Goofy Church Stuff

That's the name of my other blog, which I keep separate from this one. Go to http://goofchurch.blogspot.com/ only if you have interest in my admittedly jaundiced view of nutty things going on in the church these days. "Church" meaning the organized Christian Church in all its many and varied forms. It's not preachy and it's not about theology or doctrine and I will ignore any attempts to draw me into a discussion of those areas.

Just Kidding?

If somebody says "I was just kidding. It's a joke," there's a pretty good chance they weren't and it isn't.

Dr. Phil Again

Dr. Phil has gone way off the deep end in his quest for ratings. When one of his guests has the guts to say that, he gets real indignant. There is nothing he won't do to hype the level of shocking and disgusting behavior that he parades before us daily. So why am I watching it, you ask? I must be as crazy as his guests.

Funny Dutch Names

Was there really a local nurse whose last name was Enema? Could I make up something that good? Maybe. Jim Bakker, the infamous TV evangelist is from this town. I suppose it was originally pronounced "Bokker." A Dutch friend told me Robert Schuller, who went to Hope College in Holland, Michigan, changed the pronunciation from the Dutch "Skuller."
But the best one of all is Ms. Baade. I worked with her for a while. It's pronounced like "body." Oh yeah. She reminded me of Julie London.

SEXY TV

Am I a dirty old man? Oops, don't answer that. A better question: Am I seeing sex where it isn't? Am I way off base in finding fully 75 percent of TV programming sexually provocative, bordering on soft porn and half of the commercials just as sexy?

Gifted Kids

Please, please, please. Read Barbara's story. http://dancingontheceiling.blogspot.com/
Fascinating. Too good to be buried in the blogosphere. There has to be a publisher that would love to have it.

Jackass Blogs

My friend Father Bob writes a high class newsletter. I know it's high class because he quotes C. S. Lewis a lot. And he translates Greek better than most people read English. Bob's "Mouse Nest" Column, composed by his alter ego Charlie Churchmouse, has this to say about the blogosphere: "We tried doing one of those blogs but we didn't last very long because we quickly bored ourselves to death with our own inanity!" Bob still uses the editorial "We." I quit that a long time ago in favor of the egotistical "I"
I was not sure of the precise meaning of "inane" so I looked it up. Here are some of the better synonyms: Silly. Stupid. Empty. Void. Useless. My favorite is "asinine," meaning "related to, or resembling an ass." In very plain English it means acting like a jackass.
Bob is right, most blogs are full of stubborn braying and hee-hawing. Mine is. I have a good excuse. I'm too old to do much else to amuse myself. As for the young bloggers, let them find their own justification for their inane asininity.

Mistakes I did not make

I'm still thinking about gifts (talents) we are given and what we do with them. Heaven knows I have made my share of grievous errors, but there are two mistake I did not make. I came into the world with enough musical talent that I could have been a pretty good professional pianist, had I developed my gift and worked at it. It's fortunate that I did not. I am psychologically, mentally, emotionally unsuited to be in the music business. It IS a business.
I could have been a very good preacher. That's a business, too. It's the people business. I would be a lousy pastor, totally inept at dealing with the people problems that are a part of ministry.
The very great majority of bloggers are much younger than I, too busy making mistakes and hopefully learning from them to have piled up a list of things they didn't do wrong. So I don't know if anybody can make much sense out of this. I'm not even sure I can. Chalk it up to geriatric mutterings.

Musically Gifted... Ruth Slenczynska

This is inspired by a superior blog posted by a gifted singer who calls herself Dancing On the Ceiling. http://dancingontheceiling.blogspot.com/ What a fascinating subject ... gifts we are given and what we do or do not do with them. And when you're older, there is the gnawing "what if..."
I still have vivid memories of sitting in my blue and white '59 Ford Station Wagon in Havre, Montana, listening to CBC Radio from Regina, Saskatchewan. They had one of those radio reader shows, with an announcer reading a chapter from a book each day. The book was "Forbidden Childhood," a memoir by Ruth Slenczynska. That was almost 50 years ago but I still recall being quite spellbound by that story.
Slenczysnska, born in 1925 in California, was a sensation in Europe, called the greatest child piano prodigy since Mozart. She was Rachmaninoff's last pupil. Performed her debut in Berlin at age six. Her father was so demanding that she quit performing at fifteen. The title, "Forbidden Childhood" says it all. It's a painful tale of what a well meaning but misguided parent can do to a gifted child.
She resumed her career later and has written several books about piano technique. As far I can determine from some things found on the net, she is still with us and still teaching at eighty-two. I assume the book is still available. It's well worth a read by gifted ones and their parents.

Feeling Sheepish

Now the cow lobby is sore at me because I like Roquefort cheese and cows don't do Roquefort.

One Cheesy Blog

Cheesy. Or is it cheesey. Or cheesie? However you spell it, how did it get such a negative meaning? I like cheese. I worry about a possible cheese war between Wisconsin and California. Will the president send troops? Those commercials about happy California cows making the best cheese are getting the Wisconsin cheese-heads mighty riled. I like real cheese. I don't care where it comes from. But keep your American cheese, please. Nothing American about it. Boring. It has no taste. Give me sharp cheddar or Frankemuth. Take me to France for real Roquefort. And please, no processed cheese spread. What a travesty. An insult to cows.

Quiet Please

A smart fellow named Descarte said "All man's problems derive from his inability to sit quietly, in a room, alone". I like that. If there were a Quaker group around here I might join up. Not for any particular beliefs they hold. Just for the silence. No nervous laughter, nobody saying, "is something wrong,somebody say something!" Blessed quietness. Where did it go?

Millions of Blogs

Some great demographer/statistician says there are currently 17 million blogs. Or is it 70 million? No matter, It's a lot. I wonder how he counted them. Most of them, including this one, are just silly, turned out by goofy people with too much time on their hands.

Denny Crane does it again

Boston Legal's Denny Crane did it again ... kept me awake all night laughing about his problem using the magnetic thinking ideas from the movie, "The Secret" to get a visit from Raquel Welch. Be careful what you think about. You might wind up with Phyllis Diller.

Fart-friendly females

Advice to single men: If you find a woman who thinks farting is funny ....
MARRY HER!