Chris Wallace: good question, wrong person

(h-t Fred Butler)

Jumping the surfer: is a new expression born?

Yessir, this would be a man-bites-dog story.

The question is: how can we use the new phrase?

Pray for Mesa Mike and family

Long-time reader/commenter Mike Westfall (Mesa Mike) has been forced to evacuate with his family, due to the fire that is raging in New Mexico near the nuclear weapons facility.

Thirteen signs your sermon isn't going well

Courtesy of Chris Brauns, author of the superb Unpacking Forgiveness, is Mike Wittmer's list of 13 signs a sermon isn't going well. I think my favorites are numbers 13, 4, 3 and 1.

Monday music: "End Love," by OK Go

From Yurie Hwang. We've done this group before: they seem to make creative videos and (imho) obnoxious music. Once again, the music in the following vid isn't even in the same restaurant as my cup of tea, but the video itself worth a watch (one watch) for the creativity. Heck, mute your computer, put on some classic Chicago song, and watch.

Blurb:

The fastest we go is 172,800x, compressing 24 hours of real time into a blazing 1/2 second. The slowest is 1/32x speed, stretching a mere 1/2 second of real time into a whopping 16 seconds. This gives us a fastest to slowest ratio of 5.5 million. If you like averages, the average speed up factor of the band dancing is 270x. In total we shot 18 hours of the band dancing and 192 hours of LA skyline timelapse – over a million frames of video – and compressed it all down to 4 minutes and 30 seconds! Oh and don't forget, it's one continuous camera shot.

Hither and thither 6/24/11

Important stuff first: my dear wife continues to do well, except for a nasty, persistent headache that started in the hospital — so it's kept hammering her for maybe ten days now. It's actually bothering her more than the incision, which is bad and good. She's seeing the doc about it again today. Your prayers are greatly appreciated.

And now, less importantly, all this!

• Many of you will identify as well: I've found a good image for how I feel from time to time.

• Remarkable read, considering that it's from the NYT, and by a homosexual writer: My Ex-Gay [sic] Friend.
• Robert Sakovic noted an interesting reflection on the previous NYT piece, focusing on the writer's repeated and undefined use of "fundamentalist." (One relatively mild profanity features appropriately, IMHO.)
• Has Jon Huntsman dropped out of the presidential primaries yet? No? Dang. Anyone with such a lame launch has ZERO chance against BO and the MSM. Plus: really? Do we want to run McCain 2.0 against Obama? Hard to fight something with nothing, I always say.

• At least we can be thankful that McCain himself (the actual McCain) has confirmed that he is not running again. Whew.

• But is Romney gone yet? No? Dang!
• By the way, Huntsman evidently plans to get the Republican nomination without any actual, you know, Republican support.
• Reader Dustin Wood points out Reason #465,000 to Homeschool — but I issue a parental caution (kids, ask a parent to check first). Here you go.
• Then Julie sends us Reason #465,001 to homeschool.
• No Difference Between the Parties and Other Idiotic Fantasies alert: GOP walks out on Dems' insistence on penalizing productive job-creators.
• That same Julie, in view of Valerie and my recent experience, forwarded me an absolutely hysterical Dave Barry column on the subject of colonoscopies. She thoughtfully let me vet it before passing it on to my dear wife. I did, and I did; and now I do to you.
• And now, one more parental caution item (ask your parents) that is awesome, and will absolutely make Frank Turk's day, if he happens by: skeletons and anatomies of cartoon characters.
• Rita Tomasetti sends us a gallery of absolutely wonderful-looking foods (including a 10-layer cake), but I'm sure would caution us not actually to eat any of them.
• Dog Bites Man Alert. Reader CR notes the NYT executive editor's public confession that he is a biased liberal suffering from PDS. Well, not in those words.
• Here, clearly, is a family that has to check the sofas very carefully before sitting down.

• Religion of Peace Alert from Mark Steyn, who suggests that pounding on the pilot's door and shouting "Allahu akbar!" may either be one way to avoid enhanced patdowns, or Arabic for "How long you gonna be in there?"
• A number of readers pointed me to this textbook case of judicial tyranny — in Texas, of all places! I say, in the light of verses like Proverbs 13:24, that this is a violation of the First Amendment, for starters. I wonder whether this unhinged judge will impound my book of Proverbs studies, given the chapter devoted to child-rearing. It's very counter-cultural.
• Harold Camping: the good news: his errorthons go off the air at month's end. The bad news: no expression of repentance from Family Radio; could just relate to his hospitalization, and thus be temporary.
• And then of course, there's... Sean Connery, The Musical.
• Now you  can chop stuff like a boss.

• Sigh. Joel Griffith points us to a musical gathering of some of the most useless folks ever to try to pin the word "Christian" to themselves in any sense. In this case, "useless" is the charitable word. Sound like fun?
• He also points out that Fred Phelps' coven will be picketing Mark Driscoll. I find myself in the odd position of not exactly agreeing with either faction (though certainly much closer to Driscoll, in this unhappy binary).
• I suspect that DAOD will have her doubts about the accuracy of the subtitles in An Existential Star Wars. (Tx Kirby Johnson)
• Darn those Baptists! More anti-American violence from two guys named Ted and Paul.
• I can't fool you anymore, can I?
• Reader Susan caught those Chinese doing odd things to their pets.

• Susan also found some "awesome barcodes." Very cool. I've never noticed any.
• You know, when I was a kid, I loved Mad magazine. But this seems like a cry for help from the creatively empty.
• Hopefully an image of what American voters will do to rapacious liberals in 11/2012 —

• So, if atheists in NY think it's a worthwhile use of time and resources to throw a fit over a sign referring to "Heaven" because it's "a totally religious statement," can Christians do the same over totally non-religious statements?
• Problem with that: there's no such thing. (Thx Robert Sakovich for link)
• Finally, from the Museum of Unmarketable Skills:

• Well, that, and these:

THE USUALS WILL BE OBSERVED

Wellnow, lookie what I just got!

(Honestly, I had no idea I'd be getting them so early)

Goodness... I hope they sell more than was in the box...

Today's post...

...is an update on Valerie, at Pyro.

It explains further why my blogging has been, and likely will remain, lighter.

Monday music: "Johnny B. Goode" — with bagpipes! Off Kilter

Valerie likes Off Kilter. 'Nuff said.

Hither and thither 6/17/11

For reasons I've explained here and here, my mind hasn't been on blogging this week. But my dear wife likes her H&T also, so here's what I've got. Hope you enjoy.

(PS - I know this is one of "the usuals," but updates are even likelier than usual. If you check early, re-check at least once after noon PT.)

• Think you've seen the strangest animated GIF ever? I'm not so sure...

• "ObamneyCare." I like it (the dig at Romney). Romney doesn't like it so much. Too bad, so sad.
• Is Romney gone yet? No? Rats.
• What, is this GOP primary season going to be remembered as "The Do-Over Season"? First, Pawlenty punts the opportunity to slam Romney in the CNN debate... and now Pawlenty wants a do-over. Goodness, every college grad knows how many chances you get to make a first-impression. Is that the problem? These guys never had to campaign for a real job?
• Breaking news: Obama doesn't understand about (non-government) jobs, thinks ATMs (like Athena) spring from Zeus' forehead.
• Oh well. Obama promises to resign in six months if he can't get the economy booming.
• What? Why are you looking at me like that? Isn't that what Obama means on the 2009 video linked here, at around 4:45?
• Missy Reed sent me a link so good it almost deserves a post of its own. It's of 50 Star Wars Mashups. Follow the link, but here are a few teases:

• Wanna buy a puppet? Have a few thousands of dollars to spare? Here you go.
• And now, another important BibChr Safety Tip: wart-removal? Good. Using a shotgun to do it? Bad.
• To add injury to insult-and-injury, the poor soul got some jail-time.
• Money-quote from the incident — and I kid you not: "The best thing is that the wart has gone." Oh, dear.
• Oh, and I guess this Sunday is Father's Day. Is that right? You who still have dads here to honor, think of those of us who no longer do and wish we did, and honor them. You'll be glad.

• It is hard even to put the words "too much coffee" together in that order... yet evidently too much coffee can make you a charismatic. Kinda.
• Whoa. Instant office. What's not to love?

• I'm sure many of you are sports fans. Here is actually a pretty cool interview with a God-centered David Tyree on men, marriage, fatherhood, standing for what's right.
• Starry Night... in bacon.

• Now that I know I have many Weird Al fans among my readers, here's another Weird Al Moment:

• The TSA: keeping America safe from mentally-challenged men's toy hammers.
• Panda nail art. Cute. (No, Aaron, not for you.)
• Thinking of telling a Dalai Lama joke...to the Dalai Lama? Two words: don't try. (h-t Justin)
• And we end with this potent reminder that not everyone loves baths, or drying after them:

• And, less angrily...

THE USUALS WILL BE OBSERVED

Valerie update #1

First, from Valerie and me both, thank you all so much for your prayers and kind words via comment and email.

Second, Valerie just got home yesterday afternoon, and is doing well, considering. She has three happy and willing servants catering to every caterable whim and guarding her from giant hurtling cats.

Third, please don't stop praying for my dear Valerie.

Fourth, I'm finding that I can't put my mind on writing or finishing serious posts, other than on this subject. I may put up a short HT tomorrow. Thank you for understanding.

Finally, we re-watched The Quiet Man for the whateverth time in the hospital. What a terrific movie. Great example of how to touch on "adult" themes while maintaining a G or (at most) PG level. Not one frame or word further was necessary.

Valerie

Hi gang.

My dear wife Valerie had a dull pain bother her for several days. It takes a lot to get her in to a doctor, so when she was ready to go to Urgent Care Saturday morning, it was obviously serious.

God was good: good parking, got right in, got a great doctor who sent her right to the emergency room. Again, God was good: got right in, got a good doctor, got a cat scan scheduled; long wait there, but at 5pm the doctor told us she had appendicitis and they were working on contacting the surgeon.

Again, God was good. Surgery was scheduled for 6pm, a simple laparoscopic surgery, do it all the time, wouldn't take long, she might be out of the hospital Monday or Tuesday. I followed her to the recovery room, kissed her, and went to wait.

After a half-hour or so the doctor summoned me in, during the surgery. My heart sank. He was supposed to be coming to me in the waiting room, telling me everything had gone fine and I could come see her. This wasn't that. Prayed, steeled myself, walked in to the recovery room.

No Valerie, just the surgeon. It was complicated, I learned. The appendix was misshapen and large, and the colon was involved. The surgeon would have to use a standard incision and remove a small section of her colon to get the appendix and all. I asked the best questions I could think of, and OKed the procedure.

Miserable years later, after much praying and worrying and clinging to God, I got the waiting-room visit from the surgeon. Now he could tell me, though in a new context, that it had gone well. I was relieved and grateful to God; but I knew Valerie would not love to find she would have a longer hospital stay and longer recovery.

That was Saturday, it's now... what is it? Oh, Tuesday. Been mostly with my dear wife, spent a couple of nights in her room with her, have been with her basically all day each day. Valerie is doing terrifically well, considering, praise God. She's working through her painful recovery, in which progress seems glacially slow, but I know (and the nurses confirm) that she's really doing well, given the major surgery she had.

We've been blessed with terrific nurses, our dear family has been loving and caring and helpful as they could, or great pastor and church have been supportive and caring. Now we just need to get the heck out of Dodge and back home.

So, not much blogging, or much more from me.

I trust you'll understand.

UPDATE here.

Monday music: "Bob," by "Weird Al" Yankovic

And now, for something a little less serious, thanks to a tip from Sue...

Get it? (Youngsters may need at least a glance at THIS for context)

Hither and thither 6/10/11

To paraphrase a Spencer Tracey movie character: maybe not much meat, but what's there is "cherce."

• Well friends, this week we have a lot of... wait — SQUIRREL!

• (Name that movie.)
• While you're at it, name that 10yo pirate:

• (Answer. Thanks, Dear Wife.)
• Reader Lenny may just have found us our ideal GOP 2012 candidate (with a little help from The Onion):

• Has my vote.
• So, how many presidential campaign starts do you get per season? Newt Gingrich hopes the answer is "At least two."
• I say if the candidate is still Gingrich, I'm still not interested.
• May have something to do with Gingrich's senior campaign staff resigning. Ya think?
• Among the ways I'm an atypical male is the fact that cars, per se, don't do much for me. But in case you're a more typical male (or atypical female), Chris Carney says this is the best car video ever.
• I love this. My brother Thabiti Anyabwile posted one of his wife's notes of prayers and encouragement for him. Makes me think of the times when a word from my dear wife has heartened, strengthened, and encouraged me — often for something very difficult and trying. This is Proverbs 12:4a and 31:11-12, 26 in action. (h-t Challies)
• My family and I love many of the films of Hayao Myazaki. Now Washington's Iain Heath has  represented some scenes in Legos.

• Here's a cautionary article on the disturbing themes in "young-adult literature."
• Sad story, or, Frying Pan to Fire Alert: disgusted with their liberal bishop's apostate social positions, an Episcopalian congregation in Maryland fled... to the Gospel? to Christ? to fidelity to the entire Word of God? Nope. To Rome. (Thx Joshua Cookingham)
• Fred notes that if you default on your student loan, the Department of Education might send a S.W.A.T. team after you. Or a relative.
• And people want the government to have more power and involvement in our lives? Huh?
• Like, for instance... telling us what light bulbs we can and can't buy?
• Al-Qaeda: We will blow you up... with this cupcake?! (Thanks, DAOD.)
• The "nom" never stops: Oreo truffles.
• The video Fred links to (which I converted to audio for my iPhone) is a really, really good brief exposure to the practice of presuppositional apologetics. Once they get down to business, which is pretty directly.
• Wow. Brotherly love? Not so much! (Thx Julie)

• Your Tax Dollars At Work alert: the FDA raids a dangerous elderberry producer. I know I'll sleep safer tonight. (Thanks, Carmen Siekierke.)
• Awesome Transformer sculptures made out of scrap parts.
• Ralph Traylor found us a commercial whose product you'll never guess until the last seconds.
• Another important BibChr Safety Tip:

• Here's a treat for you music lovers. The late composer Billy Taylor discusses folks' misconceptions about how jazz musicians improvise. This is a perfect illustration of an observation I've often made: experts make things look easy — except drumming. Watching Billy Taylor tinkle off those riffs just looks like a breeze, easy, simple.
• Look what Kerry Garrett found on his front door:

• Just kidding.
• But he did find this, somewhere:

• Yurie Hwang brought my attention back to the attempt to make circumcision illegal in San Francisco, an attempt being aided by a virulently anti-Semitic comic book character called "Foreskin Man." More vile nastiness from the Tolerance Police.
• Which brings up this breaking news: another actor is an idiot when speaking his own words. And yet again it's an actor whose work (when speaking others' words) I enjoy and admire: Russell Crowe. And it's yet another Twitter meltdown! Crowe launched an attack on observant Jews and circumcision in one breath — then promoted abortion in the next. I tell you yet again: if slavery was the accepted form of insanity in the 19th century, abortion is the same for the 20th and (so far) 21st.
• UPDATE ON PREVIOUS: it appears Crowe took his Tweets down. You can still see them here, but be warned of some harsh language. Also, Crowe apologized... sort of.
• Now to lighter thoughts.
• Cool: miniature crafted cities. (I don't vouch for anything else on that page; monitor your kids if they go there.)
• So: now that Screenit has evidently gone "paid-only," where will you go for detailed parental/child-minded movie reviews? Christian Spotlight is very uneven in quality and not very detailed. What do you like?  (This can update our discussion of almost two years ago.)
• In closing: normally, I think overhyperness about playground safety is silly and wrongheaded. However, this one may warrant a second look:

• Leaving us with:

THE USUALS WILL BE OBSERVED