Saturday, June 29, 2013

RADIO-RELATED STUFF

Heard Tim Tron talking on his ham the other week.

Also the other week heard awful white noise on WTWW 9480.

I see 91x has a hip-hop show again.

Picked up The Score 1260 just now.

Glad Turi Ryder is off WGN.

Monday, June 24, 2013

EMILY GREEN & ME

By Kathryn White. Some City: Some Publisher I can't remember, 2010.

This is a horrid book.

An 11 year old South African girl with a heart condition receives the heart of a seventeen year old boy from the other side of the tracks. Over the next couple years, he influences her life from Heaven.

First of all, the writing in this book is horrible. The author uses way too many similies, metaphors and descriptions. Also, the grammar in this book is pretty crummy, even the parts that aren't written by the poor boy.

Second, the characters are terrible. None of them seem to have any morals or scruples: characters gone astray in a country that has gone astray.

Also, I didn't really care for the boy saying Heaven was no better than Earth. Yeah, Kathryn White, way to make our teenagers even more depressed.

As well, I did not at all care for how Emily and Olivia, the heart donor's girlfriend, dyke it out at the end of the novel.

LOOKING BACK-FEBRUARY-APRIL 2009

Based on notes to myself.

Signing up for the health expo at the Kiwanis Centre. The guy running it let me sign up in a different way as the sign-up form wasn't accessible.

Going to concerts at Amazing Coffee.

Trying to sign up blind people for the network marketing company I was with. My eferts came to nothing.

I was into watching "John From Cincinnati" on Bold at the time. In fact, I watched a lot of Bold back then.

It was at this time I made the first real friend I ever had around here. He approached me at church one day and asked if I would like to do something together sometime. I said sure and the following Friday we went for coffee at Tim Horton's. We had met a couple years previously and at the coffee shop we really hit it off. I asked him if Monday we could go to Amazing Coffee instead. He said sure and so we went there and played cards. After that we went to his house where I met his sweet, kind, loving wife. The three of us jammed together.

The next week I went over to their house for dinner.

I really look at this time as a high point in my life.

He also became a customer of mine after seeing my stuff at the health expo.

I was reading "This Hour Has Seven Decades" at this time, the autobiography of Patrick Watson. Very inspiring.

Monday, June 17, 2013

RADIO-RELATED STUFF

After listening to it a few times over the past few months, I'm really going to miss "Talk of the Nation."

Really enjoyed Friday night's "Allan Wiener Worldwide" with everyone in studio together. It was radio.

Am starting to enjoy "This American Life."

LOOKING BACK-JULY 2012

Based on notes to myself.

On Canada Day I went to this great party at the house of one of the people I jam with. There was live music and I chatted with fellow jammers. I also drank wine and rum and cranberry juice, in addition to having a fair number of hits of marijuana. It was a great counterpoint to the acrimony of the jam earlier that day.

The next day one of the jammers called me up to ask how I enjoyed the party.

Two days after that, my aunt and her husband came down for a few hours. Mom had been having a problem with the electricity in her basement. It turned out it was a simple matter of flipping a switch, which they ostencibly came all the way down from the GTA to do. Obviously, super kind of them. However, they also brought lunch, cold meats, salad fixins and this really good bread from a bakery in Toronto.

My worker from CNIB was supposed to come that day. The visit by my relatives was short notice and he ended up coming over to Mom's house and having lunch with us.

Singing at the nursing home with an older lady who is a friend, songs like "All Through The Night", "Side By Side", "Little Brown Jug", that sort of thing.

Looking up music on YouTube from a list in a magazine article I'd read.

Also, going through hip-hop blogs and discovering all sorts of old-school (and new) acts.

One Saturday night I listened to a couple of cds I'd made which included (but were not limited to) music from the early part of the twentieth century originally on wax cylinder records. I decided I wanted to cut my nails, but discovered I'd lost my nail clippers. After a frantic search I gave up and got another pair from my mom.

A few months later, I found the nail clippers in a bag of clothespins. I had cut my nails after bringing in the laundry and mistaken the nail clippers for a clothespin.

Friday, June 14, 2013

DOWN TO THIS: SQUALOUR AND SPLENDOUR IN A BIG-CITY SHANTYTOWN

By Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall. Toronto: Random House Canada, 2004.

True story of the year the author spends living in Toronto's tent city.

An absolutely great book!

The incident in this book which most stands out for me involves a group of church people, known to tent city's residents as the purple people eaters, and particularly one sixteen year old girl in this group. She is grabbed by one of the homeless men. She is understandably shaken, and the reaction she gives, which she was trained to give in her Judao-Christian castration pen of a church is "Just pray for him." However, the residents of this shantytown enact real justice and kick the guy and his girlfriend out. You also don't get the sense from this incident that the church people actually took a leaf from Jesus by actually trying to speak to the homeless where they were at or even getting to know them on a basic level.

This book has so many great incidents and happenings that to tell about all my favourites here would be to tell the whole book. Just go out and get a copy.

INTERNET STUFF

Enough, YouTube! Don't present me with five minute long commercials when I want to look up a video that's under five minutes.

I enjoy the Podbean format.

Cool how, when you look up an archived article in the Toronto Star online, you can see what else was making news the day that article was published.

Storylane was bought by Facebook. I went to Storylane's website recently and it was gone. That sure didn't last long.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

REPLY AWL

The following are all comments related to articles in the May 13 issue of Maclean's.

Why Children Need to Feel the Pinch: I agree with Emma Teitel. In addition to what she said, being forced to get a hug from an ugly older relative also teaches kids to be considerate of others. Aunt Milly is old and ugly so she probably doesn't get much affection. Consider the fact she needs hugs and kisses, just like you do.

When Science Goes Silent: Harper is ruining so many things that made this country great. I'm not for big government, but when you have scientific research that is lauded internationally, traditional conservative values would dictate you keep that going. When the Museum of Civilization is internationally recognized for being what it is, common sense and a nationalistic mentality would tell you not to turn it into a museum focusing on Canadian history. Also, the kind of good conservatism which aschews corporate fascism would tell you not to change the mission of the NRC into an organization that does research for business purposes.

The Heaven Boom: This article proves the falseness of "90 Minutes in Heaven." The author saw the Pearly Gates, when the Bible clearly says said gates are a feature of the New Jerusalem, which comes into being after the millenium is up.

Where do Parents Draw the Line?: How about we teach our children to stand up to bullies rather than getting them plastic surgery. Worse, this will only reinforce to these kids that having large ears or the wrong shape of chin is a bad thing. These values will then be taught by these children to their spawn.

And Hell Followed After Her: Yeah, let's not talk about the huge amount of crime illegal Mexicans commit in the United States each year. Let's also not talk about all the quotations by politicians, leaders of Hispanic organizations and university professors saying how they want to take over the United States and restore the country to its supposed rightful possessors. There are even Mexican pop songs about it, for goodness sake!

Salt, Sugar, Fat: What about MSG, aspertain, genetic modification, and all the other things that are being put into and done to processed foods?

MISTER MONDAY KEYS TO THE KINGDOM

By Garth Nix. London: Harper Collins, 2003.

This is a look at the first book in the popular "Keys To The Kingdom" series from a Christian point of view.

Most importantly, "Mister Monday" presents a different view of Creation and the universe than the Bible. As in the Bible, the universe came from nothing. However, that is where any similarities between this book and the Word of God stop. The Upper and Lower Houses of the book in question were brought into being by the Great Archetect, who is a woman. After this, the Secondary Realms were created.

Everything returns to nothing. The book contains the phrase, "Nothing is forever." Additionally, everything returns to nothing, which means there is no afterlife. In other words, this world is all there is and outside of this present realm there's nothing to hope for. Way to make our teenagers even more depressed than they are already.

According to "Mister Monday", the Great Archetect came from nothing, when Christians know God always existed.

This book says that the Great Archetect "Liked to take on ideas from the Secondary Realms." God is the sustainer and supplier of all. He does not have His creation create things to inspire Him.

There is a character in this series called the Old One, which is the same name as the deity of an African tribe. I take it the Old One is supposed to represent Satan. The Old One was cast away from the presence of the Great Archetect because of differences they had. According to the Old One, "the Great Archetect sought to deny my artistry." On the contrary, it was not at all that Satan had a better plan than God. His whole aim was to take over the universe and rule in God's place. It wasn't as if Satan had a different plan for how God could run His creation and God was just an old stuffed shirt who couldn't listen to others.

We're told that, though the Old One is opposed to the Great Archetect, "He does not dispise Her work." Do not be fooled, though. Satan does dispise God's work. Jesus quite clearly says of the devil, "the thief cometh only to steal and to kill and to destroy,."

The character of the Old One in this series of books can be nothing more than an attempt on the part of Nix to get teenagers to worship the devil, or at least have a more favourable view of him.

There is also a centrally important character in this series of books called the Will, representing the Word of God, or part of it anyway so far in the series. The Will is selfish. God's Word is not selfish, but it appears that way to those who don't believe in what it says. The Bible is opposed to the devil as the Will is opposed to the Old One, but in "Mister Monday" this is characterized as a bad thing.

Again, this is an attempt on the author's part to subvert and discredit the Bible.

The House which the main character finds himself in is a place of harsh punishments and no love. This is designed as a bit of subtle propaganda to set young people up for the world they can and should expect.

Speaking of propaganda, there's loads more of it in "Mister Monday." When Arthur, the main character was born, it was in the midst of a horrible flu pandemic which took the lives of his birthparents. Now, however, thanks to a new biannual vaccine, there hasn't been a case of flu in five years. (Way to bolster the manufacturers of vaccinations.)

That is, until Fetchers (demonic beings from the House) invade the Secondary Realms looking for Arthur and bring a strain of some sort of plague with them. When the plague begins to spread, the government moves into action. The phone and internet service at victim's houses is cut off so panic cannot be spread. Sounds like what governments want to do in real life.

Also, there are mass quarantines of suspected plague victims, with severe punative consequences for those who try to escape. Again, sounds like what the government wants to do in real life.

As I said above, Mister Monday presents a pretty distopic view for things, with The House containing no love, harsh punishments for disobedience and poverty of most of the Denizens (the citizens of the House.) This is similar to the theme of most teen fiction these days.

There are other minor things in this book that go against the Bible, such as the use of transfer plates by Denizens, Arthur's friend Leaf having a grandmother who was an Irish witch ("thou shalt not suffer a witch to live"), the use of magic, and a ritual in which Arthur must prick his thumbs (causing oneself pain to gain acceptance, a common theme in pagan religious practice.)

One more thing. There are creatures in "Mister Monday" known as bibliophages. They eat writing, any kind of writing. Could this represent the two-legged snakes who try to steal and destroy knowledge that runs contrary to their agenda?

Monday, June 10, 2013

TV-RELATED STUFF

"The Conversation" looks like a bunch of garbage.

Why would NBC premier a show called "The Family Guide" whenthere's already a popular show called "Family Guy?"

I can still get Global Channel 3 from Toronto and CJOH on my little TV.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

DEAR GEORGE CLOONEY PLEASE MARRY MY MOM

By Susin Nielsen. Toronto: Tundra, 2010.

Violet Gustavsen, a twelve year old girl whose parents are divorced, tries to convince George Clooney to marry her mother in order to stem the tide of her mom's looser dates. Yes, you read that correctly.

Aside from the above, one of the things that strikes you most about this book is how it does portray a lot of the symptoms and feelings experienced by children of recent divorce.

The second thing is the moral relativvism. Violet's younger sister, Rosie bites another girl at her daycare. This is seen as mostly just in Violet's eyes, as are all the things Violet puts various people in her life through.

Susin Nielsen was a writer on "Degrassi Junior High." The Degrassi universe works on a bizarre mixture of two things: the worst case scenario and the above-mentioned moral relativism.

In the first, the worst consequences befall the misdeeds of the students in the various Degrassi incarnations. If you sleep with someone of the opposite sex, you will get pregnant or get a sexually transmitted disease. As happened to one character in the original series, you will contract the very worst of sexually transmitted diseases: AIDS. If you take drugs, you will either automatically ruin a friendship, or, more likely, jump off a bridge and cause yourself permanent brain damage, leaving your girlfriend and her new baby in the lurch.

At the same time, a postmodern attitude also pervades this television series. If it was right for you to sleep with your boyfriend, then that's fine. If it is right for you to be a particular sexual orientation, then that's OK, too.

Simply put, Nielsen has carried this relativistic attitude to this book.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

FIRST FRIDAYS OPEN MIC ROLLIN ROUND AGAIN

Hi all,


To all of you from the Amazing Jam contact list....

Here’s the word from Eileen Quinn about this Friday evening’s Open Mic at the Curling Club in Marmora. This event is the best open mic venue in the area. Looks (for a change) as if I’ll be able to make it out there to play some music again this week. Hoping you can too.

Looking forward to see you there.

James Reid

ps – yes, this Sunday afternoon is the date scheduled for the Amazing Jam at the Marmora Inn. More on that later by separate email.

This Friday June 7th at 7 pm at the Marmora Curling Club (2 Crawford) the lights will be up, the sound system on, the beer chilled.

Bring your ears, voice, instrument, friends. We had a good crowd again last time. Fun, friendly, and musically diverse.

Email or call if you have any questions.

Hope to see/hear you on Friday.

Eileen

Monday, June 3, 2013

LOOKING BACK-NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011

Based on notes to myself.

A lot of this period in my life was spent trying to get along without Dad. What a lot of people don't realize is that, in a situation like this the tears you cry are mostly for yourself: whose going to do this for me?, whose going to do that for me?, whose going to take care of the maintenance for the family?, whose going to take care of the yardwork?, etc.

At this time I and the men who worked at Scriptures for America were still adjusting to the death of Pastor Peters. It didn't help when some jerk named Jack Kundis sent me an email insulting Pastor Peters, even though the obituary I wrote on my blog plainly showed how much he meant to me. You can be sure I had some imprecatory prayer for that guy.

Applied to different shortwave stations for work.

Was looking up different radio stations on the internet.

Two friends of mine introduced me to their friend. The plan was to have him take me to singles events and stuff in the area. More about that in a future post. It only took my friend having him over twice before he actually got up the courage to ask him to be my wingman.

Took a ride to Kingston with a guy from church, the same one who had laughed at me at the French gourmet dinner. We spent most of the drive talking about sex and how I, as a single guy should get married as soon as possible because that was what the Bible says. Actually, the Bible says you should marry if you have a girlfriend and you can't control yourself sexually with her. I think a lot of what the guy from church was saying was his attempt to asuage his guilt over something he had done to his wife before they got married. He kept going back to the old thing of, "What would Jesus do?", which is so bloody ridiculous. I mean, what would Hitler do? What would Elmore Leonard do? When people ask what Jesus would do, they really mean the Jesus that they personally have in their minds, the one whom their comfortable with and who approves of basically everything they're doing. They don't really mean the Jesus of the Bible, and if they do, it doesn't occur to these people that, along with his recorded actions while here on Earth, Jesus also gave us all the rest of the Bible for our guidance and learning.

I was learning to play the harmonica.

I got back in touch with a buddy from college who had gotten a job doing news at the local radio station after one of the previous news staff became an MPP.

I also made a new pen pal through an online magazine for the blind.

LOOKING BACK-SPRING 2009

Based on notes to myself.

Had started listening to Glen Hauser's "World of Radio" regularly.

I would also listen to "The Lumpy Gravy Radio Show" every Saturday.

My friend had just started a new job doing lawn errations.

I would scan books into my computer in the late afternoons.

Saturday, June 1, 2013

KERRIGAN SKELLY 16 MARKS OF AN APOSTATE CHURCH

A church which teaches the prosperity gospel is not necissarily apostate. The problem comes when the teachings on prosperity aren't balanced by teachings on obedience and specific sins.

Christ did die for a small amount of people. He said that there are few that find the narrow way.

Baptism is not a public display. Rather, it is a necissary part of the salvation process, how we come under the blood of Christ. We are buried with Him through baptism and come up new creatures in Christ Jesus.

KERRIGAN SKELLY CALVINIST CONFUSION: PROPICIATION, IMPUTATION

For the most part, this is a very good video. I would just like to clarify a couple points.

First, there is a difference between "forgiveness" and "remission." Remission means to take away all accumulated sin up to this point. That is why we need to be baptised for the remission of sins (see Acts 2 38.)

Second, it isn't as if we had never sinned. God knows that the Christian has sinned, but He does not hold those sins against us because they are covered by the attonement of Christ's blood.