Right now, the guys at Voodoo is having a parade from their West Burnside area location to their second shop at 1501 NE Davis. I heard that the Mayor as well as a group of syncopated drummers and various bicyclists will be marching.
Wish I was there, with a Memphis Mafia fritter on hand. At least I’ll be there this July when OSCON rolls around! 
Here is something from the American Council for Education regarding academic garb and hoods:
[regarding]Trimmings. The binding or edging of the hood is to be velvet or velveteen, two inches, three inches, and five inches wide for the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctor’s degrees, respectively; the color should be indicative of the subject to which the degree pertains (see above). For example, the trimming for the degree of Master of Science in Agriculture should be maize, representing agriculture, rather than golden yellow, representing science. No academic hood should ever have its border divided to represent more than a single degree.
I ought to return my hood to the Sem, and tell ‘em to gimme the RIGHT academic hood…the Scarlet colored hood. They gave the the white colored one for Arts, Letters, and Humanities. Their rationale was that I was getting my Master of Arts degree…ergo, white. It should be Scarlet, for Historical THEOLOGY. And if you guys do not think that is proof enough, here is one guy who studied Historical Theology.
See…I was right! But I can’t go back in time to the 2003 graduation and it’s not the same as getting it right the first time.
After the Mutiny of Holy Week 2008, we were without Issues. But we got great news, landlubbers!
Looks like someone has formed Pirate Christian Radio and the guys from Issues Etc are coming back soon!
And I have just the perfect song for you all! Some guy made a mash up of Pirates of the Caribbean with Adam Ant’s Jolly Roger. Just the thing for all of us! Arrrrrrr!
Just want to share this Telegraph article with the Confessional fashion plates, those who do not equate modesty with tackiness and denim jumpers.
What makes this interesting was Mr Cavalli’s quote on women and their effort to look “sexy”:
“There is a real vulgarity in the way women dress at the moment,” purrs Roberto Cavalli, stubbing out his cigarette in a turtle-shaped gold ashtray and reaching into his green, lizard-skin manbag for a cigar. “They show off too much and try too hard. They don’t understand where the line is between sexy and vulgar. I know where that line is.”
I’ve been to the Cavalli shop at Las Vegas, and I really love that place…especially when the background music was “Glitz Rock” by Felix Da Housecat. I ended up dancing with the store help. That is how awesome the store is.
And here is more info from his Milan show for this Spring.
Remember kids: Friends don’t let friends wear sweatpants with words on their butt.
Got word via Fark that Dick Martin of Laugh-In passed away about 8 hours ago. A bit of sad news, since I was introduced to his type of comedy by my middle school vice principal in the early 90s. He mentioned that there will be a Laugh-In special that week and I tuned in. I loved the bits of quick and colorful subversive humor.
It was the clever wordplays, the digs at cultural foibles, and the fast-paced clips that make Laugh-In a cultural icon. Contrast Rowan & Martin with the crudeness of recent comedy. After watching the episode, I realized that my vice principal introduced me to (for a lack of terminology) “grown-up humor” and its accompanying culture.*
Here are two Laugh-In Quickies, complete with a President Nixon cameo. You bet your sweet bippy that none of the presidential candidates had the guts to say “Sock It To Me”.
Good night, Dick, and thank you for the laughs.
*Wes Clark had experienced that too, but he refers it as the patio culture, as he entered that grown-up realm via the backyard patio.
Courtesy of the Rebellious Pastor’s Wife.
Some notes:
1) I’ve heard about the allocation of funds to general Synod expenses for years.
2) The administration at the Mauve Mansion are behind technology wise. And it was only recently that someone from the Council of Presidents (Ohio District’s Cripe) actually brought up podcasting and subscriptions to disseminate the message.
3) It was NOT a shock to hear about missionaries being sent home. I remember Dan Conrad and his family being recalled from Venezuela some years ago. And Latin America needs them. Alas, they do not have the money like the Soccer Moms and Dads have in upscale suburbia. You cannot fund a church body on a few pesos, amirite?
Out of the bowels of CNN and into the forum of Fark, a list of things that DO NOT save gas. But while this is common sense, what makes this worthwhile are the Farkers’ comments regarding gas usage.
Here is one gimmick I remembered from my trip to Florida about several years ago: It was around 2.50 a gallon in South Beach, and after some sightseeing, Mr Theologian and I took the bus to the hotel. We relaxed and Prediger turned on the telly…and it was this commercial for a gas saving device, complete with flying dollars out of the guy’s wallet before the device and flying dollars into the guy’s pocket after the device (*smug guy pats shirt pocket*). And that commercial was on every day on our trip. Turns out that it was a ripoff.
One guy mentioned adding a bit of acetone, but I am wary of adding something that can eat up the plastic parts inside the car.
But here is something worth looking at: Farker Timmy the Tumor suggested not “topping off”:
If you pay attention to gas pumps and fuel nozzles, you’ll notice warnings specifying “do not top off.” If you ignore those warnings and continue fueling after automatic shutoff, the tank can over-fill causing fuel to dump into the vapor recovery system (it works like the extra drain hole in your bathtub that prevents over-filling, but in this case runs to an activated charcoal cannister that is mucho expensive to replace…if you “fill” it, plan on the check engine light firing up, and big repair bills).
One suggestion made by Car and Driver magazine is to not fill your tank all the way to the very damn top (when the automatic stop is actuated on the fuel nozzle), ESPECIALLY during warm/Summer months.
Two reasons.
One, during hot weather the heat CAN cause expansion of the fuel to a certain extent in the tank, causing minute amounts to spill into the vapor recovery system, over and over…which equals LOSS OF FUEL that should be burned in your engine, which therefore equals loss of MPG.
Two, and more reasonable, is that if you fill the tank to the brim, and stop without over-filling, and think “well, that’s that!” you are fine if you are somehow able to drive smoothly with granny starts and stops, no sharp turns, no panic stops, no drama, no nothing, good for you.
However, if you drive like a normal person, there will naturally be some splashing and sloshing of that fuel in your tank, and without a little “room” in the tank, guess where it’s gonna’ go when you pull a .90 g turn, or a jackrabbit start?
Yup, the vapor recovery system.
And voila, lost MPG.
Am looking for the Car and Driver issue to verify, so if any of you guys have info about topping off, I’m all ears.
In the meantime, here is an article from the San Francisco Chronicle on driving 55 mph. If you do not mind getting the middle finger and take extra time driving, maybe this will be of help.
I remember spending summer evenings watching the shows on Cable Access. My favorite was the Threee Geniuses — psychedelic mish mash of color and sounds. You just never know what they will cook up. Here is one of their video iterations of Arial Pink’s Cable Access Follies. (The others are posted on their YouTube channel.)
I want to be participate in one of their shows if I ever go to California and if I can explain all of this properly to Mr Theologian. And I doubt that I can pull off the Fort Wayne version. I can go to the cable access studio at the Allen County Public Library downtown. But I need are old lo-fi records, weird props and some friends who are willing to join me in the production.
Here is a letter that has revealed the ridiculousness of Pr May’s situation. Let’s see…if you are a Lutheran minister, you do Lutheran things, NOT Baptist things. That means that if someone has a sick child that needed to be Baptized, you do not IGNORE what Christ said in Matthew 19: “Let the little children come to Me” and of course Article IX of the Augsburg Confession. Christ did not add: “…providing that you ask your supervisors or corporate body first before the children come to Me.”
If you do not want Pr May to be a Lutheran minister, then why did you sent him in the first place?
The following is a report from Pr. James May regarding his mission work in West Africa.
Rev. Kurt Hering, Pastor,
Trinity Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
of Layton, Utah
I was sent to Ouagadougou to learn French. There are no Lutheran churches here. I was directed to take my family and worship at non-Lutheran churches. I was forbidden to plant Lutheran churches in Ouagadougou.
In my daily life I was often encountered by locals asking who I am and what I am doing in Burkina Faso. I explained that I am a Lutheran pastor and am learning French. Many people wanted to know more. In a country that is 80% Muslim and animistic, I was happy to confess my faith in the savior Jesus Christ. People wanted to know more.
I was insubordinate and started Bible studies, and the area facilitator said that the regional director would not be happy, and therefore, even though he was informed, he said that he would turn a blind eye. Later while in the language learning process a friend of mine named his first born son after me.
My regional director had expressly told me that if someone wanted to be baptized I should send them to the Baptist church and NOT baptize them. Again I was insubordinate and preferred to disobey that order rather than break a relationship by insulting him and refusing to baptize his son. The father, Etienne Sam, has used his tailor shop to publicize and distribute Good News magazines.
A second time a man came from Cote d’Ivoire and was very poor. He couldn’t afford to send his kids to school which costs about $4 per child. His youngest son became very sick with dysentery. During a two week span he ceased eating and we feared for his life. His father was a Catholic but had been attending our Good News classes. I asked him if his son was baptized and he said the Catholic Church demanded $15 per baptism and he didn’t have the money. The Baptist Church was not going to baptize the child. Again I was insubordinate and baptized him so that his parents would have the assurance that even if dysentery won, the devil would not because Jesus would make Victorien His child. Miraculously the day after his baptism he also began eating and the dysentery left.
Finally, Rev. Dr. Anssi Simojoki, the Vice President of LHF and director for the Africa region, was making a trip through West Africa and contacted me. His son is the godfather of two of our children. I offered our house for him to stay in. I received an email from Rev. Dr. Paul Mueller in which he stated that he had not given me permission to have Anssi stay in my house. I was not aware that my personal home is ruled by World Mission. Again I was insubordinate and allowed Anssi to stay at our house.
In my most recent conversation with Rev. Dr. Paul Mueller in Conakry, Guinea, he said it is due to these acts of insubordination that he has determined I am a detriment to the LCMS WM team in Africa and that I was directed to seek another call. He would not put this in writing, rather he stated that I am unwilling to live in a primitive village, and therefore should leave Africa. This is untrue. I was unwilling to move to a village where access to emergency care is unattainable during rainy season. I have a pregnant wife and four children, one of which already had a medical emergency and nearly lost her fingers. Planting of churches and visiting of those remote congregations could have been done from cities with hospitals. This request was denied.
God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
By His Grace alone,
Pr. James May
For Lucciola: fast forward and listen to Kitaro’s Sacred Journey I [Pilgrimage I].
This reminds me of some sunsets I’ve seen before moving to Indiana. It was also the song which carried me through the last month of Sem in 2005. I must have listened to it every day.