From Ghoulies and .... Warnings

Over at Boing Boing Cory posts a passage from Lenore Skenazy at the Huffington Post about the true dangers of Halloween.

It's not that I'm cavalier about safety. I'm just a sucker -- so to speak -- for the facts. And the fact is: No child has been poisoned by a stranger's goodies on Halloween, ever, as far as we can determine. Joel Best, a sociology professor at the University of Delaware, studied November newspapers from 1958 to the present, scouring them for any accounts of kids felled by felonious candy. And...he didn't find any. He did find one account of a boy poisoned by a Pixie Stix his father gave him. Dad did it for the insurance money and, Best says, he probably figured that so many kids are poisoned on Halloween, no one would notice one more...

There are of course, real dangers out there in the world. Crazed politicians comes to mind. Drunk drivers also pops up.

Oh well. Happy Halloween, I guess.

This is Lance

Earlier this year, the Illegal Advertising Website posted a Lance Armstrong/Nike ad with his Livestrong theme. I thought I would post it this week after commenting on Lance's becoming a spokesperson for Michelob.

This is who I think of when I think of Lance.

Living Down to Expectations

Two news items in the past week:

Study: Parents' Expectations Can Influence Risky Teen Behavior
Join Together Online www.jointogether.org October 22, 2009

Research Summary

The more parents expect their teens to engage in risky behaviors such as drinking and using drugs, the more likely their teens are to follow through with those behaviors, Reuters reported Oct. 16.

Researchers found that adolescents with mothers who expected them to be more rebellious and take greater risks reported higher levels of risky behavior than other adolescents during follow-up surveys.

On the other hand, parents may lower the rate of risky behavior among their adolescent children by expecting that they can resist negative peer pressure and instead engage in positive behavior, according to the study.

See the full article at: http://www.jointogether.org/news/research/summaries/2009/study-parents-expectations.html

Makes sense- if you expect that they will do it, they will. It is not surprising then that (anecdotally) so many parents who get in trouble for drinking will often have parents who say, "Well, teenagers will be teenagers." This is different from a certain sense of reality that many young people may try alcohol or drugs, but with the right support and guidance that may not turn into something stronger. The influence of parents remains the #1 prevention tool.

The other item says the same thing from a different place- the college campus.

Party Colleges Do Little to Curb Drinking
By Tara Parker-Pope
New York Times October 19, 2009

Colleges with a reputation for heavy drinking and a party culture have been largely ineffective at curtailing student drinking over the past decade, new research shows.

University of Minnesota researchers tracked the drinking habits of students at 18 U.S. colleges with a reputation for heavy drinking. In 1993, 28 percent of students said they frequently binged on alcohol. A similar survey in 2005 found that 32 percent were frequent binge drinkers, according to a report last month in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

See the full article at: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/19/colleges-do-little-to-curb-drinking/

I went to college at one of those self-proclaimed schools with a hard-earned self-reputation as a Party School. I didn't know it when I first went there. In those days, in spite of urban legends to the contrary, there was no listing of the best party schools. And when I started I wasn't into partying. But it soon became a matter of pride and keeping up the old traditions. Also in those days (yes, it was that long ago) the schools were dropping their role of in loco parentis and giving us free rein.

But the school could have taken every step in the book- and it wouldn't have changed anything. We were indoctrinated already. We had already drank the (heavily spiked) Kool-Aid. No way would we let the reputation down. In this case it was the students' own self-identification that set the tone. The school did little to impact that.

Both of these stories hint at the great difficulty alcohol and drug abuse present to our culture. They also show that the places to start are at teh very basics- support of parents and community for a different approach.

Parents of toddlers and early elementary kids- now is the time to start.

College admins and student leaders- start now to hopefully change the image in 20 years. It is tough- you may have to keep alumni off campus. (Just kidding.)

But it is not impossible. If you would have told me 20 years ago that cigarette smoking would be as relatively rare as it is today, I would not have believed you.

Riding a Kaleidoscope

Another mind-boggling video. It has an interesting sound design that makes the video art even more intriguing.

Sound Design for 'Video Art' by Gyu Kim from Johannes Oesterle on Vimeo.

Pre-Sunday Quarterbacking

Now isn't this interesting. News from Packers.com:

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers is the Offensive Player of the Month for October, the NFL announced today.

• Rodgers led the Packers to a 2-1 record and posted an NFL-best 123.9 passer rating during the month.
• He passed for 988 yards in October and averaged a league-high 329.3 yards per game.
• Rodgers completed an NFC-best 74.5 percent of his passes (70 of 94) during October and his 10.51 yards per attempt mark led the league.
• He had a passer rating of at least 110 in all three games, including a near-perfect 155.4 mark in Week 7 at Cleveland, the highest single-game total in franchise history.

Rodgers has now posted a 110+ rating in four consecutive games, joining Pro Football Hall of Famer BART STARR (1966) as the only Packers to accomplish the feat. In his fifth season from California, this is Rodgers' first career Player of the Month Award. He is the second Packer to win a monthly award this year, joining CHARLES WOODSON (Defense, September). The last Green Bay quarterback to win a monthly award was BRETT FAVRE (November 2004).

Hopefully on Sunday the string will continue.

Gratitude

It was 21 years ago...

7,670 sets of 24 hours....

The day the music was reborn.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

I came to understand that life was not going where I thought it was. Today I understand a great deal more about addiction and alcoholism. I know the early warning signs that someone like me had- and was blind to.

Today I understand that addiction is a disease that has been set in action in some of the deeper parts of my brain. It is one of the physical consequences of the chemicals we become addicted to.

Today I understand that addiction starts by eating away the spiritual roots of life and turning inward in destructive ways. That it continues with the psychological barriers to its own discovery. Soon it hits the social networks that are essential to healthy human life. Finally it takes the physical and ends up tearing apart the fabric of life.

Today I also understand that addiction is not a death sentence and alcoholism is not a one-way ticket to the sanitarium. There is hope. Through help and honesty, humility and gratitude people every day are overcoming its hold on them. They can be in recovery.

Today I am grateful. Twenty-one years have come and gone and I do not regret one moment of those days.

And to all who have been part of this journey in one way or another, I offer you my deepest heartfelt thanks.

When Miracles Occur

We are no longer a people who believe in miracles. Not in the way we usually think of them. Mary Doria Russell in her book Children of God has a miracle occur. That is all I will say so as not to ruin the story. The miracle is not of the Biblical type, but is one that could possibly catch the attention of our modern age.

But would it? Russell describes the reactions this way:

...[R]eaction to [the event] had rigidified. Believers found it a miraculous confirmation of God's existence and evidence of Divine Providence. Skeptics declared it a fraud - a clever trick...Atheists did not dispute [its] authenticity, but they considered it just another fluke that proved nothing - like the universe itself. Agnostics admitted [it] was magnificent, but suspended judgment, waiting for who knew what?

The pattern was established at Sinai and under the Buddha's tree; on Calvary and at Mecca; in sacred caves, at wells of life, amid circles of stone. Signs and wonders are always doubted, and perhaps they are meant to be. In the absence of certainty, faith is more than mere opinion; it is hope.

--Mary Doria Russell, Children of God, p. 430.

There will always be true believers, skeptics, and deniers. But so also will there always be signs and wonders. The believers will see them, the seekers will look for them, the skeptics will question them, the deniers will say they didn't happen. It may very well be that miracles are only seen by those who have the eyes of faith. That doesn't mean that we see what we want to see. No, many times I have been surprised by what has happened and what I have seen. That's why it is a miracle.

But I was open for the possibility. I was ready in hope that somehow God will break through and remind me that God is God and I am not. Perhaps the biggest surprise is that these miracles are happening around me all the time and I am too busy to see them.

A Sign of the Times

The Buzz Log on Yahoo last week reported on how Rush Limbaugh got punk'd by a satirical blog post. I gather the post reported digging up a supposed thesis from Obama in college that disdained the constitution. It got to Rush Limbaugh where it was reported as true. According to The Buzz he discovered about half-way through his show that it wasn't true. He then defended himself by saying that is "basically felt true." (Emphasis mine.)

The writer of The Buzz commented that it was quite a feat for a lowly out-of-nowhere blog to make it all the way to a major media outlet.

Yes, that's true (and I am still waiting for that to happen.)

But more to the point, it says a great deal about

1. Rush Limbaugh's style when he reports on something that felt true. I guess that means you don't report on what doesn't feel true. Like what really is in the health reform bill.
2. The lengths Mr. Obama's detractors will go to find something to use against him- and take it as true because it is what they want to believe.

But then why bother with facts when my beliefs feel so much better.

Halloween Fears

iMonk posted one of his annual Halloween rants last week. He talks about how when he was growing up in a Southern Baptist community, the church was into Halloween.

From the late sixties into the early seventies, the churches I attended and worked for–all fundamentalist Baptists–were all over Halloween like ants on jam. It was a major social activity time in every youth group I was part of from elementary school through high school graduation in 1974.

We had haunted houses. Haunted hikes. Scary movies. (All the old Vincent Price duds.) As a youth minister in the mid to late seventies and early eighties, I created some haunted houses in church education buildings that would win stagecraft awards.

He then says that things changed. I remember that time. I remember the movement that arose in more conservative Christian circles to fight against Halloween as a devil-based holiday that good Christians should avoid. Halloween was Satan's way of sneaking in the back door. It wasn't far from Halloween to sex, drugs, and rock and roll. For some reason parents forgot their childhoods, or felt guilty about them, and decided to make amends through their children.

Evangelical parents decided that their own harmless and fun Halloween experiences were a fluke, and if their kid dressed up as a vampire, he’d probably try to become one. If there was a pumpkin on the porch, you were inviting demons into your home, just like it says in Hezekiah.

This is not to say that there isn't evil in the world. However you want to look at "satan" or "the devil" I tend to think that the paranoid fundamentalist leadership found a way to keep the flock in tow. It made sense, in a paranoid kind of way. But does it really?

iMonk continued:

It bothers me that any lie, exaggeration or fiction will find thousands of eager believers to pass it along.

That may be the money quote that underlies the issue. How easy it is to grab people's attention. Get them afraid. Work their fears. Stoke the fires of uncertainty under them. What is really scary is not the ghoulies and ghosties and long-legged beasties but the power that can so quickly take away our ability to think.

Another Monday- More Quarterbacking

Finally, the Vikings have lost. Not a surprise, actually, when they are playing a truly top-shelf team like the Pirates Steelers (oops). But what is surprising is that their Starting QB had impressive numbers: 34/51, 334 YDS, 1 INT. But nary a TD for the first time this season. Plus a fumble, three sacks, and two defensive TDs by the Steelers in the last 7 minutes- and you have a loss. Even the Starting QB couldn't salvage this one. Is this a sign of things to come for the Vikings? I think so, but never count out the Starting QB.

Final score:
Vikings 17
Steelers 27

Meanwhile in Cleveland the Packers were having a scrimmage playing in preparation for next week's home game against the Vikings. The Packers' Starting QB had another top quality start: 15/20, 246 YDS, 3 TD. What is better to note is that he wasn't sacked at all. Nada. That's after a league-leading 25 times sacked so far this season. (Note that the Vikings' Starting QB isn't all that far behind with 18 sacks.) For today Rodgers was better, the offensive line was better. But, yeah, they were playing the Browns.

Final score:
Packers 31
Browns 3

So through Week 7, overall the race between the Starting QBs is a virtual tie. Rodgers is 3rd top QB overall; the Vikings' Starting QB is 6th. The Packers seem to be slowly working their way together. The Vikings are showing their quality. But next week is the Big One. The two teams most likely to be tied for 1st in the division. If GB wins. We shall see.

Footnote: For the first time in NFL history there are three undefeated teams after week 7- New Orleans, Indianapolis, and Denver.

On (Not) Being Spiritual

Huh?

I was taken aback by some quotes and thoughts as I was reading the book Cloister Talks by Jon Sweeney. The book relates Sweeney's experience spending time visiting with monks for a deeper understanding of his "spiritual" life and more. Well, toward the end of the book Sweeney is having a discussion with one of his monk friends.

"Do you ever wonder what is the purpose of all of the spiritual exercises we do?" [Sweeney] asked...."I do so much, I try so hard..." [Sweeney] began.

"So what? What does that matter?" [Father Luke responded.]

"What do you mean what does it matter? What else is there?"

"Plenty.
"You don't make yourself spiritual," Luke said. "And you are thinking mostly about yourself if you are self-consciously trying for that. Prayer and lectio and going to church- those are duties, not spiritualities. You don't chart your own course to holiness."

"Then what do I do?" I say with more pleading in my heart than he can possibly imagine.

"You can keep loving."

--p. 136.

Interesting thought, I responded. "Keep loving" sounds about right. What is, it though, that Sweeney is trying to pass on to us? Spirituality has become one of those postModern buzz words. That doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it. It has just turned into part of a mantra:

• It's not about religion; it's about being spiritual.
• Religion is for people who are afraid of going to hell; spirituality is for those who have already been there.
• I'm not religious. I'm spiritual.

So I read on, knowing that for some reason these words had some truth to them, but were they a reaction to the postModern thinking? Spirituality is important. Perhaps religion is too.

Later, Sweeney points out that his friend Father Luke doesn't use the words spiritual or spirituality very often. He asks Father Luke what the words mean to him.

"Not much, to be honest with you."

"Really?"

"Yes. I'm not trying to be spiritual."

"Why not?"

"It's the wrong goal and the wrong path, both.
"The words of spirituality often don't ring true for me. They are always so comforting. But knowing God intimately isn't always a comfort. Anyone who has spent long periods of time listening for God's voice knows that the experience is not often warm or cozy or even inviting. It can be profoundly unsettling," he warned.

--p. 137

Ah, but there is more from Sweeney and his spiritual mentors:

Where does Jesus say to his disciples, "Be spiritual for I am spiritual?"

"Don't make prayer or service or study or whatever, something you set out to a do like a task. Love your neighbor to the point of giving yourself up to him. Then see what God would have you do next."

--p. 138

Do the next right thing, we hear in 12-Step meetings. That's God's will. Or as a late mentor of mine used to say, "When you come to a door, go through it. That's God's will." Back to Sweeney:

We aren't supposed to try and find spiritual experiences. We aren't supposed to measure our success by how we feel or what we've done. We are meant to become our true selves in Christ, which for many people may mean avoiding spirituality all together.

Each person discovers how he is an expression- a unique copy... of Christ in the world, with God's help.

--p. 138

The point, then, seems to be that spirituality is not a journey, a set of things we can do, or even necessarily the way to God. Spirituality has become a feeling issue and not a being issue. The discovery how we are each unique copies of Christ in the world, or perhaps, part of God's incarnation in the world. After all, isn't that who Jesus was- and is?

This is going to obviously take more time and pondering. But it is an interesting challenge to the postModern, self-oriented views that may have very well become, unknowingly, part of our understandings of our journeys of faith.

A Truism

Found on the blog- The Great Conversation

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream”
--C. S. Lewis

But then you see this headline on a NYT story:

The Number of Job Hunters 65 or Older Skyrockets

Or then this one on a Yahoo! News item a week or so ago:

How to Stay Healthy in Retirement: Keep Working

As one who deeply believes the truth of the quote from C. S. Lewis who was just shy of 64 when he died, I am struck by the importance of dreams. While some may dream of retirement when "work" is voluntary, I am not sure it ever truly is. We keep on dreaming and finding meaning and yes, working for pay or not, volunteering or fixing the things around the house still needing to be fixed.

Perhaps on some level, if we like our jobs, why not continue to work so Social Security isn't bankrupt? Why not pass that legacy on to our children? Maybe we can still work on that world-changing, life-changing dream of peace that so many of us lived under back in the 60s and early 70s. Maybe working with the younger generations coming up will give a chance to redeem the generation gap that we may have helped foster while also listening to them and giving them the ear we thought we wanted.

In short, age is not a barrier. Unless we let it be.

A Medical Emergency

Yes, the H1N1 flu is a medical emergency. If you don't believe it, go to the Flu Map at Weather Underground. There are only four states not reporting widespread flu activity: Connecticut, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Hawaii. As Jeff Masters comments:

I doubt the flu map has looked like this since 1968, the last time a flu pandemic swept the globe. ... [A] typical peak flu outbreak occurs in February or March, and at most twenty states are colored red.

The good news is, of course, that it is not at this point a particularly virulent strain. Just don't say that to the families of the now over 1,000 people who have died as a result of the H1N1 flu. No matter how you spin it, it is a major health concern that is not done yet. If it holds into the regular flu season, it could be a difficult illness and a long winter.

Like a Marching Band- But...

...with motorcycles. From the 1950s, a video of Italian police motorcyclists putting on a show. I was struck by how much it looked like the kind of marching drills we put on back when I was in college in the 60s. Except, of course, our band members ran on "ethanol" more often than gas.



So, here is a recent version of the best marching band in the East- the Lehigh Marching 97- still impressive but you should have seen us when there were 97 of us on the field. What a sight.

Not Bad At All

The Phillies are back in the World Series.

Second year in a row.

The first NL team to do that since the '95-'96 Atlanta Braves.

The 7th time the Phillies have been there in their history.

If they repeat as champs, they will be only the 4th NL team to do that.

• 1907-1908 Chicago Cubs
• 1921-1922 New York Giants
• 1975-1976 Cincinnati Reds

But that's getting ahead of the story. For now:

Way to go, Phillies!

I Am Deeply Saddened

Last Monday the Marin Institute, which calls itself an Alcohol Industry Watchdog had an article that Tour de France super athlete and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong has signed a deal with Anheuser-Busch (ABI) to sell Michelob Ultra

as a low-calorie beer for “health-minded, active drinkers.”

The article went on:

Does Armstrong not even understand the connection between alcohol consumption and cancer, or does he think low-calorie beer doesn’t count? There’s nothing healthy about beer, no matter how few calories a bottle may contain. The health myth, as it's been promoted by Big Alcohol, has been soundly debunked.

Of course, ABI wasted no time resurrecting the myth by saying: “Armstrong was the perfect spokesman for Michelob Ultra, which targets health-minded, active drinkers. Having dominated a sport that requires such a physical commitment, Lance is the perfect athlete to connect with adult beer drinkers who lead active lifestyles," said Vice President of Marketing Keith Levy.

Now, I know that there are lots of reasons why Lance, or any athlete would be an ad-man for beer (or any product.) But I do wonder about the advisability of something like this. I am saddened after the way Armstrong's Live Strong campaign has pushed health. And there are even strong connections between excessive alcohol consumption and certain cancers. Not to mention that alcohol-related illnesses may be as much as 20% of health care costs.

But this is of course Armstrong's choice. It doesn't diminish what he has done or the Live Strong campaign. I just wish he had thought a little more deeply about the issue.

Note: Lance does endorse other things. The Awesomer posted today about an indoor stationary cycle that he endorses. It appears to be a good, high-end that runs about $1,000.

Fare-thee-well O Metrodome

It was delayed by a week. We had bought tickets for the "last game" back in April. We were there the week before when we closed out the dome with a win over Kansas City. But there was more to come. A win on Tuesday over Detroit pushed us into the post-season. So here we were, October 11, for another visit under the Teflon Sky.


It was a beautiful day, but chilly. The downtown skyline and the crowds were just what you would expect.






This was the American League Division Series...

and we were down two games to none against the Yankees. Even if before the game we celebrated that Joe was the 2009 batting champ with an incredible .365 avg., we were not going to have much to celebrate.




It It would not be a pretty night. There was no final Metrodome Magic. It was all gone. We used it up. All that was left was to try.




We could enjoy Jeter being thrown out at first



Pavano pitching.



Delmon Young still safe at second between Jeter and Rodriguez.



The Yankees were the winners.

As we took our time leaving for the last time we saw home plate and the pitching rubber be removed.






We left slowly, heading out under the seats...








Toward Kirby Puckett Place to be "blown out the door" one last time by the air pressure differential that kept the dome inflated.


We touched the doorway one last time and were out in the chilly October night.



The scene as I arrived back home, 75 miles south of the dome, was as clear a sign as any that the season was over.



Final observations:
>>> This was the fourth post-season game I have attended in my life, not counting Little League World Series games. I was at the

• World Series in Philadelphia in 1980- Phillies v. Kansas City (we won.)
• National League Championship in Philadelphia in 1983- Phillies v. Dodgers (we won.)
• American League Division in Minneapolis in 2004- Twins v. Yankees (we lost.)
• American League Division in Minneapolis in 2009- Twins v. Yankees (we lost.)

This was my daughter's first and she was excited. It is really neat to be able to share with an adult daughter one of the joys of my life and see her make it her own!

>>> The Metrodome sure has had its moments. There were a lot of things wrong with it for baseball- the color of the Teflon sky, the seating that was better for football than baseball. But we did go 28 seasons without a rainout and won many games, including two World Series. While it may not have been a "dear friend" at least it was friendly.

>>> I look forward to outdoor basball- from May through September. I do not look forward to games in April or October. Yes, I am a wimp. I have sat through "cooler near the lake" games and mid-September games at the old Milwaukee County Stadium and looked for warmth. Several inches of snow on the day after the last game reminded us that this could happen next year. But if they can do it in Denver and New York, why can't we?

After all this IS Minnesota!

So We Wait for Spring

And outdoor baseball for the first time since 1981.

An Even Better House

I am a big fan of House. The writing and acting is probably the best on network TV. While Dr. House has done many things that would get a real doctor fired many times (and probably put in jail to boot) the ups and downs and crazy actions of the show never fail to entertain and challenge me.

Throughout the series' previous 5 seasons House's addiction has been in full action. While he may seem over the top, for an addict he's not all that odd. Well, this year he seems to be in recovery. He is a sort-of. kind-of, kinder, gentler House. Maybe most of the time. He has a conscience but is still the curmudgeon. Which should not be a surprise. A cleaned up version of an AA statement is that when the person was drinking they were a drunken jerk. Now they are a sober one. House is living up to that while getting better.

As a result the depth of the show has increased a few notches, the writing is as good as ever, and the focusing on relationships in a less crowded cast is refreshing. I am intrigued by the possibilities that these changes are bringing since it has revived a show that wasn't even slowing down. But it has brought a new focus. I hope it continues. It is good TV and it may be good recovery.

Monday Morning Quarterbacking: Short and Sweet

1. Another good job by both QBs I am watching. The Packers' Aaron Rodgers had another career-level day (29/37, 358 YDS, 2 TD, 1 INT) and the first shut-out in two years. The Vikings Starting QB had a decent day (21/29, 278 YDS, 3 TD) but was sort of out-gunned by Ravens' losing QB Flacco (28/43, 385 YDS, 2 TD). Only a missed field goal at the end preserved the win. Another tie between the Packers and Vikings QB.

2. The Packers still are having problems with sacks and penalties. They have to solve it.

3. The Vikings are proving they are a championship level team. But they barely got out of this one with a team that may be the best team they have faced. They have a long season ahead of them, even with a 6-0 record.

4. At this point it could turn into an interesting second half. Stay tuned.

Touched by Grace

Grace. A gift. Unexpected. Unrequested. A source of wonder and awe and hope and forgiveness and love.

That's how I felt as, through teary eyes I read the last few pages of Mary Doria Russell's magnificent book Children of God, the concluding book of her two-part series that begins with The Sparrow. The two books, which will forever be a single story in my mind, are among the top books I have ever read. They ring with the power of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy or A Tale of Two Cities as life changing books in my life's canon. Remarkable story-telling; characters to fall in love with; a world unlike any you have ever seen but as real and as filled with drama as the one we inhabit. That is because throughout the books Russell is dealing with the big issues of life and God and theology, set in a future on a different world but filled with you and me and those we know around us.

At the center is Emilio Sandoz, Jesuit priest; possible saint(?); God-fearing, God-hating, God-searching everyman. In this second book he is heading back to the distant world that he explored in the first book. Between pain and hope, love and sorrow, is it possible for a miracle to occur? Is it possible that God can have something to do with all creation? Is cosmic love a possibility?

To my relief Russell does not pull a miracle out of a hat in a "deus ex machina" ending. She does not fall into any more sentimentality than you would expect in a story about love LOVE. My tears were from the fact that the story was coming to an end and I had fallen in love with Sandoz and Candotti, the Jana'ata and the Runa, Nico and all those who were now long gone. It is therefore a story about mortality and God and hope.

Sandoz refers to the "necropolis" of his heart, the City of the Dead where all those who have gone from his life are "living." It is from there that grace flows, not from Sandoz but from God having touched Sandoz and us with the unnameable, indescribable, transcendence that we so glibly call "God." As one who is aging and therefore whose own necropolis of the heart fills more each year, there is a power in that which redeems and sanctifies.

Grace.

This is actually the 4th post on this series (#1, #2, #3) with a 5th one coming next week.

Fun With Mickey

From The Awesomer is a tilt-shift video of a day at Disney World. What fun. It looks so unreal and surreal.



What is tilt-shift photography? It is actually a way to make big things look miniature, which is way to simplified. Here is a link to Wikipedia about it. Looks like fun, and something that can probably also be done with digital processing.

Pondering Perspectives

This quote came from the Sojourners email newsletter.

When I feed the poor they call me a saint. When I ask why so many people are poor they call me a communist.

- Dom Helder Câmara, late archbishop of the Brazilian diocese of Olinda and Recife. Oct. 13 was the anniversary of his death.

What are the Odds?

Thanks to Marketplace on Public Radio for leading me to the new website

The Book of Odds.

I gather it has been in the works for a couple of years to gather the "odds" of something happening. For example, several I found with a quick search that show some similar odds:

• 1 in 739.2 - The odds an MLB game will include a player hitting for the cycle are 1 in 739.2 (US and CA, 1/1/1901 - 9/8/2009)

• 1 in 737.5 - The odds a white female will be diagnosed with breast cancer in a year are 1 in 737.5 (US, 1994).

• 1 in 742.8 - The odds an employed person 16 or older in Tennessee is a telemarketer are 1 in 742.8 (TN, US, 5/2008).

• 1 in 735.3 - The odds a female born in 1950 is named Arlene are 1 in 735.3 (US, 1950).

Seems like fun to me. But then again, I think I need a life.

Finding What You Want to Know

The other evening I was in a discussion with an acquaintance about the health care reform debate. He was clearly against whatever it is that President Obama is trying to do. He had all the standard complaints we have heard from the opponents, a number of which have been refuted a number of times. Surprisingly he claimed to not think much of the right-wing pundits- Beck, Limbaugh, and O'Really.

Which is why I was surprised when he voiced the claim that the health care reform legislation isn't public and that the Democrats/Obama are hiding it from people so they won't know what's in it. Surprised? I was flabbergasted. I looked at him and commented that I know that it was over 40 years ago that I was a government/poli sci major but I didn't think the Congress had changed that much.

But he wasn't kidding. He challenged me. You won't find it on the Internet, he claimed. It's secret. I again tried to explain that Congress doesn't vote on non-existent legislation. He didn't back down and challenged me. You wont' find it, he insisted.

Well, at home that evening, it took me an extremely long time, oh, about 45 seconds, to find it. Both versions. The one passed by the Health Committee and the one passed by the Finance Committee.

All you have to do is go to senate.gov and look at active legislation. Or to the committees link and either Finance or Health and Education (H.E.L.P.) It's right there. All 200+ pages in .pdf format.
Senate bill S. 1679 or House bill H.R. 3200 Note that's seven links in that one paragraph to something to supposedly is being kept secret. And there are probably more but I ran out of time after five minutes of searching and some reading.

Then this morning I noticed on Yahoo! News that they headlined that the health bill is now back "behind closed doors." NO! I wanted to shout. That does not mean what many will say. It does mean that they are back there doing political machinations to fool us all. Read the article and you know that it means that there are two bills reported out of the two committees and a conference committee is now hammering out the differences for one bill to come to the floor. No wonder we don't know what to think when the news media puts headlines that confuse more than clarify.

All this reminded me of the U.S. Civics quiz online that showed how little people know about how our government works.

Seventy-one percent of Americans fail the test, with an overall average score of 49%.

* Liberals score 49%; conservatives score 48%. Republicans score 52%; Democrats score 45%.
* Fewer than half of all Americans can name all three branches of government, a minimal requirement for understanding America’s constitutional system.
[Note that these scores are regardless of affiliation or ideology.]

It only continues to show me that the debates we are having about a number of issues, but at this moment, particularly the health care debate, is based as much on fear and misinformation than on the facts- death panels being the one obvious bit of incorrect information that even Senators who should know, aren't refuting for political gain.

I am saddened by the whole process that we are in. Somewhere in the past 20 years we have lost a sense of discussion and the ability to work with people we may disagree with to find solutions. "Just say 'No!' " is not a solution. On either side. Politics is about compromise. On both sides.

This health care debate and reform is important. Celebrate and strengthen what is working and working well. Reform what isn't and help more people be covered by insurance. In an industrialized, advanced civilized country it is unforgivable that people lose health insurance when they lose a job or die because they can't get insurance. There are basics of a caring compassionate civilization that are essential. In some way we have to see that this happens.

But we have to get the facts and not the hysteria.

First Snowfall 2009

It came too early in the season for most of us- Columbus Day is waaaayyyy to early, but there were some neat pictures that I managed to take from my window.

Well, actually the first two were taken on Sunday evening - about midnight - when I got home from the Twins final game in Minneapolis. (Pictures of that coming later in the week.) This is the apartment parking lot....


And way up in one of the street lamps was this poor old spider web just catching snowdust...


Now this one is from Monday noon looking across the lake outside our apartment. Somehow the mix of white and color is nice, but still too soon.


But to make it all worthwhile about an hour after the above picture, I looked out and there they were, our eagles. Recently a second one has joined the first that I've seen since we moved in almost two years ago. They now seem to be holding court together.


And then to zoom in from another shot, they are quite majestic and patient. They were there for over an hour. In the snow.

Time for Fun

Below is a video that Andrew Sullivan posted as a mental health break the other day. It's an old railroad watch and is neat just to watch.

Time from Andrew Curtis on Vimeo.

Just a Thought

By Thomas Merton

I have learned that an age in which politicians talk about peace is an age in which everybody expects war: the great men of the earth would not talk of peace so much if they did not secretly believe it possible, with one more war, to annihilate their enemies forever. Always, “after just one more war” it will dawn, the new era of love: but first everybody who is hated must be eliminated. For hate, you see, is the mother of their kind of love.

Unfortunately the love that is to be born out of hate will never be born. Hatred is sterile; it breeds nothing but the image of its own empty fury, its own nothingness. Love cannot come of emptiness. It is full of reality. Hatred destroys the real being in fighting the fiction which it calls “the enemy.” For humans are concrete and alive, but “the enemy” is a subjective abstraction. A society that kills real humans in order to deliver itself from the phantasm of a paranoid delusion is already possessed by the demon of destructiveness because it has made itself incapable of love. It refuses, a priori, to love. It is dedicated not to concrete relations of human with human, but only to abstractions about politics, economics, psychology, and even, sometimes, religion.

Source: Seeds of Contemplation, 1949

--Inward/Outward

Two Quick Monday Morning Sports Thoughts Plus One

1) Vikings win big, Starting Quarterback looks like he's worth the money. Packers have a bye week. No competition for Monday Morning Quarterbacking. Literally. I wonder how the Starting QB and his team will do when they play someone who can call them up short, has an offensive line, and power?

2) Baseball at the Dome is done. Twins defeat the Twins with help from the Yankees. Gee, if only we could advance ourselves into the ALCS. But it was a great season. More posts with pictures coming later in the week.

+1) Snow. Brrr. Not fair! Even in Minnesota in mid-October.

An Early Christmas Gift?

I gather that today is the release date for the next Dylan album- a Christmas album. It is only 2 1/2 months until Christmas so why not.

Anyway, New York Magazine posted a note on Thursday of a leak of the album Sounds like it may be a fun album. Since, in addition to being a Dylan fan I also collect Christmas music, I am sure I will download it one of these days soon.

Or, maybe not. Jim DeRogatis at the Chicago Sun-Times gives it a scathing No Stars review. I guess we will watch for other ideas and see whether it is really that bad.

--HT to Dylan Devotional

It's Possible for God

Mark 10: 24 - 31: But Jesus said again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?"

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."

Peter said to him, "We have left everything to follow you!"

"I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

There are times when I wish I understood what all these passages and ideas meant to the original apostles/disciples. I wonder what Jesus himself was talking about. Did he have the same "God will rescue me from anything" idea that we sometimes want? Did he mean that we will be well taken care of, safe, happy, and forever smiling?

My guess is, "Probably not!" But that is as far as I can go. Anyone who claims to know truly what all these mean is fooling themselves and any who listen to them. As a preacher I would wrestle with making definitive statements about these. All I could say was "This is what it says. This is how I understand it today."

Which brings me again to wrestling with God's ways. It always does. And, I have mentioned before, this has been really placed in my thoughts thanks to the two-novel series by Mary Russell- The Sparrow/Children of God. I am two-thirds of the way through the second novel and am stunned by its style, story, and ideas. Using a "science fiction" genre story about discovering sentient life on a distant planet, Russell takes readers on an amazing journey trying to find answers to theological/philosophical questions.

At the heart of the story is knowing what God's call can mean and how following God can raise more questions than it answers. I have no idea how Russell is going to bring resolution to the question. Her protagonist, Jesuit priest Emilio Sandoz is one of the most interesting literary characters I have met. He speaks for my soul when faced with the pain of God's will. He speaks for those who have been brought down by circumstances beyond their control yet supposedly in the control of God, who they hope they are following.

So far Russell hasn't given us any easy answers. In fact, she seems to make it more and more difficult to come up with an easy answer. Will there be a Job-like epiphany? Will there be a "deus ex machina" - God from the heavenly machine sweeping in like the Cavalry? I hope not. But that is often how we expect it to happen.

In fact our understanding of the Second Coming is exactly like that. Out of the heavens will come all the answers to all our world's problems never again having to worry. But I find that answer to be as uncomfortable as having no God at all.

So when it says that "with God all things are possible"- even the salvation of the wealthy- or my salvation and yours- I am with Fr. Sandoz in wondering what and how God will do that and whether it is worth the pain of getting there. Somehow we know the answer to that should be "Yes, it has to be worth it". But it sure doesn't make any sense.

Which, at least at this point in my life, I am happy to live with. If I could understand the ways of God with my limited and closed human mind, I am not sure God would be a God I could follow.

Yes, I believe that with God all things are possible.

Help my unbelief.

This is Fun

Sit back and enjoy.



--Thanks to The Awesomer

Waking Up the Man on the Moon

Well, we all thought it would be a Hollywood-type show. Watch the rocket crash into the crater from the next rocket following along behind. A big plume of debris, lots of something.

Then nothing. Some nice close-up views for a little bit.

Then nothing.

NASA tells us they got lots of good data. But we are still waiting for pictures of it.

But as I watched yesterday morning, live, on NASA TV, I had to say I was still awed by how good the picture was. It could have been from a TV feed down the street. Quite a change from the pictures 40 years ago of Neil Armstrong stepping on the moon. Now we get upset because we don't get a big picture show.

I was surprised, though I shouldn't have been, by reactions to the whole thing by some friends. They thought the whole thing was stupid. Why waste all that money to crash the moon? Why not use the money for here on earth? Think of all the better ways the money could have been used.

There is truth in that of course. But that has been true of any major scientific exploration. How many poor people could have better benefited from what was spent on Columbus' trip, for example? There is a certain inherent value in scientific exploration, though, that can't be measured in any monetary ways when in the midst of them. There are hours, years, money and money spent before anything useful can be done with the information.

On a basic scientific level, then, the search for water on the moon is good. It advances knowledge. People can be helped with what was spent, yes, just as they could have with the Hubble Telescope costs. The advances and information's uses may not be seen for years, but in and of itself, it is worth knowing.

In addition, I am sure, absolutely sure, that there are a lot of things we spend money on- extravagant amounts of money- that could easily be transformed into other areas and we would never miss it. All we have to do is take a brief moment of altruism and utilize it. All of us who buy sports tickets for this weekend- football, baseball, etc- give a dollar to help end poverty. All of those multi-multi-millionaires who we give our money to for us to be entertained (sports stars, TV stars, movie stars, sports team owners, to name four groups) could catch some of the serious altruism of a Bill Gates.

Yes, I am a dreamer. Perhaps it is as likely as to find the man on the moon stretching awake yesterday morning.

But why not at least hope for some of it to happen.

While Thinking of the Moon...

I saved this back in July when we did celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the moon landing. Regret the Error posted what may have been one of the best "better-late-than-never" corrections from the New York Times. With the moon crash yesterday, I thought it would be appropriate.

We Shoulda Been the Winner

Bottom of the 11th and the Yankees do it to us again. A walk-off win. After Mauer is robbed of a double by a bad call from the ump. But the Twins also left 17 men on base. You cannot win very easily by leaving 17 runners on base. Especially bases loaded with no outs in the top of the 11th.

Twins 3
Yankees 4


Now we have to sweep the next three. Sure we can do it.



We may still be the piranhas but we won't know until Sunday.

This Will Surely Cause Some Ruckus

In a surprise, Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize.

I have a hunch that many on both sides of the political spectrum will be scratching their heads for a while about this. It is either

• a good example of the international conspiracy that Obama is part of
• an attempt to whitewash his pro-war strategies in Afghanistan
• European blindness at Obama's faults
• a slap at ex-President Bush
• a sincere way of supporting the changes in international relations on the part of the US.

In any case, let's watch the fur (and words) fly on this one.

Say It Ain't So

I know we kid a lot about the cold weather in Minnesota. But this is downright ridiculous. It isn't funny. This morning's low temp was in the low 30's. There is "snow likely" in the forecast for tomorrow and again Sunday night. Tomorrow's high is to be in the upper-30's- 20+ degrees below normal.

Not fair. Not fair at all.

A Time to Ponder

By Wendell Berry

The miraculous is not extraordinary but the common mode of existence. It is our daily bread. Whoever really has considered the lilies of the field or the birds of the air and pondered the improbability of their existence in this warm world within the cold and empty stellar distances will hardly balk at the turning of water into wine - which was, after all, a very small miracle. We forget the greater and still continuing miracle by which water (with soil and sunlight) is turned into grapes.

Source: Unknown

A Day of Rest

Whew! What a sports week it's been around here. The Twins finished off a hectic 17 wins in 21 games run with some superb playing. The "final game" at the Metrodome was a home run fest- but it wasn't the last baseball game after all. All eyes stayed on the Dome for Monday night's Packers-Vikings shootout. Then came Game 163 and one of the most remarkable games I have ever seen.

But no, it wasn't over yet. Last night the Twins were in the Bronx- and, well, got bombed pretty much as expected. I know how I felt after all that. I was exhausted and I didn't get on a plane on Wednesday morning after all that excitement, get to my hotel in New York around 4:15 and then show up for a ball game 14 hours later.

C. C. Sabathia did for the Yankees what he was supposed to do. He won as he had done 19 times in the regular season. The Twins looked- and played- as tired as I felt. I couldn't get any excitement going during the game, even for those few moments when the Twins took an early 2-0 lead. The last they would score. No heroics last night, just journeyman baseball. On both sides. It's just the journeymen on the Yankees were up for it.

So tonight we rest. No baseball. No football. The need for a day off, even for the fans.

After all there's a game at the Dome again on Sunday.

Don't Stop Believing

They have been called the piranhas for the way they keep coming back.

They were seven games out on September 7.

They were the first team ever to be three games behind with four games to go- and win.

Many of even their most devoted fans called their season over a month ago. But they came back and became the first team ever to be in a tiebreaker game two years in a row.





And it was home, under the white Teflon sky of the HHH Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis.

And they won.

On Sunday, when these pictures were taken, at what was supposed to be the last regular season baseball game at the dome, they hammered the KC Royals.

Then yesterday, in the tiebreaker, they kept digging a hole just to climb out. They didn't stop believing. In the end the Twins are AL Central Champs. They play the Yankees tonight. I am still believing- especially that the Twins can break the curse of playing in Yankee Stadium (new or old) that has hounded them for a number of years now.

I do know- no belief needed- that there will be at least one more game at the Metrodome. Game 3 of the series will be in Minneapolis sometime on Sunday. I will be there thanks to the patience of my daughter who sat online to get them!

And, as to the posting of pictures from the last day at the dome last Sunday-

Below, first, is a collage of pictures I superimposed on the big screen area. The picture of former VP Hubert Humphrey for whom the dome is named was on the screen.

Clockwise from upper right-

his son Skip throwing out the first ball; the same picture as above of the field; Goodbye sign on scoreboard; the back of a Tee-shirt celebrating 28 seasons with no rainouts; the outside of the dome with the name.

Homer hankies waving in the "breeze" of one of a number of homers.

Batting champ and MVP(?) Joe Mauer taking a swing.

Notice the ball but the bat is moving too fast.

The stars of the past 28 years being introduced in a post-game "farewell" to the Dome.

Obviously, there will be more to come after the next game at the Dome on Sunday.

This is Baseball

Minnesota Twins and the Detroit Tigers...

After 162 games, they were tied.
At the end of 9 innings in game 163, they were tied.
At the end of 10 innings, they were tied.
At the end of 11 innings, still tied.
After 11 1/2 innings, still tied. And tense.

Then it's over. The last regular season game in the Metrodome.


Another Metrodome Miracle. The fifth division championship this decade.

And they play the first post-season game in about 20 hours. Against the Yankees.

A wonderful season. More tomorrow.

Monday Morning Quarterbacking: Closer Than It Looked

Well, at least as far as the two Starting QBs went. Packer Starting QB is not as experienced as the Viking QB. That's a given. Yet, he held his own. He did very well.

Unfortunately, his offensive line was a sieve. Eight sacks and a lot of "hurry-ups."

And the Vikings were psyched. The showed a lot of energy.

With 3:40 left the ESPN announcer finally said that the Packer QB deserves a lot of credit. He kept them in the game. This was after the announcers were falling all over themselves commenting on the amazing feat of the old man on the Vikings who will be 40 on Saturday.

Since the purpose of this weekly post is to talk about the two QBs, not the teams, this week was in my humble Packer opinion- a tie. Rodgers held his own against a tough defense. He had a career-high passing night. If the Pack can fix its problems, Rodgers will become a truly excellent QB. He has no reason to feel second to anyone in the game. (26/37; 342 yds; 1 interception; 1 fumble)

I still believe that the Packers made the right decision letting Favre go. They were rebuilding and they needed to keep Rodgers. The old Starting QB was upset at the team leadership.

As far as the Vikings' Starting QB- what can one say. He is good. (24/32; 271 yds; 0 interceptions; 1 fumble). It was hard to read him in the post-game interview.

I still reserve my opinion on the rest of the season. And whether he'll play the "I can't make my mind up" game in the off-season.

Next week, the Pack has its bye week and the Vikings travel to St. Louis. (Which is good since the Twins may very well need the Metrodome to host the Yankees on Sunday. We will know later today.)

But a note on the hype: Multi-millionaires making money for multi-multi-multi millionaires by taking money from people like you and me while we let them. I had that same feeling at the Metrodome on Sunday as the Pohlad family was cheered for owning the team. Yes, they have provided a lot of us with entertainment. But they haven't lost anything in the deal. The more the cable sports gets into our lives the more the hype will grow.

Quarterbacking Postponed

Since the main purpose of the Monday Morning Quarterback is to talk about the Packers and the team from Minnesota, the Monday Morning Quarterbacking post will not be here until tomorrow morning. After all the game isn't until tonight.



But here's a picture from the game two years ago when the Vikings' Starting Quarterback was the Packers' Starting Quarterback.






And another one of the Packers' current Starting QB from last year's game at the Dome. Unfortunately, the ticket prices went sky-high when the Starting QB signed with the Vikings. Oh well. Wait till next year.

And STILL There's One to Go...

The Twins did their part- a home run fest in the Metrodome.

Royals 4
Twins 13

But the White Sox pooped out on us:

White Sox 3
Tigers 5

So we have a tie after 162 games. A tie-breaker will be held at the Dome on Tuesday afternoon.

But what a great day it was for the last scheduled regular season game. They spoiled Kent Hrbek's speech since there will hopefully be a few more good Metrodome Memories to come this week. The crowd was great. The post game ceremony was fun seeing the stars of the past 28 seasons. My daughter and I were in baseball heaven. Even our old Brewer star Paul Molitor was honored for his years as a Twin (and he's from St. Paul.)

Took plenty of pictures and will post a few either tomorrow or Tuesday.

And, no, I am not planning on going to Tuesday's game, though I thought about it. But I might consider a Division Series game against the Yankees next weekend.

And Now There's One

Well, Sunday is the final day of baseball's regular season. In the American League Central Division, with 161 games gone, it comes down to the final day.

Today the Twins won; the Tigers lost.

So it comes to Game 162 for both. The Tigers at home against the White Sox and the Twins at home against the Royals. Here's how it looks:

• Twins win-Tigers lose it's the Twins in 1st place heading to play the Yankees.
• Both win or both lose and it's a tie breaking game 163 on Tuesday at the Metrodome.
• Twins lose and Tigers win it's the end of the season for the Twins.

And on top of it all, tomorrow will also be the final scheduled regular season game in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. After all these years playing ball inside the Twins new stadium will open in the spring.

Back in April, my daughter and I decided to go to tomorrow's game. Even then, the best seats available through the Twins was in the next to the top row.

Actually, just about the same place where my wife and I sat for the playoff game with the Yankees five years ago. (As seen at left.)


Anyway, we never thought we would be there for such an exciting game. Will post when it's all over.

A 50-Year Memory: You Are Now Entering...

October 2 - Rod Serling's classic anthology series The Twilight Zone premieres on CBS.

Does This Scare You?

No, not the event- the attempt to stop it.

The organizers of a Muslim day of prayer scheduled to take place Friday in front of the U.S. Capitol have come under attack from some conservative Christians....
[T]his week, some conservative Christians have called the event a threat to Christian values... [warning] that the service is "part of a well-defined strategy to Islamize American society and replace the Bible with the Koran, the cross with the Islamic crescent and the church bells with the Athan [the Muslim call to prayer]."
--from WaPo as reported at Pew Forum

Does it appear as if, in trying to maintain some "American" values, they are willing to take a stand that they would condemn if it were taken against them? Does it appear that in order to save our American freedom of religion, we have to destroy it?

{Shivers}