Someone is Watchin' You (He's Gonna Get Chu)

Earlier I wrote about my emergency cardiac catheterization which took place in early September. Well, two weeks to the day after I had my surgery, I was sitting at a red light on a dry, sunny day when someone decided to take it upon himself to improve the looks of ol' Bessie here. This was accomplished through the kind and gentle ramming of my car's arse whilst I sat quietly musing about the vagaries of life, or politics, or faith, or all of the above.


Now you might be tempted to think that I behaved well when this happened. You might also be tempted to think that I was rational, clear-thinking and focused; that I was kind and gentle in my response to the driver who hit me. You're free to do that, and thank you ever so much for being such a concerned and caring (if delusional) individual.


Oh, the truck that hit me and the car he pushed me into? Both had very little or no damage. Me? I'm totaled. My neck and back hurt for a couple of days. We'll see how that goes. At any rate, I can't keep my tools in the trunk anymore, especially since it just can't seem to stop raining around here. The car runs, but it ain't exactly legal, and that can't be remedied easily.


Now I've been wondering, what horrific thing is waiting for me next?

Autumn Leaves

Ahhh...

The Mercying God

Wednesday, September 7, 2011, 4:30 p.m. - Nope, no signs of foreboding here...

Thursday, September 8, 2011, 12:30 a.m. - In the ER

I had some trouble this week. Wednesday evening I had chest pains that radiated into my left arm accompanied by shortness of breath, so I asked my son to drive me to the hospital. Anyone who knows me knows I would have to feel mighty bad to voluntarily go to a hospital.

I thank God, my family, and my church family for their prayers and support while I underwent angioplasty and the insertion of a stent to free the blood flow in a blocked vein. The cardiologist tells me that I had a kind of pre-heart attack. Thank God He overrode my stubbornness and made me seek medical help.

As I said in my Facebook post, it seems that the Lord wants me to hang around for a while longer. Who am I to argue with the Lord?

Can We Cease to be Human? Part 2

Read this New York Times blog article by faux writer and self-loathing tool Paul Krugman and try to guess what my reply to the above question would be.

Special Prayer and Financial Request

One of the bloggers at Triablogue, John Bugay, has asked for prayer and financial assistance for him and his wife Bethany. Bethany has been diagnosed with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant. As you can imagine, the financial costs are staggering and the insurance will only cover so much of it.


You can read about it here.


Much more detailed information is offered in John's running journal. If you wish to know more and would be interested in donating, click on this link.


Beth Bugay

Great Main Title Sequences - No. 2: Gods and Generals

Gods and Generals Music by Randy Edelman and John Frizzel: "Going Home" sung by Mary Fahl

Oh! What a magnificent Main Title Sequence!

This sequel to Gettysburg, or more properly speaking prequel had lofty aspirations but fell short for many viewers owing to its excessive speechifying by the various main characters. The filmmakers unwisely used full texts of speeches and quotes from diaries and other writings to imbue their characters with an extra measure of pathos, presumably to engage the audience on a much deeper emotional level.

Sadly, the movie flopped due largely to these critical choices and made the production of the final film of the trilogy, The Last Full Measure, impossible.

Alas, it seems that the audience had had its own full measure of incessant lecturing in the midst of an otherwise engaging and moving film.

Great Main Title Sequences - No. 1: Gettysburg

Gettysburg Music by Randy Edelman

Film people will tell you how important the Main Title sequence to a movie can be. It's the viewer's first impression, their first introduction to the material that's about to be presented. It is something which embodies, in just a few minutes, the theme of the film. It sets the tone for what is to come.

Main Title sequences are sometimes farmed out to companies who specialise in creating them, in addition, perhaps, to creating teasers and trailers for the film.

What makes a Main Title sequence great? Great music and great visuals well timed and complementing each other.

I'm going to embed a series of Main Title sequences (whatever I can find on YouTube) which I feel best embody the films they represent, and are in themselves beautiful art. The numbering reflects only the continuation of the series and is not meant as a rating of the series.

So put on your headphones, turn down the lights, grab your popcorn and enjoy!

Not So Close...But Maybe Someday?

Continuing on the theme of somewhat famous people that I have brushes with in my travels, M. Night Shyamalan is one that I hope I can meet someday. One of my customers has been an extra in nearly every one of his films to date since Shyamalan lives in and routinely films in the Philly area. Could it be that I can come this close to being Shyamalan's piano tuner? Knowing that he has at least one piano and that his daughters take regular lessons, I feel confident that I can think of being at least in the running. He doesn't live far from me; it would be no trouble at all to accommodate his piano tuning needs.


Of course, I'd have to find and kill his regular piano tuner first.

"This comes out to me. It comes out."

God. Is. Great.

This Close

Some years ago I met Glenn Beck at one of his Christmas shows here in the Philly area. The piano dealer I was subcontracted to asked me to tune the rental player piano in the lobby of the event. Glenn was not feeling well, but he autographed a photo for me. We talked about pianos a bit and he told me that he was interested in buying a piano for his wife. Since Glenn and his family were living in the area at the time, a lunch meeting with him and with the dealer reps and myself was arranged. But the meeting was cancelled the day before it was to occur. The reason? As we found out later, Glenn had just been offered a chance to do TV work for CNN and was now looking to move his family to near the New York area (Connecticut, as it turns out).

Long story short--I came this close to being Glenn Beck's piano tuner.

I‘m thinking it’s been worth missing out on that opportunity for myself given all that Glenn has accomplished since that time. And in spite of the vitriol constantly thrown his way, particularly by people who never watch him, never listen to him and nevertheless make pronouncements against him, I think history will bear out that he is an extraordinary individual. I don't agree with everything he says, but I'm convinced that he is neither a fraud nor a hustler, but is a sincerely concerned American who is trying to do what he can to preserve the best of our country in the midst of the many forces which have been raised to destroy it. And he is turning out to be a great friend to Israel and the Jews at a time when the whole world seems to be preparing to repeat the atrocities of 20th century Europe. Israel, after all, is surrounded by dedicated governments and peoples who have sworn an oath to exterminate the Jewish state and the Jewish people.

And besides, anyone who knows me knows I have a history of always being on the verge of someone else’s greatness.

Beautiful Summer Day

Limerick, PA from Ridge Pike


Click on the pics to enlarge.

Delaware Canal July 7, 2011

Delaware Canal, Yardley, PA July 7, 2011 - looking roughly northwest.

Looking roughly southeast.

Best. Music Video. Ever!

"Life in Technicolor ii" by Coldplay

I'm always years behind everyone else in discovering these things. But I know what's clever and well done when I see it. These young whipper-snappers today can be downright brilliant at times!

Maybe something else will come along someday and knock this off the throne in my mind. But until then, I present what could be the Best. Music Video. Ever!

If you can, watch it in 720p and full screen.

Life in Technicolor ii*

There's a wild wind blowing
Down the corner of my street
Every night there the headlights are glowing
There's a cold war coming
On the radio I heard
Baby it's a violent world

Oh love don't let me go
Won't you take me where the street lights glow
I could hear rain coming
I could hear the sirens sound
Now my feet won't touch the ground

Time came a creeping
Oh and time's a loaded gun
Every road is a ray of light
It goes on
Time only can lead you on
Still it's such a beautiful night

Oh love don't let me go
Won't you take me where the street lights glow
I can hear rain coming
Like a serenade of sound
Now my feet won't touch the ground

Oh Oh Oh

Gravity release me
And don't ever hold me down
Now my feet won't touch the ground


* I find that looking up the lyrics online has only added to confusion as there are several versions of the song with slight variations. It seems that people who listen to the song are posting their best guesses rather than copying from the liner notes of the album. I have posted here what seems to be the consensus and what I think I heard in the song.

Bird Attitude

Even the self-employed have a boss.

Fair is Fair

Some of you have read my previously stated opinions of Sarah Palin on this blog and on Facebook. I’ve been pretty open and clear about them. I’ve stated frequently and uncategorically that I don’t think she should run for President, that I don’t think she is ready, and that she may not ever be ready. If she gets the nomination, I feel that I will be in a quandary.

But I also try to be fair in my assessments of political candidates, what they say and what their behaviours tell us about them, whether they are a Sarah Palin or an Anthony Weiner.

Leftists and other Palin haters have latched onto a supposed misstatement of Palin’s while she was in Boston recently. While there have been a number of excellent blogging responses, I'm taking a little different approach to the issue. As I've said, I’m really not a fan of Palin's, so I have no particular dog in this hunt. However, I have seen the quote and have come to the determination that she did not misspeak at all in this case, that she said exactly what she meant to say.

Here is her quote:

“[Revere] warned the British that they weren’t gonna be taking away our arms, by ringing those bells, and making sure, as he’s riding his horse through town, to send those warning shots and bells that we were gonna be secure, and we were gonna be free.”

If you think Palin meant to say Colonists instead of British, then substitute the word Colonists for British:

“[Revere] warned the Colonists that they weren’t gonna be taking away our arms…”

Do you really think Palin meant to say that the Colonists were warning themselves that they (the Colonists) weren’t going to stand for attacking themselves and taking away their own arms?

As far as the rest of the quote, these events are a matter of historical record which Big Journalism deals with quite well.

So the question may be understood in terms of Revere's primary mission. Was it to warn the British that armed Colonists were waiting for them? No. But Revere was detained by the British and did, in fact, warn them of this fact. Was Revere's primary mission to warn the colonists of an impending British invasion? Yes. But at no time did Sarah Palin state that Revere's primary mission was to warn the British.

Do I think Palin has made mistakes in the past. Of course. And so do most people when speaking publically. But let’s be fair. Think before you speak. Look carefully at the video and at the quote. There's no question that Palin did not get her facts mixed up as the smug and obviously biased reporter in the video above stated.

A Beautiful Day for a Wedding

My boys on the dock at the Jefferson House Restaurant overlooking Lake Hopatcong in northern New Jersey, USA on June 5, 2011. It was a beautiful, if mostly overcast day for my nephew's wedding. The sun poked through in the early evening.

Perhaps He's Out Helping O.J. Find the Real Killers...

...of the economy.



President Bush got shellacked by the left for playing golf while in office. Here’s a comparison between Bush and Obama. And it ain’t from Fox News.

AP Photo

No Coffee for You! One Year!

I received a forwarded message today making me aware of an article posted on ChritianityToday.com. The gist of the article was that we all have people in our churches who are a little “off,” but that we should treat them in a godly way, with compassion. With this I cannot but agree, especially since there is always the possibility that I myself may be perceived as a little “off,” in which case I am grateful for the compassion of my brethren and friends. Who knows whose patience and good will I’ve tested over the years with my sometimes strong and vocal opinions on everything from eschatology to politics? Nonetheless, we should invite these folks over for coffee to encourage them and to get to know them a bit better, shouldn't we?

The author’s intention was to make an analogy between his crazy Aunt Julie and (crazy Uncle) Harold Camping. I admit that Camping’s latest and arguably most scurrilous attack on Christ’s Church, an advertising campaign prophesying the end of the world, lends itself, in my mind, to nearly unfettered ridicule from all quarters. However, we as Christian believers do need to be mindful, and indeed prayerful, in our behaviour toward Camping. This really should not need to be emphasised, but the ongoing coarsening of speech and writing in our society, particularly through the walls of inhibition late tumbled by the anonymity of internet blogging, makes it relevant and important to restate, even to Christians who should know better.

Among other things I was struck by these statements in the article:

But while we were Aunt Julies, Christ died for us. To know that, to trust that, to give your life to the One who died and to the family created by his Spirit--is to know that you too are a member of this dysfunctional family.

However, let us consider the following:

Harold Camping has completely rejected his Church family. He has told everyone outside of his exclusive group that God has removed His Holy Spirit from God's Church on Earth,* that He has rejected them and divorced His Bride. Those who remain within the visible churches are now under the influence and control of Satan; Satan is ruling in the churches. And those of us who have not followed Camping are the children of Satan, we are told, and that there is no salvation for us any longer. One inescapable conclusion to be drawn from this is that unless you believe in Camping's prophecies, you cannot be saved. To object to Camping is equated utterly with the rejection of God and of His Word. Forget the coffee maker. A different appliance comes to mind when considering all of this.

So here is where the author’s analogy detours away from reality.

Crazy Aunt Julie got help. She was hospitalized for a time and apparently does pretty well when she’s on her meds. Aunt Julie, in a manner of speaking, has experienced a kind of repentance; a humbling, a realization that she needed help to cope with life. And her family, who loves her very much, got her that help.

Camping, on the other hand, refuses to admit that he was wrong about his date-setting. He refuses, and has refused for decades, the help of godly men in the Church. To whom is he accountable? He refuses to admit that he has been and is wrong about his scandalous biblical hermeneutic of searching for hidden and secret meanings in both the biblical text and in the numbers in the text which God has revealed to Him alone and to those who sit doe-eyed at his considerably aged feet. Within the context of church discipline, isn’t a refusal to repent of one’s sins, false teachings and false prophecies a game-changer?

This article, while making a good point about the Christian’s responsibility in thought and speech in dealing with wayward brethren, in my view actually ends up trivialising the damage Camping has done to the Church and to the witness of the gospel in the world. And while we should pray that God would grant Harold Camping repentance, there has to be a point where Christians will stand up and say, "You know, crazy Aunt Julie nuthin’! Until God grants crazy Uncle Harold repentance, this guy is a false prophet, an enemy of Christ's Church, and someone I will definitely not have over to my house for coffee."


*God’s removal of His Holy Spirit from the churches curiously and conveniently coincides with one point in time in 1988 when Camping, a Sunday School teacher at Alameda CRC, was shown the church door for refusing to submit to church authorities and cease teaching his false prophecies regarding the end times and Christ’s return.

A Few More Thoughts on Not Knowing the Day or the Hour

Of course, some Christians believe (I myself have sympathies for this eschatalogical position which is called partial preterism) that Jesus was referring to His coming in judgement on the nation of Israel in 70 A.D. when Jerusalem was sacked by Rome and the temple was destroyed.

Certainly there were disciples still alive at that time to see it, and those who survived it did so because Jesus had told them to flee to the hills instead of hiding behind the walls of Jerusalem, which was what they normally would have done during a seige.

Camping rejects this whole idea uncategorically.

I still believe in a final coming of Christ at the consummation of history. When Jesus said He didn't know the day or the hour, I believe He was referring both to 70 A.D. and to His final return, both of which in His human incarnation the Father had not seen fit to make Him aware. Read Matthew 24. I should think that after His resurrection, once He had been restored to the right hand of God the Father, Jesus once again knew everything the Father knows, including when He would return at the end of history to bring His elect Church to heaven.

Having said all that, I still believe we are not to try to figure out from the Bible or elsewhere when Christ will return. Suffice it to say, the day we die is exactly the same as Christ returning for us. We don't know when we'll die, but we can make some educated guesses based upon our age, our health, etc., though these are still merely speculations.

At any rate, NOW is the day of salvation, for we can never know what tomorrow brings.

Camping Fail

A screenshot of the Familyradio.com website

The first rapture experience was to take place at 2:00 a.m. EST (6:00 p.m. in Tonga and New Zealand). Nothing has happened. No earthquakes, no missing people (at least from the Rapture), no nuthin'. Although a website has been set up to catalogue the failure of Harold Camping's false prophecy regarding Judgement Day and the return of Christ, I prefer to refer to it as Camping Fail rather than Rapture Fail. The latter suggests a failure on God's part to keep His promise; the former, a failure on man's to stop meddling with the secret things of God.

Take a look at RaptureFail.org if you want to follow the glorious failure of man's arrogance:

CONTENT WARNING: Although this site is run by an apparently sincere Christian organization, there doesn't appear to be any comment moderation from the live Tweets regularly coming in. Expect scorn and derision in various colourful metaphors from atheists and Christians alike for Camping's folly. Read at your own risk!

Three Days Until The Rupture

I prophesy that in three days it will be the end of something...