Friday, December 31, 2010

Hither and thither 12/31/10

Thanks, faithful readers, for joining me in this weekly Eclectathon. It's been fun to do. Now let's close the year with a bang - and let me know you're there! (The constants apply.)
  • As New Year's Eve approaches, I point you to a little video produced by AT&T underscoring the (should-be) commonsense message: DO NOT text and drive.
  • Mph. Rough day for everyone down in the hockey rink. Clang!
  • Logos is gradually endearing itself to me. At present, I'm actually liking their iPhone app better than the brand-new Olive Tree app, which I had greatly preferred. But now they have put up a web page for Chrome users, giving access to your Logos library. Very cool.
  • Ah, but now having written that, I just got a note from reader Jack Wickwire putting me onto this helpful review of BibleReader 5.0 from Olive Tree. It's sorting out some of the problems I'd had, so... maybe Olive Tree's coming back!
  • Next year is the 400th anniversary of the KJV. I'm glad to have read it, glad to know it, but also glad not to be chained to it. The Washington Times did a good article on its making and impact. Among the things I learned: the KJV was based on the Great Bible, and "because the 'Great Bible' drew on Tyndale's translations, the 16th-century 'thee' and 'thou' entered into the King James Version, even though they were long departed from common usage." I did not know that latter fact.
  • Very cool: Justin Taylor links to Max McLean's full performance of the Gospel of Mark. It is dramatized with some sounds and music, and supplemented with maps.
  • And, at the risk of being called a "fanboy," I point you to Justin again for a terrific collection of Bible-reading plans. Timely!
  • Say, let's make it threeFrancis Schaeffer admirers will appreciate Justin Taylor's collection of links to online talks.
  • Um... chewy. With loads of fiber.
  • We could give a graphic sumup of Obama's second year thus:
  • Or:
  • Reader Paula wrote me, "FINALLY, the MSM is done fawning over Obama!!! Wait...what? Oh, never mind. False alarm. " Indeed.
  • I would add this bit of fan-fic to that same pile, and observe that Obama has been letting his actual faith show with crystal-clarity right from the start.
  • Reader Mike Westfall has telling evidence that O-bots aren't so sure their guy can win without a lot of help.
  • Perfect illustration of the liberal mindset. In New York City, "a new restaurant may have to contend with as many as 11 city agencies, often with conflicting requirements; secure 30 permits, registrations, licenses and certificates; and pass 23 inspections." Obviously, this is calculated to murder entrepreneurship, initiative, and the creation of new businesses (and jobs). So, what to do? "Well," you might think, "howsabout you kill some or all of those agencies and some or all of those regulations?" That makes sense. You sound like a Founding Father! But this does not even show up on a liberal's radar screen. To him — if he admits that there is any problem at all — there can only be one solution: create ANOTHER bureaucracy... to guide the serfs through the existing bureaucracies! (Heard about this from Mark Steyn, subbing for Limbaugh.)
  • Paula found another perfect illustration of the liberal mindset, whether theological or political. Backdrop: the GOP Congress will do something unprecedented at the start of the next session. They're going to read the Constitution completely. Novel! So, HSAT, evidently Ezra Klein is what passes for a "wonk" at MSNBC, and he snorts in disdain at the idea? Why? Because — not only Klein, but — NOBODY can understand the text of the Constitution! Riiiight. But we can understand the laws that liberals pass, right? Like listening to a Roman Catholic (no one can interpret the Bible, but the teaching of the Magisterium is pellucid). Oh, and we're sure it guarantees the right to kill unborn babies. But otherwise? Total mystery.
  • Um... wait, what?
  • Back to lists. Colin Hansen lists what he thinks were the top ten theology and church stories of 2010.   Then Christianity Today does the same. The latter is, as one would anticipate, obnoxious. The funny bit is their apparent fretting about the November election as cutting in half the number of pro-life Democrats in Congress. So, what, now it's 1? Could there be a more useless creature than a pro-life Democrat politician, in today's Democratic Party?
  • For those who try to argue that elections (and presidents — who appoint SC justices) don't have an impact on abortion, check out the cries of alarm in this article.
  • In other news: Pretty sure I've had worse service.
  • But not this good — or, at least, not this skilled:

  • Now, here's something different, and dizzying. Guys taped a camera onto the end of a sword. Results: a view you've never seen.
  • Lego pinhole camera. Need I say more?
  • So what does bold, unrepentant, public pursuit of sexual perversion get you? You might think, "Threat of deadly disease, dissolution of psyche and character, and God's eternal wrath." Well, yeah... but in England, it can also get you an MBE — which is to say, a Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, which is an award for chivalry. (Thanks to our friend across the pond, Pastor Anthony Forsyth, for that tip.)
  • Are you in any sense a Dean Koontz fan? Noticed how different his perspective is from virtually everyone writing in his genres? Here's an in-depth interview from a couple of years ago that will explain how and why.
  • Scientists Are Baffled! Turns out the first humans may not have come out of Africa, after all... but Israel. Well, give or take a few hundred-thousand years...
  • Some of you geek-types will like this chart of science in sci fi movies.
  • Surely not OUR squirrel!
  • Pat Robertson. Need I say more? Oh... I do? Well, you know that thing he keeps doing? The thing with his mouth? That thing where he opens it, and stupidity bubbles forth? He did it again. (Thanks to Gil Sebenste for the link.)
  • AT-AT (Gingerbread) Walker:
  • Relatedly, Fred Butler found someone having a singular blizzard experience:
  • Leading to...










34 comments:

The Squirrel said...

Nope. Wasn't me.

Squirrel

Pagey said...

Still lurking...
:c)

Happy New Year Dan!

Dave said...

A full-length version of Dickens A Christmas Carol — in Klingon! Yes, but why? Why??

Maybe, like Shakespeare, Dickens is better in the original Klingon?

kateg said...

Heard someone described on Pilgrim radio as Melinda Bell of World Magazine discussing the year's disasters... you know, starting with the earthquake in Haiti, the Gulf oil spill,... the November election, ... huh?

Mike Westfall said...

Ezra Klein might be right. Over and over again, liberal justices have ruled the Constitution says something other than what I think it clearly and simply says.

So... I, for one, am certainly confused.

timb said...

Dave, you beat me to it with the ST:VI allusion.

I liked that Sci-Fi chart.
Of course, most sci-fi movies would be a bit more boring if there was no sound to the ship flying and firing in space.

But the inaccuracies sort of remind me of the countless movies you see where someone is talking on the phone or radio to someone halfway around the world and guess what: it's the same time of day! Nothing irks me more, especially with something like spy movies when a gov. guy is coordinating a mission from say DC... and you see the team on the ground in say the middle east, and it noon is both places... really?!

DJP said...

Dude. 24-hour difference time-zone.

JackW said...

Nice H&T Dan! I was expecting something shorter this week, but you really had a bountiful harvest as you went hither and thither this week.

Yes, the OliveTree BibleReader app was a major update that took me by surprise. My first thought was, “Oh no, what have they done to my favorite app!” Add to that their slowness in posting documentation and explanation on the new version and I was frustrated.

Two things seem to have driven the new version:

1. Making it better for use on the iPad. Unfortunately it made it less better for the iPhone. They made it so you could change settings to get it back to a more iPhone friendly layout, but it wasn’t intuitive on how to get there.

2. They introduced a new feature called the resource center. Once you load it and get your resources updated with the new enhanced files, you’re able to look up verses, phrases and words and cross reference them with your other resources. Major feature, almost Logos like.

So fear not, still the best Bible app IMHO.

Pierre Saikaley said...

Thanks for a year of insightful, challenging, and edifying blog posts/articles.

May God give you continued wisdom, peace and strength for 2011.

Blessed New Year!

J♥Yce Burrows said...

and let me know you're there

I is. :-)

Stefan Ewing said...
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Stefan Ewing said...
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Stefan Ewing said...
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Barbara said...

I LOL'd at the "Go-go gadget legs".

And forwarded on the very sobering "Don't Text While Driving" reminder.

Thanks for both.

Stefan Ewing said...

Of those movies, The Right Stuff and Apollo 13 are the only ones I like. Then again, they're not sci fi at all, but based on historical events. And they forgot the worst James Bond movie (and the worst 007 Sci Fi crossover), Moonraker.

The earliest humans came from the Middle East? Well, duh! But it's very cool to see a scientific discovery that reinforces Special Revelation. This may also explain why aggressive driving is a universal human trait. It'll make it that much harder for anthropologists to stand biblical history on its head (not that that won't stop them). Now, the next big discovery needs to be a recalibration of prehistoric dating methods.

That hockey video is nothing. Looks like a day in the park, after you've watched enough hockey games. There are commentators in this country who would castigate those guys for being velvet-gloved wimps.

Forsooth, neither did I know that, about "thou" and "thee" and the KJV.

And a very cool summary of the Old Testament prophecies of the Christ, from that David gentleman whose brother is, I gather, an obscure call-in show host at some radio station somewhere.

Oh, the whole premise of the brilliant Yes, Minister TV comedy was that its protagonist was the minister of the fictitious "Department of Administrative Affairs," constantly trying to prevail over his bureaucrats, whose department was created so that its administrators could administrate all the other administrators in all the other ministries.

Incidentally, its sequel series, Yes, Prime Minister had a brilliant episode on the selection and appointment of a new Church of England bishop: The Bishop's Gambit. (Check out the quotes at the end.)

And off-topic (hah!), but did you know that Yoda was sort-of-but-not-exactly a Muppet, and a cousin of Bert, Grover, Cookie Monster, Miss Piggy, and Fozzie the Bear? Now you do!

Happy New Year to one and all from the land of lumberjacks and grizzly bears!

Herding Grasshoppers said...

Thanks for a year of eclectic goodness :D

I'll be making the boys watch the texting/driving video. Yikes.

Happy New Year,

Julie and the grasshoppers

Stefan Ewing said...

Re that Yes, Prime Minister episode: you have to scroll halfway down the frame to "YPM 1.7 - The Bishop's Gambit."

The episode is best watched to be enjoyed, if one can find it on DVD or elsewhere.

Susan said...

I'm here! I'm here! (Day off today.)

1. Love that orange kitty. Methinks it was done with one orange! :D

2. Methinks #2: That fiber-y hamburger remind me of a friend's "roasted turkey" cupcake--talk about confusing!

3. Thanks for that Max McLean link (is he performing it using the NIV?). I may be able to see him in The Screwtape Letters in January, if all goes well. :)

Susan said...

Stefan, out of curiosity I clicked on your link and did a quick search...and YouTube has practically everything! I won't link it here, though.

Happy New Year, everyone! :)

Death or Glory Toad said...

Thanks again! You're keepin the Fun in Friday.

Ima reserve the Chuck Norris idea for the next time some dumb Cali driver bonks my car. Way better than the insurance prem. HAHA.

Wendy said...

::raising my hand::
Present!

I think half the fun of H&T is clicking other news story links from the links that you post. I found one about a guy who was arrested for trying to marinate his cat.

The cat was completely alive, in the trunk, covered in a concoction of oil, pepper, salt and spices.

I couldn't stop laughing, but I'm glad they caught him before he figured out that they don't BBQ well.

Paula Bolyard said...

Weird...my comment from earlier disappeared into the netherworld. Trying again...

Maybe they can re-pass the Constitution so we can "find out what's in it" - at least symbolically.

tobekiwi said...

Here! ;o)
Happy New Year!
Loved orange kitty, Max McLean videos look good- will savor those this weekend, camera on sword is dizzying, oh my.
And how could scientists at an Isreali university come up with an age of 400,000 years on those teeth? (sigh)
May everyone have a blessed New Year!

Merrilee Stevenson said...

Happy New Year, DJP, Mrs. DJP, and all you other lovely people!

SolaMommy said...

It should make you happy to know that as soon as I realized it was Friday I simultaneously realized that H&T would be up today :-D

I remember seeing a news story on that bagel tax and I'm pretty sure they also said there is a tax if you have it sliced. I'm surprised they don't have a cream cheese tax as well!

Happy New Year!
Laura

Solameanie said...

Interesting little trivia on David Limbaugh. We had him as a guest on our radio program a few years back when we noticed the explicit Christian content of one of his newspaper columns. He told us at the time that our program was the first place he had actually given his Christian testimony on the air. How cool is that?

Another interesting note is that David attends (or did at the time) a United Methodist church, but is pre-mil in his eschatology. Pre-mil Methodists are few and far between, but they are out there.

SolaMommy said...

Forgot to mention that I really enjoyed the Koontz interview. I've never read his work, but I like what he had to say about people choosing not to be victims of their upbringing/circumstances.

trogdor said...

Did Ezra Klein run that article by the rest of Jorn-O-list before publishing it?

Rachael Starke said...

Yeah,the whole M/OBE process is about as objective and free of political motivation as the Golden Globes...

And the Yes,Minister series Stefan references is just genius - British political satire at its absolute best. You can see the entire series on Netflix streaming also.

Great idea for a gingerbread house...er, thing.

Aaron said...

Hmmm...My Olive Tree Bible Reader packs haven't upgraded to BibleReader 5 yet. I may need to DL BibleReader 5 and transfer all my books to that app.

@DJP: Try using Logos while you're flying or can't get access to the internet. Then you'll really love Olive Tree. This year, I'm going to use the Olive Trees Chronological reading plan.

Aaron said...

Ok, Olive Tree hasn't kicked out BibleReader 5 to all of their apps yet. Too bad. I just started my reading plan and the new BibleReader's plan looks great.

Stefan Ewing said...

Susan, Rachael:

Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister were pure genius. They are one of the top British sitcoms of all time, and Margaret Thatcher's TV program.

But they're not just comedies (which they are—and witty at that), but on some level, commentaries on human nature—at least as it's played out in the political realm.

The creators of the series also wrote The Complete Yes Minister and The Complete Yes Prime Minister, which are written as political memoirs, and are even more entertaining than the series.

Mike said...

Better late than never, I think.

Anyway, about the McLean reading of Mark, I found an alternative that I really like a lot. The Word of Promise audio Bible basically amounts to a dramatic reading, where actors and actresses play various characters who speak in the Bible. Examples are Marisa Tomei as Mary Magdalene, Stacy Keach as Paul, Ernie Hudson as Peter, Lou Gossett, Jr. as John, etc. And of course Jim Caviezel reprises the role of Jesus. This comes complete with sound effects, crowd noises, etc. According to the bonus DVD which has cast and crew interviews, their goal was feature film quality audio to actually put you there in the scene. It’s great for those of us with long commutes who want to experience the Bible in a completely different way. I got this for Christmas and have really enjoyed it. My 6 year old son has sat in the car with me and listened to the last few chapters of Luke and he has been asking great questions! It's really been a lot of fun so far.

Mike

Son Followers Blog

Susan said...

Well, Stefan, I watched the "Bishop's Gambit" episode and just kept laughing and laughing. The dialogue was wicked, and the human nature that was reflected by it was also wicked (in the usual sense of the word). Ignorance, self-glorification, manipulation, greed, etc., all jammed packed into one little episode. The political and religious climates are still as relevant today as it was. The Brits sure know satire. :)