what th-...!

I just watched the pilot episode of "V." I remember the original series back in the 80s and I loved it. This time it seems like a thinly disguised anti-democrat/Obama rhetoric vehicle. I know that TV shows often have commentaries of their contemporary presidential administrations: The Dukes of Hazard were popular during the Carter administration (both were from Georgia). The A-Team was big during the Reagan years. This V has a non-traditional leader - a woman, not unlike an African American person. One of the things that woos the humans is miracle health care. They actually characterize it as "universal health care." If you recall the original, the Visitors cured diseases so there would be more healthy people to eat. They gain the support of humans who are too dazzled by the Visitor's technology and hope for humanity (yes, they use "Hope" in a way familiar to the last presidential campaign), and their interest in uniting all nations in peace, to know that they are being duped. Luckily, there is a small "sleeper cell" of humans that know the real deal: that the Visitors aren't what they appear to be. The Visitors are actually behind much terrorist activity, and are plotting the ultimate demise of all the major nations - they're all the Cold War nations too by the way.

How obvious does this need to be? This is a deplorable attempt at undercutting of our national unity. "The Dukes of Hazard" and "The A-Team" weren't out to undercut the progress of a nation trying to come out of a recession, and prevent further recession, while at the same time bring about justice and fairness in a health care system gone awry. The people behind this really need to be called out. Freedom of speech is one thing, but using entertainment in this way is just bad form. The least the producers of "V" could do was come up with their own original show. Gee wiz.

series

Okay, here are the study guides that I used for the sermon/teaching series on the Epistle of James. They pretty much constitute the outline of the sermon. These were handed out as inserts in the ordo, and golf pencils to go with them. The congregation had to engage in active listening skills in order to get the answers to these questions. I usually find a few ordos left behind after services on Sundays, but for these three weeks, they all were taken home. I call that success.

Study Guide 1:
1) What are 4 ways of studying scripture? Answer: Redaction, Form, Source, Traditio-historical
2) Who were the emperors during the time of the writing of James? Answer: Titus, Domitian, Nerva, Trajan
3) The Book of James was most likely written between the years... Answer: 80 & 90
4) The Book of James was written about the same time as which Gospels? Answer: Matthew & Luke
5) How many other people named James could have been the author? Answer: 3
6) The author was most likely... Answer: James, son of Alphaeus
7) The Book of James is the only book in the New Testament where we meet James. Answer: False
8) The author of James knew Jesus personally. Answer: True
9) What happened to James, son of Zebedee (James the Greater) in 44? Answer: b- beheaded by Herod Agrippa I

Study Guide 2:
1) The Epistle of James finally made it into the Bible in which century? Answer: c- 5th
2) The Epistle of James was rejected because it was not apostolic. Answer: True

3) Martin Luther thought the Epistle of James was foremost among the books of the New Testament because it was written by one of the apostles. Answer False

4) Justification is by _____ and not ____. Answer: grace , works

5) Salvation is very expensive. It requires fervent stewardship of time, talent and treasure. Answer: False

6) Discuss: If salvation is God's free gift, does it matter how we live?

Study Guide 3:

1)These Bible study techniques can be used for any book of the Bible. Answer: True

2) The purpose of studying scripture is ____. Answer: get to a deeper level of hearing God.

3) Sadly, all the writers of the Bible are dead now, and so the stories don't really relate to our contemporary lives any more. Answer: False

4) Overall, the Book of James is trying to teach us____. Answer: how to balance being and doing as Christians in the real world.

5) Overall, Rev. Laurel is trying to teach is ____. Answer: How to read scripture critically, get past the surface value to the deeper meaning and relevance to our own lives. These stories are our stories.

exercising demons

I just got back from a 1:45 minute run. I've been adding crunches to my workout. Whenever I have to walk for a bit, I do 100 bicycle crunches, and then mountain climbers until I can't do any more, then sprint back into my run. I find it helps burn off stress better than running alone. Listening to relationship-gone-sour music helps too. I should get that Joan Jett album I wrote about a while ago on my iPod. At the end of my run I find myself too tired to stress about stuff.

2009 Body/Mind/Spirit Tour

Soon I'll be off on a much-needed retreat. I'm calling it the
Mind/Body/Spirit Tour. My bike and I are taking the
Lake Express ferry to Wisconsin...



...and then ride to the Julians...

http://www.orderofjulian.org/home.html

...where I'll spend three days of golden silence, prayer, rest, and direction from their wise guardian. That's the Spirit part.

From there, it's back in the saddle for a 40-mile ride to my friend's house. That's the Body part. I'll spend two days there talking shop, drinking beer, and laughing - a lot - with a really good friend. That's the Mind part.

I can't hardly wait.

Chiroptera ex domus

I think this is what I had last week, only mine were a little bigger.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Vespertilionidae
Subfamily: Myotinae
Genus: Myotis
Species: M. lucifugus

Life is a little quieter now that I'm not chasing, or being chased by, bats anymore. Sasha cat curls up quietly by my side on the bed and stays there all night. He may not have been a mighty hunter, but at least he was a good first alert when a bat flew in. When Sasha split, I knew it was time for me to go too.

I like a quiet night. I'm happy to be rid of them - at least, my barrier between them and me is secure. I still have to get my bat pro to come over and remove the rest of the colony from the eves. That'll take about a week. But I don't have to do anything else - like touch them.

I would like to go around with a sharp knife or blade and trim off the more billowy extrusions of expanding foam. I've used the stuff plenty of times in the theatre, so I'm pretty neat when it comes to applying it. Still, I like tidy too. I'm just not feeling motivated yet. If I get furniture to fill up the vast emptiness of the house, it might not be all that visible at all. I'd much rather go furniture shopping than trim cured foam.

I can't help but think if the bad guys simply surrounded Gotham with expanding foam, Batman never would have been able to get inside and capture them. It doesn't take an evil genius to figure this out, just a few cans of Great Stuff from the local hardware store!

swing batter batter batter

I called in the pros today. Two bat encounters in two nights is plenty enough for me. Tim, my varmint professional, arrived promptly at 4:30. He toured around the house inside and out and assessed the situation. He came to me with the typical good news/bad news report. He was impressed by the thoroughness of previous bat-proofing efforts, but there were several gaps and oversights.

It turns out they probably are not getting in via the fireplace. They seem to be getting in through the heating system. They can access the insides of the walls through the eves and work their way down the pipework to where it comes into a room. For $700 Tim can install one-way doors at the exterior entry points, and in a week they'll be out. He'll clean up their mess, permanently seal the holes and guarantee the work for a year. He have me advice on how to plug up the holes on the inside.

Six cans of expanding foam later, I think I've got all the interior holes sealed. I closed off the rooms. If they do get in, they'll be stuck there until morning and I'll know where I need to reapply the foam. Hopefully this will solve it, and I can sleep soundly.

second at-bat

Looks like my bat is in the 25%-of-the-time range. S/he hid in the house all day yesterday and emerged just after sunset last night. Dammit. I managed to herd it into a room. It really is as big as I thought. Wingspan has to be 30". It wasn't just my startled-awake imagination. I opened the window and shut the door. I don't think it left though, because Sasha cat keeps going to the door. I think we're still in the 25% group. It's just my luck to have a below-average bat.

I like to think I won this round. It successfully eluded Officer H. and me, and disappeared Monday night, but I've got control now. Bat: 1. Me: 1.

When I last checked in on it before turning in, it was hanging on the stucco ceiling. The ceiling fan was on, and I felt uneasy about that. I don't want the thing to get Ginsu'd in mid flight. I don't want it in the house, but I don't want it hurt either. It looked like it was sleeping with its arms covering its face. Kinda cute - you know, in a get-out-of-my-house kind of way.

I debated calling the local constabulary again to catch it, finally deciding not to. Today I'll call a pest guy to come get it. I think I know where in that room a bat might want to hide.

from the belfry

City kid just her her first bat invasion. It's now 4:38. The saga began about an hour ago when I awoke to an unusual noise in my room. I thought one of the cats was playing with something. But it didn't fit their usual play sound patterns. And that's when I saw it: a bat. It swooped over my head. The noises were it bouncing against the window screens. Otherwise bats fly silently. Did you know that? Not even a wing-flap.

I don't know how long this had been going on. Sasha cat, my constant sleeping companion was long gone. So no protection there. I've experienced bats in the house before - Groundnut Hill had one from time to time, but I've never been woken from sleep and buzzed. So what does city kid do when it's just her and a bat in an enormous house? She hides under the blankets and Googles bat removal of course. She reacts to a new emergency by researching it! Now if THAT doesn't prove I'm a geek, I don't know what will. My research informed me that if you awaken to a bat in your room, you should be concerned about having been bitten. Bites are very small, can go unnoticed, and can be rabid. How long had the bat been in my room? I don't know.

My first thought was: bat bite... rabies! My second thought was: bat bite... super bat powers! Seriously. So now I'm a geek and a dork.

So, while tucked away under the covers, relishing the false sense of security it afforded, I phoned the local police as nonchalantly as possible. Hey... it might have had rabies! I asked if there had been any rabies reports from bat bites locally. She had no idea but offered to send an officer to help me get rid of it. "Oh, gosh. That would be great if you could do that," I said. "Jackpot!" I thought.

Officer H., one of St. Collegetown's finest, arrived in a few minutes. We did a room-to-room search and found nothing. I'd opened the window in my bedroom before I went downstairs, and he said the bat probably went out it. Probably. He said 75% of the time that's what they do. What about the other 25%? Officer H. (and the bat as far as I can tell) were gone in less than an hour.

And now, here I sit in my living room, waiting to be tired enough to fall back asleep again.

Why did it have to pick my bedroom? I've got a million rooms in this house and it had to pick the one that I was sleeping in. Honestly! I like bats. I think they're cute, and really cool. They do a wonderful service by eating mosquitoes and other insects. As a youngster I used to toss rocks in front of them to see them dodge it with their sonar. So cool. And best enjoyed outdoors.

I think it really is gone. Or maybe I'm just too tired to care. Super bat powers would be cool.