can also be rendered as "Nobody could make this shit up,"...

--Mike Peterson

Read more >

[2014-06-06]

"Bilingual" must be Canadian for "French Only"

I'm pretty sure the bilingual lane at Canadian border crossings is a ploy to trap unwary English speakers who mistakenly think "bilingual" means "French and English."

If you don't understand Bonjour, votre passeport, s'il vous plaît, don't try the bilingual lane. Your involuntary stuttering while you try to explain you speak only English is quickly interpreted as "I have 10 lbs of cocaine my trunk" and you'll spend the next two hours in Canadian customs feeling like a criminal.

I know because I traveled to and from Canada weekly for a couple years. First time this happened, I thought it was just a simple misunderstanding. Second time, "fool me twice, shame on me."

There was no third time.

Top - Quebec sign for 'Mandatory Right Turn Ahead'; Bottom - US sign for 'No Left Turn'

On another occasion, I was grilled by a Quebec policeman for an illegal turn. He was kind enough to let me go with a warning after telling me that he'd been to the United States and the road signs are the same in both countries and there is no excuse for what I did.

I had misunderstood the blue sign you see on the right; it means "Mandatory Right Turn Ahead," even if you can turn left. I turned left.

I thanked him, apologized, and assured him I wouldn't repeat the error.

But he was wrong about the road signs, of course. If the same intersection were in the US, it would have had a "No Left Turn" sign, but I wasn't about to argue with him.

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Interesting distinction, don't you think? A French sign saying what you must do, and an English sign saying what you must not do. I suspect there is a socio-linguistic reason behind this that would have all sorts of parallels in politics, religion, etc.

[2014-05-22]

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The Father's Day card I never sent.

I bought this card and kept it in my desk before Dad got sick. By the time the next Father's Day rolled around, Dad had gone.

Hey Dad… I know you're up there… if you're listening, Happy Father's Day.

Front

Inside

Back

Happy trails… >

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