I love my Asian History class. The teach is smart, funny, hip, and witty. And he holds ridiculous views of politics, the environment, philosophy, and religion (well, some not so ridiculous). But last week, he said the most amazing and fun thing. Speaking of general political camps, he used the good ol' political spectrum chart (which he drew on the board) to demonstrate that all people find themselves in one of two political categories: they who look to the past and revere the ancient wisdom (i.e., conservatives) and they who look to the future and seek change to better life (i.e., liberals).

He quickly ammended his position by declaring a third class of people, such as Christian liberals who say, and I'm quoting him here, "F*** this! Wait 'til I get to heaven!" (obviously my teacher doesn't worry about foul lingo in the classroom.) I had to stifle my giddy smirk as I recognized the level to which I agreed with the statement (despite the vulgarity). Truly, my eyes are set on that which I see by faith alone. The kingdom of heaven is the business about which I am. I don't neglect this world (far from it), but I recognize how little mere socio-politico-cultural changes matter.

Anyway, I like my class.

Curiously, I put my sweater on backwards this morning. Nobody at church said anything and it wasn't 'til I took it off in a fitting room purchasing clothes for my trip that I noticed the minor faux pas. I guess no one else noticed either, because I'm the kind of person who has friends that would be happy to take advantage of such a situation and call the attention of the world down upon me. Sweaters are nice like that. They don't really exhibit a great difference between front and back. I love being an American! To think: a land wear people can wear their clothes backwards unnoticed and unaccused of trying to make a hip-hop statement! Remind me to light a fire on the 4th of July in honour of my love for America.

Okay, since I'm going to be gone from the world from 4 - 23 October, I need to get the word out now. The evening of 26 October will be the annual Halloween bash. Here's this year's flyer:

For those who have forgotten the majesty (or simply want to troll for costume ideas), here are photos from the last two years:

Halloween 2000

Halloween 2001

Everyone who wants to come is invited. You may email me for a map if you're new to the routine.

It just so happens that I am the only one on the internet to use the adjective, "kamakazic." Further proof of my genius. Thank you *bows* What? It's spelled kamikaze? Not kamakaze? Crud... but kamikazic is already taken! Okay then, too be the most technically accurate, I hearby present the new and official adjectival version of kamikaze: kamikazec! *waits for unheeded for applause to die down* *waits a little longer* Thanks. Yer all pals to be so understanding.

On my way to the movies last night, I passed protesters showing their rejection of war with Iraq. In their midst I saw the definition of irony. A fortysomething man in a green jacket shook a large sign across which was scawled: "What Would Jesus Do?" The protester clearly wished to convey the idea that Jesus would love Iraq and therefore, not war against her. The irony, however, was plain. What would Jesus do? Well, he wouldn't stand on a corner holding a sign protesting the government's involvement in a foreign war. In fact, the government under which Christ lived was Roman. Cruel, expansionistic Rome. And under this government, we see Christ say nothing against its policies - in fact, he supports their extravagant taxes (which aid in the funding of their imperialistic endeavors) by telling us that our chief concern is the heavenly kingdom (render unto Caesar what is Caesar's/render unto God what is God's). So, what would Jesus do when confronted with a sidewalk full of protesters? Chuckle and drive on? Perhaps. That's what I did.

So what I wanna know is why don't "Christian" (and by now we all know how loosely I attach that adjective) movies that portray the supposed end of the world can get away with a PG-rating. Okay, I don't really so much wonder how; more, I wonder why. It seems like a good bloody, horrifying picture of an acocalypse unescapeable and wrath-filled would be just the thing to put the fear of a Great Tribulation into someone. The undiminished juggernaut force of God's wrath would be a lot more terror-inspiring if valleys really did fill with blood (and perhaps the ravaged bodies of those who so generously contributed the blood).

The Bible doesn't shy away from horrifying images. Why should Christian moviemakers?

Often I hear that filmmakers of the past, being under greater creative constraints because of strict censorship laws, made films just as meaningful and poignant as those made today. This is partly true. Films of the past were great (and sometimes better) at portraying the range of human experience - save in those areas that are difficult for the pure of heart to handle. No vintage war movie comes close to commanding the visceral horror of the opening half-hour of Saving Private Ryan. No holocaust depiction of days gone by rivals even closely the depravity revealed in Schindler's List. The scenes of rape and homosexuality in the 40s, depicted sans being depicted by the editors' sleight of hand, reveal nothing of the wicked apathy of deeds.

Why do we as a Christianized society shy so deftly from these things? The events of the Old Testament would be fodder for the Banned Books Club if portrayed in a literary work for a Tenth Grade English course. In the Left Behind movie, one of the "sinful" characters is a smoker - and yet, for all the time she's on-screen with her cigarette, she never takes a drag or exhales the slightest bit of smoke. Curious. Perhaps it's because people feel no one should do these things - even when acting. Maybe Christians should explore animation then to reveal these apocalyptic terrors. Heck, the Japanese have end-of-the-world scenes in half of their animated films.

I dunno. Maybe I'm just silly.

Alrighty kids! I'm going to see Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away tomorrow night in Costa Mesa! Who's with me? (p.s., he's the awesome director of Princess Mononoke)

Words Fail Me
[[ removed because of untruth ]]

A curious letter came in the mail today (or "in the day's post" if you're from a backwards nation like Britain). Not only was the stamp juxtaposed with the return address (placing the stamp in the awkward upper-left corner and the return in the right), but the mail carrier postmarked the return address instead of the stamp. *sigh* and the best part? where else would you expect people to so poorly follow standard governmental protocol but West Palm Beach, Florida. I'll bet there's somethin' in the water - or else they're too close to the South.

I know, I know. It's been awhile, huh? But now that I'm back in school, you can betcher farm that I'll have more doodles than you can shake your fist at! And here's a preview of the joy to come!

This first creation was developed over the first half of last week's Asian History class. It's a rare sequential doodle. It' called "I'm Sorry...." Brandon thought he was sorry for breaking a pier. Brandon is so pedestrian. Though admittedly the circumstances behind the character (who we can call "Sammy" for lack of a better name) and his brooding are fairly open to interpretation, Brandon is just oh so very wrong. Like Usual :-)

This second bit is an urban refigurization of the mythic Hydra and the Hercules that slew it. I drew this one during one of my Monday morning staff meetings. I doodled it over our weekly prayer list. You're allowed to pray for these these on the list if you want - if you do tell me so I can cross them off my list.

Alright. It's set. And although I couldn't make the Cambodia leg this trip, I'm sure to have an adventurous time in Easern Europe. Two and one half weeks! What fun! Berlin. Munich. Prague. Budapest. Romania. Who knows where else?! Having a very loose itinerary after the 12th (I'll be in Europe from 5 October until 22 October), I should be able to catch a lot of just plain fun places. Maybe I'll go to Austria? Who can say? Next time I g to the Continent, I hope to visit either the northern and north-easternish bits (Denmark - duh - Norway, Estonia, et cetera) or the southern end (Slovenia, Croatia, Greece). I just can't decide. But before I do Europe again, I'm going to hit Asia. D'you know there's an Access Asia pass that's like 700 Bones for up to thirty stops all over Asia? I was going to do that this year, but my silly brother had to go and get himself a wife. I guess foreign living will do that to a guy.

Anyway. Anyone wanna give me a ride to LAX on a Friday afternoon? Or pick me up on a Tuesday afternoon? Rats, I didn't think so. Looks like one more place to which I'll have to take the bus. *sigh*

In a fit of I'm-still-young-but-not-so-young-that-I-don't-remember-the-late-70s, I've decided that if I find an extra four Large laying about, I want a Vespa. Not only would it help me to continue feeling hip and extra-groovy, but it would be a sweet way to mosey around Southern California. Except for when it rains I guess. The li'l things can go INXS of 60 mph and since I don't really take the freeway to work, this would rock my socks off. One thing though. If I do buy myself one of these sweet rides, I'll have to buy some turtlenecks.

And I don't know how I feel about turtlenecks. I think I might look pretty gay. And for some reason, I already suspect that I have a look that could pass for gay. Hmm. No, to say "for some reason" is a touch misleading.

I know this because Sunday, two very gay fellahs tried to make nice with me. I wasn't having any of their flamboyance, but I did benefit from the experience in that the one working the counter at Dietrich's gave me a free chocolate croissant. I'll let a guy hit on me and get shot down for the price of a pastry any day. But to get back to what's what, I must have something gay about my look or demeanor.

Actually, I've never really had this kinda problem before (well, once), so I must imagine it's something new to me in the last few weeks. Now the only thing I can think of is the sideburns I've recently grown. I've never had burns before and I'm not sure I like 'em. This pretty much clinches it. I've got gay-looking sideburns. I'll have to shave 'em.

In a couple of weeks. After I've had my fill of free snacks.

I just strolled in from the campus parking lot. That's right: I'm cruising on the library computer. What fun! In any case, I was recently in the campus parking lot (as may be adduced from my initial sentence/premise). In the campus parking lot was the most wonderful thing! Driving up and down the parking lanes was a sports car of no small caliber. Convertible. Top down. Very loud speakers. The driver wore a cowboy hat and paced the lot with a grim determination. The wonder of it all though was this, dear reader: that which filled aurally the air of the lot and probably most of the campus was no less than Gloria Estefan quaking the heavens with "Turnin' the Beat Around." Yes. These are wonderful times to live in. The end is soon.

*deep sigh of contentment* Y'know? Public transit is a beautiful thing! I narrowly missed my 5:55 bus this morning (I watched it fly past as I was crossing the street - it was dark after all) and this allowed me the opportunity to experience a new and wonderful driver. So interesting! We're riding along, happy as clams, and he stops the bus, asks whoever has the stereo to please turn it down a little, starts us back up, and continues on his merry way. All fifty of us are bewildered. There is no stereo. In fact, there is no talking since the early crowds are sleepy and not very friendly. Minutes pass and the driver announces over the intercom in desperate Spanish: "¡Please turn down your radio!" Again, bewilderment. The man is clearly out of his gourd as there is no stereo, radio, or anything remotely resembling such. Plus, he was missing stops and dropping people at the wrong streets.

I hope to never miss my bus again. Crazy people frighten me.

Christopher Reeves reveals his ignorance of the issues of medical ethics and just how petty and very un-Supermanish he really is. He blamed the Burning Bush for his the fact that he is still paralyzed. And here I thought it was 'cuz he fall off his horsey go boom. *shrug* This is a good example of that kind of killing for convenience that I spoke of in my abortion article. For a good article on Stem Cell Research not written by me, I think Gregory Koukl does a fine job.

For those of you who hadn't heard of the mysterious Magic Underwear of Mormonism (ask John about his friend Keith's encounter with the Mormons at his door sometime), this won't be as funny. But for those of you who know, here's a discussion board of once-Mormons talking about the fun-filled memories of the legendary 'Roos. There was once a time when the underwear was thought to be merely tall tale on the order of Paul Bunyun and Babe the Blue Ox - but now, dear reader, the jig is up, the cat is out of the bag, and the proof of the pudding is in the tasting! So eat up, enjoy, and here is your spoon.

Abstracts:
"I always felt like I was dressed in some super hero outfit when I had my robe/sash/cap outfit on."

"All my 20's in this crap when I could have been wearing a bikini and feeling great!"

"I had to rent mine for a few years. And that was a polyester nightmare."

I wrote about abortion. I don't do that often. Isn't it funny how some people focus their writing and occasionally lives around a single issue or topic? (someone help me out here: is it even possible to focus around something?) Like there are some people who spend their life writing about abortion. Or specializing in Euthanasia. Or theonomic ethics. Or pretibulational raptures. Or a seven-day creation and how it vanquishes the silly sciences. Or stamp collection. I guess the reason I'll never become the indubitible expert in anything is that I don't understand the allure of just writing about one thing. Maybe I'm just too ADD for all that jazz.

I've been thinking about it and I'll present one caveat to the Isolationist view I presented earlier. If we are to involved in foreign affairs, it should being via an Imperialistic attitude. That way, said affairs won't remain foreign for long. In the grand tradition of, well, every nation on earth, we ought to make the world America. Really, no one should hold any moral issue against this since every last nation on the map exists because someone decided to take over a certain piece of territory. If nations aren't wrong, then Imperialism isn't wrong. Plus, the economy will boom. We can easily solve our problems in the Middle East because America will no longer be the Great Satan; I mean, if the Middle East is America, then that would mean they were the Great Satan - and NOBODY wants to be the Great Satan - so they would end that silliness straight away! Good idea, huh?

Suprisinly, Something Worthwhile from Christianity Today:

In Brazil, a religion-and-politics case focused on Jesus himself. Presidential election judge Wellington Carvalho Coelho sued Jesus after noting a bumper sticker reading JESUS CHRIST—THE BEST WAY FORWARD. Rules for the October presidential election explicitly prohibited the display of stickers and posters until July. Judge Eva Evangelista dismissed the case, noting that Jesus isn't running this year.

This is the Number Eight reason why Brazil is where it is at as a world power.

Fun fact of the day:
I would be perfectly happy if the United States would just renounce its position as the premiere world power and return to its isolationist tendancies. At least militarily. I don't want us to be the "policeman of the world." I don't want us involved in the U.N. or N.A.T.O. We have the geography and resources to be Switzerland but cool. But nooooooooo, we have to go wasting lives, tax dollars, and ideologies supporting nations and wars in which we have no business meddling.

Patriot Day? Uhm, is this because the people who died by coincidence in the WTC towers were so very patriotic in that they were at work capitalizing on the American dream? I gotta say that I think President Bush has caught retarded. A little known malady, it causes one to behave irrationally and to exhibit mental capacities on the level of a warm stew. *sigh* When will the madness end? Oh yeah, it won't. Carry on.

Why I don't think silence is the best I can offer:
One year ago today. Twelve months. Three-hundred and sixty-five days. By some clocks, forever and a day ago. By others, it was but yesterday. Two monuments to the American spirit were felled in two gasping hours by two single actions. And with them, the greater difficulty for the American heart and soul: the loss of two thousand souls in relative moments.

They said the world would be changed forever.

As ever, they were prone to hyperbole. Life didn't change. Man is still selfish. Man is still greedy. Man is still murderous. Man is still cloaked in hatred. So is America. And so is every nation. It's a problem that defies national boundaries. It's the problem of Adam. No event, no matter how tragic, will ever change that. No event, no matter its toll upon humanity, will ever inspire us to be better than we are. No event, no matter its ferocity, can grant us the power to rise above our hateful nature.

No event save one.

And all events - whether happy or sad, whether life-bringing or death-dealing, whether incomprehensible or mundane, whether grandiose or unheralded - all events are useless save that they drive us and drive us hard toward the only event that can hold any lasting power or meaning to mankind.

Did the sinking of The Lusitania alter the course of the human heart? No. Did the San Francisco Earthquake turn man to good? No. Did the flooding of the Yellow River bring man to repentent his selfish way? No. Did the loss of The Hindenburg bring about a golden age? No. Did the destruction of six-million lives by the hand of the Third Reich offer the power to its witnesses to rebuild their souls? No.

No. None of the cornucopia of tragedy that strikes men and nations ever held power to rule the hearts of mankind. One good thing alone can they do: show us the fragility and depravity of life under the Curse. If we look upon these myriad events and see them for anything but what they are - reminders of man's need for Christ and the eternal rest he offers - than we have seen nothing and gained nothing from their fateful hand. If we look upon the attack against the American citizery on 11 September 2001 and are not stirred to cry mercy from God for our neighbors and ourselves for the unceasing offense humanity perpetrates against heaven in every moment, then we have made a mockery of the tragedy. Anything less than looking to Christ for hope is to make such horror to be a meaningless futility.

And if such events are a futility, then how useless is life?

Rather, look to Christ! His is the power for change. His is the strength to improve. His is gift of insipration. His is path to peace everlasting. Give the World Trade Center victims meaning by rejoicing in the hope of a world without fear, poverty, persecution, sadness, hate, and least of all, death. And silence? May it never be! Proclaim the mercy of the Lord that others might also learn to take hope in the kingdom eternal! Banish futility! Banish meaninglessness! Banish the vanity of Life unsung!

Sing of Life unblemished, unconquered, and unending! Comfort. And be comforted.

Yesterday, I taught an errant shopping cart its proper place in society. With my car. Let me assure you: this shopping cart will never again edge itself into the area reserved for parking cars. After being tagged with my massive front bumper, I ground it under the Black Kitty's prominent upper lip of DOOM. That'll show it!

I make fun of home-schooling a lot. I make fun of the lack of breadth in education I've noted in many home-schoolers. I've made fun of the lack of cultural acuity rampant in home-schooling families. I've made fun of the obvious fundamentalist biases - political, social, cultural - that I've seen crop up in most home-schoolers I've known (almost exclusively Christian families). And most of all, I've made fun of the social oblivion in which home-schools dwell, entirely unaware of their own weirdnesses.

But I don't think I've ever layed down my honest opinion of where I think education in America should go. So here it is.

In sum: Public schooling should be abolished as it is not within the auspices of government. Private schools should be the order of the day. Education should not be mandatory. If a parent wants his kid to attend a school, he will pay for that child to attend. Otherwise, a child is free to learn at home in the manner by which the parents feel he ought best be tutored. Child labour laws should be repealed as well - as a child who works for the good of the family is a child who respects the legacy of that family.

1) Not only is public schooling beyond the scope of our government's purpose, but our government has shown itself historically to be vastly inefficient when it attempts to take over that which belongs to the private sector. Public schooling is largely inefficient because of the many constraints placed upon it by the government: classes that are not academic in nature; curriculae that promote a current regimes political philosophy; fear-based standards of grading where the students self-esteem is the focus over and above his academic worth (actually, these criticisms apply equally to home-schooling in my opinion).

2) The only official schooling that I would promote would be that built and run by the private sector. Schools that compete on the marketplace of education will produce better courses, curriculae, and standards - this is the natural hand of competition. If School A falls behind School B in accomplishment, School A will lose students (and students = money) to School B. In order to stem this loss of revenue, School A will evolve itself or die. Parents would be able to choose schools according to their desired standards: Christian, Catholic, Buddhist, academic, trade, &c. And corporations will recruit from and endorse the best schools - further forcing educational institutions to truly educate its students.

3) If education is not mandatory, than those who are not suited nor interested in learning can be removed early on so as to spare the disruption and retardation that would necessarily come from their forced inclusion in the classroom. The potential of a student's removal from the educational system will force a wider involvement of parents in the studies of the nation's children. The additional discipline that will ensue when Mom and Pop protect their monetary investment can't be a bad thing.

4) If a parent cannot afford a decent education for his child (despite that fact that in such a system their would naturally be a wide range of schooling models available), he still has two options available to him: home-schooling or helpful labour. As the child would be around the home anyway, home-schooling would be a natural solution to filling time in the child's formative years. Or if the family is so poor as to be unable to provide the luxury of education, there is no reason for sadness in the child's involvement to some degree in assisting his parents in the provision for the family (it had been this way for millennia, so I don't see why modern luxury should make child labour an evil).

And as a fairly large number of children would be in this position of home learning or labour, it would become so normative that society would naturally provide for the children's socialization through closer knit bonds - such as those societies with less of those modern luxuries we have come to enjoy in America. This would remedy my sizeable reservation with the validity of the modern home-schooling movement.

Additionally, I think that trade schools are a great thing for those lacking the academic prowess and funds to attend universities. Apprenticeship would come back into vogue in the lower and middle classes. Education would be appreciated. Who knows, maybe a new age of artisans, craftsmen, and academia would arise if people were unshackled from the burden of government regulated education.

note: so far as my true feelings on home-schooling, you should - from this bit o' honey opinion-making - be able to discern that I am not against it per se. It in fact plays intimately into my master plan. I do have a problem with its current incarnation and methodology, but that's only part-and-parcel to my issue with the current trend in national education (that has a hundred-year history - or so).

I've begun school again. I was supposed to take two classes: Japanese Lit and Children's Lit (in accord with my next major: General Literature). Instead I am taking one class that is neither of the two just mentioned.

The Children's Lit course turned out to be too full to support another student - even one who so brilliantly emulates the mind of a child as do I. So, my alternate course was Introduction to Japanese Culture - as I've always had an affinity to Japanese history, art, and entertainment, I thought this would make an intriguing path of study. I was sorely mistaken. The professor modelled buffoonery as if it were coming back into style and she wanted the reputation of being its burgeoning diva. I dropped the course immediately.

The day I showed up to school to attend my Japanese Lit course, I found to my astonishment, that the course was no longer sustained - as there was a noteworthy sign on the classroom door scrawled: CANCELLED. With deft fingers and untroubled countenance, I plumbed the depths of the semester's course catalogue and found that in a room next door to my erstwhile literature class, was an East-Asian History to 1800 course schedule in the identical time slot. Wanting to bone up on my knowledge base for the region, I said "What the H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks, I'll do it!"

Slowly the fear crept over me. What if this teacher was cut from the same mould as the previous pedagogical disaster? What if he preferred making the students comfortable with each other to hard, studied academia? What if he played weird atonal music while speaking to a class of 18 through a microphone? What if he was the worst thing of all: someone who made something as intriguing as learning to be something dull and dreaded? All of these things had happened before. All of these things could happen again here.

But they didn't.

The professor was genuine and excited and intelligent and funny and even a touch academic. The course will speak to not merely the history of the region (focusing upon China and to lesser degree, Japan - with minor nods to Korea and Vietnam), but to its religio-philosophic roots as well. Exciting, no?

The teacher did betray his enjoyment of Eastern perspectives over that which I celebrate in Christ (he's very much opposed to dualism - though he doesn't yet understand the body/soul distinction as I do - and he seems to thoroughly embrace the whole Gaea-istic understanding of the world around us and how it's not really around us but suffuses us... I'm guessing this is Taoism, but haven't the familiarity with it that I can adequately assume these things). Of course, having grown up around contrary ideologies and having smote them all with the defiance of a faith unconquerable by something as mere as an idea, this doesn't bother me in the least. Rather, I believe I'll find our exchanges to be of great interest.

Gosh, I love learning :-D

Something queer and intriguing. Been one who enjoys animated film - though not fanatically - I rented the dvd for the recent Japanese film, Metropolis. I thoroughly enjoyed the film as it was both funny, intuitive, and even a touch sentimental (the biggest flaw to my mind was the comical manner in which the characters were drawn - faithful to the comic they came from, yes, but silly nonetheless).

Having enjoyed the film (as I just said or weren't you listening??), I poured over the special features offered with the 2-disc set. And guess what I didn't find? Looking both high and low, I found absolutely no reference to the film's most obvious influence. Yes, yes, the documentary notes go to careful pains to mention that the film is based on Osamu Tezuka's comic of the same name. But there was nary a mention of Fritz Lang nor his silent, expressionistic film from 1927 than also explores the extreme stratification of a society. Oh yeah. Fritz Lang's film just happens to have been titled Metropolis.

The similarities between the two films are so much more than coincidence that I am shock (and perhaps even a touch appalled) that Mssr. Lang did not receive his due. There is even a section on the dvd devoted to the influences and history of Metropolis and you'd think that at the least, they could mention the original.

Both films feature a highly stratisfied society - with the elites living in comfort in the city's heights, while the working class grovels in its depths. Both films focus around a Babel-like tower known as the Zigurat. Both films develop a female robotic character who lives as a human unbeknownest to certain of the characters. Both films feature revolution by the squalling masses (characters with numerical designations rather than names). And both films are really about heart and soul.

Sorry. Just had to voice my shock. Otherwise, I found the new Metropolis to be quite groovy - the soundtrack was hip and there's even an obvious homage to Dr. Strangelove at the end.

And now, the Top 5 list with the most pedictable results.

My Top 5 Favorite Poets

(in no order beyond alphabetical)

And that just about takes care of that. Hmm... maybe I could add Shelley and Blake since I don't mind "Ozymandias" and "The Tyger." But then since I think their ideas would find better and more powerful statement in prose, I don't think I will add them. So far as I can tell, poetry's use is twofold: 1) making one seem more intelligent than he is by alluding to it in either writing or conversation; and 2) impressing one's lady with how imminently sentimental and tender of heart one is (or, conversely, women can use poetry to demonstrate how utterly womanly they are).^[note] If anyone can think of a third use, I'll be happy to consider it.