OpenBSD info & link

If you were ever curious about the operating system I have sometimes posted
about or alluded to by mentioning 'Puffy', then just check out this short interview. It is in .avi format.

In memory of Simone Weil

While reading this poem Simone Weil had the experience of the presence of Christ. I hope that in reading "Love" by George Herbert, you might get at least a sense of what Simone Weil experienced.

Love

Love bade me welcome, yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-ey'd Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
If I lack'd anything.

"A guest," I answer'd, "worthy to be here";
Love said, "You shall be he."
"I, the unkind, the ungrateful? ah my dear,
I cannot look on thee."
Love took my hand and smiling did reply,
"Who made the eyes but I?"

"Truth, Lord, but I have marr'd them; let my shame
Go where it doth deserve."
"And know you not," says Love, "who bore the blame?"
"My dear, then I will serve."
"You must sit down," says Love, "and taste my meat."
So I did sit and eat.

Beginning....a puzzle.

A man went searching for the beginning of the road he was traveling. He traced his footsteps back the way he had come, until he came to where he started. But the beginning of the road was not a beginning. Something lay on the far side of the road's beginning, a beginning before the beginning. And the road had no sooner begun than the beginning was over, and the road itself appeared.

There was a man who sought a spring. He wanted to locate a spring that was nothing but a spring, not a spring that had a stream of water flowing from it from it. No matter where he searched, he found only springs with streams. He could not find a pure spring, a spring uncorrupted by a supplemental flow of water.

He went home in despair, and on his way met the man looking for the beginning of the road. They found a roadside tavern, and went in for a pint.

...do battle against him...

The self-evidencing power of truth.

The word of truth is free, and carries its own authority, disdaining to fall under any skilful argument, or to endure the logical scrutiny of its hearers. But it would be believed for its own nobility, and for the confidence due to Him who sends it. Now the word of truth is sent from God; wherefore the freedom claimed by the truth is not arrogant. For being sent with authority, it were not fit that it should be required to produce proof of what is said; since neither is there any proof beyond itself, which is God. For every proof is more powerful and trustworthy than that which it proves; since what is disbelieved, until proof is produced, gets credit when such proof is produced, and is recognised as being what it was stated to be. But nothing is either more powerful or more trustworthy than the truth; so that he who requires proof of this is like one who wishes it demonstrated why the things that appear to the senses do appear. For the test of those things which are received through the reason, is sense; but of sense itself there is no test beyond itself. As then we bring those things which reason hunts after, to sense, and by it judge what kind of things they are, whether the things spoken be true or false, and then sit in judgment no longer, giving full credit to its decision; so also we refer all that is said regarding men and the world to the truth, and by it judge whether it be worthless or no. But the utterances of truth we judge by no separate test, giving full credit to itself. And God, the Father of the universe, who is the perfect intelligence, is the truth. And the Word, being His Son, came to us, having put on flesh, revealing both Himself and the Father, giving to us in Himself resurrection from the dead, and eternal life afterwards. And this is Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord. He, therefore, is Himself both the faith and the proof of Himself and of all things. Wherefore those who follow Him, and know Him, having faith in Him as their proof, shall rest in Him. But since the adversary does not cease to resist many, and uses many and divers arts to ensnare them, that he may seduce the faithful from their faith, and that he may prevent the faithless from believing, it seems to me necessary that we also, being armed with the invulnerable doctrines of the faith, do battle against him in behalf of the weak.

There is nothing like St. Irenæus to get me more firmly behind the Lenten discipline; I hope his manly logic lifted your spirits a bit.

Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus

This epistle admirably illustrates the temper taught by St. Paul (2 Tim. ii. 24), and not less the peculiar social relations of converts to the Gospel. Mathetes was possibly a catechumen of St. Paul or of one of the apostles. Many scholars think that his correspondent, Diognetus, was the tutor of M. Aurelius. The author names himself as Mathetes, but no one can say more of his identity. What interests me is the description he gives of early Church communities. Do you think Mathetes is describing the communities in an ideal or realistic manner? I am inclined to think 'both' for my answer. Read this excerpt and decide for yourself:

For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a lifewhich is marked out by any singularity. The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines.But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life. They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all others; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonour are glorified. They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted, and repay the insult with honour; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners, and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred.

So we read about surpassing the legal expectations of the secular laws; not destroying our babies; not condoning adultery. These three stand out as extremely early representations of Orthodox ethical notions. Also, the whole attitude of turning the other cheek and being rich through having little bleeds throughout the epistle and it astounds and inspires me. This epistle is a lot like the Didache in that it is more revelant and fresh than even the morning news! Why is it that Irenaeus, Ignatius and Clement are still such manly and pertinent figures?

Bad Hair and other Hard Truths

Let's be straight about this image: these people have spent way too much time grooming way too much hair with way too much hair spray. I mean the hard truth is that the hair style evident here is so 'jungle frew-frew' it is just begging to be hacked back. You'd need a weed whacker to take off enough to make a visible difference. I have no idea who decided that this style of hair was groovy, but we'd all agree that this way of setting hair is just embarrassing. But it is a hard truth -- albeit a funny hard truth -- to admit that many normal, hard-working middle-class folks in the 1970s actually thought this style rocked: anyone recall the Bay City Rollers? And do look more closely at the photo: doesn't that young family seem delighted with their 'jungle frew-frew' hairdos? You better believe it! "S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y Night!" or "Let the good times roll...let them brush your rock 'n' roll hair, let them leave you up in the air..." Oh the frew-frew jungle blues!

Some truths are hard to grasp while others are hard to take in because they demand of us a difficult course of action or choice. Most hard truths follow the latter description, involving so much more than dealing with evidence that clearly shows you had an extremely poor sense of aesthetic judgment. Indeed, the hardest truths I can think of are these:

1. there is no eternal security; we must trust only in Christ's mercy
2. the two ultimate choices: we saying "yes" to God's will or God saying "yes" to our will.
3. not everyone will find blessedness
4. heaven may involve even longer and more frequent liturgies :p
5. you must hold your hands out in love to those you dislike

What are the hardest truths for you?

Unrelated remarks

A while ago we went to see the Picasso exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery. It amazes me that Picasso was so successful in his own lifetime; he was wealthy and lived a life of luxury and ease. This painting of the bombing of the Basque village, Guernica, has always held my imagination in horror. When someone asks me whether the beautiful is to be equated with that which gives pleasure, I always use this painting in my answer. For this work is beautiful but it gives me no pleasure at all; in contemplating the images, you will notice only horror, loss and brutuality. Hardly giving a normal manly man pleasure. Therefore the beautiful is not another way of saying 'that which gives pleasure'. What do you think the Latin lettering is for?

Winter Frost

The Winter Olympics are running and Canada has owned the rink. It is rather lame that we haven't excelled that well in snowboarding. One bronze medal is lame for a snowboarding capital of the world! In hockey we are starting to get business accomplished; our women's hockey team has won the gold! Truly they seemed unbeatable. Our men are having a tough time getting to be a 'team'. Perhaps a few set-backs will do them good service: it may pull them closer together. The men's team needed a slap upside the head and both the Swiss and the Finns delivered a couple of smashing wake-you-up uppercuts. I think the Canuckleheads will pull together as a manly national team should; and I hope we get to see our manly squad play in the final, crushing the Finns. Oh, baby, that would be better than butter on a fresh cinnamon bun!

This frosty watercolor painting is lovely. It reminds me of the winters during my youth when we used to get more snowfall.

OliveBSD

Go get it here. Burn that onto a cd and then you can boot up OpenBSD 3.8 with a nice graphical user interface. It is an easy and free way to use the most secure operating system currently available. As an aside, olive trees are remarkable in that they bloom prior to growing their leaves. It was this trait that made it the species to represent the White Tree of Gondor in The Return of the King. I sometimes enjoy imagining what those White Trees of Valinor would have looked like in all their radiance.

Quilts

This post is about quilts and why I love them. I want to say at the outset that it is very manly to enjoy quilts. The craftsmanship in making them is not for me to put down or joke at; I highly respect those who design and craft these comforting treasures. However, I am not advocating that manly men start doing this craft; but if you are faced with a choice between taking up quilting or taking up figure skating, I'd say the manly man would choose the former if faced with such a dilemma. Now let's view some of my favourite types.

I have always loved homemade quilts. These days the blankets that are commonly sold are lame in comparison. The industrial revolution ruined things for many an artisan, the textile craftsman not least. That said one can still find good, heavy quilts around. My father's mother was an avid quilt maker until her death. She made me 3 quilts throughout my childhood. The last one she crafted has served me for the last 26 years. And that quilt has seen 26 yrs. of steady use; it went with me to university, it lived through my life as a bachelor; it has been a joy to Ramone and I during our slumbertimes. I love -- absolutely love -- heavy, weighty and manly quilts made with a wool core. Oh baby, can you say Thomas go have a restful and content snooooooze? These old friendship quilts are superbly crafted.The crazy brokendishes design is by some old mennonites; I will forgive them for their theological errors because they made such splendid blankets. It is interesting to note in passing that my grandmother wouldn't have wrapped her or her children in a such a blanket because those perceived theological errors.

So close was a person to the work that its very presence was thought to be blessed or cursed by the form that the maker's mind crafted it with; and if in that mind there were theological or moral ideas that could contaminate other forms or ideas? Well, so much for resting contentedly in a mennonite blanket that could've been contaminated with bad religion. At least they took art extremely seriously!

I love this brokendish design which I am told was a favourite of mennonites; I can just picture my grandmother somehow enjoying the verbal irony of the quilt type and linking it to the followers of Menno Friesen.

This last quilt is a very heavy one, being made of wool. It is just the sort of blanket I would love to wrap myself up in.

The weight, the density of the material is not only warm and soothing, but also it helps to hold you still, suspended, care-free and gives you some respice at the close of a hard day's work.

Oh yea, bring it on! I can just see myself enjoying a good slumber under this one. I hope you enjoyed a peak at some of my favourite quilts.

Canadian Olympic Hockey: can we cheer?!

Our men's and women's teams are posed to defend the Gold; in the coming two weeks we expect to see a couple of scenes like this one:

Let's forget about the figure skating, it is so lame and way too subjective. Remember 2002 when figure skating vomited all over itself on the international stage? I don't know why anyone likes to watch it anyway. It seems to attract mostly effeminate men to the sport. Think about it, what type of guy would rather go practise his ice dancing routine over going to a hockey practice or over going snowboarding??! Enough said; that was a rhetorical question, we know it is a Brokeback-Mountain sort of guy. Furthermore, who gives a rip about figure skating when compared to hockey or snowboarding or skiing? It bothers me that there are people who do not recognize just how lame and unmanly figure skating is; yet this fact only really bothers me because of the effect it has on the broadcasting of the olympic events. The CBC broadcasts hours of the artistic malarkey and they do so because lots of people want to see it. To me watching figure skating is on par with reading and valuing astrology or harnessing the creative energies of crystals. I mean let's get real, no manly man believes people can cast spells or that stars and planets have anything to do with how financial investiments will fare on a given day. "Oh, excuse me while I consult my $50.00 crystal to determine whether the 'creative energy' is right for investing with you...or to find out if I should cheer for the Russians or Chinese in ice dancing???!" It is all unmanly and terribly superstitious and full of horse hockey pucks! Give ice skating a rest, instead cheer for the hockey, snowboarding and skiing. Curling is much more manly than figure skating; they bang their rocks together to make a very manly sound: arggggh!
Or something like that :p

Go Team Canada!

beauty

I came across this painting and thought others might like it, too. I am not sure why I like this picture. If you don't just click away from my post. If it catches your fancy or delights you, then try to explain what it is about the image that evokes your response. Enjoy.

the four parts to a question: for Vic

4 jobs:

1. Teacher: I've taught for 15 years.

2. Gill Net Fisherman: I gill net fished for salmon for a couple of summers.

3. Seine Net Fisherman: I worked on board the Westview III for a couple of summers; I was a tie-up man or beachman. It was in the days when I was a fast runner: in gr.12 I ran a 100m sprint in 11.46s! And a good beachman had to haul his chops up and down slippery rocks, all the while looking for something to tie up on.

4. Burnaby Parks and Recreation: during the summer of Expo 86 I worked as a mobile playwriter. My partner and I would get a week to compose a skit, practise it, find costumes and props; then we would do two shows per day in two different parks per day (one am show, one pm show) over the next two weeks. Then we'd repeat the three week cycle again. We did a nine week stint to great reviews for all three skits! Hehe, it was my summer as Professor Percy Bumble, a bumbling inventor who had various adventures:) And I got to use a Burnaby Parks and Recreation Van to get around; at night I would hang out doing all sorts of silly things with my roomie, Tom Hooper, a bassist for the Grapes of Wrath.

4 movies I could watch over and over...

1. A Man for All Seasons (Paul Scofield)
2. The Godfather I/II (they are connected)
3. Ikiru/The Matrix
4. A River Runs Through It

4 places i've lived:

1. Vancouver: I went to Lord Kitchener Elementary K-3
2. Victoria: We lived on Thompson Bay Rd by Oak Bay Park Pre-school years
3. Toronto: Only there for gr. 3-4. I hated Toronto. I still do. It is a pussy-footed,
liberal-minded part of a wannabe-cultured city that has no culture that isn't superficial.
When we moved to Calgary for my gr.5-6, I could start to think and breath and do things in
the mountain heights!
4. Fort Langley: I live here and I love it; it is so groovy. Just ask Vic, she'll tell you how
cool it is.


4 albums:

1. Led Zeppelin I/II/III/IV
2. Neil Young: Harvest
3. John R. Cash: Live at Folsom Prison
4. So many others...Feist, Sarah Harmer, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Nirvana: Bleach, The White
Stripes, Bach, Mozart, Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith, Coleman Hawkins, Louis Armstrong,
Pink Floyd, etc..

4 fiction writers:

1. C.S.Lewis
2. Tolkein
3. Joyce
4. Dostoevsky

4 poets:

1. Herbert
2. Homer/Pindar
3. Rumi
4. Donne

4 Playwriters:

1. Shakespeare
2. Robert Bolt
3. Sophocles
4. Anton Chekov


4 non-fiction writers:

1. Jean Danielou
2. Vladmir Lossky
3. CS Lewis
4. George Grant

4 Philosophers:

1. Plato
2. Aristotle
3. Thomas Aquinas
4. Simone Weil


4 heroes:

1. Christ
2. St. Paul
3. Mary, the mother of my Lord
4. any truly manly man

4 vacations:

1. Chaunigan Lake
---I have not been on a vacation as an adult other than to Chaunigan Lake.

4 foods:

1. Jim's Pizza: In Fort Langley. The Rustic Italian and House Special (with slight manly substitutions) Id Est, add feta to both; remove pineapple, add roasted garlic to the house special; remove tomato, add roasted garlic to the rustic italian. though the rustic is good with the tomato, but i just prefer the garlic because it is manlier. -edited so as to clarify matters for Victoria

2. Prime Rib

3. Greek Food

4. Chinese Food

4 places i'd rather be:

1. Fly Fishing
2. Not working
3. reading what I want
4. hanging out with friends

4 sites:

1. www.openbsd.org
2. www.undeadly.org
3. blogs I visit
4. google.ca and imdb.com

4 bloggers to whom i'm passing this burden:

1. luke
2. hannah
3. ramone
4. davido

Boom, drizzle, crack! and some baby talk...

I love the wind and the rain; and I love chocolate and cinnamon buns. But too much of a good thing is too much, excessive, over-done, a lot of plenty, etc., etc.. I heard that twins have been born to Deanna and Peter; moreover I am given to understand that the boy is named Thomas. I'd like to congratulate the parents on having the good sense to use such a manly name. The baby girl's name is Elizabeth; and I do have a fondness for that name, too, even though I do not utilize the name. Thomas the baby: what an outstanding name to grow up with and to grow into. Arrrgggh!

Gabe and Amy had a boy with a fine name, too: Owen. What is especially cool about the Little O-man's name is the pronounciation of the initials of his three given or Christian names: O + P + E or 'Oppie'; as, for instance, in the little kid played by Ron Howard on the old Andy Griffith Show. Owen is one of my favourite names. In fact, if Ramone and I were to have a divinely sent accident in the form of another male baby, we'd probably name him Henry Owen Thomas; and yes he'd be one HOT! baby I am sure!

Congratulations to Amy, Gabe, Peter and Deanna on the recent arrivals. May you be given the strength, honour and wisdom to raise them well!

I sure do hope to see some sunshine soon.

word cloud

Here you go Vic and KimRB, I did this post for you two. I don't know if it reveals anything other than that I end up with cinnamon buns smack dab in the middle of these words...a sublime message perhaps???

Bell X1

In this post I will tell you about a model jet Luke and I will build in the coming weeks. I bought a model of this Bell X1 jet for my son Luke. The Bell X1 was the first jet to break the sound barrier on October 14, 1947; Chuck Yeager was the pilot. This weekend we will buy the cement and orange paint for it. Luke is quite excited about putting it together. I like working on modelling projects with Luke; he has loads of patience for a guy his age and takes instructions well. Being teachable is such a virtue and is a sure sign of intellectual humility. Moreover, he has steady hands and an eye for detail. As he grows older I am sure he will learn to anticipate what is needed in a working situation better than he does currently. He's not bad at anticipating, but he needs to refine his observation skills and 'read' situations more accurately. I am well-pleased with my son and his manly progress into becoming a young man!

This weekend Ramone goes in for a MRI on her back at St. Paul's Hospital. Lord, I hope all is well! I don't want to go down that bad-back road again. Please do offer a pray up on behalf of my wife's back; she's already had numerous back surgeries and we don't need any further hospital time.

While we are in town Hannah and I will pick up some Chuck Taylor's; argggh! manly cruisers indeed! Hannah wants to get navy or brown low cuts so they match anything she wears, while I will go for a cream colored set of high tops. Yes, I am so harsh and stylish.

Well I think that's enough manliness for this entry. Here's a cool blog to check out. She wrote an interesting article on Islam and Free Speech and constantly updates her blog with details of an ongoing series of apartment renovations and informative shots of Leith, Edinburgh. Enjoy...

not sure what to write anymore...

this circle of confusion is a figure for my current mind set on blogging. i wrote two other posts about a popular gay cowboy movie currently enjoying rave reviews, but ramone had me delete them because she felt my views were too politically incorrect and dangerous to my employment situation. i thought they were both thoughtful, carefully considered and rather funny. but i trust my wife's insight.

this incident has made me post shy; and this bothers me, leaving me somewhat confused. furthermore, it makes me feel as though what i am thinking through is unimportant and on a lower level of spiritual priority than what ramone or other more spiritual folks are working through in their writing. i don't deny this, but it bothers me nevertheless. in addition, i read a post over on stacy's site and was going to leave a comment about my experience with special ed students but thought, "no, write nothing, it might offend." accordingly i am not sure whether i should write anything about what i truly think about controversial matters. it would seem the wisest move is to remain taciturn. i will just have to find another outlet. so that is what i am going to do; as such i will just write about OpenBSD and other stuff that won't easily offend anyone unless they are silly enough to use microsoft windows :p

a 30h fast: hunger bites, bite back!

Today my school was awarded the highest honour a school can get. No, it wasn't for scholastic merit or for athletics; both of those are very important but are not of the highest honour. Honour must be conferred on that which is the most difficult, challenging action. Also the action must be an action especially pleasing to God if it is to be worthy of the highest honour; for who else can determine what is ultimately honorable? All else is relative and given to folly. To be recognized as compassionate is the highest honour for it is based on the love of one's neighbour, the greatest love according to my Lord; all schools could've accomplished what we did, but they lacked the will to do it. World Vision awarded my school's collective will power today. Last year we raised more money for famine relief in Africa than in any other school in Delta or BC or Canada! That includes very rich private schools like St. George's or Upper Canada College! If they had willed to they could have easily put our humble efforts to shame -- and this is where the full manliness of the honour we earned for our little high school kicks in -- but they didn't will it to be done, whereas we did. I am thankful to work at a school where we are honored for our compassion.

This year we will do the 30h famine again for Rwanda. I pray that this will help some Rwandans and that it helps to cleanse and make more loving hearts in the students who participate. O, Lord have mercy!

the best cinnamon buns in the world?

Fresh cinnamon buns are one of my favourite desserts. I should emphasize that I have some good friends who make awesome cinnamon buns. My wife does not make me cinnamon buns; this is a good thing, for if she did I'd be a whole ton more than I am currently. But on my birthday Kim RB made me some caramel covered cinnamon buns. Arrrrgh, so manly and delicious. Victoria makes a type of cream cheese covered cinnamon buns....oh, they are so good, I'd expect that they are straight from heaven's bakery!

The Old Morris Tobbaco Shop

The Old Morris Tobbaco shop was established in 1892 on its present site and is one of British Columbia's finest examples of how a shop should be set up. I love to enter Old Morris and let my nose wander.

As you enter the shop, you can glance overhead at the fine examples of leaded glass in the domed entrance and the Alabaster arch and pillars framing the doorway. Though, beyond all other sensory input, your mind can not but focus on the fragrant tobbaco scents wafting through the air. Aaaahh, such a sure sign of God's goodness, much as chocolate or coffee or fresh cinnamon buns.


In 1910, the interior of the store was remodeled, with mahogany fixtures, mirrors and a walk in humidor were added. These fixtures add a definite sense of time and place to the shop.

The Alabaster cigar lighter that stands in the center of the floor is delightful and full of deep magic. You can purchase all manner of cigars and pipe tobbaco from Old Morris. For Pascha and at Christ's Nativity, I often buy my 'mild and mello' blend online. I must add that it is smashing in a hobbit pipe with a little bit of wine or scotch! So fine, indeed; a texture like sun.

George Grant and despair; for the practical man

George Grant has been a hero of mine since I was first introduced to him through my High School Latin teacher. Mr. Wilson photocopied a CBC Ideas transcript for me, and I found his ideas about technology, the enlightenment period, and the role of the love of goodness very intriguing. What Grant had to say about Simone Weil, Nietzsche and Heidegger fascinated me, too, but I didn't know what he was really talking about back then. Yet when I went on to study classical philosophy (that is, the pre-socratics, Plato and Aristotle) as part of my undergraduate degree, I found myself often going back to find out what George Grant had to say about certain ideas and the classical thinkers and their relationship to this post-enlightenment world. So often I found his views to dovetail with my own that I thought there was some sort of mental tie. Though Grant dabbled in the subtle platonic theory about forms and the ontological basis for them in the idea of the good, the most profound thing he ever wrote was at the end of Lament For A Nation, where Grant wrote about a notion that is near to my heart: the relation between the certainty of the saint and the hopeless, despairing unbeliever to a regular, wanna-be-manly chap like myself. Now men who truly despair don't write poetry, plays or novels; suicide is the act of a man who has no hope. Such is the despondent extreme when viewed unromantically. Few see no hope at all; but, once again, few ever attain the certainty of the holy. They are rare who greet all horrific events and losses of good with the cheerful knowledge that all changes in the world take place within an eternal order that is not affected by them. Somewhere in between these two poles are the vast majority. Accordingly to Grant, "if one cannot be sure about the answer to the most important questions, then tradition is the best basis for the practical life." Such is one of the fundamental precepts that I live by, and though it is a simple idea it is profound and rich. For it allows a man like myself to live with courage in the ancient faith that asserts whatever impersonal ferocities are faced in this age -- and however much they seem to gain an upper hand -- the eternal light and order is not affected, and that to the religious man "...this process is not all. 'Tendebantque manus ripae ulterioris amore.'" Mr. Wilson taught me enough Latin to translate that text from Virgil's Aeneid.
Perhaps Jenny or Fr. John can verify or correct this, but I think it reads like so:

"They were holding their arms outstretched in love toward the further shore."

I commend George Grant to anyone who desires to understand the plight of conservatism in the Great White North during the age of technology.

Cartography, an exacting art?

Try clicking on this old map of France, which shows the ecclesiastical boundaries in effect between 1789 to 1802. I enjoy examining maps. Though I am unsure why, exactly, but I suspect it because there is so much that can inferred from a visual cue. I am not sure whether cartography is a science or an 'exacting art', or whether this is mere quibbling about terms and equivocating. Yet, whatever may be said about cartography, I do find that an understanding of the lay of a land to be most interesting and helps to illuminate the life of a community or nation.

See Kong!

Perhaps not a little kid's flick, yet it is one of the best adventure movies I have seen in a while. The plot is well known and it keeps you riveted throughout this sad tragedy about exploitation on a few different levels.

The CGI battle scenes of Kong fighting the Tyrannosaurus Rex are worth the cost of admission. In fact, I think I will see Kong kick some more sorry T-Rex butt around again before this feature moves out of the big screen theatre in my town. Watching it on my tiny TV screen on DVD just won't cut it.

Another aspect to this movie that I should mention is the very fine acting by Naomi Watts. Her portrayal of her character was consistent and showed a wide range. For me, when Watts entertained Kong with some humorous antics, she was drawing out every part of her character's background and resourcefulness. Not only was Watts funny though; she was also quite sincere and loyal. It is my view that when good characters are portrayed as such in a movie, this is both useful and inspiring for a viewer. Hence I applaud this aspect of the acting and, as a corollary, the script writing.

So go see Kong jump and swing and battle harmful, horrifying creatures.....Oh yeah, arrrrgggh! it is a manly man's film tender enough even to make a sweet lady like my wife feel the inevitable tragedy of Kong's end. For you see, Kong dies out of love and loyality. Even one manly as I was moved...so go see Kong!

Plantinga's views on Evolution and the Bible

Read an article by a Calvinist thinker I studied back when I was a student of Philosophy at UBC. It is curious that so many of us in our 30's and 40's took degrees at UBC; Fr. John, Mat.Jenny, Fr. Richard, Brandon-Anatassy. Even Dave did a short spell at UBC. Anyway this article I linked to brought back some memories of time spent on logic.

Big Cookie

we had dinner over at andrea and dave's tonight. while there we met up with nolan thomas, nick and his wife claudia. we had a lot of chuckles over dinner, but i think the funniest was about nick's 'big cookie' idea; just watching claudia roll her eyes during that story made me crack up. claudia seems very cool as she knows about unix.

on another note i have been praying for deanna and peter's unborn kids. i have the inner sense that they are coming soon; accordingly there will be a multitude of ways to help them out. if i recall correctly, the way in which twins will change your life is unknown to you until it does; there is no inkling or foreshadowing.

also i ask you to keep in your prayers the young servant of God Jonah; i was happy to hear that he was able to rest at his home instead of at the hospital.

lastly i was very pleased that canada beat the russians tonight 5-0 at the world junior championship; this win gave them the gold medal.

Thanks

the party at kurt and vic's was a splendid affair. the only lame thing about the party is that i have to recover my strength today before i get up at 5:30 am for work tomorrow. again, all cheer and thanks to kurt and vic for hosting a very large get together. your generosity will not go unnoticed!

Happy New Years and a Poem

I will start 2006 off with one my favourite poems by e.e. cummings. I hope you find it thought-provoking....


somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond
by E. E. Cummings

somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond

any experience,your eyes have their silence:

in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,

or which i cannot touch because they are too near



your slightest look will easily unclose me

though i have closed myself as fingers,

you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens

(touching skilfully,mysteriously)her first rose



or if your wish be to close me, i and

my life will shut very beautifully ,suddenly,

as when the heart of this flower imagines

the snow carefully everywhere descending;

nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals

the power of your intense fragility:whose texture

compels me with the color of its countries,

rendering death and forever with each breathing



(i do not know what it is about you that closes

and opens;only something in me understands

the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)

nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands

Harvest: another manly album for a manly man

Neil Young's haunting voice rocks this sublime collection of country-tinged rock that feels like a visit from an old friend every time you put it on. Harvest yielded Young's only Number One hit, "Heart of Gold," and helped set the stage for the Seventies country-rock explosion -- both James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt sing on the album. Along with Young, they were in Nashville to appear on Johnny Cash's variety show the week that Harvest was cut with an odd group of accomplished session players that included bassist Tim Drummond, who had played with James Brown. The sound was so manly and gutsy -- steel guitar, slide guitar, banjo -- stripped down and rebuilt with every jagged edge exposed. The standout tracks include "Alabama", "Old Man" and "Heart of Gold"; but every song is satisfying to thirsty ears. Harvest was chosen as the 78th greatest album of all time by the editors of Rolling Stone magazine in 2003. I'd rank this album much higher than that. I was so thankful to get a CD of this album for Christmas after not having a turntable to spin my old vinyl copy on during these last 12 years. Oh, it sounds as fine as ever....thanks heaps to Tara for the bucks:)

A Fine Flick for Manly Men

a man for all seasons is the best film i have seen. if you care for manly things, you should do yourself a favour and view it. thomas more knows what he is and what he lives for; his strong sense of what is important in life guides you through the story. he is no fickle wuss either; he stays firm to what his conscience tells him and he perseveres in honoring what he loves even unto death. now that is manly behaviour; worthy of all commendation.

i saw a film last night with vic and ramone --- i should say i was tricked into seeing a movie last night by vic and ramone (i had wanted to see king kong battle it out) --- however that may be, i had to sit through a brutual chick flick called the family stone. don't see it; my butt was aching as i watched it just from shifting around on my seat so much out boredom. it is the anti-thesis of a man for all seasons. no one knows who they are or what they stand for. it is a movie about wasted lives. oh, it is supposed to get the tears flowing...the way it does so is by appealing to either superficial liberal platitudes or to superficial romance. the drawn out scene of the bus leaving...going...going...going..may be stopping???...no, going....going...won't it stop?....going ...going....(of course it will stop)....but some more of it going...going...and then, voila! it stops and she gets out to smooooooch! ah so original i didn't see that sentimental scene:) again, don't see the family stone: find a copy of Paul Scofield in A Man for All Seasons instead.

gmail

I would like to offer a gmail account to anyone in the St.Herman's blogging world....even to those more remotely connected to our little online realm. The gmail account affords you 2 gigabytes of storage; so even if you merely send things to yourself it is handy. I strongly urge you to take me up on this offer. If you want an account, send me an email to thomas.wildemanATgmail.com, being sure to remove the AT with @. The best thing about a google mail account is that it is very fast and very secure, provided you don't write your password down anywhere ever.
It is easy as pie to set up your gmail account to be automatically downloaded into whatever email program you use. However I advise against doing this with any email: keep it on the server it is sent to and view it on the web through firefox or your favourite browser. For your own security's sake do all your personal emailing on the web unless you have a closed network and you can trust all the people who have access to it. I don't even view my work related email off of the server it is on. Bringing bad stuff home is most often done by accident; so make it a policy to never download email messages. With your gmail account, you will be able to do as much with your email online as you would if you downloaded it to eudora or thunderbird. As has been my preference to recommend since 2001 or so, if in any doubt about which is the most secure operating system to install on an amd or i386 or macppc architecture use this one and you will be glad. Especially if all you do on a computer is listen to music, watch movies, word process, email and browse the web; puffy the blowfish will guide you safely through a hostile internet and back home:)

Let me know whether you want a gmail account.

O come, let us adore him!

Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, Born this happy morning;
Jesu, to Thee be glory given;
Word of the Father, Now in flesh appearing.

O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

God of God, Light of Light,
Lo! he abhors not the Virgin’s womb;
Very God, Begotten not created.

O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

This is my favourite Anglican Carol; and I have selected two of my favourite stanzas from the song. I sing the first 5 stanzas to my children to wake them up on Christmas morning; it has become something of a custom in our house for me to do this. Of course I can't sing well, but this song is so true and beautiful it can somewhat overcome my lack of ability. May the light of Christmas shine upon you and anyone you love; and may your "...loving heart enthrone Him." Christ is born, Glorify Him! Merry, merry Christmas! Enjoy the feast:)

Some thoughts on the "Denial Twist" by The White Stripes

If you've never heard the white stripes, you've missed some good tunes. This little snippet below is from off of their latest album, Get Behind Me Satan and it expresses a point of view that I think is missing in a lot of popular culture. One of the ironies of feminism is that, in wanting carte blanche equality with males, much of the older unwritten codes of male chivalry had to go. Now no one seriously would fight the old feminist fight for equal pay for equal work, but you might want to ask the modern female aged 16 to 35 if she's joyful at the loss of courtesy, honour, and gallantry toward women? Of course, males experience things differently than women -- and vice versa; but if males are raised to treat women as equals -- that is, as the boy himself would wish to be treated -- then you start to get an increase in date rape and other things where the male was just acting out this type of 'equality'. This song is cool in that it tries to reassert the old, noble of view of women and how a girl ought to be treated differently than a boy would want to be. It would seem that feminism has outgrown its usefulness, and has in fact contributed to the lessening of the nobility in the male human. Men need to relearn what is manly, and women need to diligently guard what is womanly so as not to be thought of as anything other than a woman and to be honored for it. Such are my thoughts on this song by the white stripes; the message it carries is sound and worthy of all ears in our times of confusion about gender roles. Here's the snippet of this funky and pertinent tune:

If you think that a kiss is all in the lips
C'mon, you got it all wrong, man
And if you think that our dance was all in the hips
Oh well, then do the twist
If you think holding hands is all in the fingers
Grab hold of the soul where the memory lingers and
Make sure to never do it with a singer
Cause he'll tell everyone in the world

What he was thinking about the girl
Ya, what he's thinking about the girl, oh

A lot of people get confused and they bruise
Real easy when it comes to love
They start putting on their shoes and walking out
And singing "boy, I think I had enough"

Just because she makes you feel wrong
She don't mean to be mean or hurt you on purpose, boy
Take a tip and do yourself a little service
Take a mountain turn it into a mole

Just by playing a different role
Ya, by playing a different role, oh

The boat ya you know she's rockin' it...

nonis get a goalie!

even the most astute hockey writers and commentators agree that the time is high for the canucks. the canucks are so near to being the best....so close. but a major piece is missing in their line up: a goaltender. the time is nigh, for the canucks will either obtain an expensive tender and ride him to the cup or this otherwise very talented squad will just fade away. the shame is that they are 'only' 3 million dollars or so away if you look at it fiscally. in terms salaries that is not over the top. nonis would be wise to push to get a starter for auld...and to do so within this next month so the team can come together around him by playoff time. the last three games clearly indicate that the canucks need a goalie if they are to go far into the playoffs. who should nonis go for? luongo?

joy and the divine: a logical corollary?

well here is an oil painting of ramone jumping for joy. we are so thankful to christ our god in this present time because he has blessed us so richly. thanks go out to those of you who prayed for ramone to get that promotion to the rank of a loan's officier; she received word yesterday that she was the successful candidate! yippee, christmas has come early to our house. not to put a damper on the joy this news brings, but the tangible financial benefits to this promotion do not actually kick in until june or july. but that is fine; our hearts are joyful and thankful even now. congratulations go out to the ramon0s.baby, and unspeakable gratitude to the lord!!! christ is the sine qua non.

Bohannahs owns Goldie on Mount Seymour

She turns, she links her turns and she goes zooming by! The bohannahs owned Goldie; but she was owned by the rope tow:)

We had a great time. The weather was perfectly sunny. We shred and shred some more, and then we left satisfied with our rides, and our first time snowboarding.

The lukemeister said it best, "it was a fantastic day!" indeed it sure was fun.... we will return again soon to further our skills after our bruises have become less sensitive:)

abide yet a while...the break is coming

well soon we should be enjoying some sort of break from the regular grind of day to day work that keeps most of us from thinking about the one thing needful. sadly that is not the complete truth; for other things serve as diversions from the one thing needful, even if i didn't have work to keep me pre-occupied. in a way work is both a curse and a necessary diversion; for mankind would do much evil if given to being excessively idle.

tomorrow night i will one of the teachers working on my high school's canned food drive. friday i will be so sleepy and weary. but on saturday i plan to put on my snowboard boots and shred with my custom x !!!! argggh, it should be so groovy! hannah and the luke-meister will come along and take a lesson. it will be a tiring first day on the slopes. yet it will be one of those restful kind of quelled tireds. i love the feeling of coming home after a day on the mountain; i sleep so deeply and wake up with sore legs that ache in a good way, as if you did something for the joy of it. check out my boots; you have to be ultra-manly to wear these in bad-ass black with pink laces:) the laces sort of match my friend the krut-meister's lavender shirt...

...and the lavender man can dance a manly river dance :P

be manly

this image comes out of the matrix, a terrific show to watch when you are wanting to learn to fight against the darkness and the demonic. this is agent smith in your face with his weapon, ready to try to take you out. of course this is exactly the way it is; we are at war with these awful unseen demonic forces and they put all their best weapons to work to take us out on a daily basis. and they are very good at what they do; there is no denying it. but the point is to never give in, to keep getting back up and to take another beating, to persevere and be manly.the story of st.george fighting the dragon is useful at times of intense spiritual warfare. just look at this saintly knight driving the demon off, rebuking it in the name of christ, breaking its very heart and knees. we can take strength from this, that in our struggles, too, we are best to fight by fighting for it in the holy name of jesus. i hope that everything st.paul wrote is true and worthy of following and trusting, even the smaller details and hard to grasp lessons on hair and head coverings. but most of all is that bit he wrote about how all ought to bend their knees at the name of jesus. i trust that all knees will bend to that holy name or they will be broken. st.george seems to me like a knee-breaker. for myself, it is high time to crack back at some demonic knees. it is time for me to be ever so manly and pray and fast and continue to war. this advent fast is a tough one for me....and i am not sure why, but i know when i have a demon in my face. arrrgggh! Just be manly...

the light of the face of christ...

well i got up this morning and this was what met me. what an ugly mofo; and he just stayed around, too, the way a bad fart does. all was hazy and lacking in clarity; all was smoky like the ugly mofo's rotten face. as usual i tried to withstand this onslaught without calling my lord jesus. needless to say this unholy face just kept corrupting any good, clear breath; he kept clouding my judgment. then i remembered the right story. in st jude's epistle it is relayed; there we learn about how the archangel michael handled the likes of this demonic presence: he left the rebuke of the devil to the lord, being unwilling to even continue to argue or try to out-wit the deceiver.
it was good to recall that story; it helped me to see the light in that moment. i hope someday christ will grant me to see the light shining from his face; i imagine the clarity of it will be sublime. yes it is the advent to our winter pascha, and this fasting season has been hard for me and my house. the personal demons we all face have been coming upon us, in most vigorous ways: as always at our weaknesses. we are finding the battle getting very bloody. we so long for the light of christmas....until then, let the unholy mofos rage, and rage some more, for we will not cease to resist; the rebuke of the lord will be their final end. amen, o lord come.

listening: american music, the violent femmes

concert memories

i remember seeing the meat puppets back in 1987 at the Town Pump; that was one of the best concerts i ever saw. when i first saw nirvana, they were a dirty and harsh bunch of druggies who lived hard and certainly lived to rock. And they did rock; they were so loud that the solid wood bar at the Town Pump was vibrating like a xylophone key. ales were jiggling as they rested on the surface of that mighty bar. that was in 1988 or 1989; my last year at ubc. a short while later nirvana wouldn't be playing in places like the Town Pump.

i remember seeing rem play the ubc thunderbird stadium in 1985. although michael stipe gave us the finest vocal solo at the close of the concert, it wasn't as close and harsh and intimate as the meat puppets or nirvana concerts. the best concert i have ever been at was the spirit of the west: when they played at the commodore ballroom in 1988. those guys played such fantastic music and they were spectacular as a live act. It was hard to sit down, you just had to get up and boogie. And cutting-a-rug at the commodore is so cool because of the horse hair beneath the hard wood floor: can you say 'bounce'!!? i saw the violent femmes play at the commodore, too. but, sadly, i wasn't feeling well at that concert.

it is weird to think that i went to see the Police in 1983 and 1984, and that ramona, my future wife was there. other memorable concerts i went to include billy bragg in 1986. he was so impressive with just his voice, a guitar and an amp. i remember a sonic youth concert in 1986-7 that stirred my ear drums. during 1985-6 i lived with the bassist for the grapes of wrath, a local vancouver band. i saw many - even too many - of their concerts. yet i did get to see a lot of very good opening acts that were young back then like sarah mclaughlin, 54 40 and my favourites, slow. slow never went on to do much in the recording industry, but they owned my ears.

There'll be a golden ladder reaching down....

This post is to thank my God Christ for helping my friend to sell his truck. It is something I have been praying for over the last three or four months. I think this has been a time of testing for the Krutmeister and his wife. To me it is a sign that Christ wants the Krutmeister to keep proceeding with certain plans. Again, thank God for giving the truck and for letting it sell! Ah the comfort of the Lord, and how it must be worth spilling many tears for.

As a rather anxious Dane once said, it is one thing to stand on one leg and prove the existence of God, while it is quite another to prostrate yourself before the Trinity in thanks. I think he should have added the prepositional phrase 'like a fish' in between the 'yourself' and the preposition 'before'. But not everyone is into holy comedy during prayers. However my feeling is that being able to chuckle at oneself is a means to a deeper holiness. I mean consider for just a moment what The Man might think as I tell him my prayers and plans and all that; it keeps me grounded to realize that I probably make the Trinity chuckle a great belly chuckle. Whatever the truth of this may be, I will prostrate myself like a fish and offer sincere thanks to the most High for being so gracious to my friend. Indeed, the Lord is merciful.

so what is a redneck?

my wife says that rednecks are just people with conservative opinions. given that definition, i am a redneck. but, alas, i wonder am i really a shotgun toting, cheap-beer guzzling, shaggy-pony-tail-haired, willie nelson listening redneck? well, let's see. when i die, i want a hearse like the one below -- but, hey, does this make me a redneck?my wife tells me that rednecks always tell others to screw off in quite an insensitive manner. a few days ago i was out walking in the woods, and i came upon this tree. Take a little gander down-yonder at this nasty and very insensitive redneck tree. if i were a redneck, i'd label this photo as 'clear cut this.'
so as to prove that i am not a redneck, i will show you a copy of my wife's desktop on her windows xp laptop. i set this up for her all by myself and it is the epitome of order and civilization; hardly the stamp of a redneck. again, would you say this is a redneck's desktop? i think this is the Q.E.D. that puts all doubt out of mind as to my redneck status. are conservatives and rednecks just one and the same...that seems a weak proposition. and can a tree be a redneck? check in sometime soon for some tapes of me singing; these will clarify further my lack of redneckiness. oh, i think my liver is diseased even more...

canucks need to trade for a goalie?

i would answer the question in the title in the affirmative. we need to trade cloutier and someone like morrsion or jovo to shake up this team. alex auld is not the go-to man; he is a back-up, nothing more. his performance in the edmonton game tonight was so lame, he was not merely the victim of poor team defense. i was hoping we'd get luongo. no way now. i don't see this current canucks' squad going far in the playoffs; they lack both the grit and the goal tending. perhaps when we get cook back, some grit will swell up from the depths of this team. but the canucks need a proven goalie and they will need to spend the loonies to get him. it is too bad they didn't snag the drama-queen of goalies, hasek, prior to the season start. cloutier has shaky nerves and injures easily and under duress, i.e, during a playoff series. i say it is time for the canucks management and owners to decide whether to stay ok and let the current core age into nothingness over the next two years, or to spend the money and give up a morrison or jovo and get this team its missing pieces: a proven goal tender and some grit. i hope they do the latter.