An Important Moment in Pearl's Life

Today, we decided that we would introduce Pearl to the world of Star Wars. Since it's such a monumental occasion, we thought it would be fun to take notes during the watching, to record her reactions. So consider this a live blogging the first watching of Episode IV. Will be updated as we watch.

DVD menu - she says she's afraid of the music.

The opening scene where the Star Destroyer flies overhead - "Ohhh...it's a big!!"

People running aboard the Tantive IV - "running"

Stormtroopers board the ship shooting lots of people - "he fall down," whimpering a bit.

At this time I noted that this is going to be difficult if I record everything she says. So maybe I will just note the notable stuff.

6:01 PM
Darth Vader interrogating the Rebel soldier - "Darth Vader," clap clap clap. Uh yeah, I guess so. Clap for the Darth Vader, not necessarily the demise of the poor Rebel.

6:05 PM
R2-D2 and C-3PO go their separate ways. Pearl says "This way, that way."

6:07 PM
Jawas picking up a stunned R2-D2 - "Picking up, that. Hug you." Later when they are loading R2 onto the sandcrawler, "he's okay, that."

6:18 PM
Luke's family eating dinner - "I need that...I need that." It IS dinner time, after all.

6:32 PM
Starts losing interest during the meeting of the Imperial leaders. But Darth Vader brings her attention back.

6:42 PM
Chewbacca attracts her attention. "Pearl, what sound does a wookie make?"

6:44 PM
Upon seeing Greedo: "Oh, mouse! I like mouse!"

7:00 PM
We are pleased to know that she recognizes Chewbacca and Darth Vader on sight.

7:04 PM
Just inside the Death Star - "Chewie! Chewie right there. I like Chewie."

7:09 PM
During the "weapons malfunction", in a distressed voice: "Chewie! Chewie!"

7:13 PM
In the garbage chute: "Chewie, bye-bye."

7:19 PM
At the end of the garbage chute scene, when 3PO thinks they're dying: "Don't like it. Don't like it."

7:23 PM
When Obiwan meets up with Darth Vader: "Oh! Oh-BEE-wan. Oh-BEE-wan." (Repeated ad infinitim in a few minutes upon his death)

7:31 PM
"Drink it," as she offers Han and Leia some of her tea. (And more refrains of "Oh-BEE-wan")

7:34 PM
"Chewie here. Chewie here." (Her new refrain, after realizing that Obiwan is not going to reappear.)

7:37 PM
"Obiwan!" OK, so maybe she hasn't given up on Obiwan....

7:41 PM
"Obiwan, he... dies."

7:45 PM
Inexplicably, she breaks into song: "Trust, obey, no other way; Happy, Jesus... trust, obey."

7:55 PM
Harmony, at movie's end: "So what do you think? Do you like Star Wars?"
Pearl: *nods* Where's Chewie?

Today's Facebook Status....

... for our church:

Brief Bible Byte for July 31, 2010: Ezra 7:10 - "For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel." This great prophet recognized that all three of these were important - studying, practicing, and teaching the law of the Lord. Setting our own hearts to do the same will help us be pleasing to God.

I love reading through all my friends' facebook updates and then seeing the "Bible Byte" from the church. I remember my parents being surprised that our congregation even had a facebook page. We're on the more conservative side, but that doesn't mean that we shun technology when we can use it to spread the Gospel. ;-)

Pro-Life Law and Order Episode

It doesn't go so far as to say Roe v Wade should be overturned, but one of the characters does say it should be revisited. About half the major characters in the show were pro-life, and they weren'tall crazy fanatics. I was shocked to see such a fair portrayal from Hollywood! Watch the episode for yourself and let me know what you think of it.

Music Lovers' Opinions Wanted!

If you consider yourself to have any good taste in music (who doesn't?), I would like to solicit your opinion.

Perhaps you have heard of a movie called Requiem for a Dream. Its soundtrack contains a song called Lux Aeterna which is quite often erroneously referred to as Requiem for a Dream.



Pretty much every movie or TV series that has ever had a fan-made tribute/highlight video has had someone make a video set to this song. Everyone on YouTube seems to adore this song, but as we know, most commenters on YouTube are no higher lifeforms than fungi in a scummy armpit. I like to think that any regular readers of this blog are better than that (and you do too, probably, unless you have the self esteem of a dying salted slug).

So I want to know what you think of this song. Whether you love it or hate it, I want to hear your reasons for it. Please listen to it first in its entirety, then highlight the seemingly blank section below for my opinion. It's important that you listen first, then see what I think - I want you to listen with a blank slate and for your opinion not to be affected by mine. (you are exempt from listening before highlighting if you have heard this music before)

I canNOT understand why so many people love this song. I find it to be utterly repetitive! I do admit that some parts do have that certain epic feel to them, like when the chorus comes in for spurts, or for when the tempo gets faster and the crashing drums come in (3:23, for example). But even those parts are just rehashes of the same measures that came before them, and the measures that come after them are rehashes as well. SNORE ZZZ SNORE

It is popular as trailer music, and I can see why it would do well in that form of media. Trailers are short and showcase tantalizing highlights and explosions and whatnot. I can see that it would work in a movie as purely background music. But to sit down and listen to?? I can do that with many soundtracks/soundtrack composers. Hans Zimmer and John Williams come to mind. Zimmer's soundtracks all sound similar but I find them to have an epic feel and aren't nearly as repetitive as this boring piece. And I do believe that John Williams' music can stand alone quite well. But I would never turn on Lux Aeterna just to listen to.

Of course, popular music these days is relatively repetitive as well. Verse chorus verse chorus, chorus chorus until end. But at least each line of the verse/chorus usually has more variation than the 2 or 3 notes that comprise this song.

That is my amateur opinion. I would like to hear your opinion as well.

Star Wars Conversations Over Lunch

On Sunday, after learning some celebratory news from some church friends, we received an impromptu invitation to lunch afterwards. Quite impromptu, considering we received the invitation while driving alongside one another at about 35 miles an hour with the windows down. Anyways, these friends are the homeschooling friends we mentioned in this previous post. (we have since learned of a couple of other homeschooling families) Apparently their 3 children are fans of mine, as I am of them, seeing as we are often spotted playing together after church.

Their children had been asking me Star Wars questions after church. They are much more intelligently inquisitive about SW than I ever was as at that age. (consequently, I foresee that they will be much more intelligent than I was at the corresponding age) The discussion continued at lunch. Their father (who I can imagine would've fit the typical Georgia Tech techie mold quite well, and still does, I shall call him Father Techie) and I fielded the questions as best as we could. Here are some of the things we discussed:

Question from 7 year old Daughter K: What did Leia do? As in, what was her role in the Rebellion? Goodness child, when I was your age, she was just Princess Leia. She didn't need to do anything. She just was. But nay, this maiden is very smart, precocious, and inquisitive. She wants to know what Leia did. We told her that Leia was a politician and a princess, so she had the big name recognition. She was diplomatic and good at gaining people's trust. She was good at bypassing typical bureaucratic regulations and getting things done quickly.

Say you are the owner of a repair shop for old Y-wing starfighters. If some random person comes to you and says he really needs spare parts for a Y-wing, you would be wary. After all, this could be an Imperial spy trying to out you. Then again, if Princess Leia came to you and asked for spare parts, you would be more willing to trust her. I think eventually she came to understand Princess Leia's role in the Rebellion.

Question from Father Techie: Why did the Empire even bother with big cumbersome AT-ATs? (those are the big four legged walkers that were in Episode V, on the snowy planet) After all, they can be taken out very easily by one person with a grenade, or one little speeder with a tow cable. I told him that AT-ATs were probably a pork barrel project of sorts. Some influential senator or two probably had production or manufacturing facilities in his district and fought tooth and nail to keep the big cumbersome inefficient AT-ATs from being stricken from that year's "defense" budget.

More question from kids: How old was Luke when he first fought Darth Vader? I believe Luke was 18 when he blew up the first Death Star. Technically you could say that that was their first encounter, since Vader tried to shoot Luke down. This did not suffice for Daughter K. She wanted to know how old he was when they first met, face to face. (I should have asked her why she wanted to know). Father Techie and I tried to recall how many years had passed between Episodes 4 and 5. We surmised it probably wasn't more than 3, so the answer was that he was no older than 21 when he first fought Darth Vader face to face.

Daughter K thought it was very important to learn as much as she could about Leia. Most of her questions concerned Princess Leia and her doings... I suspect it's because of the Princess title. We talked about why she was on the Death Star (Empire found out she was working for the Rebellion) what was happening to Leia on the Death Star (torture), why it was happening (the location of the secret Rebel base), why the Rebels had to have a secret base, which necessitated an explanation of the concept of guerrilla warfare. So you see, one thing leads to another and conversations about Star Wars turn out educational sometimes. One day when Daughter K and Strapping Lad B are studying history and learning about insurgencies and asymmetric warfare (WW II resistance movements, Iraq, Afghanistan, every.single.Latin.American.country's.history, etc.), they will fondly recall lunchtime discussions with JunkMale, over burritoes and Mexican rice.

Environmental Randomnimity

Unintentionally Low Carbon Footprint

...we have one. It's unintentional because we do a lot of the "environmentally friendly" things because it benefits us, as I've discussed here before. We cook from scratch as much as possible because it's generally healthier and cheaper. We compost because, well, it all ends up becoming free compost. (never mind that composting itself probably produces the oft-maligned "greenhouse gases.") We garden because it's fun, rewarding, and good for our health. Our main car, which is not a hybrid, is very fuel efficient (a couple of tanks ago, I got 41 miles per gallon!) and it saves us money. We are a one income couple because we feel that the benefits of Harmony staying home far outweigh the benefits of having more money at the cost of having busier lives.

Much Easier to be an Enviro-Radical Food Snob These Days

(The following are mostly unresearched thoughts.)

It seems to me that it is much easier for some slightly concerned person to be an enviro-radical food snob (ERFS) these days, because it only slightly inconveniences. For clarification, I'll define ERFS as a person who seeks to make an environmental or political statement by buying organic foods whenever possible. (In the interest of full honesty, we are probably food snobs to an extent, although definitely not enviro-radical; generally, we eat what's put before us without raising questions of conscience.) I'd imagine that if you were an ERFS back in the day and had a craving for chocolate* or Doritos, you'd either have to make it yourself or do without. Which brings me to my point.

It is much easier to be an ERFS in this day and age, where the organic grocery stores have their own versions of pretty much everything you'd find in a regular grocery store. Processed cereals, granola bars, chips, frozen dinners, you name it and they probably have it somewhere.** Aside from having to part with more money, the typical busy two income couple could switch from conventional to organic with microscopic effort.

I wonder how many contemporary ERFSs would "fall away" from their convictions if convenient organic foods all of a sudden disappeared. You want cookies or cake? Gotta make it yourself. You want a quick and easy dinner but don't want to cook? The food snob part of you must go into hiding so you can head to McDonald's or Applebee's or wherever.

* - Chocolate? Hardly the environmentally friendly food for U.S. residents, if you're concerned about food miles. The biggest source of cacao is Africa and Central/South America. Say bye to bananas too. And off-season produce.

** - never mind the fact that those items share the following things with their conventional brethren: are just as processed, probably require the same amount of infrastructure and logistics (a.k.a. petroleum) to get to the shelves, and probably have the same packaging materials.

Little Women, the Movie

I used to like the movie Little Women. I really did! It was such a sweet, fun movie, and even though I had only watched it a few times I had a plan to own it some day. Having read Little Women for the first time (better late than never?), I thought I would watch the movie again, just for fun.

To say that I was disappointed is an understatement. The blatant feminism (which I guess I just hadn't noticed before), I perhaps could stand, but turning sweet Mr. Brooke into a horrid chauvinist was just too much for me. I loved him in the book - and, by the way, so did Mr. and Mrs. March. They couldn't praise him enough! And, then, there were the little disappointments through the rest of the movie. They weren't so bad, but the shock of the first 30 minutes definitely soured the rest of the movie for me.

I suppose the movie does a decent job of keeping to the spirit of the book, but not for the first time I find that I probably would have been happier had I not re-watched the movie.

*sigh* I need to keep reminding myself: it's only a movie, they can't help themselves.

What would you do with $300 cash back?

I have been watching the news on TV using our rabbit ears for the past few weeks, and there is a certain commercial that comes on - it seems like every commercial break - that really annoys me. It is an ad for TV, internet, phone, and wireless service. The deal is that you pay $100 a month, and just for signing up you get $300 cash back.

So they go around on the streets asking people what they would do with that $300. Now, I don't know about you, but I think that if I were given $300 back for signing up to pay $100 a month, I would be using that money to cover the first 3 months of service, right? But, no, not these people they interviewed. Out of the 6 responses they show, only one is what I would consider a judicious use of the money, and most of the responses seem outright selfish. Here they are:

• some "really awesome" concert tickets
• take his girlfriend out to eat someplace nice
  
• grocery shopping - thank you, frugal Asian lady with a toddler! ;-)
• tickets to the game
• MP3 player
• salsa lessons

I will say that I do appreciate the young man who would spend his money on someone he loves. Now, it might just be me, but I think that if you couldn't afford those concert tickets before the $300 cash back, you shouldn't be signing a contract to pay $100 a month for a year or more to this company. Or am I totally off base?

So tell me, what would you do with that $300?

Small Question

I wonder how many people will be absent from their church tonight because of Halloween?

EDIT:
We had the usual sized crowd last night. All (3?) of the babies were decked out in pumpkin gear or some other mode of costume. Most of the usual families in attendance. Some families were not present, but we don't know why. Aside from the fact that some absences might've been Halloween-related, this week was standard as far as absences/attendance goes.

August's Randomnimity

I had a couple of small post ideas which will be consolidated into a randomnimity post. Hopefully these will not be too cynical for general and non-compulsive consumption.

More on the Michael Vick Extravaganza
According to this opinion piece on FoxNews.com, Michael Vick said something along the lines of "Dogfighting is a terrible thing and I reject it ... I found Jesus and turned my life over to God. I think that's the right thing to do as of right now." If this is actually true, and Michael Vick actually has turned to God, wonderful! Hopefully we will see a good lack of controversies from him in the future.
But that last sentence vexes me. "The right thing to do as of right now?" Sir, turning to God is not the right thing to do "as of right now." It has always been the right thing to do. To me, this invokes images of shadowy meetings with P.R. reps calculatingly telling him to say such things. Hopefully he will not go back to his old ways when it's convenient "as of (then) right now." But of course, this is just one person's opinion: mine. I really do hope there is sincere repentance, but I also think it is very disrespectful to throw around God's name for good P.R. (*if* that is what's going on here)

Value of Dog Life vs. Human Life
Nowadays, it's the cool thing now to talk about how inhumane dogfighting is. But wouldn't you know, in God's eyes, humans are more valuable, because they are made in the image of God. Don't get me wrong, dogs are my favorite pet animals. But I don't believe a dog can bring honor to God and worship Him. A dog cannot willingly turn to God. A dog does not have the sentience necessary for such acts. You can bring a dog to church every Sunday from now until they put the nails on your coffin, but that won't do a thing to change a dog's behavior (actually, the same applies to people too). A dog cannot wake up each day and choose to honor God. Why don't highly publicized cases of first degree murder (committed upon an innocent child, for example) have people lamenting about the value of human life? Perhaps it's because dogs largely become what they are molded to become, having little to no say in the matter. Perhaps because most people associate dogs with a certain innocence. Certain subsets of homo sapien have total innocence too...

Public Criminal Records...
...can be a source of minor amusement if you grew up mostly living in one area. It can also be a source of pity when you see someone you grew up with who has gotten into a lot of trouble. You can go to your county's website and look up criminal records online. There seems to be a slight positive correlation with athletic ability and number of entries in the database. The most athletic guys that I went to elementary school with are the ones that have more alcohol and drug charges on their records. I pity them; they have thrown away much potential for their lives.
Why is it that, overall, the most athletic kids seem to be the most popular ones? Is it a result of our culture and athletic media coverage? I suppose evolutionary psychology would say that it's because the most athletic boys are most likely to be the best bringers-home of the proverbial mammoth.

Origin of the Candlelight Vigil?

Disclaimer: tragedies are tragedies, and people in hard times are free to mourn appropriately. Oh, and Happy 200^th Post!

If you're of the betting kind, it's a sure win that every time something remotely tragic happens, there will be a candlelight vigil organized. I've wondered about the origin of the candlelight vigil. Did it begin as a non-religious thing? Was it pagan in nature? Or was it even a Christian thing? Or does anyone really know? Personally, I think it has a sort of pagan feel to it, and so I'm not inclined to want to participate in them. (I said I'm not inclined; that doesn't mean I'll never participate in one) But that is just totally speculative speculation on my part, and you are officially not condemned by me if you participate in them.

I searched Google for origin of candlelight vigil (without quotation marks) and it turned up largely useless results. I'm 11 pages in and have found nothing explaining what I'm after. Searching for "origin of the candlelight vigil" (with quotation marks) yields only one result. This result leads to an Islamic discussion forum thread, which only has 3 entries. The originator also wonders about the same question as I do, and says that his/her research points towards Druids as a possible origin of this ritual. Which would, of course, support my original totally speculative speculation.

That's just one person's research though, so who knows? In my casual searching, I've not found anything else, so totally speculative speculation is only cut down one notch to total speculation.

If you are one to not mix in pagan traditions with your daily life, perhaps you should give this one some additional research. Of course, this leads to the issue of how diluted a tradition must be before it is generally considered "okay" for Christians to practice. Weddings come to mind as events that are rife with traditions and superstitions. I'm sure not all the traditions are of a pagan nature, and I wouldn't think that many of them would be harmful (but you can't be too sure, and this is why it's great that God gives grace), but a good dose of questioning traditions couldn't hurt.

<aside>
On a side note, we only did a first dance because that's what's done at receptions; if we happened upon a rip in the fabric of space-time (how cool would that be?) and went back to the wedding planning phase, we wouldn't repeat the somewhat awkward experience that this was, considering there was no other dancing at the reception. Not because we condemn dancing, or not that the church condemned dancing (I don't think), but because our families are generally not the dancing types.
</aside>

Prayer, and Other Things

When I drive to work in the mornings, I listen to Atlanta's most widespread news/talk radio station. There has been much talk of the Michael Vick dogfighting extravaganza these days, especially since he is (or will have been) the Atlanta Falcons' starting quarterback. This morning's segment ended with the news guy mentioning that Michael Vick had prayed a lot preceding his guilty plea.

<aside>
In pleading guilty, he implicitly/explicitly admits guilt, so for this post, I talk under the framework of him being guilty. (I had thought about doing a post on this Vick stuff before, but that was before we knew if he was guilty or not.)
</aside>

So then the cynical side of me decided to awake from its slumber: Michael Vick? Praying? If he said he did, I guess he did, but come on now. I can't imagine that Michael Vick prayed a lot before his boondoggle operation got exposed. Then again, I don't know Michael Vick, so maybe he did pray a lot before then.

If I'd been even more cynical, I would've let the "Does God even hear prayers of people who never pray?" thought finish, but since I like to think that I'm a little less cynical than that, I tried not to let it finish. Because before God, none of us are any better than Vick; no not one, no not one. So I certainly hope He hears prayers of adulterers, idolators, cowards, and the like, because we're all a bunch of sinners. (That last sentence does not mean I think that Vick is all those things, except a sinner...like I said, I don't know the man)

This got me thinking about how God views people who never pray. What happens when those people do pray? How does God accept cries for help from people who, aside from their moment of foxhole piety, otherwise live their lives as they please? I suppose if these cries of help were made toward a human, he might be inclined to say "Hmph. You've never shown me much respect or shown faith in me before, so why should I help you now? Especially when you probably won't act a smidge different after all this?" But then again, God is gracious, and we should not expect God to react in a fallen human manner. I don't presume to know the mind of God, so maybe one of you readers can presume for me and let me know what you think ;)

On a note not related to prayer, but related to Mike Vick...
This is another page in the book of wealth-is-a-snare or money ≠ happiness. In December of 2004, this guy signed a 10 year contract for $130 million, plus a $37 million signing bonus. This guy made enough money to retire by signing a contract. Not to mention all his endorsement deals (which have all probably been flushed down the toilet at this point). All that money means he could've had anything that money could buy. He probably could've bought his own private island or his own fighter plane. But he also goes and gets involved in dogfighting, which I would assume brought in more money for him. His football and endorsement deals weren't enough, so he went for more. This brings to mind one of my favorite scriptures, and a most relevant one indeed:

Proverbs 30:7-9
7 Two things I ask of you;
deny them not to me before I die:
8 Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
9 lest I be full and deny you
and say, "Who is the LORD?"
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God.

It's quite unfortunate that even though he had riches upon riches, it still wasn't enough to fulfill. I don't dislike him any more for letting down his fans (which I don't think I ever was a big one, because I'm not a big NFL fan); I pity him for poor decision making and getting entangled by wealth.

July's Randomnimity

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
In order to avoid high blood pressure, Christians who are vehemently opposed to reading Harry Potter should skip this paragraph, because we are most certainly not opposed. In fact, we were so not opposed that we chose to read book 7 together for about 13 hours on July 21. Reports have it that JunkMale and Harmony were slightly woozy the next morning at church. I find it funny and interesting how we both read the series for totally different things; I like the action and adventure portions, whereas she likes the witty narratives and interpersonal relationships. Case in point: I found the Bill/Fleur wedding chapter to be somewhat...boring, but it was Harmony's favorite chapter. I am apt to re-read all the action portions, such as the ends of the books, whereas she is more likely to re-read Ron and Hermione's latest goings-on. (isn't she weird? or am I?)

Blocked from China



I'm not sure how accurate this site is. I know that I have previously had blog visitors from China, and I know that I have gotten an opposite result from that site before. But I've done the test numerous times over the past few days, and each has come out with the above result.

Facebook Virtual Field Trip

Sometimes when I'm bored at work, I'll get on Facebook. For some reason, my company does not block Facebook, although it does block MySpace and all the major e-mail providers. Anyways, I've had an account since 2004, but am not so much of a participant as some are members are wont to be.

I have a relatively small number of Facebook "friends." I say that in quotes because my 5 year interaction record with some of these people has consisted solely of accepting their let's-be-Facebook-friends invitation. I can't view anyone's profile unless they have friended me, so my exposure to the Facebook generation is somewhat limited. However, my Facebook friendage is not limited to like-minded people; indeed, the life outlook, worldview, and general purpose in life is in the minority when it comes to my Facebook network.

Sometimes I find it a bit amusing to go on a Facebook virtual field trip. This consists of looking through other people's posted pictures. For those not familiar with Facebook, I assure you that this is not some sort of sicko voyeuristic act. If people didn't want others to see the pictures, they would not post them on Facebook. I find it interesting how FAR I am from most of the people in my network of people. Most of these people are still in some form of school, studying abroad, traveling the world, and/or drinking. This is, as you might be able to tell, a far cry from the suburban one income life that we live.

This brings me to a question. In several pictures containing people who label themselves "Christian" on their profile, the group is located in a hookah lounge. Am I ignorant about the nature of hookah lounges, or are these places considered "okay" for Christians to attend?

Much in the same way that we sometimes consider a grocery store trip to be a field trip, so too do I consider looking at people's Facebook pictures. It's like going to the zoo, except here you gawk at my generation's exploits of carousal, which arguably have more shock value than what you'd find at a zoo. To me, anyways.

Back-to-school Fashion

According to the Today Show, a back-to-school wardrobe is a very important part of your child's school experience. So how much do they think you should spend? They do give lip service to cheaper brands, but here are the numbers from their featured 'cool' outfits for this year, with the total price tag for one outfit (be sure you're sitting down):

$238 - girl 'bohemian hipster'
$175 - boy 'bohemian hipster'
$243 - boy 'prepster'
$350.50 - girl 'prepster'
$228 - 'skater boy'
$146 - 80's flashback

I'm curious... those of you who are already parents, what do you typically spend on your child's clothing? And do you think shows like this serve to either make children want the expensive clothing, or make parents feel guilty if they can't afford to buy their children what they see on TV?

Of Supreme Importance

...Han shot first.

I just thought I should remind everyone of this fact.

Update On Life

Our recent shortage of posts can be explained by the fact that we were vacationing with Harmony's family in Virginia for the past week. Thankfully, this shortage of posts was not nearly as stressful as the last time we had a shortage of posts.

We stayed at a townhouse in Basye, VA. This house had cable TV, which allowed us to catch up a slight bit on "pop culture." Might I add that the entity which calls itself "ABC Family Channel" is NOT family-oriented at all. It was originally started by Pat Robertson himself and has undergone numerous name/ownership changes. However, Mr. Pat stipulated that the channel must always contain the word "family." JunkMale notes that this is not the first time he has heard of Pat Robertson doing or saying absurd things. I daresay this does more harm than good. Or at the least, no good at all to call something a family channel when it does not contain family-oriented programming.

<aside>
Does it not annoy you when people use the Greek letter Σ in place of "E?" I guess there is something distinctly Greek looking about Σ. This is most unfortunate for those of us who even slightly are aware of what sounds the Greek letters make. This diatribe was inspired by another stupid teen drama series which appears to be officially titled "GRΣΣK." Also known as GRSSK, or in a proper universe, GREEK or GRεεK, which apparently is not exotic enough. Harumph.
</aside>

Since a straight drive to Virginia would take us about 11 hours, we made pit stops at her maternal grandmother's house in NC. Armed with our relatively new camcorder, we sat her down and picked her brain about her great many experiences with life (reference the home video post). She was born in the 1920's as the youngest child in a family of 9, in rural VA. We also did ghetto-scans (taking a picture of the pages) of her mother's recipe book. At this point, let me remind you that she was in her 40's in the 1920's, so this recipe book is very OLD. The recipes within contain much ambiguity, archaic spellings, and archaic terms, all of which make it something we'd very much like to inherit one day (even if it did fall apart while we were reading it). Perhaps you will see a series of blogposts detailing eclectic entries from great grandmother's recipe book.

Our garden seems to have prospered in our absence. I'm not sure whether to be insulted or delighted. Before we left though, I discovered that the box I made for Harmony's butter beans (seen here) had quite a few termite-ish insects crawling all throughout. :\ We had already made an appointment with the termite people before this discovery, and the 17th couldn't come any faster. Anyways, things have come quite a ways since that picture was taken, and we'll have to post an update one of these days, when Harmony has a chance.

Soda

I was thinking about doing a high post on legislating morality, "God given" rights, or invoking God's name for political purposes, but then I decided I would have a banana. Being organic matter that will rot, I usually put banana peels in the office trashcan and not my own personal receptacle. Upon depositing said peel in the big garbage bin, I noticed quite a few empty cans of soda. This notice gave birth to this decidely "lower" post on soda.

This got me thinking of how prevalent soda is in the U.S. I can't speak of other countries, because I haven't experienced them recently. I'm reminded of a church potluck we attended a couple of weeks ago. A little boy had been running around outside; he came in and proclaimed to his father that he was thirsty. So dad poured him a cup of soda. Surely this was a poor solution for relief of thirst.

If you want to be assured of riches galore, go embed yourself in the Coca Cola corporation.

I wonder why not many (if any) global warming proponents who hawk the alleged dangers of CO₂ emissions go after soda companies. After all, these beverages are carbonated. As in CO₂. Every time someone pops open a soda can to the tune of "KtSSSSsssssssssssii," there is more carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. And with every emission of gas that follows from your own body as a result of drinking that soda, you increase your carbon dioxide contribution. Al Gore must stop drinking soda!

When I was little, I was dismayed that there was never as much soda in our house as some of my friend's houses. Now I am very glad that my mom didn't buy soda as much. But I was assured and soothed by the fact that soda was only a couple of steps and approximately π/2 radians (opening the fridge door) away from my grasp. Glad am I that I never developed a big soda addiction. Apparently lots of people find it hard to kick the unhealthy habit. To my limited knowledge, there are little to no health benefits from drinking soda, and it's easier on the budget to drink water. Concession is given to ginger ale, which serves the honorable dual purpose of being Harmony's stomach tonic and means of getting gigantic pills down her pinhole-sized esophagus (carbonation numbs her throat, thereby allowing passage of aforementioned pills).

In the end, you probably make more money than me (and can afford it), or have lived much longer than I have (and not yet suffered ill effects courtesy of it), or are much smarter than me (and so refute my claims), so I am nothing if not presumptuous to interfere with your right to drink soda. There is nothing morally wrong with drinking nutritionally void soda, so go ahead.

BTW, here's a weak chemistry lesson as to why flat soda is considered by many to be unpalatable:


H₂CO₃ is carbonic acid, which is pressurized and diluted into the soda concoction. It is responsible for that "sharp" soda taste. Upon depressurization (opening the can/bottle), carbonic acid decomposes to CO₂ (which is responsible for the fizzy bubbles) and water. Water obviously serves to dilute the sugary mess that is soda, and the loss of carbonic acid leads to the declaration that the soda is now "flat" as opposed to "sharp."

Reality and The X-Files

WARNING: The following post will probably be irrelevant, boring, or both to those who have no interest in The X-Files, or those who have never had to deal with workplace information security.

I love the TV show The X-Files. Seeing as we don't watch TV very much anymore, I doubt that many shows will come close to dethroning XF as my all-time favorite show. I have every show on DVD. Before season DVDs came along, I had a majority of the shows taped off TV on VHS tapes. During the peak of my watcher-ship (if that's even a word), I could watch a few seconds of any part of an episode and tell you the title, plot, and perhaps even the season in which it aired. My interest waned in the later seasons, due to various reasons.

However, as much as I loved the show, as I watch it these days, I realize how maddeningly unrealistic it is. Or rather, how utterly boring the show would be if the producers showed all of the little details that never get shown. Let me explain.

The premise of the show is two FBI agents (Mulder and Scully) investigating paranormal phenomena, with a heavy focus on aliens and the government conspiracy to either cover-up or concoct their existence. Because of the bureaucratic nature of the FBI, the real time for an episode to run its full course would likely be on the order of months. Here are a few bullet points on the mundane details that would bore viewers to death:

• The two agents frequently galavant about the country, presumably on the FBI's dime. While not investigating paranormal phenomena, they probably spend the rest of their time filling out expense reimbursement requests.


• When they're done with those, they have to go back and fill out their timesheets appropriately. What charge numbers do they use for X-Files anyways?


• In addition to flying, the two agents frequently drive long distances, spanning several states. Sometimes even across the nation. Their travel expenses alone probably contribute to a significant chunk of federal spending.


• Writing case reports would probably take a long time, especially if altercations were involved (which there always were). Perhaps even longer if an FBI-issued firearm were discharged.

I'd like to say a thing or two about their attention to workplace security, or lack thereof. On one page of the FBI's website, it says that all FBI employees must have a TOP SECRET security clearance. The definition of the TOP SECRET classification is information that would cause exceptionally grave damage to national security, if leaked. I have had a bit of experience with somewhat less stringent classified environments, and I can tell you that even those were relatively stringent. Mulder and Scully routinely stay at work until nether hours, but you never see them properly inspecting and locking up their work area. This would include things like making sure all classified information is properly stored in a combination lock container, making sure that everyone's computer is logged off, and making sure that the area alarm and motion detectors are properly armed. Then you must make sure to arm the big lock on the door to the office area.

The two agents are routinely handed case files to TOP SECRET information for which they have no "need to know." The "need to know" phrase has entered pop culture by way of some Tom Cruise movie, I think (Whatever it is, I haven't seen it). This phrase is actually used, and is a measure used to prevent the wide spreading of information to people who have the clearance, but have no need for the info itself. If I have a TOP SECRET security clearance, it doesn't mean that I can automatically have access to all of the government's deepest secrets.

In the XF office, there is a big cabinet of case files. These files likely contained classified information, and as such, they should be stored in a filing cabinet with a proper combination lock. Yet we've never seen Mulder or Scully fumbling to get the right combination on any such lock. I've seen Mulder walk out of his office, leaving a clearly marked stack of TOP SECRET papers on his desk. This is a gigantic no-no, as far as workplace security goes. Mulder and Scully have also brought their work home with them, which they would NOT be allowed to do, even with information that is at the lowest security classification. This would likely get a normal person thrown in jail. If the agents' antagonists really wanted to get them kicked out of the FBI, all they would have to do is alert M/S's boss of their blatant security breaches.

Mulder and Scully have discussed their work in crowded bars. If they paid attention during their security orientation on their first day of work, they would know that this is NOT allowed.

The main characters sometimes obtain keycards that give them access to highly secure areas. In secure environments, you almost always have to both swipe the card and put in a PIN that is associated with your card only. However, Mulder and Scully hardly ever have to enter a PIN to go along with a fake keycard.

But...it is a TV show, and I suppose part of the appeal comes from watching these two maverick agents flaunt normal information security measures and operate outside the FBI mainstream.

My Ignorance Concerning Climate Change

I am tired of my lack of knowledge on how climate works. I hear one side saying that man is causing global warming, and the other saying that this is bad science. The 'man' side says that the 'sun' side is in the pockets of the oil companies. The 'sun' side says that the 'man' side is full of communists who want to take down capitalism. So who do you believe? The problem is that I know next to nothing about climatology. So whatever I believe is going to be based not on my knowledge of the scientific workings of the atmosphere, sun, climate, pollution, etc, but on what someone else tells me. Something tells me that the majority of other earthlings subject to this debate are in the same boat as I am.

But I don't like being ignorant. Ergo, I have decided to visit the local library for books on climatology, meteorology, weather, etc. I want to learn enough about the subject so that I can make an *informed* decision, rather than taking someone else's word at face value.

There are a few subjects that interest me more than others. I watched a fascinating video called "The Great Global Warming Swindle" (which I would recommend everyone watch) in which they threw around a whole lot of scientific terms that seemed very credible to me -- but that I want to know more about. One scientist mentioned that a basis for the study of severe weather is that the greater delta T (that is, the change in temperature) between the poles and the equator, the greater the chance for severe weather. This does not readily mesh with traditional global warming propaganda (for lack of a better term), which has made the public believe that if the Earth warms, there will be more hurricanes, tornadoes, thunderstorms, etc. If the scientist's claim was correct, it would mean that unless the temperature at the equator was rising at a greater rate than that at the poles, the incidence of severe weather would remain largely the same as it has generally been. And, without having studied the subject myself, there seems to be no reason why global warming would effect the equatorial regions of the Earth more than the poles.

But the truth is that I have no idea if that particular scientist (or any others, from either camp) was making a valid claim, and I'm tired of being part of the uninformed masses.

If you, too, would like to learn more about how the Earth's weather and climate works, you can find information about meteorology in section 551 at your library. Looking through 533 (on gases -- for information on atmosphere) might also be useful. 508 (natural history) might contain some good information about Ice Ages and possibly something about the Medieval Warm Period. If you want to know more about how the sun works, try 523 (Specific celestial bodies & phenomena). Be sure to browse all of the 550s (Earth Sciences) just in case another interesting title catches your eye.

Oh, and if you want to know more about the global warming debate/problem, be sure to also check out 363 - Other Social Problems and Services.

Depending on my continued interest in this subject, there might be more posts on the science behind weather/climate/global warming to come.