"Mike is my homeboy..."
In this next clip, Jesse’s shirt (“Mike is my homeboy”) is about 33 seconds in.
Jesse is also an aspiring musician who, IMO, has a real talent for lyrics. Some tracks from his debut album, “Year of You”, can be found here. I particularly like “Inside your love”.
Leopard Love
Videos
Straight No Chaser - 12 Days of Christmas
A touching story of one man’s attempt to evangelize. Penn Jillette is a famous magician (cf. the team of “Penn and Teller”) and an avowed atheist.
An interesting take on the relationship between oil and several wars. I wasn’t able to find much counterpoint after a few minutes with Google. Run time: 47:13.
Christmas 2008
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see--I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” [Luke 2:10-14, NRSV]
Heard most often around the Christmas tree today: “Here’s something from me to you. I wonder what I got you?”
This is the first Christmas where Johnny wasn’t with us. He’s somewhere in New York spending the holiday with his girlfriend and her family.
As usual, Becky put on an incredible dinner. However, this time she bought a Perdue bird instead of a Butterball. I think next time she’ll switch back.
Played a solo round of disc golf that afternoon. Couldn’t get anyone to go with me. Managed 6 under par; but that was with cherry picking my shots. I have quite a ways to go before I can do that consistently; but at least I know I can do it. I drove the hole on #14 -- about a 300 yard drive with my heavier Valkyrie. However, it was way off course and landed next to the pad for #15!
Memory of Christmas past. In 1996 the boys, but especially David, had been asking for a dog. Mom and I kept saying no: it’s too much work for her; Johnny has allergies; and so on. But our neighbors had bred their Golden Retrievers. The mom had delivered on December 10 so we couldn’t bring a puppy home until the middle of January. I hatched a nefarious scheme: I bought a box of dog biscuits and cheeze whiz, put them in plain sight on top of the refrigerator, and told the boys that no, they weren’t getting a dog for Christmas, the goodies were going to be a gag appetizer for an office Christmas party. And they truly were! I took them to the party and everyone had a good laugh.
Later, we wrapped the dog biscuits and put them under the tree. When David opened it, he instantly figured out what was going on and flew across the room to give me a hug. If I hadn’t been sitting on the floor with my back to the sofa he would have bowled me over. I believe it was later that day that we went to our neighbors and he picked out the runt female of the litter. She was everything we could have asked for in a dog.
Bethlehem
So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), and Jacob set up a pillar at her grave; it is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day. [Genesis 35:19-20]
In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. ... So Naomi returned together with Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, who came back with her from the country of Moab. They came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. [Ruth 1:1-2, 22]
Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years. [1 Sam 17:12]
But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. [Micah 5:2]
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” [Mt 2:1-2]
In Hebrew, Bethlehem (Beit Lehem) means “House of Bread”. A fitting birthplace for the Bread of Life. In Arabic, Bethlehem (Bayt Lahm) means “House of Lamb”. Jesus is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
For a discussion of where Jesus was born, see Interpreting Luke 2:6-7.
Disc Golf Update
I continue to throw my heavy Valkyrie farther than a Wraith or Monarch. I bought a lighter Valkyrie today hoping to be able to do even better, but the heavier disk still performs better for me. Mike says that it’s basic physics that the heaver disk travels farther since p=mv. I had thought that K=1/2mv2 would have been more important. Gerrit says that the pro’s throw lighter discs farther. I’ll ask my son who is in graduate engineering school.
Christmas Quiz
When you press the “Check Answers...” button, your score will be computed and any wrong answers will be highlighted in red. I note that there is disagreement between these quizzes on some of the answers. I’ll research these later. For now, this is a chance for me to play with JavaScript. Question 19 is tricky. A question mark can be used if you don’t know the answer.
Your score: --
Experts and Novices
What distinguishes experts from novices is not that they make [...] choices, but that their choices will provoke fewer questions and their choices will tend to stand up better to those questions that do come along afterward.
This Is Christianity?
Those of the Reform persuasion might want to argue the correctness of the first two statements; certainly, those who hold to Limited Atonement would disagree with the universality of the second line.
But the egregious egotism of the last line is simply shameful. Jesus said to His disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” [Mt 16:24].
Par, With An Asterisk
Today, I shot par. Sort of. I cheated on two holes and took the better of two throws in order to make par. Without the asterisks, I was 2 over par.
