I mentioned a few blog posts ago that several years ago I used to work as a pyrotechnician for a fireworks display company. We'd travel around Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana on the weekends and shoot professional fireworks displays for the local Potato Festival or Muskrat Days or whatever. As we liked to say, we were like carnies with teeth. Of course the week leading up to and including July 4th was the busiest time of the year. Our little operation often had more than 20 crews shooting shows in somewhere in the area. The busy week usually kicked off with ...
There are two types of shows on the History Channel that you can guarantee we'll TiVo and watch: Anything about NASA going to the Moon (my favorite is "From the Earth to the Moon", which was originally an HBO series, "When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions" was also good, "Shadow of the Moon" focuses on the astronauts themselves) and Revolutionary War/Founding Fathers stuff (The History Channel's "The Revolution" is good.)We just finished the HBO series John Adams, based on the book by David McCullough.Adams, as portrayed here, seems like the perpetual also-ran, which is why he seems both ...
Everyone has done it: used Search and Replace All with unexpected results. I remember when I was teaching high school and a student turned in an essay in which the word "you" had been globally replaced with "ewe". Don't ask me how that happened. Naturally, high school students believe proof-reading work before handing it in is for wusses, so the student didn't even realize it had happened until he got the work back.Another amusing instance is from a group of religious extremists known as the Discovery Institute (rather ironic name, dontcha think?). They decided that the way to get around ...
There were many issues discussed and these will only be a few. These are only my interpretations of what happened, along with some editorial comments. Your mileage may vary. If you have questions about any of this, feel free to ask and I'll try to find the answers.1. An agreement between the PCUSA and the Episcopal Church was approved. This is an important agreement for my church because we are in the second longest PCUSA/Episcopal Church relationship in the country. I believe this new bilateral agreement means that we recognize each other's communions. From a practical standpoint, at our church, on ...
1) The General Assembly just voted to lift the ban on LGBT ordination in the Presbyterian Church (USA). That isn't the end of the matter though, as this action must be approved by a majority of the presbyteries for it to take effect. (Just like a constitutional amendment in the US.)We've been here before. The GA has voted to repeal the ban three times before, and three times it's been sustained by the presbyteries. So, there's plenty of work to do over the next several months. But, it is a hopeful sign, nonetheless.2) In other GA news, the GA voted ...
If you've never seen Morgan Spurlock's show 30 Days, you're missing out. Spurlock, director and star of SuperSize Me has created a show in which he brings two sides of an issue together to live with each other for 30 days. Yes, it's reality TV, but unlike most reality TV it isn't horrible. In the most recent installment (Number Four), Same-Sex Parenting, Spurlock brings a Mormon California housewife who is staunchly against gay adoption to live with a gay couple raising 4 kids. The kicker is that these two guys are from the People's Republic of Ann Arbor ...
Three important votes yesterday at the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA).1) By a vote of 43-15, a committee affirmed what we call an "authoritative interpretation" of a report issued two years ago. That report, the ironically named "Peace, Unity and Purity Report" (which has brought neither peace, unity, nor purity) allowed a historical practice known as "scrupling." What that meant was that if a candidate for ordination had a problem with a particular part of Presbyterian theology or practice, they could declare that disagreement when they're examined for ordination. The ordaining body could then decide if ...
The biennial General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) opened over the weekend. Not a Presbyterian? So why should you care? There are over 2 million members of the PCUSA in this country. That's not a huge chunk, but it is substantial enough to matter in elections. The PCUSA is one of the "richest" denominations in the country. You may not care much about religion or the PCUSA specifically, but consider what the fundie takeover of the Southern Baptists just a couple decades ago has brought upon this country (no, the Southern Baptists weren't always that fundamentalist).The GA kicked off ...
Comedian George Carlin died yesterday, he was 71.I remember the first time I heard a George Carlin routine. I was a freshman at band camp and someone had a cassette tape (remember those) of his "Seven Words You Can't Say on Television" routine. We played it very quietly so as not to get in trouble with the counselors, and then spent the rest of the week quoting it to each other. There are still a couple of those seven words I can't say without thinking about that routine. ...
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