Saturday, January 31, 2009

"Perrineville Road Bridge
MS-49 is now open."


I noticed this Thursday, cars were coming through. I checked it out Thursday night in the dark but Jeff went through next morning in the daylight and says the job looks real poor.

There's a sign about "Pardon our mess." They probably need to wait until spring to repave, join up the old road with the new. I'm glad it's open, only one month behind schedule ... but it will close again as they pave it.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

michele @ Reformed Chicks Blabbing needs prayer ... seriously:
papillary serous carcinoma, it's stage 3 C ovarian cancer -- it's an aggressive cancer.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

It's "International Week" at school during which the kids learn about a particular foreign country.

Kenny's class has Greece. I sent him into school today with a white twin top-sheet ... and the Greek New Testament.1

His class learned the upper case alphabet - Kenny told me the etymology of our word alphabet - and a few nouns. His light research project, due Fri., 1/26 - figure that one out! - required him to pick a Greek god, answer some questions and summarize a popular myth featuring the god.

I suggested he do Jesus, but he said,
"It's has to be a B.C.god!"

But Jesus was born 4 B.C. ...
Figure that one out.

Oh, oh, Ancient Greece. Of course.

I still pushed him to pick Jesus but he senses that Jesus doesn't fit in the same category as Athena and Zeus. OK, but I didn't want him picking any of those ordinary Greek gods either. His selection needed some panache.

And, so, wouldn't you know, I brought my Scofield NASB to the Precepts session Thursday and the middle chapters of Micah2 took us to Deut. 16:18-20. And, apart from a fleeting mental lament that our leaders don't qualify, my wandering eye fell down to the next verse, last one on that Scofield Bible page:
"You shall not plant for yourself an Asherah of any kind of tree ..."
and the notes clinched it:
"These were 'groves' devoted to the worship of Asherah, who was the Babylogian goddess Ishtar, the Aphrodite of the Greeks, the Venus of the Romans."
I must be thinking ahead already to Valentine's Day.

So I convinced him to do Aphrodite and I helped him complete the research paperwork with information from Wiki. I left out some graphic details of her origin except that her name means "sea form" and she was born as an adult.3 The vignette he chose to relate was the Judgement of Paris, a very interesting tale. Since Aphrodite emerges the fairest, he was glad he hadn't picked Athena.



1 Most of his teachers are Jewish, so if the LXX I have were as portable as the GNT, I would gladly have sent that one in. Trust me.

2 Micah 5:14. God doesn't like cities.

3 A thing Jesus didn't do.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Today's This American Life -
Act One. Take My Break, Please.

Charlie Brill and Mitzi McCall were a comedy duo back in the mid-1960s, playing clubs around Los Angeles, when their agent called to tell them he'd landed them the gig of a lifetime: They were going to be on The Ed Sullivan Show.

The only problem was that their performance was a total fiasco, for a bunch of reasons, including one they never saw coming. David Segal of the Washington Post reports. (18 minutes)
Spoiler: Air-date 2/9/64. The routine sounded funny to me, anyway.

Incidentally, why don't I have this?
Recession takes bite out of church collection plates - Asbury Park Press, 1/25/09:
There is bad news and worse news for churches in America as the nation flounders in the grip of a worldwide recession.

The bad news is that Protestants, by and large, don't drop a whole lot into the collection plate.

Now for the worse news.

"We did this research before the recession," said Snell, assistant director of The Center for the Study of Religion and Society at the University of Notre Dame.

For Catholics, the idea of mandatory donations, or a "stewardship campaign" would be rejected by the communicants, according to the Rev. Douglas A. Freer , pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church in Union Beach.

"If I tried that here, there would be a mutiny," he said. Freer was an Episcopal priest before joining the Catholic Church. He knows how funding works in each religion.

But because Catholics churches are generally large, he said each church has sheer numbers on its side.

'We've had people in our congregation who have been laid off from Wall Street," said the Rev. Daniel F. Swift, the pastor. "We've not seen a decline in giving. We're holding our own."

"The economy doesn't affect us, but lack of faith can," said the pastor of the King of Kings Community Church in Stafford, which he started in his living room 17 years ago. [...] He's been known to offer a "90-day money back guarantee" to members in his congregation.

"If, in three months," he said, "God doesn't change your life or meet your needs, we'll return your offerings."
Gotta love that. CM&A with some AG.
First time setting foot inside the new middle school ... and I never for a second thought we were on Broadway. Frankly, the sound system sucked. If the narrator turned her head to the left, we couldn't hear her, despite the mic being on her right cheek.

But lots of girl scouts in the audience. I think they get a merit badge for the afternoon or something. Simply stunning how many of the girls had iPhones1 and other gizmos.

Tim wore his private school gym uniform ... I can always count on him to show intense school spirit ... at the most inappropriate time! (Oh, he had worn his school uniform to church earlier in the day, yeah, but Fr. Mike is still out, so who cares).

Whenever Timmy monkeyed with the theater seats, I reminded him, "Tax dollars, our tax dollars."


1 Jeff corrected me, these were iTouches ... and he said he was thinking of getting me one.
Front page news, in English this time:

Pope lifts excommunications of Lefebvrite bishops - Catholic News Service, 1/24/09.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Jeff sent me this ... but I was looking forward to having an eye patch ...

For Lazy Eye, Drops Instead of a Patch - NYTimes.com, 12/11/08.

Does the Times mirror my life or what?!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Visitation is Monday from 4-9 PM at St Joseph's Church, 91 Stillhouse Rd Millstone Twp.

Funeral liturgy is Tuesday 11 AM at St Joseph's Church, Millstone Twp with interment to follow at St Joseph's Cemetery, Millstone Twp.
Asbury Park Press Monmouth and Ocean County Obituaries.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

I finally imported and uploaded a few pictures taken in Florida between Christmas and New Year's.

Check 'em out.



Flickr Photo Set: Christmas Florida 2008.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Only in New York:
New York Waterway Capt. Vince Lombardi, operating a ferry in the Hudson, said he noticed something in the water as the boat pulled out of Pier 70.

"I said to my deck hand, 'That's an odd-looking boat,' " he told reporters Friday.

"He said, 'I think that's an airplane.'"
Keys to the city, all 'round.

Plane in Hudson tells story of what went right - CNN, 1/16/09.

I said good thing this happened before dark. Although inside the plane was already pretty dark. Jeff said good thing it happened before budget cuts eliminate ferry service.

The guys on NBC 4 NY described the water as "pure Adirondack snowmelt" and "barely liquid." There's no question it was friggin' cold but geez.

Friday, January 09, 2009

Dolphins still in Navesink









A pod of dolphins that was in the Shrewsbury River in June has been living and feeding in the Navesink River. Officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration think the dolphins will stay in the area until their food runs out or the weather gets colder. Boaters are encouraged to keep a safe distance from the pod. (Video by Scott Lituchy /The Star-Ledger)

Of the dozen or so tracked late last year, the latest count is down to three or four left, still surviving.

I mean, the idea is that the others have died, not moved on.
Nice story ...

Children's hospital gets special delivery: U.F. resident donates over 150 gifts to cardiac unit - Examiner, 1/8/09.

Thursday, January 08, 2009

UPDATED: Bomb threat empties Millstone school; parent angered - Asbury Park Press, 1/9/09:
"Once they (police) arrive, they are in charge," Donahue said.
It's a shame that some students didn't feel safe during the evacuation, but what can the school really do about that?

I agree with the comment below that bussing students to another township campus isn't to be considered adequately neutral ground. Wagner Farm Park may have been a better destination. Bring some soccer balls, let the kids run around a little.

And I'd just suggest that many families have selected Millstone primarily because nothing exciting ever happens here! Not the burglary/fire at Albivi's, not the Denver Nuggets star's car crash, and not the various acts of vandalism, some even at the middle school.

I'm glad they had a plan, I'm glad it kinda worked but, God help me, you won't catch my kids in that school. Jeff described how such threats are tracked down with modern telephony, so I haven't any doubt the perpetrator will be caught.



My housekeeper mentioned this to me ... and I had noticed the neighborhood kids home, out playing, around lunchtime:

Millstone Middle School evacuated after bomb threat - Asbury Park Press, 01/08/09:
About 800 students in grades 5-8 are enrolled in the school, according to the state education department.
I mentioned this at my son's preschool during pick-up, and parents with children in the public school system were simply pleased that the parental notification system worked as promised. They received status updates on the telephone.

One ill-informed mother remarked, "You know, these are 14, 15, 16 year-olds, probably one of them didn't want to take a test this morning." No, these students are younger than that.

UPDATE: Students returned to school after evacuation sparked by bomb threat - Asbury Park Press, 1/8/09:
Students were bused to the Millstone Primary School while the middle school was searched then bused back when it was safe, she said.
I'm relieved no bombs detonated ... because me and the older boys have show tickets for a production there later this month!

Monday, January 05, 2009

OK, found the articles on the diocesan promotions ... especially Rich LaVerghetta who, yes, is an extraordinary preacher ...

Msgr. LaVerghetta noted as extraordinary preacher - The Monitor, 1/1/09:
Bishop Smith recognized Msgr. LaVerghetta as an “extraordinary priest.”

“Father Rich LaVerghetta has spent most of his adult years sanctifying God’s people through his preaching,” said Bishop Smith. “He’s an extraordinary preacher because he loves Jesus, he loves his Church, his people and he believes.

“Msgr. LaVerghetta is a believer and it comes through in everything he does,” said Bishop Smith. “He preaches the Word of God with fire and love. He’s a minister of God’s salvation through his ministry in the Sacraments. He has served in the Diocese of Trenton in so many ways, in different ministries at different times. Every place he has been, the same thing has happened – people have come to know and love Jesus Christ in a deeper and richer way.
All true. Exactly.
Yeah, the bishop said he could do it, sure enough:

Holy Innocents pastor tapped by gov for position on state Parole Board - Asbury Park Press, 12/30/08:
The Rev. Brian T. Butch, pastor of Holy Innocents Roman Catholic Church, is leaving his post at the church, having been tapped for a seat on the state Parole Board.

He's taking a leave from full-time active ministry. The board job has a $115,000 salary.

Butch was nominated by Gov. Jon S. Corzine. Consent by the state Senate is expected by mid-January.
My renewed one arrived ... but I just read this ... Oh, sugar!

The ID Chip You Don't Want in Your Passport - Bruce Schneier, Washington Post, 9/16/06.

The money quote:
But the researcher spent only two weeks trying; the security of your passport has to be strong enough to last 10 years. It is as ridiculous to think that passport security will remain secure for that long as it would be to think that you won't see another security update for Microsoft Windows in that time.
tags technorati :

Saturday, January 03, 2009

Preface, Epiphany of the Lord:
Today you revealed in Christ your eternal plan of salvation
and showed him as the light of all peoples.
Now that his glory has shone among us
you have renewed humanity in his immortal image.

Epiphany Readings: Is. 60:1-6; Ps. 72; Eph. 3:2-3a, 5-6; Mt. 2:1-12.

You have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace
that was given to me for your benefit,
namely, that the mystery was made known to me by revelation.

It was not made known to people in other generations
as it has now been revealed
to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit:
that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body,
and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Prayer over the gifts and after Communion:
accept the offerings of your Church
not gold, frankincense and myrrh,
but the sacrifice and food they symbolize:
Jesus Christ, who is Lord for ever and ever.


Father, guide us with your light.
Help us to recognize Christ in this eucharist
and welcome him with love,
for he is Lord for ever and ever.

Thursday, January 01, 2009