Sadie commented on Orrin Porter Rockwell’s piercing eyes — said he “creeped her out.” I thought we would close out LDS week with a gallery of OPR photos, spanning the life of the legendary frontiersman and gunslinger. If you would like to learn a bit more about ol’ Port and his exploits, check out these links:
Cal Thomas penned a sober and pragmatic assessment of the typical conservative, Evangelical Christian, pro-family voter (if there is such a specimen): The Maturing of the Right.
After a factual and fair rundown of the candidates for President on the Republican side, Thomas concludes with this analysis:
That substantial numbers of conservative evangelical voters are even considering these candidates as presidential prospects is a sign of their political maturation and of their more pragmatic view of what can be expected from politics and politicians. It is also evidence that many of them are awakening to at least two other realities — (1) they are not electing a church deacon; and (2) government has limited power to rebuild a crumbling social construct.… Read the rest
Orrin Porter Rockwell; Man of God, Son of Thunder by Harold Schindler. From the University of Utah Press:
Was Orrin Porter Rockwell a cold-blooded killer or a saint? In this balanced account, Schindler paints the thrilling portrait of a genuinely colorful individual, a unique man of the frontier west. This electrifying, stunningly illustrated biography of the most mysterious and controversial figure in Mormon history won the American Association for State and Local History’s prestigious Award of Merit.
In his fast-paced and lucid style the author pursues the man behind the legend. Was the devoted bodyguard of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young a stalwart pioneer or a vicious murderer of scores of innocent victims?… Read the rest
I called into the Laura Ingraham show to talk to Hugh Hewitt about his book, A Mormon in the Whitehouse? and the problems Mitt Romney will have attracting Evangelical Christians to his campaign.
I said something to the effect that “I’m an Evangelical Christian, a former Mormon — I’ve been through the Temple and sworn the blood oaths. I could vote for Mitt Romney for President. But, there are valid concerns that Evangelicals have and I think Mitt could answer them to their satisfaction.” I expected to be asked what those “concerns” are, but they moved right along with Hugh basically agreeing with me.… Read the rest
ReadyMade: Instructions for Everyday Life. I love this magazine — I mean the layout and style. I would never consider myself a handy man or hobbyist but, if I were, I would have a subscription to this fun and fabulously conceived periodical. The articles, projects and even the adds are all attractive, informative and sassy (to borrow a phrase from Denise). It’s obviously targeted to the Gen-Xers, who have figured out that not only are they not living in the shadow of the Boomers, but they can have a good job, pockets full of cash and out-consume their forerunners with kick.… Read the rest
How do you take your Christianity? Anthropo or Theo – centric? It really does make a difference and it comes through in our conversation. God is my starting point… He is transcendent… yet, I often find myself falling back into my old way of thinking, evaluating what He says and does; what He wants me to say and do, by my own subjective notions of right and wrong, good or bad, practical or unhelpful. I’m happy for people like John Piper, who bring me back to the ultimate center of my life — the Person Who alone is the beginning of all wisdom and understanding.… Read the rest
Younger people probably won’t be able to empathize with me on this one, but I was returning a rented DVD the other day and, just before I dropped it in the slot, I opened it up to make sure I’d rewound it. Pavlov’s dork!… Read the rest
Denise and I picked up our couch in Concord CA and decided on this brown leather chair from Scandinavian Designs. So, our living room is complete… for now. For those with an eye for art and design, yes, those are toothpick legs on the couch, resin grapes on the Eames era end table and an original Crisell oil painting on the wall in the corner. And, no, they are not for sale.
Once in a while you may happen upon something you wish you’d written, but in my case that happens, oh, about fifty times a day! I found this poem by journalist Steve Turner at PoemHunter.com and was impressed by his perceptive wit. Often, we deny verities and creeds so vehemently that our persistent dissention becomes dogma which, ironically, congeals into a creed of our own — a positive confession of our contrarian attitude, systematizing the tenets of our rebellion against any form of alien correction or restraint that might hinder us in our pursuit of pleasure and self-interest. In the end, we may become the bigoted haters that so excited our righteous passions in the first place.… Read the rest
Everyone has a film, a book, a piece of art that has a revolutionary effect on the way they look at everything. And, if one is fortunate (I would say “blessed”), that may happen many times along this journey we call life.
I first read Unholy Devotion as a young Christian, involved in ministry to people caught up in cults. The book received rave reviews within the apologetics community, so it was required reading for any aspiring counter-cult evangelist !
I had no idea what I was in for. Rather than focus on cultic strategies to deceive the naive or unwitting Christian into joining the Baha’i Faith or Watchtower Society, Harold Bussell identifies cultish tendencies among mainline and evangelical groups that set up otherwise solid believers to cash in their pearl of great price for a worthless counterfeit faith, presenting itself as the genuine article.… Read the rest
If you ever decide to take a trip to Africa, you need to buy and read this book! If you hope to make friends you will keep in touch with, it’s an absolute necessity. In the West, the minute a friend asks for money, things get weird and the friendship probably won’t last long. In Africa, if there is no exchange of money or resources involved, things will get weird and the friendship probably won’t last long. East is east and west is west and there will be no meeting of the minds on the issue of money (and a lot of other customs) without help from someone like David Maranz, a linguist working in Africa since 1975.… Read the rest
I think this is a first for me… I’m blogging while watching a film — Schindler’s List. I’ve already seen it once, but that was years ago. Anyway, I was thinking about getting iListen for dictation and transcription. I do most of my best thinking in the morning, while I’m commuting and doing production/deadline work. I’ve tried a cassette dictation machine ten years ago, but that just didn’t work. I started looking into iListen to use with my computer at home, comparing it to other dictation/transcription software and hardware solutions. Then, it occurred to me… I have a video iPod.… Read the rest
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| Last week I completed a painting of Frank Zappa that I began in high school, over thirty years ago. I hung it up in my office along with the acrylic painting of John Lennon and the large watercolor of John Cipollina, both of which were begun about the same time as Frank, but completed in the past few years. This has been a goal of mine for quite some time. I am terrible at finishing things… all kinds of things. So, I thought I would work through some unfinished projects, one by one, and see if I could develop a habit of completing whatever I start. |
While I retain bragging rights with my latest design coup, Denise did not waste any time in answering back with her own decor riposte! This crushed velvet, swiveling, 60’s variation on the “womb” design was found at a local thrift store and picked up for a song. The living room is coming together nicely and will be anchored by a beautiful new chair from Scandinavian Designs.… Read the rest
I suppose the United States will have to work hard to catch up to these nations, mostly socialist atheist materialist, leading the way in fouling our nest (some of the same nations that scold us for not signing on to the Kyoto Accords).
Here they are:
1. Chernobyl, Ukraine
2. Dzerzhinsk, Russia
3. Haina, Dominican Republic
4. Kabwe, Zambia
5. La Oroya, Peru
6. Linfen, China
7. Mailuu-Suu, Kyrgyzstan
8. Norilsk, Russia
9. Ranipet, India
10. Rudnaya Pristan, Russia
Jen Phillips at The Smithsonian slaps America-bashing, awareness raising, eco-prudes with a bit of common sense:
It’s great that there are no North American cities on the list, but it also poses a question: even if the United States does get its emissions under control, will it even matter in the light of pollution from rapidly industrializing nations like China?… Read the rest
I had another living room epiphany last week. But, before I go on and you get all excited and ask me to come work my interior design magic on your place, remember that I only do this for pleasure… no silver will cross the table.
We looked into putting an insert into our fireplace, but new regulations made it prohibtive, both in cost and efficiency. So, I sat gazing at the center of our living room, the locus of fellowship in our home and thought, “now what?” Should we put a large flower arrangement in front of it? Or, pile up a bunch of candles inside the fireplace, like the hipsters in Rocklin do?… Read the rest
Well, we quit Netflix. I found that I was watching more movies than I normally would, because I wanted to get my money’s worth. My discontent surfaced when I read about the class-action lawsuit filed against them for dragging their feet on fulfilling customers requests, who were signed up for “unlimited” rental accounts. I noticed that my service degraded around that time and their “cycling” became obvious and inconvenient for us.
Anyway, we are spending much less time in front of the tube, which is a real bonus and, now that I know what I’m looking for at the local video store, I can get in and out for about a buck.… Read the rest
Addressing the Suicide of Thought, G.K. Chesterton cites the French Revolution as an example of modern man’s inability to truly be revolutionary (in a good way), because of his self-imposed prison of “objectivity” and open-mindedness — euphemisms for an unhealthy and paralyzing skepticism. This degradation of thought, weaving its way through the 20th century and terminating in 2007, may explain why so many Americans (and cloistered, postmodern epicurean, hedonistic European socialists) will trouble themselves (and, the rest of us) over the genocide in, say, Darfur, while villainizing the liberation, in process, of vast numbers of victims of a large, totalitarian regime.… Read the rest
That’s the vista or view of Julio Ojeda-Zapata in his review, Vista’s pretty, but it’s a shameless Mac OS X imitator Bottom line. He sums up Windows Vista this way:
Get a Mac with OS X unless your home-computer needs are Windows-specific, or if the fine Media Center is a must for you. You likely won’t regret a Vista-PC purchase, but I’m betting you’ll enjoy a Mac much more.
An amusing tongue-in-cheek video by David Pogue covers the same ground in a more creative fashion. I have to say that I use Windows XP at work and I really don’t mind it that much.… Read the rest
Okay, I can finally announce it! Camille has just been promoted to manager and she “broke the record for the quickest promotion” to manager in her firm’s history. There’s no CPA following her name, but that’s a mere formality.
What some may not know is that Camille developed many of her management skills as a young girl in her home, neighborhood and school under the able mentorship of her mother.… Read the rest
Our brother from Uganda was told by the Lord to deliver a message to our church and he obeyed. It was a very costly undertaking for someone living in a country with an annual per capita income of $280. He has preached five times now from this passage:
2 Chronicles 7:14 …if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
He has spoken of humility, prayer, seeking God’s face and repentance.… Read the rest
Pastor Steve has been busy here in Nevada County. We’ve been to prayer meetings, a youth meeting and even a Reformation Bible Conference, where Pastor Steve met Dr. Henry Krabbendam. Pastor Steve attended a pastors prayer meeting and spoke at a sports awards banquet for William Jessup University. He’s taught us some African praise songs. And, he’s working on a mission for Bo to come to Uganda. The indications so far point to May 2007, if the Lord wills.… Read the rest
Our friend, Pastor Steve from Uganda, is full of surprises. He sings beautifully around the house in the morning, he is a gifted preacher, and he is also a real good soccer player. As he puts it, “when I was in school, I was a sports-man” (an athelete). He said that he hadn’t played soccer in 10 years, but you’d never know it to watch him. He played in running shoes and even when he fell down or slid, his recovery was graceful and showed amazing skill!… Read the rest
On Tuesday, Denise and I said farewell to New York and flew out of La Guardia at 4PM. By 1 AM, we were back in Nevada City and I arrived at work in Camptonville by 7:30 AM on Tuesday. What a great time to be alive and who can deny that the United States is one of the best places on the planet to live?
The last morning in Brooklyn, we decided to take a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. It was chilly. On the Manhattan side, we looked around and thought we would see if anything piqued our interest. If so, we’d just take a train back to our apartment.… Read the rest
Boy, have we been going ever since we flew into Manchester NH! We’ve been looking at land, while squeezing in visits with friends, whoopie pies, red snappy hot dogs and some haddock, followed by pie at Helen’s! Our friends, the Websters, have been great hosts. I’ve published a few photos here.… Read the rest
