bosalisbury.com Posts

Camille is in North Carolina visiting Emma. She just sent this photo from her phone. It’s a pretty good likeness. Camille says NC reminds her a bit of England and bit of Maine.… Read the rest

Family • Friends Uncategorized

Well, the big weekend of the annual Sierra Presbyterian Yard sale is here, but it was pretty duddy. I only found four paperback books this year. Last year I came home with a bunch of good books, as well as some electronic gear and toys for eBay. Oh, well. At least Denise found this beautiful gold tissue cozy at the Hospice Thrift Store on Thursday night. I think the bedroom is coming along nicely, don’t you? Camille probably even approves.
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I was in the guest room, formerly Emma’s bedroom, and spied one of Sam’s paintings from years ago. I don’t know if Sam would mind me showing this to the world — it doesn’t represent the kind of work he is doing now. If you look closely, you will see a very original, interesting landscape. Yes, those are transparent horizontal and vertical brush strokes. That was a technique he used a lot back then. I like the dreamy look it gives the piece.

It’s one of my all-time favorites (I have a few) and it brings back fond memories. When Sam graduated from the School of the Art Intitute back in 2001, this was projected before the ceremony at the Chicago Theatre.… Read the rest

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For my summer vacation, Denise and I are spending a long weekend with her brother, sisters and their families in South Lake Tahoe. Last night I scouted out a spot to “camp out” with all my gear and relax, doing what I like to do on a vacation — study The Apocalypse, write to our family in Uganda, people watch, read some news and blog. So, here I am at Alpen Sierra Mountain Roasted. It’s a very hospitable coffee hut with the following amenities:

  • The coffee is good. I would rate it an 8 on a scale from 1-10 with Flour Garden being a 1 and Java John’s right up there around a 9.
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I found this site linked at Pyromaniac and I was immediately smitten with Keith Drury’s essay, I’m a Camp Meeting Reenactor – are you?

I have a college buddy, Ken O’vell who is a Civil war reenactor. He spends summer weekends dressed up like a Union soldier and shoots his musket as he and others reenact old Civil war battles. As for me, I’m a Camp Meeting reenactor. Most every summer since I’ve been a lad I attend camp meeting services and get to experience camp meetings pretty based on the pattern of the 1800s. Camp Meetings are just a hair over 200 years old and their history is rich and informative.… Read the rest

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Jesus said “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

I have battled some kind of low-level depression or anxiety ever since I can remember. Perhaps it began with the concussion I received playing soccer in the eighth grade. Who knows? Thirty years later, after I recovered from that other soccer injury, I noticed a dramatic decrease in serious bouts of depression. I wondered if, somehow, my blood chemistry had been altered in a positive way.

Today, I had a sudden rush of anxiety, triggered by a very small setback… car trouble.… Read the rest

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Let’s see…

I’m ecstatic!!! My Blogger Dashboard is working in Firefox 1.0.6! I can Save As Draft again. I can’t wait to BlogThis! I’ve been without my favorite blogging tools for months. This can only mean one thing… tons of posts! I like to BlogThis! or begin posts and save them as drafts. Without this feature, I have to sit down and write / edit the entire post at one time. This discourages me from taking on any serious stuff. Hmmm. Perhaps that’s a good thing. Anyway, here goes.… Read the rest

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Denise has been busy again. Not only did she completely remodel our bathroom, but also she found these cool matching, gender-specific, lamps for our retro nightstands. She was originally bidding on some 60’s “atomic lamps,” but decided these actually coordinated with the rest of our “grandma” era porcelain knick-knicks. Her lamp looks like Marie Antoinette and, ironically, arrived with the head broken off at the neck. Well, she fixed her up and you can barely see the guillotine-width crack around her throat. My lamp is really cool, except that the Cavalier fellow is wearing a little too much eyeliner for my taste.… Read the rest

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Poll: Fewer People Link Islam, Violence

By WILL LESTER
Associated Press Writer

July 26, 2005, 4:14 PM EDT

WASHINGTON — The percentage of Americans who believe Islam is more likely than other religions to inspire violence has declined in the past two years, according to a poll taken after the London bombings. Just over a third, 36 percent, now say the Islamic religion is more likely to inspire violence, while 44 percent said that in July 2003, according to the poll conducted by the Pew Research Center and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

Pollsters are still mystified by an unexplainable plunge in the collective IQ of many Americans over the past two years.… Read the rest

Humor Religion Uncategorized

In a previous post about Muslim terrorism, Brits Get A Wake-Up Call, I attributed London terrorist bombings to British Muslim’s disgust with western culture and a faithful reading of the Qur’an. I may have to take that back after reading this story in Ireland On-Line:

Would-be bomber was on benefits
26/07/2005 – 11:38:06
“One of the would-be suicide bombers who tried to blow up a London Tube train last Thursday had been given thousands of pounds in British taxpayers’ money. Yasin Hassan Omar, 24, was given £75 (€108.70) a week in housing benefit to pay for the one-bedroom flat where he has been the registered tenant since February 1999.… Read the rest

Humor Religion Uncategorized

I’m still thinking about Art and there are so many memories. I really need to write them down and sort them into some order. Two things are on my mind today. First, a humorous anecdote, which may only be funny to those who could relate to This Is Spinal Tap, the movie.

Art was a self-trained electronic technician (perhaps an engineer, as well) and he worked wherever he found something new and interesting going on — Hewlett-Packard, the Stanford Observatory and Foggy Mountain Music, for example. He grew up fascinated with broadcasting and one of his first jobs was installing and troubleshooting public address systems during the 1940s.… Read the rest

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Brits Get A Wake-Up Call
Readers of the Telegraph in the UK got more than a Full English Breakfast with their July 23 edition. Along with a generous portion of beans, rashers of bacon, black pudding and tomatoes, they got a heapin’ helpin’ of comparative religion as British Muslims stopped practicing taqiyah (religious dissimulation) just long enough to let pollsters know what they really think about jihad, the struggle against unbelief and the practical consequences for Britons who reject Islam:

YouGov sought to gauge the character of the Muslim community’s response to the events of July 7. As the figures in the chart show, 88 percent of British Muslims clearly have no intention of trying to justify the bus and Tube murders.… Read the rest

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From The Telegraph Online:
Two of John Wayne’s best films from the 1950s – “The High and the Mighty” and “Island in the Sky” – have been missing in action for decades… the films, directed by William Wellman (“Wings,” “A Star Is Born”) and produced through the Duke’s own company, had fallen into disrepair… Already, “High and the Mighty” ranks No. 4 on Amazon.com’s presale orders list… Originally released in 1954, “The High and the Mighty” was one of the top-grossing films of the year and was nominated for six Oscars, including best director for Wellman and supporting actress nods for Jan Sterling and Claire Trevor; it won for Dimitri Tiomkin’s memorable score.

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Art • Design • Culture Film

Today marks 29 years of marital bliss for Denise and I. This is a fitting weekend for the celebration. We will be spending it with Camille, Emma, and our wonderful friends, doing the kinds of things we love to do — it’s been a very busy weekend and will be, right up until our heads hit the pillow tonight.

I had to work yesterday and, as I was driving home down the Old Downieville Highway, with my sunroof open and Eric Whitacre playing, I was reflecting upon how blessed I am and the fact that all sorts of wonderful things have come my way in unexpected or unusual ways.… Read the rest

Family • Friends Just Plain Fun

Denise found a nice bedroom set for about $75. I really like it, but wondered aloud, “should we just change our names to Ward and June?” I’ve caught Denise admiring it, when she didn’t know I was looking.

I really like these nightstands. They hold lots of books and will soon support two “funky pink and gold atomic retro lamps.” At least that’s the eBay description. The combo headboard/footlocker is handy for kleenex, more books and, perhaps, some knick-knacks or, Lord willin’, photographs of the grandchildren (hint). I think we’ll be on the hunt for an appropriate bed spread and a funky, gold metal kleenex cozy, like the one my elderly aunt and uncle down at the trailer park used to have.… Read the rest

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I am so grateful to live in a community, where we enjoy state of the art medicine. I turned 50 this year and went in for my very first colonoscopy. I’m feeling fine, but it’s a good idea for men my age to be examined for colorectal cancer or other disease. Here we are in the year 2005 and I find it hard to believe that most people undergoing this test will still be subjected to the barbaric colonscope, a long flexible tubular instrument inserted into the rectum and poked around the colon, while the doctor watches on a remote video device.… Read the rest

Humor Uncategorized Wacky • Weird

First things first: If you look over in the left column, you’ll see that I’ve been at work adding some mini-reviews of books and music I like. Perhaps you will like them, too.

Yes, it’s Independence Day here in the US, but I’m not really a very independent person… I’m writing a blog and reading others’, for cryin’ out loud. I think that demonstrates that I am a very interdependent person.

With that said, I would like to declare my independence today from slavery to my passions and pardon from the just condemnation I have merited by my dreadful conduct:

So those who are believers in Christ Jesus can no longer be condemned.Read the rest

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This post should be read to Green Day’s Boulevard of Broken Dreams.

I walk this empty street
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Where the city sleeps
And I’m the only one and I walk alone

Every morning, Denise and I wake up shortly after 5AM to go out for our daily walk/run. We’ve done this probably since we lived in Maine, ten years ago. However, there’s something about me… about my little pea brain, that I’ve known since I began running way back around 1982. I like to exercise alone. When I’m with someone else, no matter the physical activity, I always feel like I have to catch up with or wait for them.… Read the rest

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To those serious Star Wars fans out there, please believe me when I say I mean no disrespect and I admit up front that there are some days I just shouldn’t go see a film (like the ill fated, rainy evening I viewed The Thin Red Line: but, that’s another blistering post). Here’s the problem: I usually don’t recognize I’m in one of my “moods” until about ten minutes into the movie and by then, it’s too late.

I’m sure the Revenge of the Sith is a fine film, but there were so many elements of the movie that I just found distracting or annoying and I couldn’t get past them.… Read the rest

Art • Design • Culture Film

I’d like you to meet my new mates from Australia:  Adrian the sound man and Malcolm the cameraman. They were sent to our home by Beyond International to film a vignette for the television program Medical Incredible on the Discovery Health Channel. Since my miraculous healing and recovery from necrotizing fasciitis, the flesh eating bacteria, I’ve been contacted a number of times by producers of similar programs, but our plans always fell through. So, I didn’t want to broadcast this adventure until it actually materialized.

It was so much fun. They shot me running over the hill to our house about five times, up and down our street a few times, and the entire length of Gethsemane St.… Read the rest

Film Life After NF Media Coverage Necrotizing Fasciitis Our Story

I promised Zombieslayer a post about my short venture into the world of record producers, fusion guitarists, “shred-heads” and, of course, those vultures who bring all fun to a halt — lawyers and record distributors. Dear ZS… I hope this meets with your approval.

One day sometime in 1990, I believe, I came home from work and Denise told me she had met some new neighbors and they were real nice. She said that “Mark” produced and recorded music – he was working on a children’s CD. I remember thinking to myself, “So, what’s new… everyone in Nevada City is recording a CD.”… Read the rest

Just Plain Fun Music Uncategorized Wacky • Weird

antichristI began my first in-depth study of The Apocalypse this week and I think I have some insights and revelations of my own, concerning the identity of the Antichrist and the Beast of Revelation 13.

First, let me say that Dan (the guy to the left of Macaulay Culkin) is not the Beast, nor is his friend, Michael Jackson, the Antichrist. Of that, I’m relatively certain. However, I’m not so sure about King Juan Carlos of Spain.

You see, he’s been fingered as the Man of Lawlessness by a number of “prophecy experts,” most notably Chuck Missler and Jon Courson. As a supplement to my serious study in Revelation, I began listening to tapes by these Bible teachers, in order to gain insight into the strategic trends, which are preparing the world to bow to the control of this spellbinding, power hungry, dynamic, world dictator.… Read the rest

Christianity • Religion Eschatology Humor Religion Revelation Wacky • Weird

I found this thought-provoking article about the… Just a moment, I have an email coming in that I’ve been waiting for. Okay, that was good, let’s start over. I found this thought-provoking article about the deleterious effect of too much…. Wait a second, I just heard the phone ring. I’ll be right back. Alright, so where was I. Oh, yes… the deleterious effect of all our modern communications… Excuse me, Denise is calling from the other room…

“What? Who? Tell them I’m busy blogging and I’ll call back in about a half hour. *Sigh*”

So, ummm, this article says that, uh… well, here… you read it yourself:

The Scotsman
Fri 22 Apr 2005
Scientists believe ‘infomania’ can hit our ability to concentrate and cause permanent loss of intelligence.… Read the rest

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Denise knows where to shop… when she heard there would be a flea market at a local Lutheran church, she charged right over there. “The churches with the older congregations have all the really cool stuff.” She came home with the most beautiful Christmas tree skirt I have ever seen, as well as some retro Christmas ornaments and… a little “special occasion tree” like my Grandma Louise used to have. Actually, it was a manzanita branch that looked like a tree, about a foot tall. She would decorate it for every season or special occasion. Now, we have one.

The biggest treat was this beautifully illustrated Barbecue Book by the publishers of Sunset Magazine.… Read the rest

Art • Design • Culture Just Plain Fun Uncategorized

Online Catalog: Essential Blogging:

“With weblogs or ‘blogs’ exploding all over the Web, the only thing lacking for power users and developers is detailed advice on how to choose, install, and run blogging software. Written by leading bloggers, Essential Blogging includes practical advice and insider tips on the features, requirements, and limitations of applications such as Blogger, Radio Userland, Movable Type, and Blosxom. This book will get you up and blogging in no time. ”

Sam gave me this book for my birthday and I’ve finished it. It’s a good read with some helpful tips for the beginner. So far, my favorite is BlogThis!Read the rest

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