Just Finished Reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Last year when I visited my sister in Austin, Texas, she had on one of her bookshelves the entire collection of L. Frank Baum's Oz series of children's books.  Intrigued by them, I resolved to read through them some day: after all, the 1939 The Wizard of Oz, for most of my childhood, reigned supreme by far as my favorite, must-see movie.  LibriVox is a free site that provides audiobooks for works that have fallen into the public domain, as is the case for Baum's series.  I was able to listen to the first book from 1902, appropriately titled The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, through LibriVox via YouTube...pretty cool!  The book story differed in a number of ways from the movie, most strikingly in that while the film version with Judy Garland as Dorothy and Margaret Hamilton as the very scary Wicked Witch of the West can be pretty frightening for little children, Baum in his preface to this book wrote that he deliberately set out with this series to provide a set of modern fairy tales that weren't as scary as older, more traditional ones.  Also, in the movie it's all a dream in the end: not the case in the book.  There are numerous other differences between the two versions as well (e.g. Dorothy's ruby slippers from the movie are silver in the book)...all in all I enjoyed the book, and the person recording it did a good job...much better than I would have done.  Now I'm moving on to book #2, titled The Marvelous Land of Oz...

After Confirmation, My Take on Brett Kavanaugh

For a while after President Trump had nominated federal appeals judge Brett Kavanaugh to replace retiring associate justice Anthony Kennedy on the United States Supreme Court, I would from time to time weigh in here on this blog about Kavanaugh, usually expressing my approval...in spite of me being generally of a more liberal political orientation.  To me, it was obvious that we were going to get a conservative justice from this conservative administration: this nominee struck me as conscientious and scrupulous in his view of the law, most likely better than others Trump might have selected.  When I watched and listened to the confirmation hearings, I was dismayed at the numerous heckling disruptions, the unwarranted interruptions by Democratic senators, and the generally rude and cold line of questioning they imposed on Kavanaugh...I thought the nominee acquitted himself very well and weathered this storm of opposition.  And then came the allegation from an anonymous source, a woman claiming that Kavanaugh had attempted sexual assault on her back in the early 1980s when they were both in their teens while attending a party.  The accuser stepped forward as a California college professor, Christine Ford, and she ended up testifying before an extended meeting of the Judiciary Committee.  After a very limited FBI investigation of her claims and those of others, the Senate ended up confirming Kavanaugh to the Court, with the final vote being 50-48, Joe Manchin of West Virginia being the only Democrat voting for him.  Friday the confirmation hung in the balance until "moderate" Republican senator Susan Collins of Maine announced her support of Kavanaugh...Manchin closely followed her, saying that he believed Ford's testimony in spite of his support for the nominee.  I said that I would wait until I could compare the testimonies of Ford and Kavanaugh before I would say where I stood on the nomination.  Now it's over...at least the part leading to Kavanaugh's seating on the high bench...so I'll say it: I believe Christine Ford's account, I think Kavanaugh lied about his past, and I would have consequently voted "no" had the honor been accorded me...

I have recently been on jury duty, something that you probably already know if you've read this blog any amount of time.  There was the defendant, who was charged with attempted sexual battery, and the prosecution presented a very detailed case involving witness testimony and physical evidence of the crime.  The Kavanaugh confirmation process was by its intended nature a political one, and the same criteria for making decisions as a jurist did not apply here.  After all, they were considering someone for a very powerful, lifetime seat that could affect the lives of untold numbers of people in this country for decades to come.  Given the fact that, had Kavanaugh's nomination gone down to defeat, Trump would have picked another equally-or-more conservative person as the new nominee, it makes no sense for any senator who, after stating that they believed the accuser...meaning by direct implication that Kavanaugh did attempt to rape her...to vote Kavanaugh into such a high position of honor, responsibility, and trust.  And had he been voted down, he still would have retained his lifetime position as a federal appeals court judge...something I'm not so keen on either.  So for Senator Manchin to state that he believed Ford while voting for Kavanaugh is cynical politics at its worst: he's running for reelection next month as a Democratic senator in staunchly pro-Trump West Virginia...I'm now hoping that he gets his ass kicked...

So what do I think now about Brett Kavanaugh?  Well, there's a small sliver of hope that I hold out for our latest Supreme Court justice...let me explain.  In looking over this individual's life-span, two personality traits have come out about him as I see it.  One, whatever he happened to be involved in, be it studying hard in school, assisting an independent prosecutor in trying to take down a sitting president, assisting another sitting president in his various policy matters, marrying and raising a family, serving as an appeals court judge...and, yes, as a youth partaking in the rowdy, drunken party scene...involving the degradation of women...with his fellow rich, privileged classmates, Brett Kavanaugh has jumped into it with focused enthusiasm while at the same time compartmentalizing each area, acting fuzzy with his memory whenever it suits his interests.  The other is that he has insisted on being the "Alpha Dog", the "head-honcho" in all of these, quite content with being the leader.  Now that he's going to be on the Supreme Court, will he fully commit himself to this institution, trying to excel to his best while assuming the role of a consensus-forming leader?  Who knows, I'd like to hope this will happen, but I have serious doubts.  Oh, by the way: this morning Stephen King tweeted, "When Al Franken was accused of sexual impropriety, Susan Collins demanded he resign. Without a hearing." What a difference political expediency makes with one's so-called "principles"...

One footnote to all this is the extensive protesting that I'm seeing about Kavanaugh.  I wonder how utterly misguided people can be when all they have to do is get off their collective butts and vote in each and every election...but instead seem to believe that demonstrating like this defines their democratic experience!  You can stomp around with your signs and yell to your hearts' content: it won't throw out a single bum...but voting will...

Just Finished Reading The Door Into Summer by Robert Heinlein

The Door Into Summer, besides being the title of a good 1967 Monkees song (with Michael Nesmith on vocals), is also a 1957 science fiction novel by Robert Heinlein.  In this story, Heinlein reverted back to his old love, which was writing about time travel and speculating about interesting scenarios that can arise from it.  Dan Davis is a talented inventor of robots living in 1970...the future from the author's perspective...and has just survived a limited nuclear war and the end of communism.  His future looks bright with his fledgling company and engagement to pretty Belle Darkin.  But Davis's business partner Miles Gentry and Belle conspire to take over the company and boot him out, leaving him with his only real friend left...his pugnacious cat Pete.  But Davis hasn't thrown in the towel: he makes financial preparations and takes advantage of the burgeoning market in "cold sleep", i.e. suspended animation, ending up awakening in the year 2000...way off there in the future.  There are all sorts of plot manipulations that happen...this is where I leave you, the potential reader, to discover what ensues.  But the bottom line is that Dan Davis uses both cold sleep and time travel to change his life and that of others, much in the same fashion that Harry Potter and Hermione Granger pulled it off in J.K. Rowling's third Harry Potter book, The Prisoner of Askaban...after reading Heinlein's book, Rowling didn't seem quite as ingenious to me as before...

The Door Into Summer has a humorous undertone throughout, and it's a book for cat lovers as the author most likely was one as well.  What stood out to me, besides the usual missed predictions about the future, was one that was eerily on target: Heinlein's (remember he's writing this in 1957) relating of the Stock Market Panic of 1987...which actually happened!  Another thing that made an impact on me was that the author, himself of no religious persuasion, seemed to be acknowledging the presence of a guiding intelligent force in the universe, one that enabled the time-travelling protagonist to avoid committing paradoxes by altering outcomes ever-so-slightly.  I enjoyed this book, but in all honesty prefer some of Heinlein's others...

Quote of the Week...from Neil deGrasse Tyson

Knowing how to think empowers you far beyond those who know only what to think. 
                                                                               ---Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Noted American astrophysicist and popularizer of science Neil deGrasse Tyson, one of my favorite public figures (run for president, Neil!), has a birthday today, turning 60, almost exactly two years younger than me.  Whenever he's on as a talk show guest on TV, he brings a sense of decorum and reason to the table...even when the host happens to be an ultra-partisan, embarrassing, and tactless annoyance.  As for his above comment, I'm not clear on the "empowers" part, but I know that it's far too common for people to be content with allowing those in the media to spoon-feed them opinions...and then spout them back out almost verbatim to others, often in the form of creepy rants.  Or even, in our social media/internet society, bypassing that by simply inserting links to "their" information sources when encountering a differing argument (that's happened to me with comments on this blog).  Whenever I encounter someone who talks like a clone copy of some opiniated media figure, I wonder to myself where does this veneer come off and where do individuals like this begin to think for themselves?  I've heard just about every sort of opinion and narrative about various topics and issues...somebody who just repeats the same tired old crap isn't going to sway me in the least.  But if they instead were to open up a little about themselves and how they came to their way of thinking, along with the values that they prioritize the most highly...well, that's a sign that they do know how to think, as well as effectively communicate.  But a lot of us, while real adept on the attack and copying and pasting pithy slogans, are suddenly reticent when it comes to coming clean about ourselves and what motivates us philosophically and politically.  I respect and appreciate an expressed opinion...even when I vehemently disagree with it...when the person promoting it lays out his or her thought processes in arriving at it.  If I just wanted someone to inject finished viewpoints directly into my consciousness, conspiracy theories and doomsday scenarios included, well...there are plenty of overpaid fools on TV and radio more than willing to oblige me, and I'd be the bigger fool for letting them...

9/30 Sermon on Miracles, Part 4

At The Family Church here in Gainesville, Florida, senior pastor Philip Griffin continued his examination of seven signs, or miracles, that Jesus performed and which are related in the New Testament's Gospel of John.  The specific sign for this day was the feeding of the thousands, described in John 6:1-14, 30-35: click on the passage to read the entire chapter via Bible Gateway. The overriding theme, as Pastor Griffin stated, is that Jesus is the Bread of Life, satisfying the hunger of our souls...

Pastor Griffin broke his message down into four parts: Jesus leads us into a life of compassion, trust, satisfaction, and evangelism.  When Jesus was ministering throughout the land, he was exhausted, hungry, and discouraged...he sought solitude to seek and receive solace and strength from his heavenly father.  But the crowds, many of whom saw in Jesus a political figure who could overthrow the Romans and reestablish an independent Jewish kingdom, pursued him and his disciples.  Jesus's reaction to them was counterintuitive, but in line with God's love for us: he felt and demonstrated compassion toward them, in so doing pointing to us the role that compassion has in ministry and that it is a sign that we are truly following him.  With trust, Jesus tested Philip, one of his disciples, to point him to trusting in him and not his own knowledge.  No, the numbers did not add up: they had five pieces of bread and two fish, and to feed the five thousand men (and many more women and children who were there) the financial cost would be staggering.  But while it is good to be responsible with one's resources, the ultimate authority over them all is God.  Our pastor continued, noting that if we put what little we have in God's hands, he will provide abundantly for us: God's provision will never run out and his love will never run dry.  But the people wanted a political solution to their physical problems...but as Pastor Philip said, this sign pointed not only to a physical level of hunger, but also a spiritual one.  And with evangelism, Philip related a definition that he had heard from a Sri Lankan evangelist: "it is one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread"...in the end we're all beggars and the bread is the Bread of Life: Jesus Christ...

You can watch this message on the church's YouTube video website through the following link: [TFC Videos].  The Family Church, at 2022 SW 122nd Street, holds its weekly services on Sunday morning at 9 and 10:30. Along with the sermon is praise and worship music, prayer, fellowship, and opportunities for learning and discipleship.  Free coffee is available in the hospitality room...the series continues this Sunday...

Weekly Short Story Review: '39 Sci-Fi, Part 1

Although I'm still devoting Wednesdays to discussing short stories I've read, this week I'm going in a different direction.  I own the entire collection, covering the years 1939-63, of the anthology series Isaac Asimov Presents The Great SF Stories.  I am now going through each book, starting with #1, covering the science fiction stories that editors Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg deemed the best in short science fiction literature for 1939.  Starting it off were three stories...

I, ROBOT...by Eando Binder
The name "I, Robot" has come to be identified either with a questionable movie starring Will Smith or a collection of stories written by Isaac Asimov.  The original is a 1939 short story by Eando Binder, the pen name of a two-brothers writing team.  It is told from the perspective of the robot, created by a kindly tinkerer/scientist, and delves into emerging self-awareness as well as how sadly human nature will turn anyone appearing "different" and out of the ordinary as being evil monsters.  A very endearing but unsettling tale...

THE STRANGE FLIGHT OF RICHARD CLAYTON...by Robert Bloch
Robert Bloch, a name you're probably unfamiliar with, later wrote Psycho, the horror thriller that Alfred Hitchcock turned into a blockbuster movie.  In '39 he produced this little story about a man, the title character, who singlehandedly designed and built over a span of years a rocket ship to take him to Mars and back.  But as his spaceship takes off, he unexpectedly loses control and contact...fortunately, as he sees it, the controls have already been set to automatic.  But in the meantime Richard Clayton is completely cut off from others, even unable to mark the passage of time.  The ending reminded me of Carl Sagan's movie Contact...

TROUBLE WITH WATER...by H.L. Gold
This to me was more of a fantasy story than science fiction, especially since one of the characters is a water gnome who swims with his ears! Greenberg, the protagonist, has offended this little man and now must pay the consequences: henceforth water will steer away from him...he no longer can drink it or bathe with it.  The comedic implications play out in this funny yarn, but since the human body is about 6o% water with the percentage dramatically rising to 92% with blood, wouldn't Greenberg have imploded in a horrible instant?  Well, as I said, Trouble with Water was more fantasy than science fiction...

The best science fiction short stories from 1939 continue next week...

Tuesday's List: Historic Landmark US Supreme Court Decisions

Depending on what your area of interest is, what constitutes a "landmark" United State Supreme Court decision will vary from person to person.  On the below list, I'm sure I left out some important cases...I took a course on the history of Court rulings back in 2002 at the University of Florida.  My two sources for this list, which I merged, rearranged, and modified, were USA Today and Constitution Facts, which you can access buy clicking on their names.  I wanted to demonstrate by presenting my list how divided the U.S. Supreme Court has become in recent decades: 10 out of 11 of the most recent listed decisions have been by single-vote 5-4 majorities (the exception being 6-3), while out of the first 25 decisions below, only 5 were decided that narrowly.  It's true: once a deliberative body of consensus-building and a push for unity, the Court has deteriorated into two camps of opposing ideologies...which accounts for the fury (or with the recent case of Merrick Garland, stonewalling) unleashed on nominees nowadays whenever that precarious"balance" seems threatened for one "side" or the other...

1803 MARBURY v. MADISON (4-0)
1809 MCCULLOCH v. MARYLAND (7-0)
1824 GIBBONS v. OGDEN (7-0)
1837 CHARLES RIVER BRIDGE v. WARREN BRIDGE (5-2)
1857 DRED SCOTT v. SANDFORD (7-2)
1877 MUNN v. ILLINOIS (7-2)
1896 PLESSY v. FERGUSON (7-1)
1905 LOCHNER v. NEW YORK (5-4)
1918 SCHENCK v. UNITED STATES (9-0)
1931 NEAR v. MINNESOTA (5-4)
1937 WEST COAST HOTEL v. PARRISH (5-4)
1944 KOREMATSU v. UNITED STATES (6-3)
1954 BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCATION (9-0)
1961 MAPP v. OHIO (6-3)
1962 BAKER v. CARR (6-2)
1962 ENGEL v. VITALE (6-1)
1963 GIDEON v. WAINWRIGHT (9-0)
1964 NEW YORK TIMES v. SULLIVAN (9-0)
1965 GRISWOLD v. CONNECTICUT (7-2)
1966 MIRANDA v. ARIZONA (5-4)
1967 LOVING v. VIRGINIA (9-0)
1969 TINKER v. DES MOINES (7-2)
1973 SAN ANTONIO INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT v. RODRIGUEZ (5-4)
1973 ROE v. WADE (7-2)
1974 UNITED STATES v. NIXON (8-0)
1978 REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA v. BAKKE (5-4)
1989 TEXAS v. JOHNSON (5-4)
1990 CRUZAN v. MISSOURI DEPT. OF HEALTH (5-4)
2000 BUSH v. GORE (5-4)
2003 LAWRENCE v. TEXAS (6-3)
2008 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA v. HELLER (5-4)
2010 CITIZENS UNITED v. FEDERAL ELECTIONS COMMISSION (5-4)
2012 NATIONAL FEDERATION OF INDEPENDENT BUSINESS v. SEBELIUS (5-4)
2013 SHLEBY COUNTY v. HOLDER (5-4)
2013 UNITED STATES v. WINDSOR (5-4)
2014 OBERGEFELL v. HODGES (5-4)

Just Finished Reading The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) was one of those authors against whom I used to feel an unreasonable kind of bias, almost exclusively as a negative reaction to the kind of "instruction" I received throughout my high school English class years.  I do remember reading The Old Man and the Sea in 1971 as a reading assignment in the ninth grade and thought then that it was okay, but didn't get around to reading any of his other more famous works until recent years, when I went through For Whom the Bell Tolls (my favorite Hemingway novel) and A Farewell to Arms.  Well, I finally got around to reading one of his earlier books, The Sun Also Rises from 1926.  As for my following reaction, English teachers are welcome to read it but so are truck drivers, construction workers, policemen, and anyone else: their opinions are equally valid and authoritiative, as far as I'm concerned...

During the 1920s there was a very large American and British expatriate community residing in Paris, France, partially due to the more liberal social environment there, partially due to many having fallen in love with the place from their World War I experiences, and partially due to the fact that, while in the States Prohibition was a Constitutionally-mandated law at the time, overseas the American ex-pats could openly drink to their hearts' content.   Ernest Hemingway was one of these folks and decided to write a story that reflected the expatriate lifestyle, in the process reportedly drawing upon his own experiences and those of friends and acquaintances.  The result, The Sun Also Rises, is something that, were it to appear in some form of media today, would probably most closely resemble a TV reality show like Jersey Shore, The Shahs of Sunset, or the numerous Housewives series.  I say that because Hemingway's characters are continually going around from café to restaurant to hotel while getting themselves "tight", i.e. drunk.  Their lives seem to be in a state of stagnation, just drifting from one thing to the next.  At the same time these people (first person narrator/protagonist Jake Barnes, his "love" Brett Ashley, Mike Campbell, Bill Gorton, and Robert Cohn as the main characters) practice a kind of social insulation separating themselves from the people they encounter. I'll have to admit that some of these characters remind me in various ways of people I've personally known over the years, especially that tendency to insulate themselves as a "group apart"...or as Hemingway referred to it, the "gang".  They hobnob around in Paris, go fishing in French Basque country, and end up watching the bullfights in Pamplona, Spain. If you're looking for anything substantial happening in this story, forget it: more than anything this is a character study as well as a detailed description of 20s' Paris and the sport/tradition of bullfighting.  Hemingway's writing style was stark and plain, using short sentences and making dialogue the preeminent feature.  I can't say that I disliked The Sun Also Rises once I felt that I understood where the author was going with it...I'm just not sure that he would have appreciated the generally unfavorable reactions that I felt about his characters and their lifestyles, which I suspect he might have been promoting and defending...

My September 2018 Running Report

In September I ran for a total of 66 miles...not much.  I did extend my longest single run to 4.6 miles and ran on every day of the month.  Two factors interfering with my running were the extremely hot and humid weather we've been experiencing all month here in northern Florida and my own situation at work: lots and lots of overtime, which often impinged on the time I would normally spend late in the morning on runs.  I'm looking forward to cooler conditions in October, but the overtime...well, it's sporadic.  I'm still thinking of running a half-marathon in November...now I've heard that Gainesville is holding two of them, on consecutive weekends.  Also, there is a new free weekly 5K race that takes place Saturday mornings at Gainesville's Depot Park: I need to preregister online for it.  Yesterday Melissa went with me to the Fit2Run store at the Oak's Mall where the manager tested my running to fit it to appropriate shoes. She also gave me some needed advice on avoiding plantar fasciitis in the future.  So now I'm training with new shoes...next month should be an adventure as I try to ratchet up my running distance...

Just Finished Reading The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks

The Blinding Knife, by Brent Weeks, is the second book in his ongoing Lightbringer fantasy series.  On this imaginary world, colors and certain people's abilities to turn them into a tangible substance called "luxin" determine the social and political order and power structure.  The author went into agonizing detail explaining it all in the first book...he was more merciful in this one, thankfully.  Kip Guile is a boy with special abilities concerning all the known colors, but neither he nor others know the full extent of his powers.  His presumed father, Gavin Guile (or is it his brother Dazen) is the Prism, charged with the burdensome task of ensuring that all the colors of the world remain in a state of balance...otherwise the color gods will rise up and divide and plunge the world into chaos and destruction.  But Gavin has been stabbed with a special white dagger and so has begun to lose his ability to control colors...yes, it all sounds a bit silly the way I describe it, doesn't it?  In the meantime his new nemesis, Lord Omnichrome, is leading a war of rebellion against the Chromeria, Gavin's group.  There are lots of other characters and subplots involved here, but I'm just not going to list them.  One reason is that describing books within series like this can inadvertently involve giving away some of what happened in previous volumes and I don't want to be a plot spoiler.  I will say this much: the various characters, many in dire opposition to each other, often are related...sometimes closely...with some of them ignorant of this. It's all very convoluted on many levels, something I find a bit distasteful.  I understand that the author intends to extend this Lightbringer series to several books, making me wonder why I started reading it in the first place.  After all, I really don't want to be in my late seventies or early eighties, wondering when Book Number Nine or Ten is going to come out. I've read long fantasy series, notably Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time and Terry Goodkind's The Sword of Truth.  But I began these projects knowing that the authors had already completed writing them and that I could read them in rapid succession...

Quote of the Week...from J.D. Salinger

I'll read my books and I'll drink coffee and I'll listen to music and I'll bolt the door.
                                                           ---J.D. Salinger

J.D. Salinger is the author of the great 1951 literary anthem to teenage angst and alienation, The Catcher in the Rye. I can identify with his above quote in that I know the things I want to do and it immensely frustrates me when the world around me seems to conspire to prevent me from doing them.  I also like books, coffee, music...and bolted doors: I'm about to start Robert Heinlein's 1957 science fiction novel The Door into Summer, I have a cup of hazelnut-flavored coffee in front of me, I'm a fan of classical music, classic rock, alternative/indie rock, and heavy metal...and my doors are bolted and locked.  My personality leads me to be a recluse, and I have to fight each day to resist the temptation to completely shut out the world from my life...with mixed results, some days being better than others.  But I'm blessed to have a wonderful wife who helps keep me connected, as well as a pretty doggone good job to go to with some fantastic people.  I also try to get outside and run...not just for exercise or personal achievement, but also to be a part of that world that I'm inclined to shun.  This blog has been very helpful to me as well, establishing a mostly daily habit of writing and engaging others with my thoughts on a variety of topics.  And sometimes (not tonight) I'll deliberately go out to a Starbucks to write or study, just to be in a social setting...plus I like their coffee, of course. It's good to get out among others...and it's also good to be at home around oneself...

9/23 Sermon on Miracles, Part 3

At The Family Church here in Gainesville, senior pastor Philip Griffin continued his series on the seven signs, or miracles, that Jesus gave in the Bible's New Testament book of John.  The passage of focus, concerning the healing at the pool, is John 5:1-18...click on it to read it via Bible Gateway.  Pastor Philip's message contained two important areas: how we can get ourselves "unstuck" and healed physically, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually...and the true meaning of the Sabbath.  To this effect he posed three questions: do I want to get well, am I receiving everything God wants to give me, and do I find in God my true Sabbath rest?  Philip noted that the man at the pool had identified himself with his illness and the sick people at the pool.  He had a misplaced hope that an angel would stir up the healing waters for him and, instead of trusting in Jesus as his Lord, gave him instructions to help him into the pool.  None of these false notions helped this man...only through the love and power of Jesus did he get physically healed.  Yet the man did not allow himself spiritual healing, for he and others turned on Jesus for this healing on a Sabbath day...our pastor wondered how people could be so legalistic to concentrate on that point after someone stricken for nearly forty years was suddenly, wonderfully healed of his affliction.  But the true Sabbath, as Pastor Philip concluded, is based on God's work in the creation...he did not rest on the seventh day because he was tired or the "rules" mandated it, but rather because his work was done.  It's because, he said, of Jesus's work that we can rest from our work.  We find our Sabbath rest in Jesus, not in ourselves. At the end of this message, Philip read James 5:14-16, which is about prayer within the church body, and invited anyone from the congregation with a need for healing to come forward for prayer with church elders and pastors...

This sermon is available for you to watch through the church's YouTube video website...click to the following link: [TFC Videos].  The Family Church is located at 2022 SW 122nd Street and holds its Sunday morning services at 9 and 10:30.  There's the weekly message, praise and worship music, prayer, great fellowship, and all sorts of group and learning activities to participate in.  And the hospitality room features free coffee and treats before and between services, always a destination for me when I arrive.  Looking forward to this Sunday at the church...

Weekly Short Story: The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacobs

The 1902 short story The Monkey's Paw, by W.W. Jacobs, continued the fictional tradition that it's possible to get three wishes by possessing a special bottle or object...and how those wishes almost inevitably backfire.  Mr. and Mrs. White live in a remote, boggy area with their farm and their son Herbert.  A retired military man, Sergeant-Major Morris, is paying visit to their home one night after making Mr. White's acquaintance a few days before.  The father directs the conversation to Morris's monkey paw, which the latter claims grants three wishes to three different people: he warns the family that a holy man had put a spell on it to show that fate ruled over desire.  But he gives the monkey's paw to Mr. White, and the wishes ensue...along with their unintended consequences...

Most of us know the story of Aladdin, his magic lamp, and the three wishes.  And there have been variations on this theme...on old Twilight Zone episode likewise featured a genie who granted wishes to an impoverished shopkeeper with dire results.  The moral to these tales is almost always that there is no magical shortcut to the fulfillment of people's dreams...and bad things happen to people to try to bypass the natural order of things.  The Monkey's Paw, which could be considered as a horror story, certainly fits this pattern.  I've read it a number of times and you can as well by clicking on the following link to read it in PDF: [The Monkey's Paw].  After reading it, I wondered whether Stephen King might have gotten some of his inspiration for Pet Sematary here...after reading both, you'll know what I'm talking about.  In any event, this story of W.W. Jacobs is a classic and worth reading, although some sensitive folks might suffer nightmares afterwards...

Tuesday's List: 1991 Senate Confirmation Vote for Clarence Thomas

As the confirmation process for United State Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sadly continues down the path of examining his youth in light of allegations of sexual misconduct...with a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing scheduled for Thursday...I thought it might be interesting to go back in time to 1991 when Republican president George H.W. Bush's nominee, Clarence Thomas, after Anita Hill's accusations against him, was narrowly confirmed by the Senate body, 52-48.  At that time the Democrats controlled the Senate, 57-43.  It was a very different era, politically, with 11 Democrats crossing over to vote for Thomas's confirmation and 2 Republicans voting in opposition...imagine that sort of thing happening in today's extremely partisan setting...

Here are the senators crossing over in that vote:

DEMOCRATS VOTING FOR THOMAS
RICHARD SHELBY (Alabama)...later joined Republican Party
DENNIS DECONCINI (Arizona)
SAM NUNN (Georgia)
WYCHE FOWLER (Georgia)
ALAN DIXON (Illinois)
J. BENNETT JOHNSTON (Louisiana)
JOHN BREAUX (Louisiana)
JAMES EXON (Nevada)
DAVID BOREN (Oklahoma)
ERNEST HOLLINGS (South Carolina)
CHUCK ROBB (Virginia)

REPUBLICANS VOTING AGAINST THOMAS
BOB PACKWOOD (Oregon)
JIM JEFFORDS (Vermont)

Looking at the above list of Democrats voting for Clarence Thomas's confirmation, you'll note that six of the eleven senators are from Deep South states.  Only Shelby was a staunch conservative and he himself switched parties later in the decade.  The other five were moderate Democrats...back then southern voters weren't anywhere nearly as skewed to the political right as they now are...

By the way, back then in 1991 there were some familiar, much younger faces in the Senate for that vote: here's a list that includes currently sitting senators, two former vice-presidents, three presidential general election candidates, and a vice-presidential candidate..all of them voted along their party's line:

JOHN MCCAIN (Arizona)
JOE BIDEN (Delaware)
JOE LIEBERMANN (Connecticut)
CHUCK GRASSLEY (Iowa)
BOB DOLE (Kansas)
MITCH MCCONNELL (Kentucky)
JOHN KERRY (Massachusetts)
AL GORE (Tennessee)
ORRIN HATCH (Utah)
PATRICK LEAHY (Vermont)

I composed the above lists by referencing Wikipedia's page about Clarence Thomas.  In looking at what's going on regarding Brett Kavanaugh, I have to sit back and allow the upcoming events to play themselves out before I can form a reasonable opinion.  Of course, now there seem to be two other people in his past who might offer damaging testimony, although I wander whether Grassley, McConnell, and Company won't just quickly push for a final vote after Thursday's hearing...

Just Finished Reading We Are Not Ourselves by Matthew Thomas

Stephen King is one of the people I follow on Twitter.  Not that I expect anything of special literary value from his often overtly political posts, but I like to keep up with what's on his mind.  From time to time he recommends a book he's just read...I read Garth Risk Hallberg's novel City on Fire after reading such a Tweet.  The other day he promoted another one, Matthew Thomas's 2014 debut novel We Are Not Ourselves...and I promptly checked it out.  Set primarily in New York City, the author's home town, it is a fictional voyage through the life of Eileen Tumulty/Leary from her childhood with her Irish parents into adulthood and her marriage to Ed Leary, a scientist whose values on materialism sharply clash with her longing to become more high society.  A lot of stories I've read try to make the protagonist into a character of virtuosity: one thing I liked a lot about We Are Not Ourselves is the way that the author, while focusing on Eileen's point of view, revealed many flaws in her personality and how her behavior often aggravated relational problems she had with others, most particularly her husband and son.  Ultimately, though, what won this novel over for me was the way it depicted the debilitating and fatal Alzheimer's Disease, from the initial stages of divergent behavior with its accompanying denials and rationalizing, to the final stage of complete incapacity...how sad.  This was a difficult book to get through, but not for any fault of Matthew Thomas and his adroit writing.  He plunged head first into real, often very unlikeable characters as well as dealing with a topic that for many has eclipsed their lives, if not as Alzheimer's patients than as their caretakers...along with a stinging indictment of the American health care system that, even in the era of Obamacare, forces families into bankrupt conditions just to obtain needed government assistance...

If you want to read a story about people who are "real", warts and all, and don't expect the author to sugarcoat your reading experience, then you just might also like We Are Not Ourselves.  As far as I'm concerned, Stephen King is "two for two" with his book recommendations...

Proud of Gators' Play Against Tennessee Yesterday

Back in the middle of their football season in 2008, the University of Florida football team...anticipating an undefeated season...played Mississippi at home, losing to them 31-30.  It was a shocking wake-up call to this team, which had become overconfident and cocky...they didn't lose again that year, eventually taking down Oklahoma in the national championship game.  For several reasons I wouldn't place this year's squad on a par with that one, but a couple of weeks ago Kentucky similarly shocked them into somber self-assessment: the Wildcats caught Florida sluggish and flatfooted on the way to a 27-16 upset on the Gators' home turf.  Since then first year head coach Dan Mullen has lit a fire under this team, and you can see the results by the relentless energy and pursuit they put on the field, especially on the defensive side.  Yesterday Florida went to Knoxville as underdogs to play Tennessee and whipped their rivals 47-21, scoring 24 of their points off Volunteer turnovers and preventing a Tennessee touchdown from another...that's a 31 point differential from an aggressive defense and an opportunistic offense...way to go!  As for Kentucky, Florida's earlier loss to them doesn't look quite as bad as before: 14th ranked Mississippi State just fell to them 28-7...

I don't know how many games Florida will win this year, but if Mullen can keep this team focused, intense, and hungry for victory against quality opponents...now that they have a taste of what it's like...I feel confident that they will be able to stand on the same field with any team, including LSU and Georgia, and put on a good, respectable show.  Which is all I'm asking from them...

Just Finished Reading Joe Abercrombie's Before They Are Hanged

I am currently juggling three fantasy fiction series with my reading: Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive (I've just quickly reread the first two books in anticipation of starting the third), Lightbringer by Brent Weeks (about to start book two), and this one: Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy.  I was fortunate in that my son Will, an avid reader, already had the first two volumes...including Before They Are Hanged, which I just finished reading.  Of the different series, I clearly prefer Abercrombie's because he keeps the magic uncluttered from excessive detail...very refreshing!

In the world of The First Law, we see the central kingdom, called The Union, threatened in war by different forces, one from the north (the Northmen) and one from the south (the Gurkhuls).  Part of the troubles arise from an ancient feud taking place between the order of the Magi (near-immortal wizards) that is playing itself out.  There are three separate narratives going on throughout this second installment: Collem West, a brave and loyal officer for the Union, is in the north with his forces fighting Bethod's Northmen (resembling the Vikings) in concert with a band of renegade northern fighters, the Dogman being the main character among them.  In the south, the brutal Gurkish Empire is laying siege to the Union city of Dagoska, and Inquisitor Glokta (an exquisitely cynical, insightful, and pragmatic protagonist) has been sent to head the resistance and sort out corruption and treason.  And in the west, a motley band is venturing to retrieve what Magi Bayaz calls "the Seed" that will purportedly aid him in saving the world and settling his ages-old scores...with him on the trek are Northman Logen "Ninefingers", Ferro (a violent, vengeful woman from the south), Jezal (a master fencer with no combat experience), and a couple of minor characters (at least right now they're minor).  The book toggles between these three narratives, all of which are very interesting...I grew to care about these characters and how they might survive (or not survive) their many ordeals.  As expected, the end of this book left me hanging, eagerly ready to start the last one, titled Last Argument of Kings.  One problem: Will didn't seem to leave this one behind...or at least I haven't yet found it...so I'll have to check it out from the library.  Not a problem: I've got plenty of other stuff to read in the meantime...

Quote of the Week...from Stephen King

I was "in" enough to get along with people. I was never socially inarticulate.  Not a loner.  And that saved my life, saved my sanity.  That and the writing.  But to this day I distrust anybody who thought school was a good time.  Anybody.                             ---Stephen King.

Stephen King, my all-time favorite author, turned 71 today and I thought I might take advantage of the occasion by quoting him on something.  The above comment of his made an impression on me in a couple of ways...my complete divergence from his experiences in school and my complete agreement with his assessment of our respective experiences.  Stephen, you can trust me: school for me was anything but a good time...but I wasn't "in" enough to get along with people, I was always socially inarticulate, and was one of the biggest loners around.  But the fact that I am wired a bit differently and see things from another perspective got me through those horrific years, having long given up on ever getting any positive social reinforcement from others be they classmates or teachers...and I didn't write back then, either. And, like this wonderful author whose birthday I'm celebrating, I did not believe that I was the only one suffering through school, either: I saw misery, humiliation, fear, and loneliness pervade the souls of so many of my fellow students...it's hard to come out of those years without having a cynical worldview as well as a sad kind of empathy for broken people.  Yet, as ol' Johnny Cougar once sang, life goes on, long after the thrill of living has gone...we need to now take our lives one day at a time and live in the present.  I've seen a few South Park episodes and tend to identify with the Goth Kids whenever they're featured...to me nothing would have been more appealing back then then to stay up late at night at some all-night diner with my fellow malcontents, swilling black coffee and railing about how awful everything is.  Yes, that's one group...had it existed when I was going to school...that I just might have fit in with...

9/16 Sermon on Miracles, Part 2

At The Family Church here in Gainesville, senior pastor Philip Griffin continued his series discussing seven miracles of Jesus as described in the Bible's New Testament book of John with the second miracle: the healing of the official's son, found in John 4:43-54...click on the passage to read it through Bible Gateway.  With this message comes an examination of faith, both by the official in the narrative and how our faith develops...a faith, as Pastor Philip stated, that makes its way into every aspect of our lives.  And, he continued, it's not the amount of faith we have that matters, but rather the object of our faith: Jesus...

Philip laid out three stages in the development of faith among believers: first, crisis-based faith, then needs-based faith...and, finally, life-giving faith.  Our pastor added to this the four types of healing: physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual...there is a kind of rough correspondence between these and the development of faith.  Finally, Pastor Philip brought up the story of a daredevil tightrope walker who would span the falls to the applause of the awestruck spectators.  One day he brought out a wheelbarrow and asked the crowd if they believed he could push someone in it on the tightrope across the falls.  Everyone yelled that they believed...but then he asked for volunteers!  There's a big difference between noncommittal faith on the sidelines and committed faith in the trenches...we need to "get in the wheelbarrow" and trust in Jesus to protect and carry us...

You can watch this sermon on the church's YouTube video website...just click on this link: [TFC Videos].  The Family Church is located at 2022 SW 122nd Street and holds its weekly services Sunday morning at 9 and 10:30, featuring praise and worship music, prayer, fellowship...and, of course, the message.  Part three of the ongoing series on miracles is slated for this Sunday...

Weekly Short Story: Fatal Error by Fredric Brown

Frederic Brown (1906-72) was one of my all-time favorite short story writers, whose works ranged from science fiction to mystery to social commentary.  A few years I purchased From These Ashes (NESFA Press), which is a collection of all of this author's short science fiction.  Although technically more a crime story than science fiction, his very short 1961 tale Fatal Error is in it.  Fatal Error reminds me of the Peter Falk mystery TV series Columbo, where each week a very intelligent person devises what he or she thinks is a foolproof murder...but of course Columbo always figures it out in the end.  There's no Columbo in Brown's story, but the intricate plotting on the part of the protagonist is there.  Walter Baxter knows he is the only heir to his rich uncle's fortunes, so he works out a plan to kill him while making it look like the unfortunate by-product of a burglary.  He assiduously goes about implementing his plans, and when it is all over he commends himself on a job well done.  Only one problem: he is quickly arrested anyway.  What happened? The answer is hilarious, a testament to what happens when someone gets so caught up in details that they lose sight of the big picture.  I don't think this story is available on the Internet, but if you can get hold of it I recommend you take the few minutes seconds needed to read it.  It's a hoot...