The Arrow's Path

For those of you with copious amounts of spare time (which probably excludes most if not all of my readership), I have a recommendation for a series of books that I think are flying under the radar of quite a few science fiction fans. Kevin Anderson, who co-authored the Dune prequels with Brian Herbert, has authored a very good series of books called the Saga of the Seven Suns . It is apparently a 7 book series, of which 4 have been published, with the 5th due out in June. If you like epic science fiction, especially the Dune saga, I highly recommend reading this series if you get the chance. I am currently reading the 3rd one, and have ordered the 4th. I have read all three back to back to back. There are not too many series I can say that about. I didn't even do that with Dune . (Of course, I would have liked to have been able to do that with Dune but I didn't want to fry my brain.) I just happened to stumble upon the series when I randomly saw the first novel in a used b...

Venus de Milo it ain't, but it is the latest attempt from my pottery class. I was experimenting with different types of glaze. I am especially proud of my braided handle design. Just call me the Potter of the Forest...

From the Anglican News service... Why all the Ashes? I was lucky enough to be in one of Professor Frederick Shriver's classesat General Seminary just before he retired. Father Shriver is not one tokeep his opinions to himself and I especially recall his thoughts aboutashes. "You know what I'd do if I were the rector of a church?" he askedour class. "You know what I'd do? I'll tell you what I'd do. At the endof the Ash Wednesday liturgy, I'd be at the back door with a bigwashrag. As people left the church, I'd wipe the ashes off theirforehead and remind them of the words of our Lord, "Beware of practicingyour piety before men in order to be seen by them" (Matthew 6:1). Father Shriver had no time for religious pretence or hollow religiosity. His sentiments are profoundly biblical, echoing the preaching of theprophets and the teaching of our Lord. Given this strong criticism ofoutward piety and given that at Saint Mary's we will off...

For those of us who grew up on reruns of The Andy Griffith Show and A Christmas Story , yesterday saw the passing of two great actors. Don Knotts , "I'm Deputy Barney Fife and I'm as good a man as any" and Darren McGavin , the perfect 1940's grumpy dad from A Christmas Story. I think McGavin had some of the best one liners in history in that movie: "Do you know what this leg is?...It's a lamp! Would you look at that?! Would you look at that ?!?! What a great lamp!" and (after the neighbor's dog's ear got stuck in the door) "Serves ya right! Ya smelly buggers!" I find it ironic that both men who were about the same age and gave iconic performances died on the same day. I can still watch reruns of either of those classics and still laugh like the first time I saw them. Classic, situational comedy is hard to come by these days. Most comedy shows and movies have gravitated more to acerbic one-liner humor that is really only good for o...

Get a laser fish tattoo . Next of Fox: when goats attack . Polygamist want a cracker? Oh, there's some good ones today folks...The Archer

An article from the Living Church...interesting stuff. You gotta love the acronym ARCIC III. Sounds like a robot, "Danger Rev. Robinson...Danger!" -The Archer ------------------------------------ Vatican Agrees to ARCIC III 02/22/2006 The Roman Catholic Church has agreed to a third round of Anglican Roman Catholic International Consultation talks, according to Bishop Brian Farrell, the secretary of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity.The “decision has already been made,” Bishop Farrell told The Living Church on Feb. 16 during the ninth assembly of the World Council of Churches in Porto Alegre, Brazil. ARCIC III will examine Roman Catholic and Anglican ecclesiology on the question of the “local and universal Church,” he said, but “we will develop this decision more concretely in the future.”The Rt. Rev. C. Christopher Epting, the Presiding Bishop’s deputy for interfaith and ecumenical relations, welcomed the announcement, noting the Episcopal Church and the Roman Cathol...

I am occasionally notorious for accidently breaking glassware (I will let you figure out what 'occasionally' modifies in that sentence). Last night as I was turning out the light to go to bed, I accidentally knocked a glass I had on the stand onto the floor. I am always truly amazed at how well glass can shatter into minute pieces and travel at weird vectors. Ode to Holy &%$#@!#! by the Archer of the Forest You didst but fall a whole 2 feet... but, oh what a mess I now must meet. All over the floor. and under the door. Under the trunk, amongst the junk. Some over here, and some over there. Into your shoe, (which smarts too). Through the air, and into my hair. You want to say something like, "Holy &%$#@!#!" Which coincidentally rhymes with virtually anything.

Frolicking Overweight Couple cause Pub Roof Collapse Fans boycott new James Bond Archer Public Service Announcement: Please do not Hide your Cocaine in Baby's Crib

For those of you in gospel mission last year who ventured to Old Saint Pat's Catholic church, you might be interested in this article about their Valentine's Day Lovers' Mass . An interesting read in any event.

70. The Bride From The South (This just loses something in translation. The story below is the correct translation. However, If you want to play an interesting translation game, in Cherokee, the word for democrat, warm, and south are all the same word; Likewise Cherokee only has one word for cold, north, and republican. Its like your own personal Cherokee Mad Lib... -The Archer) The North went traveling, and after going far and meeting many different tribes he finally fell in love with the daughter of the South and wanted to marry her. The girl was willing, but her parents objected and said, "Ever since you came the weather has been cold, and if you stay here we may all freeze to death." The North pleaded hard, and said that if they would let him have their daughter he would take her back to his own country, so at last they consented. They were married and he took his bride to his own country, and when she arrived there she found the people all living in ice houses. The next ...

"Dear Child of God, it is often difficult for us to recognize the presence of God in our lives and in our world. In the clamor of the tragedy that fills the headlines we forget about the majesty that is present all around us. We feel vulnerable, for vulnerability is the essence of creaturehood. But we are not helpless and with God's love we are ultimately invincible. Our God does not forget those who are suffering and oppressed..." -Desmond Tutu, God has a Dream

Yes, this is a bona fide Archer original. Yes, this topic actually came up in class. Yes, I expect to spend a few eons in Purgatory. (Click image to enlarge)

You Are Hockey Tough, athletic, and not afraid of a fight. You don't mind putting your body on the line! What Winter Sport Are You? That's amusing because I almost signed up for adult beginning hockey instead of pottery, but decided i did not want to invest in ice skates.

I love the movie Return of the King . In fact, all the movies in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy are incredible. I sat down and watched it again last night (well most of it anyway). Sometimes I think that movie is long, and then I watch something like Das Boot which I swear goes on for 10 hours. I think the most endearing quality of the movie is what I call Frodo's Scar. If you watch closely in ROTK, Frodo has a scar on his face that changes size and shape throughout the movie. It is mainly on the left side of his face, but it sort of moves up and down the jaw line and in a few scenes is actually on the other side of face. It is really quite amusing. I surmise the scar must be under the influence of Mordor or else is a shapeshifter that got lost from Star Trek.

They offer adult enrichment classes at one of the cultural activities centers here in Evanston. I decided over break that I needed to do something not church or seminary related, so I have been taking a pottery class on Monday nights. Most people find it shocking I have an artistic streak. We finally got our first attempt pottery object back last night. I made a mug and glazed it myself. Notice the exquisite Fred Flintstone engraving I added before glazing! Truly a masterpiece. Well...not really. To paraphrase LBJ out of context and vocabulary: It may be a crooked and somewhat leaning mug, but by golly its my crooked and somewhat leaning mug. It has character...that's it...uh, yeah.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Or as my roommate calls it: Singleness Awareness Day. (I'll let you figure out the acronym)...

Here is an interesting article I found on clergy self-care. It is worth a read...The Archer ------------------------------------ WHAT should be the length of your vicar’s working week? For those who somewhat bizarrely believe that clergy only work on Sundays this may seem an odd question. But I am all too well aware that many clergy are working 70-80 hour weeks and believe there should be no limit to their availability. I know some clergy who never take holidays, are not happy about leaving their church to other priests’ care. And I know some clergy families who feel they always come second to the job and suffer as a result. The nature of clergy employment is going to change radically over the next few years. The old practice of clergy having a freehold office, which means they are only accountable to themselves, will go. In its place will come something nearer to most people’s experience of employment relationships: job descriptions, annual appraisals, disciplinary procedures and poss...

French Fry Allergens Teacher tapes Kids' mouths shut Indian man freed after 28 years without trial (and his wife was still waiting)

My blogging has been a bit sporatic the last half-week or so due to a good college friend whom I have not seen in a few years deciding to come and visit for the weekend. She wanted to go see the new U-Boat exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science & Industry . I am atoning for this lack of bloggery by posting some pictures I took of the U-505 , a German U-boat captured intact during WWII. Apparently the U-505 sunk 10 ships before finally being captured by depth charges from the USS Chatelain . This is an incredible exhibit. I highly recommend paying the 5 extra dollars to take the 20 minute tour of the inside of the ship. Its sort of a choregraphed story-tour with sound effects. You really get the feel of what life was like on a U-Boat. My friend, who is from Orlando, FL, and used to fake rides even thought it was cool. They would not let us take pictures on the inside, however. That aside, if you are in the Chicago area, I highly recommend going to see it.

Today's Arlo n Janis is pretty good. Everyone is just going through the motions in February.

Here's a very interesting article on the MegaChurch phenomenon. (And everyone knows how much I hate DisneyChurchland...er, I mean MegaChurches) Here some interesting statistics from the article (with my sardonic commentary in parentheses): - 56 percent of megachurches said they have tried to be more multiethnic and 19 percent of their attendance is not from the majority race of the congregation. (The times I have been to MegaChurches, they are completely white or black. Segregation is alive and well in the MegaChurch from my point of view.) - The average yearly income of megachurches is $6 million, while they spend on average $5.6 million each year. (So, what do they do with the extra $400000?) - The states with highest concentrations of megachurches are California (14 percent), Texas (13 percent), Florida (7 percent) and Georgia (6 percent). (The first three do not suprise me at all. Georgia does surprise me a bit, although now that I think about it, I guess it shouldn't.) - ...

Man Gets Angry Reply to his Message in a Bottle Inventor develops Artificial Gills Squirrels, kebobs, cows top British weird insurance claims

Here is an interesting article I found on H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds that is worth reading if you are into Science Fiction. -The Archer ------------------------------------------------- A Classic Revisited by Tony Fonseca By now, we all know the story: A meteor falls from out of the sky, landing in a field near a small town. Suddenly, all the lights go out, telephones die, watches stop, radios cease to function, and in some versions, automobiles no longer run. The citizens of the town near where the meteor crashes decide to feed their curiosity by going to the landing site of the first meteor. Aliens, or what is later discovered to be alien machines, emerge, incinerating every thing in their path, hostile or friendly. Thus begins one of the greatest horror stories of all times, H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds. The year 2005 saw the second coming of Wells' Martian invasion, with various movie adaptations 1 and the release of the Cosimo Classics edition, with original ...

From the Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS): (562) 03-February-2006 - Archbishop's Speech for Ceremony at Dietrech Bonhoeffer Memorial - Lambeth In the course of his life, Dietrich Bonhoeffer spent significant time in many very different European contexts - notably in Spain, Britain, Italy, and Scandinavia - as well as in the USA. He could reasonably have thought of himself as a citizen of Europe, or indeed of the world. Yet he chose unambiguously to identify with the fate of his own people, and resisted any temptations to settle elsewhere and to take refuge in a safe place that would have spared him the harsh decisions posed by the past and present of his own country. So those who today are trying to find what Christian identity might be in the Europe that is coming to be cannot take from his life or work any idea that somehow the struggles and sufferings of one nation coming to terms with its own cultural and political legacy are less important thansome larger and more abst...

Student : So, can we still wear the clown noses? Professor : Absolutely...I think God does. Anglican General's Disclaimer: The names and faces have been changed to protect the insolent.

I finally sat down and watched "Luther" last night. (Netflix is truly a wonderful thing for armchair film critics.) The movie, of course, was based on the life of Reformation hero/villain Martin Luther (depending on what side you are on). I like good historical period films. This one was especially up my alley as a sort of a nexus of several of my interests: history, film, theology, etc. I give this one three out of five arrows. It was good and worth seeing if you have the time but is not a "drop everything and go see it" sort of film. Luther is just such an interesting character in his own right that even if the film is not 5 stars (or arrows in my case) that it would like be thought provoking regardless. I sort of got the impression going through this film that it was a Man for All Seasons wannabe. That movie is about Thomas More, another Reformation era character and a fabulous movie. (You will notice sometime in chapel I have a Thomas More icon.) Luther , and I...

Puppies used to smuggle heroin Heated Toilet Seats Roadkill Recipe Book Hey...I just report it.