I Knew It

Last week LiveScience posted 10 Facts for Cat Lovers. Being a cat lover I found this one as true as it sounds....

It's true, cat-owners: Your kitty is in charge. Some cats have perfected a purr-cry that sends humans scuttling for the Fancy Feast. A 2009 Current Biology study found that humans find this mix of contentment and obnoxiousness hard to ignore. Cats tend to use this cry when they want food, the researchers found, and their owners get the message, judging the calls as more unpleasant and urgent.

Easter? Do You Remember Easter?

Chaplain Mike at Internet Monk was really on target this past week. Here is an excerpt from an N. T. Wright sermon. Oh how true it is. And it isn't all about going to church, either.

I don’t know how you do it here, but in my tradition today, alas, after forty days of Lenten fasts, and three days of deep and serious concentration on the meaning of the cross, we have precisely one morning of Easter festivities. And then people disappear, exhausted by the rigors of Holy Week, the clergy go on holiday, and the only celebration that is left is eating up the remains of the chocolate Easter eggs!

No, we should make Easter a forty-day celebration. If Lent is that long, Easter should be at least that long, all the way to Ascension. We should meet regularly for Easter parties. We should drink champagne at breakfast. We should renew baptismal vows with splashing water all over the place. And we should sing and dance and blow trumpets and put out banners in the streets. And we should invite the homeless people to parties and we should go around town doing random acts of generosity and celebration. We should be doing things which would make our sober and serious neighbors say, “What is the meaning of this outrageous party?”

Loon Dance

As I posted with pictures the other day, loons are not common in my area of S. Minnesota. So I was surprised by one on Easter Sunday. I didn't have a video camera but took stills. I zoomed in, cropped and put them into a video. Music: Nicholas Payton "Weather Bird."

Chaplain Mike at Internet Monk had a wonderful quote from one of my favorite writers- Frederick Buechner. It says so much about the power of story- and truth.

The Gospel is bad news before it is good news. It is the news that man is a sinner, to use the old word, that he is evil in the imagination of his heart, that when he looks in the mirror all in a lather what he sees is at least eight parts chicken, phony, slob. That is the tragedy. But it is also the news that he is loved anyway, cherished, forgiven, bleeding to be sure, but also bled for. That is the comedy. And yet, so what? So what if even in his sin the slob is loved and forgiven when the very mark and substance of his sin and of his slobbery is that he keeps turning down the love and forgiveness because he doesn’t believe them or doesn’t want them or just doesn’t give a damn? In answer, the news of the Gospel is that extraordinary things happen. Henry Ward Beecher cheats on his wife, his God, himself, but manages to keep bringing the Gospel to life for people anyway, maybe even for himself. Lear goes berserk on a heath but comes out of it for a few brief hours every inch a king. Zaccheus climbs up a sycamore tree a crook and climbs down a saint. Paul sets out a hatchet man for the Pharisees and comes back a fool for Christ. It is impossible for anybody to leave behind the darkness of the world he carries on his back like a snail, but for God all things are possible. That is the fairy tale. All together they are the truth.

• Telling the Truth, p. 7f

Of Course He Is

President that is. You know- Barack Obama, the duly-elected and sworn-in President of the United States. The President now for over 2 years. The guy born in Kenya Hawaii on my 13th birthday.

Today he released- through a lot of legal wrangling- his "long-form birth certificate." NO OTHER PRESIDENT IN US HISTORY HAS HAD TO DO THAT! He has been hounded by a bunch of ridiculous crap that no other US President would have had to put up with.  The incredible insanity has brought us to this-

and it isn't coming to an end. Now they want to examine it and make sure it is official and not some elaborate hoax. They also wonder how such a brilliant man could have gotten into an Ivy League school. (No one ever asked that about GW Bush.) It must have been a conspiracy or affirmative action that allowed him to go to an Ivy League school instead of some (obviously) more deserving (white) student.

If this isn't racism, I don't know what is. As quoted in The Ticket, a Yahoo! News blog that is the underlying problem....

columnist Michael Tomasky wrote for The Guardian Wednesday that the birther conspiracy "had to be the only explanation for how this black man got to the White House." He added: "And if you think race isn't what this is about at its core, ask yourself if there would even be a birther conspiracy if Barack Obama were white and named Bart Oberstar. If you think there would be, you are delusional."

I agree. And I am saddened by it. When 2/3rds of Republicans polled think he may not have been born in the USA, we are in sad, sad, sad shape. Yes, we have an African-American President. I am proud of that and about the courage of our nation to do so, albeit reluctantly among many whites. Let's get over it and celebrate the power of democracy and the hope our nation can provide. Instead we make ourselves look like fools.

Resurrection

Spring.


And time for my first bike ride of the season at home. What better day to do that than Easter Sunday afternoon when we finally had some warmth and sun.


I felt resurrected after a 10-mile ride around my normal routes here in town. Signs of spring are still hard to see but there.

Over along Silver Lake the Willows are greening up and as photogenic as ever.

But the surprise of the ride was a couple of loons. They must be on their way north because I don't remember seeing any of them around here before. As I was rounding one of the curves on the trail I heard that distinctive call and looked over the lake.

There were two of them and I don't know enough about loon behavior to know if what I watched was part of mating - or a warning that I was there. In any case, the dance was interesting to observe.

Here are a few of the pictures....

Hear Them All

Easter - The Lord is Risen

Holy Week 2011 - The Great Sabbath

We wait in that day between Good Friday and Easter. Ir was a day of incredible sorrow in the midst of death for the disciples. May we use it to prepare for tomorrow's joy.

"He descended into Hell."

Holy Week 2011 - Friday

I have put together a series of music video meditations for this week. Here is the sixth at the Crucifixion. Meditate on what he has done for us.

Holy Week 2011 - Thursday

I have put together a series of music video meditations for this week. Here is the fourth as he prays in the Garden of Gethsemane. Meditate on his commitment to God's will and way.

Holy Week 2011 - Wednesday

I have put together a series of music video meditations for this week. Here is the fourth as he shares his Last Supper with his disciples. Meditate on his words and his life in preparation for tomorrow evening- in remembrance of him.

Holy Week 2011 - Tuesday

I have put together a series of music video meditations for this week. Here is the third as he washes his disciple feet prior to the Last Supper. Meditate on his servant example.

Holy Week 2011 - Monday

I have put together a series of music video meditations for this week. Here is the second as he enters the Temple and shows an unusual anger. Meditate on the way his passion for God made him respond.

Holy Week 2011 - Part 1

I have put together a series of music video meditations for this week. Here is the first as, prior to the start of the week, Jesus is in Bethany and a woman anoints his feet. Meditate on the love and compassion she felt for the Savior.

A 50-Year Memory: Classics

April 17- The 33rd Academy Awards ceremony is held.

Best Picture: The Apartment
Best Actor: Burt Lancaster – Elmer Gantry
Best Actress: Elizabeth Taylor – Butterfield 8
Best Supporting Actor: Peter Ustinov – Spartacus
Best Supporting Actress: Shirley Jones – Elmer Gantry

A 50-Year Memory: The Bay of Pigs

April 17 - The Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba begins; it fails by April 19.

We Were All # 42

Yesterday was Jackie Robinson Day in Major League Baseball. Everyone wore #42. It was 64 years ago that Jackie Robinson and the Dodgers broke the racial barrier in MLB. It was a turning point in our country.

The bravery and vision of Jackie Robinson is legendary. As a nation we should be grateful for what he did as he moved us closer to the ideals we profess to believe.

A 40-Year Memory: A Performance for the Ages

April 15 - 43rd Academy Awards held.

Best Picture: Patton
Actor: George C. Scott (refused) - Patton
Actress: Glenda Jackson - Women in Love
Supporting Actor: John Mills - Ryan's Daughter
Supporting Actress: Helen Hayes - Airport

Brrrrr

Winter's back. Windy and cold, even for Minnesota in April.

And the extended forecast looks less than pleasant through most of the next 7 days.

And I was thinking that with such a late April things would be warm and pleasant. Well, there's still plenty of time for the weather forecast to change.

Virtual Virtuosity

Eric Whitacre has done it again...

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir 2.0, 'Sleep' with over 2,000 videos from 58 countries.

Be amazed and relaxed in this meditative wonder.

A 50-Year Memory: Into Space

April 12 - Vostok 1: Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space.

A 50-Year Memory: Atrocities on Trial

April 11 – The trial of Nazi Adolf Eichmann begins in Jerusalem.

It is Now Official

I had a great surprise yesterday. My daughter called and wondered if I wanted to go to today's Twins' game. Not one to look a gift Morneau in the mouth I said..

Sure!

So, two weeks earlier than I had expected, I was at Target Field for the first time this season. It was a beautiful April day and we had a great time.

Sadly, the Twins lost. But, you know, there are MANY games left.

Early Spring Storms

No, not the budget hassle in Washington. (Don't get me started!)

But our first real possible severe weather outlook is active now. We even have a T-storm watch until 3 Sunday morning with a line not far to our west with even a "bow echo" seeming to be in the picture. Possible tornadoes are mentioned in the forecast.

Two weeks ago at church I looked out the side window and wondered if all that snow would even be gone by Palm Sunday which is next week. The answer is- long gone.

How quickly the seasons change when we hit these transition times. We don't know what to expect next.

Which is a lot like the stress in our lives at such times. Good news or bad news; gain or loss. They all can cause stress because they are transition times. Those are the times to pay closer attention to the world we are walking through and the world we are making for ourselves in the midst of it. Taking care, being aware, being mindful, finding the times and places for shelter in the midst of these.

And all this because times of transition are tough.

Be careful out there.

Stomp-ing Cecilia

This is classic stuff: STOMP (which I saw in NYC 13 years ago, Jimmy Fallon, and Paul Simon. It is fun for a Friday.





By the way- I shouldn't have looked, but Simon will be 70 in October. Seventy???

Paul Simon

Bye-Bye Beck

Glenn Beck is getting the boot. Even Fox News couldn't justify his continued presence. That, of course, has nothing to do with what he's saying. it has to do with what he's NOT doing. He's not making money anymore. He has gone over the top in his insanity, apocalypticism, fear-mongering, and hatred-baiting. Extremes like Beck will often, in a large and diverse nation like the US, run aground on the weight of their own egos and grandiose understandings of their opinions. Keith Olbermann found the same thing on MSNBC. Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann will probably end up there also.

Now, let's hope our newest birther-pusher, Donald Trump, follows Beck out the door.

Ice Out - The Video

As I promised the other day, here is the brief time lapse I took of ice out on Monday. It covers about 5:30 pm - 9:30 pm. If you watch the circle of light reflected off the lake on the far right after dark, you will see the ice go out at the last section. (And yes, I know the picture isn't level. Sorry.)

Nothing New

It's terrible when you have nothing to say, but insist on saying it anyway. I guess that's the plague of being a blogger, counselor and retired preacher. We never know when to shut up.

Ice Out 2011

The ice is now out on the small lake by my apartment. Went out this evening on a warm day and a good northwest wind. I got a time-lapse of the last part of it which I will get posted in the next couple days.

Signs of spring are beginning to be seen!

Change Your Perspective

There have been days when my normal ability to spin into the positive side of things just falls apart. I get downright frustrated with myself at those moments. Yet I also find myself stuck in the rut of whining and complaining; grumbling and groaning. My co-workers want to kick me in the butt and my wife wants to hit me up the side of the head.

So, with a period of that whining in the past couple weeks I ran across this quote:

Unquestionably, there are sad things in the world right now, even in my life right now, but grumbling doesn't make anything better. In fact, it makes things worse. The Buddha taught, "Every mind moment conditions the next."
— Sylvia Boorstein in It's Easier Than You Think

It makes sense, but it can be tough when you are stuck. the "Yes, but..." syndrome fills in all the blanks and takes over. That usually means it is time to let go. It is time to see how powerless I am in many things and turn it over.

Maybe that's one of the reasons for the weekly Sabbath (to rest) and for us as Christians, the Lord's Day to remember the resurrection that can even happen in my life.

Today.

No Foolin'

Yes, this will soon be a scene found in many places. Some already may even be seeing it. I liked the contrast between the left and right sides of the creek. It is so true for this time of the year.

Little Lehigh Parkway, Allentown, PA  April 1974

The Museum of Hoaxes has a list of the Top 100 Hoaxes of all time.

Here are two of them for your enjoyment on this April Fool's Day....

#79: PETA’s Tournament of Sleeping Fish
In 2000 the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) warned that it planned to sabotage the bass fishing tournament in East Texas's Lake Palestine by releasing tranquilizers into the lake before the tournament. Their announcement stated that "this year, the fish will be napping, not nibbling." State officials took the threat seriously and stationed rangers around the lake in order to stop any tranquilizer-toting PETA activists from drugging the fish, and numerous newspapers reported the threat. Eventually PETA admitted that it had been joking.

#80: Moscow’s Second Subway
In 1992 the Moskovskaya Pravda announced that the winds of capitalism transforming Russia would bring further changes for the residents of Moscow. Apparently plans had been finalized to build a new Moscow subway system. Of course, there was nothing wrong with the city's current subway. But in the spirit of capitalism, the second system would be built to promote "the interests of competition."

They're Back

My favorite Boys of Summer return tonight with Game One in Toronto.

First home game is a week away.

My first game is three weeks away.

162 Games to go! Wow!