Neglected but not forgotten

It was two years ago when I started this blog. My last post was in May of last year. While this blog has been neglected (inactive or as-good-as-dead) in has not been forgotten.

Now that I've made the switch to the new blogger/Google account I'll be tyring to pick this blog back up again.

Why did I stop blogging? I wasn't that much into it. I found that i didn't have that much say. I was pretty much just linking to things I had found online. And although 99% of everyone else does the same time, it seemed like a waste of time. Yet I still missed it. So perhaps I can again make a go of it and try to do better.

emergie sympathizer

I suppose this comes as a confession of sorts. For the past couple of years I have been following the emerging church conversation. Through the various web sites and web logs. I have found the discussion fascinating.

Earlier this week I read an interesting exchange which was posted on the Generous Orthodoxy Think Tank under the heading of, Emergent Reflection Post-Divergent . Here James K. A. Smith makes few observations on the recent Divergent conference. He concludes by asking if "emergent can be catholic," if so, "then it needs to jettison its still-modern liberalism, skepticism, and anti-intellectualism." Naturally, this statement opened the door to a good round of responses.

But the part I liked best is about half way into the comments Smith says that while his "post might sound largely critical, in fact it comes from a pretty deep sympathy with what the 'emergent' folks are about-".

I felt like that pretty well summarized my position as well.

So that's my confession. I'm an emergie sympathizer.

Seven Great Stonehenge Replicas

MSN has an article today from their Roadside America series that caught my eye called America unhenged: 7 great Stonehenge replicas

The list is;

• Sam Hill?s Stonehenge: Maryhill, Wash.
• America?s Stonehenge: North Salem, N.H.
• The Georgia Guidestones: Nuberg, Ga.
• Carhenge: Alliance, Neb.
• Stonehenge II: Kerrville, Texas
• Foamhenge: Natural Bridge, Va.
• Stonefridge: Santa Fe, N.M.

The article also gives an honorable mention to my old school.
"A half-size Stonehenge at the University of Missouri at Rolla was built to showcase the stone carving capabilities of its High Pressure Water Jet Lab."
Go Miners!

The Da Vinci Coed

In my more mundane musing I thought that perhaps some mogul may have missed an opportunity to spice up the movie by replacing Tom Hanks with a hot female lead. Then the movie could have been entitled "The Da Vinci Coed."

As it so happens Ross King had a similar thought. His review of the novel Labyrinth by Kate Mosse for the Washington Post is entitled, The Da Vinci Coed. King described the book as;

". . . a "women's" adventure story because, presumably, it showcases a strong female cast or, rather, a cast of strong females: two heroines, separated by 800 years, who find themselves pitted against a pair of glamorous, green-eyed female villains. As for the adventure bit, Mosse clearly warmed to her task, packing the novel with swordfights, sieges and massacres. At its heart is a hunt for the Holy Grail across the ruggedly beautiful Cathar country of southwest France."

It's not quite what I had in mind for a movie, but it might work.

Bracing for the Da Vinci Code movie

To avoid going a whole month without posting I thought I would note some things I've come across concerning the up coming movie, "The Da Vinci Code"

First off the Barna Group is making available The Book of Acts DVD from The Watchword Bible for bulk sale, with the hope of showing the true history of the early church. Also Barnaflims has a video online called "The Conspiracy Game" that addresses issues raised in The Da Vinci Code.

Christianity Today magazine has an article online, 5 Big Questions from The Da Vinci Code which comes in a PDF format that can be printed out and passed around at the theater.

While there are dozens of books debunking the Da Vinci Code book/movie, RBC has prepared a handy little booklet entitled "The Da Vinci Code: Separating fact from fiction" which can be downloaded as a PDF file here.

If you are not up for reading a book or booklet Christian Book Summaries has an Online summary of "Cracking DaVinci's Code" by James L. Garlow & Peter Jones or a PDF version can be downloaded here.

Also, there is the 60 minutes story on the Priory of Sion (print version)

Although I haven't searched out much discussion online about this, one the better post I've found on this topic is from Scot McKnight's blog Jesus Creed. Here he asks the question - why do people want to believe this story in the first place?

Resume Blunders

Mistakes on actual resumes and cover letters as reported by www.resumania.com

• Sales experience: "1886-1992"
• References: "None. I left a path of destruction behind me."
• "Received a plague for Salesman of the Year."
• "I'm attacking my resume for you to review."
• "Am a perfectionist and rarely if if ever forget details."
• "Here are my qualifications for you to overlook."
• "Instrumental in ruining entire operation for a Midwest chain store."
• Size of employer: "6'1"

I found these in an old issue of Machine Design magazine, 12/11/03

Eclipse Photos

There is some coverage of the solar eclipse yesterday here. Also there is a neat photo of the eclipse from the space station here.

Which reminded me of this cool shot from the MIR in 1999.



This is the photo caption from ESA:
Here is what the Earth looks like during a solar eclipse. The shadow of the Moon can be seen darkening part of Earth. This shadow moves across the Earth at nearly 2,000 kilometers per hour. Only observers near the center of the dark circle see a total solar eclipse - others see a partial eclipse where only part of the Sun appears blocked by the Moon. This spectacular picture of the Aug. 11, 1999 solar eclipse was one of the last ever taken from the Mir space station.