Posts Tagged “Christian”

First, an apology to those of you (and I know there are just throngs of you out there) who have actually noticed that I haven’t blogged since January.  And, after I promised I was going to review and deconstruct evey single episode of LOST’s fifth season as it aired!  Okay, now that we’re all over that, let’s talk about last night’s no-breathe-TV 2-hour episode — the one that will have to hold us for the next nine months!  If you haven’t watched the episode yet, DON’T READ ANY FURTHER!  If you have, get out of this paragraph and into the next one…hurry!

You know Jacob has to be in the first paragraph. For someone who has been so elusive for so long, he sure was easy to find here!  The dude was everywhere!  But, more than that, he gave us one of the most gorgeous opening scenes of the entire series!  Sitting inside his giant foot (which was a whole statue then), he spun and wove by firelight.  Whoa.  Moments later, he went all Bobby Flay on us and cooked some fish on his rock grill (Lostpedia says it was a red herring…a cool tidbit).  When the second guy showed up, I’m betting I’m not the only one who thought HE was Jacob (it was the beard).  Once the Black Rock appeared and the conversation began, I was sure ONE of them was, anyway.  By the end of the scene, we knew which one was, but the identity of the other remains a mystery.  Can’t say I’m thrilled with that, but being frustrated over mystery on LOST seems kind of like being frustrated about the thrill you feel when you willingly get on a roller coaster!

Once we have established that Jacob seems to be able to control the actions of others and seems to exist outside of time (he brought the Black Rock to the island, apparently to prove that things will play out the same perpetually…except for the mysterious reference he made to “progress”), we see him make his rounds, clearly keeping an eye on those whose lives are tied to the island.  We see Kate, Sawyer, and Juliet as children and I didn’t realize why it was those three until I just typed their names all together.  They were uncomfortably chained to a table on the submarine together, broke out of it together, and stood against Jack and Jughead together…initially.  They came around to see Jack’s view together (well, Sawyer allowed Juliet to run the show, but the ladies were genuinely convinced), and they all ended up at the mouth of the drilled hole that led down to the dreaded “pocket.”  I’m guessing these three will have a lot of screen time in the beginning of season 6.  What?  You think Juliet is dead?  Didn’t you watch the season 2 finale where Desmond turned the key and the sky went all purple and the hatch blew up?  On this island, my friends, being at ground zero isn’t necessarily the end of the game!

Jacob also makes appearances at key moments in the lives of Jack, Sun & Jin, Locke, Hurley, Sayid, and Ilana.  We see Jack’s first major surgery and pick up some history on the “count to five,” technique.  We see Locke apparently resurrected by Jacob after being pushed out of the window that left him paralyzed.  I always wondered how the heck he survived that fall, didn’t you?  It seems, perhaps, that he didn’t.  I loved this setup because it seemed to explain why Locke was alive on the island after being killed by Ben.  That small window of satisfaction was then ripped away from us when we finally saw what was in the crate!   We saw how Hurley came to be in possession of the guitar he carried on board Ajira 316, and we saw Nadia die.  Even though we’ve seen that hit-by-a-car/bus/quarterback film technique a million times, now, I am still amazed by it.  It seems to have replaced the cat leaping out of the dark as the quintessential guarantor of gasps!  Back on point, Jacob touches or gives something to everyone he encounters.  That physical contact was certainly played up as significant, making me wish it wasn’t going to be nine months of waiting to find out more about it.

Okay, so our love triangle of the season are out of the sub (one of the coolest escape scenes I think I’ve ever seen!  I mean, who the heck escapes from a SUBMARINE?) and rushing off to stop Jack when Vincent comes running out of the jungle.  Wait, what?  Aren’t we in 1977?  Oh, so that means Vincent must have time traveled, too.  By the way, that was so clearly not the same dog actor, it was almost distracting as I was trying to process this scene.  But, the moment Bernard and Rose showed up, I let that all go and just drank them in.  Their peaceful hippie vibe made for an outstanding scene!  We’re so accustomed to everyone being all dirty and sweaty and urgently running off to deal with some crisis and right in the middle of that we have this serenity that is just unshakable, even when the happy couple is told they’re about to die.  Priceless!  It did raise one question, though: How is it Rose and Bernard never had any problems with the Hostiles (was it because they were not a threat?) and how did they keep themselves in Dharma provisions?  Okay, that was two questions.  Any thoughts?

Drama, drama, drama while the core is removed from the bomb and carried through Dharmaville out to the Swan construction site.  Sayid gets gut shot and there is a dramatic VW bus getaway that you just gotta love!  Radzinsky continues to be way too intense and annoying and Pierre Chang is doing his darndest to stop the drilling.  Once the bomb core is dropped down the drill hole (nice work covering Jack by the VW bus and the gang, by the way!), we get to watch the faces of Jack, Sawyer, Juliet and Kate up close and teary-eyed as they prepare to never have been to the island.  Then, we get the anti-climax of the century as — well — nothing happens.  But, a moment later, the pocket begins to suck metal and we watch “the incident” unfold.

Yea…Phil is dead by impaling!  That guy was asking for it almost as much as Radzinsky and exactly as much as that annoying dude that was trying to steal Libby from Hurley and got it with a flaming arrow!  Now, let me pause here and confess that I genuinely cried when Juliet was hanging on for dear life in that hole with Sawyer and Kate trying to save her.  The eye contact between her and Sawyer and the stream of “I love you’s,” and “Don’t you leave me’s,” was actually stronger than the grip they had on one anothers’ hands.  That Kate was present and desperately trying to be a part of that moment, but unable to touch either of them was poignant on a number of levels.  This scene was EPIC in the same way as the two reunion scenes between Desmond and Penny (the one on the telephone in “The Constant,” and the one on her ship as the Oceanic 6 were rescued).  That was just great television and there is just no arguing with that.

As creepy as her alien-eque stare can sometimes be, Elizabeth Mitchell deserves serious recognition for her acting prowess here.  The scene where she recovers from her fall, momentarily panics, then causes the bomb core to detonate (another juicy tidbit from Lostpedia says she strikes it “8″ times) puts her on a par with Terry O’Quinn (Locke) and Michael Emerson (Ben) in my book.  I’ve always been ambivalent about her as Juliet, but I think that feeling has made for the best characters on Lost.  My hat’s off to her.  And, now that she has won me over, I’m a bit sad to have read that she is already cast in a remake of the 1980’s schlock TV series, “V,” so there’s no telling if we will actually see her here again.  I know, I said in the third paragraph that this whole episode set her up for season 6, but perhaps that’s not the case.  I’m making this up as I go along, people!

Okay, before we talk about the sky going white and the awesome white ending title screen (oops…I guess I just did that), let’s go back to 2007 and the shadow of the statue.  Ilana asks the now-famous question of Richard, who correctly responds in Latin, “”He who will protect/save us all.”  Whatever that means.  So, even as Jacob is being stabbed and burned to death inside the statue, Ilana is fulfilling her promise to “help” him by delivering Locke’s corpse to Richard as proof that the man who took Ben inside was not the man we thought he was.  This leaves me wondering how this “helps,” since Jacob ends up dead, but there’s one more reason to tune in for season 6.  The man we’ve thought was Locke is now revealed as the bearded man from the opening scene who expressed how badly he wanted to kill Jacob and vowed to find the loophole that would make it possible.  Whatever that loophole actually is, I’m not sure, but this scene and the one where Juliet detonates the bomb seem to tell us definitively that whatever happened didn’t necessarily happen and time can be changed.  Having said that, we have seen so many examples of “course correction,” that I’m currently of the opinion that there are major points that are non-negotiable but several possible ways to reach them.  Whether the bomb was part of “the incident” or not, Chang loses the use of his let arm and the Swan station gets built and he goes on to make the Dharma station orientation films.  If you haven’t noticed,  watch The Swan orientation film to see that his left arm does not move:

No matter what Desmond does to stop it (or even step in as a replacement), Charlie dies.  The Black Rock will land and the people on it will do bad things, though there may be some “progress” involved in the changing minor details.  So, I’m guessing that either Oceanic 815 crashes no matter what, or these individuals who end up on the island will always end up there even if it’s on Ajira 316 or some other way.  Hey, they’ve been touched by Jacob!

Entertainment Weekly’s Jeff “Doc” Jensen has been writing awesome pre- and post-episode articles here.  I recommend signing up for the email alerts if you don’t already.  He’s issued a call for your top 3 mysteries that MUST be answered before the series ends next season.  There are still many unanswered questions and a few new ones just cropped up last night!  But, see if you can get it down to three completely non-negociables — the ones that will make you feel like you just wasted 6 years of your life if they aren’t answered by the big wrap up.  You can submit your responses this week at JeffJensenEW@aol.com, but be warned: His inbox fills up and stays filled up so you might have to try a dozen times and get bounced a dozen times before your message gets through.  Your other alternative is to just post a comment here and we can keep it nice and cozy!  Here are my three picks:

1. Who are the “Adam & Eve” skeletons found in the cave in season 1 and what is the significance of the black and white stones Jack found on them?
2. What is the smoke monster…and I want DETAILS!
3. Who/what is Jacob?

Of course, I want to know about everyone who doesn’t seem to be a “normal” human being, so I could cheat and make my questions more compound than they are, but these are the crucial ones.  I’m very curious about the nature of Richard (”I am like this because of Jacob,”) and Christian Shepherd (is he also an enemy of Jacob taking the form of another person…or perhaps the same enemy?).  I’m curious about the Hostiles in general (if they are truly “indiginous,” where did all of the Egyptian culture come from and why are they speaking Latin all the time?).  Is Claire dead?  Are dead people showing up a good thing or a bad thing? Is Desmond coming back to the island? Who are the new posse headed by Ilana that claim to be “the good guys,” just as Ben did is season 2?  If the outcome is always the same, what ist here to war about and which is acutally the “right” side?  Okay, let’s hear from you!

1 Corinthians 15:35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” 36 Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. 37 And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain–perhaps wheat or some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body. 39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds. 40 There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45 And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord  from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. 50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.

51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed– 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

I know…it’s starting to show that I’ve been too busy over the holidays to actually write real blog entries.  Still, I’m not getting any complaints, so I’ll keep tossing awesome little video clips atcha until things settle down around here!

My 9-month-old black Labrador, Benjamin, could not watch this enough times!  He stood there and imitated these little pugs over and over and over again!  Let me tell you, there was a great deal of giggling in the old home office tonight!  Do some giggling of your own now, whether or not you have a dog.  If you do, though, go get him before playing the video!

Sorry about the obnoxious advertisement at the end.  I just rewind before it gets there and play it for Benjamin again!

Props to YouTube Director “FATMIME,” who has a real name that I haven’t gotten permission to use because I had to blog the moment I saw it and he wasn’t online so I could ask him!  He posted this on Facebook and I saw it in my newsfeed about 5 mintues ago.  It was posted on the YouTube Comedian channel CHTV: College Humor on November 11, but I really hope you haven’t seen it yet and I have the pleasure of being the first to show it to you.  I haven’t checked out the rest of their channel, so if there’s gross, juvenile, profane, or otherwise collegy stuff on it, I’m not endorsing it.  But THIS VIDEO rocks like there’s no tomorrow!

Do I sound a little over-excited?  Well, I’m a big fan of the first Matrix film.  I can seriously live without the other two, but you kind of have to take them as a package deal, don’t you?  Good Matrix parodies have always tickled my funny bone.  For instance, Here’s another effort from a few college students doing a project for their technical school.  I sure hope they got an “A!”

Then, there’s this nearly-identical version based on the same movie trailer, only featuring the South Park cast instead of the Muppets:

And, just to bring you back to live-action for a closer, here’s Dave Chappelle’s hilarious take on things:

You’re welcome.

Joshua 24:15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Right after sunset tonight, if you look in the southwestern sky in North America, you’re likely to be richly rewarded!  This is a night to get out the telescope and gather the kids together! You’ll see a close conjunction between three bright solar system objects: the Moon, Venus, and Jupiter. If you have binoculars, you might even be able to fit all three of them in the field of view.  It should look something like this:

What to Expect, December 1, 2008, Just After Sunset

I’m borrowing the following text from Space.com’s colomnist Joe Rao, since he already did all the work and I couldn’t say it any better myself!  Here is the link to the full article.

Every once in a while, something will appear in the night sky that will attract the attention of even those who normally don’t bother looking up. It’s likely to be that way on Monday evening, Dec. 1.
A slender crescent moon, just 15-percent illuminated, will appear in very close proximity to the two brightest planets in our sky, Venus and Jupiter.

People who are unaware or have no advance notice will almost certainly wonder, as they cast a casual glance toward the moon on that night, what those two “large silvery stars” happen to be? Sometimes, such an occasion brings with it a sudden spike of phone calls to local planetariums, weather offices and even police precincts. Not a few of these calls excitedly inquire about “the UFOs” that are hovering in the vicinity of our natural satellite.

A very close conjunction of the crescent moon and a bright star or planet can be an awe-inspiring naked-eye spectacle. Also on Monday evening, you may be able to see the full globe of the moon, its darkened portion glowing with a bluish-gray hue interposed between the sunlit crescent and not much darker sky. This vision is sometimes called “the old moon in the young moon’s arms.” Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was the first to recognize it as what we now call “earthshine.”

Those using binoculars or a small telescope will certainly enjoy the almost three-dimensional aspect of the moon, but Venus will be rather disappointing appearing only as a brilliant blob of light, for right now, it’s a small, featureless gibbous disk. That will change in the coming weeks, however, as Venus approaches Earth and the angle it makes between us and the Sun allows it to evolve into a “half-moon” phase in mid January, and a lovely crescent phase of its own during the latter part of February and March.

Jupiter on the other hand is a far more pleasing sight with its relatively large disk, cloud bands and its retinue of bright Galilean satellites. All four will be in view on Monday evening, with Callisto sitting alone on one side of Jupiter, Ganymede, Io and Europa will be on the other side. Io and Europa will in fact, appear very close to each other, separated by only about one-sixth the apparent width of Jupiter.

Please come back and share your experiences if you see this spectacle for yourself!  I know we’ll be out there!

UPDATED TO ADD:

I just took this with my digital SLR, hand held, auto focus, available light (natch!).  Click on the image to view it full size.  What are you seeing?

December 1 sky over Jacksonville, FL

1 Corinthians 15:40 There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.

I was looking for an organization I think is called, “Every Nation for Christ,” because the pastor of a church we visited recently is accountable to them and I wanted to check them out.  It is my understanding they help plant churches all over the world, specifically near college campuses and their primary focus is on that demographic.  Since over 80% of children raised Christian leave their faith behind in their first year of secular college, I believe this is a crucial ministry.

I haven’t found the organization yet…but I stopped looking for today when my google search led me to this man:  Jaeson Ma.  Here’s his personal testimony.  I believe it is a terrific one to show unsaved young people who may be struggling and in need of the gospel presented in a way they can respond to it.

I’ve added a link to Jaeson’s blog under “Christian” over there on the right.  Go check him out if he speaks to your heart.

Revelation 7:9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

I’m a New Yorker, born and raised.  There, if you walk into just about any Chinese take-out restaurant, you can order Cold Sesame Noodles (sometimes called, “cold noodles with sesame sauce,”).  In my single years, a pint of that and a pint of roast pork fried rice made a perfect dinner for me.  I could pick it up on the way home, walking from the subway to my Queens apartment and it filled me up for very little cash.  In fact, that Chinese place on 108th Street in Forest Hills at about 65th Avenue made the best cold sesame noodles anywhere!  I wonder if they’re still doing that.

Since we moved to Jacksonville three years ago, not only is it really tough to find good Chinese to begin with, but my husband and I have never seen this culinary delight on any menu.  Three years is a long time to go without that kind of taste sensation.  So, I just got fed up about six weeks ago and decided I’d figure out a way to duplicate that flavor, by hook or by crook.  I knew I needed peanut butter and something with sesame flavor that was dark in color.  But what?

At Publix (the coolest supermarket in the universe, IMHO), I browsed the “Ethnic Foods,” aisle - the Chinese section in particular.  Soy sauce…terayaki sauce…chili sauce…fish sauce…AHA!  There is was, and I don’t know why I’d never seen it before.  Sesame Garlic sauce by “Iron Chef.”  Who knew that was a brand (then again, of course it is).  I read the ingredients and they sounded like exactly like what I’d need to make the famous, yet elusive sauce.  I picked up 2 bottles and headed home.

I already had angel hair pasta (a nice, big, 16-oz box from Mueller) and Jif creamy peanut butter in the pantry.  Seemed like I was set.  I put on my white lab coat and got busy (not really ).  I figured about 2/3 cup of peanut butter was right.  A full cup would be too much.  I started light, but ended up pouring about half the bottle of sesame garlic sauce in.  Then, I added a few tablespoons of HOT water until the consistency was thick, but not gummy.  Meanwhile, I cooked the angel hair in salted water with a little olive oil (this only takes about 4 minutes, so don’t get distracted!) after breaking it in half.  I drained the pasta and ran cold water over it to stop the cooking process and cool it off.  That’s why the sauce can’t be too gummy…you’re gonna try to evenly distribute it in the cold noodles without making mush out of everything.

Two tablespoons worked well for me to get the stuff properly mixed.  I don’t recommend using forks.  The pasta is delicate while still a bit warm and you don’t want to shred it.  Once mixed, I covered it with plastic wrap and put the whole bowl in the freezer for about 45 minutes.  Serve it in the bowl with bean sprouts and slivers of cucumber on the side or piled for guests to put on top.  I didn’t have any cucumbers when I made this for the second time last night, so we’ve just got the sprouts in this picture.

I also made Pad Thai using noodles and sauce from a box.  The shrimp goes with the Pad Thai, but since my stepson is allergic, I served them on the side.  It was certainly a noodle-intensive meal, but the hot dish with lime and cilantro flavors complimented the cold dish with peanut and sesame flavors perfectly!

Once again, the pictures are clickable to view full size.  I’d love to know if you make this.  I know if you do, you’ll be back here thanking me.  This stuff is heavenly!  If you want my Pad Thai receipe, just say so in the comments and that will be my next cuisine post, though I mostly follow box directions and enhance, enhance, enhance.

Genesis 19:1 Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. 2 And he said, “Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” And they said, “No, but we will spend the night in the open square.” 3 But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

Watch this and just try not to make a joyful noise!  You can’t just smile…you’ll have to chuckle, if not LOL!

Luke 1:41 And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”

Here’s the email I received just about a half hour ago from Andres, my Sunday School leader:

Paul Smith, the man with extraordinary talent was born in Philadelphia on September 21, 1921 with severe cerebral palsy.

Not only had Paul beaten the odds of a life with spastic cerebral palsy, a disability that impeded his speech & mobility but also taught himself to become a master artist as well as a terrific chess player even after being devoid of a formal education as a child.

‘When typing, Paul used his left hand to steady his right one. Since he couldn’t press two keys at the same time, he almost always locked the shift key down and made his pictures using the symbols at the top of the number keys. In other words, his pictures were based on these characters…. @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) _

Across seven decades, Paul created hundreds of pictures. He often gave the originals away. Sometimes, but not always, he kept or received a copy for his own records.

As his mastery of the typewriter grew, he developed techniques to create shadings, colors, and textures that made his work resemble pencil or charcoal drawings.’

This great man passed away on June 25, 2007, but left behind a collection of his amazing artwork that will be an inspiration for many.

Typewriter Art

Can you believe that this art was created using a typewriter?

This is what I made for dinner last night.  My mother always made an excellent meat loaf when I was growing up.  I stuck to her recipe faithfully until I became vegetarian in my 20s.  Let me just say right now that most vegetarian alternatives to meat loaf are to be avoided at all costs unless that’s all you have in the vaccuum-sealed bags in your bomb shelter and the alarm has sounded.  Seriously.  However, I did make a few interesting discoveries during that decade of my life that carried over to my kitchen life when I climbed back on the meat wagon.  One such thing is using oats in meat loaf rather than bread crumbs.  Of course, using oats when the other ingredients are tofu and sunflower seeds and…well…NO MEAT…doesn’t make for a very tasty dinner.  But, just swapping the bread crumbs for some oats works really well!And, I’m led to believe it may help reduce cholesterol if used for 30 consecutive days!

Truth be told, I had not done this for several years.  My meat loaf was still widely appreciated, so I stuck with Mom’s recipe most of the time.  But, yesterday afternoon I was hanging out with Rhett & LInk on UStream during their live broadcast and I mentioned my dinner plans.  Link noticed my comment in the chat window and said, “Meat loaf?  Don’t use bread crumbs…use oats.”  And, I figured, hey…why not use oats?

So, here’s my recipe, which is mostly Mom’s, slightly modified over the years, and most notably modified by the use of Quaker 1-Minute Oats,

Ingredients and Assembly

though, you can use long-cooking if that’s what’s in your pantry. (Images are clickable for full-sized view.)

Ingredients
2 lbs fresh meat loaf mix
(I use 2 parts ground chuck to 1 part ground pork)
2 eggs (beaten)
1-1.5 cups coarsely chopped onion
(I used Vidalia here)
1/2 cup worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
(nothing labelled “catsup” has ever been in my pantry…who knows what that stuff is?)
2 cups dry rolled oats, very briefly processed (like, 2 pulses)
1/4 cup dried parsley (or 1/2 cup chopped, fresh, flat-leaf)
salt, pepper

Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.  I start with the meat, add the wet ingredients, then the dry on top, though I have no idea why.  Wash your hands well, remove rings and watches, then get in there with both hands and SQUISH, SQUISH, SQUISH until everything is uniformly blended.  Really, it’s the only way.  Then, pick up the whole meaty mess and slap it between your hands a few times to remove any air pockets that might make crevices in the loaf during baking.  Form it into a loaf and place on a prepared pan.

Voila! Gorgeous!

Here, you can see I’ve used my broiler ban with the bottom portion lined with foil for easy cleanup later and the top portion prepared with cooking spray.  I made a double recipe here, so there are 2 loaves shown.  I like to shape the loaves with squared ends and a flattened top because then all the slices come out about the same height and width except for the very ends.  I have found I get more bang for the buck that way.  I never use loaf pans.  I find the loaf is difficult to extract and all the fat is trapped on the bottom.

Bake at 350 degrees fahrenheit for 50-60 minutes until nicely browned.  Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

I served mine with mashed potatoes last night.  We ate very late, so there was no veggie, but I usually serve this with broccoli first steamed, then tossed in some olive oil with a little garlic and oregano.   I eat my meat loaf with ketchup which offends my husband nearly to the point of distraction.  If I haven’t remembered to heat up some jarred beef gravy, he will use A-1 Steak Sauce on his.

Please comment!  Let me know if you like meat loaf, if you have a cool meat loaf recipe, or of you think you might try this one!

Acts 10:9 The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. 10 Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance 11 and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. 13 And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” 15 And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.”

Double shot of video humor for you today!  Remember the “Take On Me,” video I posted a few days back?  Well, Dustin McLean is at it again!  Just click the little triangular button and grin until your face hurts!  Oh, and comment!  Let me know your favorite line!

Genesis 41:15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that you can understand a dream, to interpret it.”

Please enjoy Hugh Laurie (aka “House”) and Stephen Frye in this British sketch that is Python-esque enough to make my day!

Be sure to click the little “x” to kill the advertisement afterward…it is extremely obnoxious.

Edited to add:  If you get a message saying “This video is no longer available, you can watch it directly on YouTube here. But, please do come back and comment, okay?!

Genesis 12:1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.

Today was a bad day.  Really bad.  I had to make a 10-hour round trip drive to do something unpleasant that turned out to be even more unpleasant than I expected.  I came home to find my sister not only had to say goodbye to one of her cats (who was in the critical stages of cancer and suffering terribly), but took a bunch of verbal abuse from a co-worker for taking a personal day because of this.  Then, my property management company sent an email saying they’re probably not going to do the right thing in a homeowner’s association matter that may cost us money we don’t have to spend (I’m the HOA president).  I mean, it came from all sides today.  So, when my dear, dear, dear friend Jill sent me this little gem, I was indescribably grateful!  Just enjoy the heck out of this!  Especially if you’ve had a bad day.

The Lord gets the whole psalm tonight:

Psalms 30

1 I will exalt you, O Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. 2 O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me. 3 O Lord, you brought me up from the grave; you spared me from going down into the pit. 4 Sing to the Lord, you saints of his; praise his holy name. 5 For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

6 When I felt secure, I said, “I will never be shaken.” 7 O Lord, when you favored me, you made my mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed. 8 To you, O Lord, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy: 9 “What gain is there in my destruction, in my going down into the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness? 10 Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me; O Lord, be my help.” 11 You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, 12 that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.

Hey, everybody!  I’ve chosen to self-host The Garden Party rather than keep it over at Wordpress.com.  I love having access to the plugins and other options this affords me. I can now embed video from 11 different sites, not just YouTube, for one thing.  This Mandingo Theme gave me lots of options to start with, but now I can upload my custom header.  I can check stats for both blog sites from one convenient place, too.  But, for the bees knees, have a look at my new catagory cloud in the next column!  It’s called “Cumulus,” and I adore it!

I’m also working on building “jardinprayer.com” of which this blog will become a part.  The new color scheme matches that…you’ll see, it’ll be terrific.  I’m a little nervous about the stats and about people finding the blog in Wordpress tag and category searches, but things seem pretty integrated behind the scenes, so I’m just stepping out here in faith and waiting for the stats to show me how wise this move was!

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Here’s the new signature banner:

Deuteronomy 19: 7 Therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall separate three cities for yourself.’ 8 Now if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as He swore to your fathers, and gives you the land which He promised to give to your fathers, 9 and if you keep all these commandments and do them, which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and to walk always in His ways, then you shall add three more cities for yourself besides these three…

Remember how many times you sat through this video back in the day…and neither the lyrics nor the images seemed to make sense.  Sure you do.  We loved it anyway because it was unique and dynamic and had a catchy beat.  Who cares if we couldn’t sing along, right?  Well, now you can, thanks to Dustin McLean.  Enjoy this and let me know if you got through it without at least one LOL.

Special thanks to Brian…my favorite Hedgehog for alerting me to this!  Go visit his blog, listed under “Friends” in my right column.

Exodus 22:21 Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses. 22 And she bore him a son, and he called his name Gershom;  for he said, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land.”

Just got this from my favorite joke-forwarder, Dave (known affectionately as “Obie.”) Enjoy!

Once upon a time in a village, a man appeared and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each.

The villagers seeing that there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest, and started catching them. The man bought thousands at $10 and as supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort.

He further announced that he would now buy at $20. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again.

Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms. The offer increased to $25 each and the supply of monkeys became so little that it was an effort to even see a monkey, let alone catch it!
The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now buy on behalf of him.

In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers. Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has collected. I will sell them to you at $35 and when the man returns from the city, you can sell them to him for $50 each.
The villagers rounded up all of their savings and bought all the monkeys.

Then they never saw the man nor his assistant again, only monkeys everywhere!
Now you have a better understanding of how the stock market works.

2 Chronicles 20 All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon. 21 For the king’s ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Hiram. Once every three years the merchant ships came, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys. 22 So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. 23 And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.

Received this email moments ago from dear frient Charlotte (a horse owner).  Meet Molly:

Molly: A survivor with spirit!

Here is the text of the email as it was forwarded.

Meet Molly. She’s a gray speckled pony who was abandoned by her owners when Katrina hit southern Louisiana. She spent weeks on her own before finally being rescued and taken to a farm where abandoned animals were stockpiled. While there, she was attacked by a pit bull terrier, and almost died. Her gnawed right front leg became infected and her vet went to LSU for help. But LSU was overwhelmed, and this pony was a welfare case. You know how that goes.But after surgeon Rustin Moore met Molly, he changed his mind. He saw how the pony was careful to lie down on different sides so she didn’t seem to get sores, and how she allowed people to handle her. She protected her injured leg. She constantly shifted her weight, and didnt overload her good leg. She was a smart pony with a serious survival ethic.

Moore agreed to remove her leg below the knee and a temporary artificial limb was built. Molly walked out of the clinic and her story really begins there.

This was the right horse and the right owner,’ Moore insists. Molly happened to be a one-in-a-million patient. Shes tough as nails, but sweet, and she was willing to cope with pain. She made it obvious she understood (that) she was in trouble. The other important factor, according to Moore, is having a truly committed and compliant owner who is dedicated to providing the daily care required over the lifetime of the horse.

Mollys story turns into a parable for life in post-Katrina Louisiana The little pony gained weight, her mane felt a comb. A human prosthesis designer built her a leg.

The prosthetic has given Molly a whole new life, Allison Barca DVM, Molly’s regular vet, reports. And she asks for it. She will put her little limb out, and come to you and let you know that she wants you to put it on. Sometimes she wants you to take it off too.’ And sometimes, Molly gets away from Barca. It can be pretty bad when you can’t catch a three-legged horse, she laughs.

Most important of all, Molly has a job now. Kay, the rescue farm owner, started taking Molly to shelters, hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers. Anywhere she thought that people needed hope. Wherever Molly went, she showed people her pluck. She inspired people. And she had a good time doing it.

Its obvious to me that Molly had a bigger role to play in life, Moore said, She survived the hurricane, she survived a horrible injury, and now she is giving hope to others. She could be a symbol for New Orleans itself.

This week, Molly the Pony, a childrens book about the pony who has already inspired thousands of people around New Orleans, has been published. Its not a book about amputation or prosthetics, its a book about people and ponies.

Not very well-written, but you can read the snopes article here, which is a much more eloquent account of Molly’s story and provides some links to other articles about her.  The book, “Molly the Pony,” is available on Amazaon.com.

LSU’s YouTube channel offers this promotional video featuring Molly.  If you’re squeamish, be aware there are a couple of mildly graphic views of Molly’s wounds and surgery.

Just received this email, forwarded to my by my husband who got it from the American Family Association website. The AFA is a bit over the top for my personal taste, but they are a Christian activist organization constantly petitioning and lobbying for what they believe to be “traditional family values.”  Go on and visit their website for more on them.  That’s not what this post is about.  It’s about a man named Brad O’Leary, a book he’s written called “The Audacity of Deceit: Barack Obama’s War on American Values,” and an online test he has made available as a voting aid called “The Barack Obama Test.

While the author clearly states he wrote the book and the test for his daughters and granddaughters - all voting age, and all of whom claimed they would vote for Obama because he “is good looking and an eloquent speaker,” and while his position is clearly in opposition to Obama’s, the test seems relatively straight-up.  There are 48 multiple choice questions.  They are written in a way that often belies the personal beliefs of the author, but they are still straight questions that represent the issues.  You get to choose whether you agree or oppose the issue and are free to ignore the rhetoric.  You receive 1 point for every answer that agrees with Obama and lose 1 for every one that opposes.  The instructions are to consider whether or not to vote for Obama based on whether you receive a positive score or a negative one.

When you’re finished with the test, you are taken to a results page that not only reports your score, but shows how your answers compare to Obama’s position as well as how it measures up to “All Americans” (Source: Associated Television News / Zogby America Poll of 1, 005 likely voters conducted 7/9/08 through 7/14/08. Margin of Error +/- 3.2 percentage points).

At the very least, it is an interesting exercise and is an excellent tool to get Americans thinking about the actual issues rather than how they feel about the candidates themselves.  I’ve put a little button in my left column that leads to this test so it will be easy to find between now and election day.  Whatever your position, I urge you to please vote.  Please.

Numbers 24: 5 “How lovely are your tents, O Jacob! Your dwellings, O Israel! 6 Like valleys that stretch out, Like gardens by the riverside, Like aloes planted by the Lord, Like cedars beside the waters. 7 He shall pour water from his buckets, And his seed shall be in many waters. “His king shall be higher than Agag, And his kingdom shall be exalted. 8 “God brings him out of Egypt; He has strength like a wild ox; He shall consume the nations, his enemies; He shall break their bones And pierce them with his arrows. 9 ‘He bows down, he lies down as a lion; And as a lion, who shall rouse him?’ “Blessed is he who blesses you, And cursed is he who curses you.”

JardinPrayer for President in 2008

Please take a moment to view this little news item about my late-to-the-table presidential campaign.  Then, I hope you will consider voting for me for President of the United States of America!

Or, if you don’t feel I would be a better president than Barack Obama or John McCain, you can launch your own campaign!  To find out how easy it is, click the link, watch my campaign video (less than 2 minutes), and then click the link to make your own.

I got 2 political “humor” emails this morning.  This was one, courtesy of my dear friend Pam (who has supplied me with blogworthy emails before…thanks, sweetie!).  The other said this:

There is now less than a month until the election, an election that will decide the next President of the United States.

The person elected will be the president of all Americans, not just the Democrats or the Republicans.

To show our solidarity as Americans, let’s all get together and show each other our support for the candidate of our choice.

It’s time that we come together, Democrats and Republicans alike.

If you support the policies and character of John McCain, please drive with your headlights on during the day.
If you support Obama, please drive with your headlights off at night.

Thank you for your participation.

My personal preference is to start my own campaign…how about you?

Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

I reviewed the Fringe Pilot a few posts back.  I was on the fence then, but anticipated sticking with Fox’s “New Hit Series,” for the first season.  Now, I’m not so sure.  Somehow, I managed to completely miss the second episode, but watched about half of it last night on Fringe Television - a pretty impressive website where full episodes are available for viewing without having to dowload a player.  I only watched half because I had just finished watching the third episode, “Ghost Network,” and had really had enough for one night.

This episode opens exactly…and I mean exactly…like an “X-Files” episode.  Same dark lighting, same something-really-spooky-is-about-to-go-down music, same ominous dialogue, same focus on a desperate character haunted by something supernatural, culminating in a big “What just happened?!” moment and then the first commercial break.  That’s not officially a complaint, since it inspired a wonderfully nostalgic feeling and really sucked me in to the episode.  On the other hand, the thought, “This feels just like an ‘X-Files’ episode opening ” repeated in my brain throughout the entire segment.  So, maybe it is a complaint.  In any case, I’ll get to the real complaints in a moment.

See, here’s the thing:  If I’m going to invest myself in a new epic mythology television series (like “LOST” or “X-Files,” both of which I am enormously devoted to), there has to be a…well…a natural process.  It’s like dating.  If the guy shows up in his best suit, bearing a dozen long-stemmed roses and a Cartier watch, it’s not generally a good idea to presume this is what the entire relationship is going to be like.  I mean, you wouldn’t marry that guy based on that first impression, would you?  I hope you wouldn’t.  Your mama raised you better than that, didn’t she?  No, you’d spend time with that guy and get to know him and, if you’re both fortunate, love would grow.  Granted, I fell head over heels for “LOST,” at episode 1 (It had me at “hello”), but that’s just what kept me coming back for more.  And, it never once disappointed.  I mean, not once.  Some might disagree, but I have never experienced a let-down with any episode.

But, if that guy showed up for the first date in his best suit, but still had bits of tissue stuck to shaving nicks on his face and his socks were two different colors, maybe you’d try to overlook that to give the actual person behind the faux pas a chance…but you’d be leery.  And, “Fringe” had me leery from the start.  I’m often turned off when I can see stagecraft.  It is easy to see “Fringe” trying very hard to show us how much it is “just like” its predecessors…trying to convince us that we should put it in the same pantheon and not evaluate it for ourselves.   Did those other two series’ do that?  They didn’t have to.  See where I’m going with this? And, the careful plotting of a mythology in a television series is really starting to get old for me.  As a device to gain a faithful audience from the outset, I think it also has the potential do alienate those who are not blown away by the first few episodes.  You can claim the episodes stand alone for casual viewers until the cows come home, but I’m not sure you can really have it both ways here.  A show like “Fringe” is after the superfan demographic.  And, well, I just don’t think I have enough room in my heart for another series.

Sure, the production values are extremely slick, the characters are all well-cast and engaging, and those symbols (or glyphs) are intriguing. (To see hi-resolution images of each glyph and a brief description, visit the Fringepedia.)  But, when I started to see the tiny little Easter Eggs being logged at Fringe Television here, my brain just short-circuited.  Not again!  It was a great ride with “LOST,” and eagerly anticipate Season 5 and the new nuggets it will bring to my over-active, analytical brain, but how much of this can one really tolerate in one’s diet?  I’m talking about tiny things…like a brief shot of a dusty old car in a dark garage with the logo modified from “MG” to “MD,” referring to “Massive Dynamics,” the big, mysterious corporation.  Come on!  And, I’m still not complaining yet!

Let’s get to the actual episode, because I see I’m ranting just a bit.  Focus, woman!  Focus!  Here are the glyphs that appeared during the breaks in “Ghost Network:”

Episode 103 Glyphs

This episode centered on Roy McCohn, a guy with metal in his blood (put there 20 years previously by Dr. Bishop, who is now receiving transmitted thought over a “spectrum” supposedly unknown to anyone except Dr. Bishop and his old lab buddy “Belly.”  Roy sees things that are about to happen…terrible things…because he’s picking up the intentions of others who have, apparently, discovered this spectrum of thought waves…this ghost network.  I just know the writers wanted to call it a “Psychic Network,” but I think they would have either had to get permission fro Dionne Warwick or given her a guest spot or something.  The opening segment was awesome and the scene that greeted us on the other side of the commercial break was equally so:  a bus full of dead people frozen in place by a silicon-based substance like - as Dr. Bishop put it, “mosquitos in amber.”  Nice.  If they could have kept up that level of eloquence and intrigue for the entire hour, they might have had me.

But, in the very next scene, we’ve got Dr. Bishop and his son Peter sitting in a diner.  When Peter gets up from the table and his cell phone, left on the table, vibrates, the good doctor is mystified by it.  He later says to Peter, “It was moving.  I stopped it.”  Okay, for a guy who’s been locked up in a mental institution for 17 years, I can actually accept that.  But, remember how I complained about how familiar he was with the computers he used in the pilot?  In this episode, he confidently asks to “view axial images,” during an MRI of poor old Roy, even though he lets us know he’s never seen an MRI machine before, and he later makes a reference to satellite television.  These inconsistencies in his knowledge base just say “sloppy” to me.  Don’t try to tell me this is because he’s crazy or anything like that.  If you’re trying to be “LOST,” or “X-Files,” then you need to put that same kind of devotion in to the internal consistency and maybe stop spending so much time changing car logos.  You know what I’m sayin’?

And, apparently the writers felt there wasn’t enough quirkiness in the house.  It suddenly became necessary to have a piano brought to the lab because piano music helps Dr. Bishop focus.  We learn that he and Peter both play very well…setting up yet another contrivance we will surely see more of…much, much more of.  I also know I can count on every episode to have these elements:

• A confrontation between Agent Dunham and Special Agent Broyles
• A flirtation between Agent Dunham and Peter Bishop
• A big lab experiment
• A weird Dr. Bishop moment
• A Massive Dynamics scene with creepy Nina Sharp
• A chase and a takedown featuring Agent Dunham

The formula is already smelling a bit musty to me.

But, because I want to give credit where it is due, there are a couple of humorous moments that are genuinely engaging and smart.  At the start of an experiment on poor Roy involving drilling right into his brain and monitoring his responses to pictures shown to him, the door to the Harvard basement lab is knocked upon, making the characters…and me, in this case, jump.  Agent Olivia Dunham answers and we see two students who ask, “Is this Poli-Sci 101?”  Her response?  A straight-faced, “Not remotely.”  Good one.

I may become a “casual viewer,” but I’m sure not changing any plans to be sure I see every episode.  I’ve given my heart twice to series’ before.  That’s enough for this old girl.  You follow your own heart, but guard it well!

Romans 16:25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began 26 but now has been made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures has been made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith– 27 to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.

I’m going to just confess right up front:  I’m blogging this for the views it will generate.  My early entry, “Moose Magic” continues to be my most viewed to date…by a wide margin.  A single picture of a hippo and a tortoise also ranks highly and my stats page tells me these two stories are searched on by a lot of people (a…LOT) every day.  Since this is still a fledgling blog, I’m not above giving the people what they want in order to get y’all over here to see that there are actually other fascinating things to read about in this world!  Sure, I think baby animals are adorable…so don’t get on my case about that.  I set up this blog to share things that show up in my email inbox, so this is a valid entry for that reason alone, but I really did consider skipping this one because…well, because I was concerned about the cuteness overload factor.  Still, the stats seem to indicate my fears are unfounded, so here you go, everybody:

Lilly and Billy

Meet Lilly and Billy.  I have to admit, that is a striking picture.  My own dog (Benjamin the awesome black Lab) is off being neutered today, so I do have a genuine soft spot for this type of story at the moment).  Here’s what the email said that introduced me to these two:

A paternal dog has adopted an abandoned baby goat as his surrogate child.

Billy the boxer has become the constant companion of the 12-day old  kid called Lilly. He sleeps with the goat, licks her clean, and  protects her from any dangers at Pennywell Farm Wildlife Centre at Buckfastleigh, near Totnes, Devon in England.

Billy and Lilly have formed a close bond.  The kid was abandoned by  her mother when she was only a few hours old and adopted by paternal Billy when his owner Elizabeth Tozer began hand rearing the goat.
The unusual bond has developed over the last month and the pair are now inseparable.

Elizabeth said: ‘Lilly follows Billy around which is really quite  amusing to watch and Billy sleeps with the goat and cleans her mouth  after she feeds.’

Billy the boxer protects his little kid

Lilly was the smallest of a litter of three kids and her mother  abandoned her because she could only care for the two stronger ones.  The pair have attracted quite a crowd at the animal center and the staff are keen to see how their relationship will develop.

A Basket Full of Cuteness

A very quick and cursory check of the google results for this story reveals it has been blogged ad nauseum since about February of this year.  No reason to doubt its authenticity, so a snopes check turns up nothing.  So, just enjoy the pictures and have a lovely day.  I’m going to go in the back room and watch my line graph spike.

I know I sound kind of chilly today.  That’s really not the case.  I’m a big critter lover.  I guess I’m still just scratching my head at the voyeuristic perspective I get from all the statistical information Wordpress gives me.  Look at those two, will ya?  Adorable!

Romans 11:17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root,