Manipulative words

How the candidates did at Saddleback. It should be a news story, not a disguised editorial on page one of the Washington Post. (Although I believe the biggest gain was for Rick Warren who has firmly placed himself on the political stage, and because he is Jesus-lite, no other Christian pastor could do this.) Take a look at the word choices for the WaPo account by Jonathan Weisman, August 20, 2008; Page A01. Positive phrases in green, negative in red. Then count them.

Sen. Barack Obama was the abortion-rights candidate who was reaching out to foes, seeking common ground and making inroads. Sen. John McCain was the abortion opponent whose reticence about faith and whose battles on campaign finance laws drew suspect glances from would-be supporters.

We all know that "abortion-rights" does not leave the same emotional image as "abortion opponent." In my opinion, you are pro-life or pro-choice. Start with that and then add in your exceptions if you have them. You are assigning value to two lives, and you've chosen for one to die. Not one or the other, but one. Then you'll add your qualifying points--he'll be retarded; he'll ruin her life; our family won't accept a biracial baby; she already has too many children and this one will be a burden to society (i.e., I'll be paying); we really wanted a boy; her boyfriend's walked out on her; etc. The same person willing to see her grandchildren aborted in one breath, will want to save the planet for them in the next by not drilling for oil. It baffles me, but on to the other words.

Weisman knows his audience--and it isn't conservative Nobamas like me who know what he's doing. The far left Democrats are getting angry and nervous (see Michael Moore's latest tirade), the middle is still solidly behind their candidate. So he goes for the Obamacons, fence sitters and RINOS who may need to be reminded of McCain's past failures (let me count the ways!). Weisman didn't become a staff writer at WaPo by not understanding the impact of word choices. Let's look at them--out of context.

reaching out to foes
seeking common ground
making in roads.

reticence
battles
suspect glances
would-be supporters.

The reporter then goes on to say the born alive issue is an “obscure law” when virtually every other legislator, in Illinois and Washington, didn’t find it difficult or thorny. They seemed to grasp the concept of life after birth, even those who don’t catch the meaning of “before birth.” Yes, to his credit, as he winds his way to the bottom of the article he finally gets to the difficult truth--the truth of why he so desperately makes his case in the first paragraph (most people don't read much further and writers know this). In a race this close, abortion matters a lot. Eighteen percent of Democrats consider this issue critical. What if they just don't vote? Can he win without them?

Abortion remains an important issue to a large portion of the electorate, but it is not the biggest. An early August poll for Time magazine found that one in five likely voters would not consider voting for a candidate who did not share their views on abortion. Twenty-six percent of Republicans saw the issue as decisive, compared with 18 percent of Democrats.

Genealogy Class

We had a wonderful, 5-day genealogy seminar at Lakeside last week. One really interesting thing I learned was about a common myth--at least one I believed to be true. Surnames were NOT changed at Ellis Island due to clerical error or the clerk not knowing how to transcribe a foreign sounding name. Detra told us that the clerks worked from a list that was made up at the embarkation point in Europe from information received from the immigrant. The US officials knew the country of origin and every passenger's name before the ship arrived. She also said that they used native speakers at Ellis Island who could communicate with the immigrants. Often it was the immigrant who made the name change--perhaps to avoid a personal history or link to a culture/religious group. Or they wanted to sound "English," but they made the decision, not the clerk. This information really didn't affect me at all--none of my ancestors came through Ellis Island. They all arrived before the American Revolution, and until my parents generation didn't marry outside their groups. The Germans/Swiss went to Pennsylvania, and the Scots-Irish to Tennessee.

Today I noticed that the USCIS is offering genealogy help to immigrants.

WASHINGTON — Customers can now turn to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for help in researching their family’s immigration history through the agency’s new Genealogy Program. USCIS maintains historical records documenting the arrival and naturalization of millions of immigrants who arrived in the United States since the late 1800s or and naturalized between 1906 and 1956. Until today (Aug 13), the process to request these records was handled through a Freedom of Information Act / Privacy Act (FOIA) request.

“In many cases USCIS is the only government agency that has certain historical records that provide the missing link which genealogists or family historians need,” said Jonathan “Jock” Scharfen, USCIS’ Acting Director.

The agency anticipates interest in genealogy to continue to grow. In the past four years alone, USCIS received more than 40,000 FOIA requests for historical records. The new genealogy program will create a dedicated queue for genealogists, historians and others seeking genealogical and historical records and reference services that generally require no FOIA expertise. As a result, USCIS will provide more timely responses to requests for records of deceased individuals.

Individuals may submit genealogy records requests by using the new forms, G-1041 -Genealogy Index Search Request, and G-1041A - Genealogy Records Request. Both forms are available on the new USCIS Genealogy Program page at: http://www.uscis.gov/genealogy.

How the carbon tax will work

It’s a very old, medieval system. Al Gore and buddies will be at the top; with the rest of us taxed. It won't make any difference whether or not your business or profession uses energy. The tax man cometh.

"Fines were levied everywhere, at all times, and for all sorts of reasons. Under the name of épices, the magistrates, judges, reporters, and counsel, who had at first only received sweetmeats and preserves as voluntary offerings, eventually exacted substantial tribute in current coin. Scholars who wished to take rank in the University sent some small pies, costing ten sols, to each examiner. Students in philosophy or theology gave two suppers to the president, eight to the other masters, besides presenting them with sweetmeats, &c. It would be an endless task to relate all the fines due by apprentices and companions before they could reach mastership in their various crafts, nor have we yet mentioned certain fines, which, from their strange or ridiculous nature, prove to what a pitch of folly men may be led under the influence of tyranny, vanity, or caprice.

Thus, we read of vassals descending to the humiliating occupation of beating the water of the moat of the castle, in order to stop the noise of the frogs, during the illness of the mistress; we elsewhere find that at times the lord required of them to hop on one leg, to kiss the latch of the castle-gate, or to go through some drunken play in his presence, or sing a somewhat broad song before the lady." Manners, customs and Dress during the Middle Ages by Paul Lacroix

Pinto Beans

I enjoy black beans and black-eyed peas, but am not fond of pinto beans, that good ol boy dish from Appalachia. They even make cakes with them! But here's some interesting news I read about at the WHFoods web site, the place I always check when I want to know what I'm eating. I always figured all the beanies were about the same. Guess not.

Pinto Beans May Help Lower Cholesterol

Over a period of approximately 7 months, relatively small daily servings of pinto beans have recently been shown to help lower cholesterol. Only ½ cup of the beans per day reduced total cholesterol, on average, by about 19 milligrams. LDL cholesterol also showed an average decrease of about 14 milligrams. Interestingly, two other very healthy and fiber-rich foods - carrots and black-eyed peas - did not have this same impact. While we don't yet know the reasons for this special link between pinto beans and their cholesterol-lowering effect, persons who have special concern about their cholesterol levels may want to give special priority to this tasty legume. It should be noted that the subjects in this study had already developed mild insulin resistance prior to participating in the study, and so we cannot yet be sure how well pinto beans will lower cholesterol in persons who do not have mild insulin resistance.

Donna M. Winham, DrPH, Andrea M. Hutchins, PhD and Carol S. Johnston, PhD. "Pinto Bean Consumption Reduces Biomarkers for Heart Disease Risk." Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol. 26, No. 3, 243-249 (2007).

For lunch today I'm having my farm market meal--an ear of corn (2 minutes in the microwave and no clean up), beet greens, and some cucumber/onion/green pepper mix that I whipped up putting the groceries away. Tomorrow I'll have the beets and maybe grilled cabbage and some sliced peaches. Yum. Love summer's bounty.

Lakeside 2008 Farmer's Market

It's gray and overcast today, but the wagons are here! I spent $11.00 and got a quart of peaches, quart of green beans, big green pepper, zucchini, cucumber, dozen brown eggs, a bunch of beets and ONE ear of corn (my husband hates corn). What a deal. However, you can get reasonably fresh food at your supermarket, and by the time I use these up, they probably won't be as nutritious as frozen. I'm still using the onions from a few weeks ago, and last week's blueberries and tomatoes. Use your head. Don't drive 10 miles for a farmer's market. It's great if it's in your backyard, but it is very easy to eat healthy, fresh and cheap in America.


Notice the canvas bag; recycled UALC VBS 2001

The secret to waist management, part 1

It's easy. Dive into the right gene pool! Here I am about age 18 at the senior prom wearing my grandmother's waist (22"), followed by a photo of me at 68 on my 40 year old bike wearing my grandmother's arms when she was about this age. See how easy it is to have a small waist? All you need is a body shape that doesn't have your bottom rib resting on your pelvis so that there is some space for all that flab to fill! Then as you age, the spine shrinks a little, and the waist expands. Any other questions?

Many ways to be peaceful and at peace

For those yearning for a false hope and nebulous change, this is from an older post of mine expressing surprise that today's college students need to sign a pledge--not for peace--but to support their own values (or someone else's) of social justice.

Didn't people always do this without signing a pledge card? Would someone who registered as a Conscientious Objector for the draft 40 years ago have gone to work in the armaments industry? In the 80s I refused to apply for a women's studies position at the OSU library because I knew I'd have to buy books that supported abortion; I refuse to buy stock in companies that make their profits creating alcohol or tobacco products, which in turn creates death; I don't want viaticals in my retirement portfolio; I won't buy tickets to movies or plays or buy or read books that demean and ridicule women; I write to advertisers of shows that ridicule and criticize Christians; I regularly write my congresswoman who is a Republican in name only and remind her of conservative principles; I let my pastors know when the message is weak and not gospel centered, offering false hope; I recommend books to my public library, even when I know I'm ignored; I don't laugh at jokes or watch TV programs that belittle women or Christians or the elderly or the not-so-bright; I tithe my income and I'm pretty careful to whom it goes; I am an advocate for the Mexican people's government shaping up and creating opportunity in their own country; and I would have never needed a pledge made at college graduation to know that racist language had no place in a training manual, but I'd have to be pretty desperate for a cause to turn down work because of gender parity in athletics or anything else.

Who gets the green from going green?

A lot of the environmentalism information and advertising about which I comment comes not from "right wing" publications, but my husband's architectural and engineering journals and newsletters. Also the Wall Street Journal, which although it covers the business world, is right up there with NYT in way left off the page. Green is a huge business (especially for ad agencies), much of it tear down, start over, and use more (but different) resources. And many of our largest companies and most powerful politicians stand to gain the most. Al Gore, for instance--worth $2 million when he left office--now one of the world's richest men, with a fortune built almost entirely on warning us about the phony global warming issue (some of his wealth comes from serving on boards of corporations which will benefit from new government regulations). Nancy Pelosi is another--investing in wind power while refusing to let America drill for oil, while the rest of us face soaring prices from her Congress' inaction.

Al Gore says everyone will benefit when new government rules require companies to pay to reduce global warming. But some people will benefit more than others, as will some companies. Benefiting most are those like the ex-vice president who can set up and invest in companies that will profit from the federal regulations imposing heavy costs on others. Al Gore's Carbon Empire

Black on black crime

"Barack Obama likes to portray himself as a centrist politician who wants to unite the country, but occasionally his postpartisan mask slips. That was the case at Saturday night's Saddleback Church forum, when Mr. Obama chose to demean Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas." Obama on Clarence Thomas

If you'd like to read about the real suffering of American blacks in the 20th century, read the autobiography of Clarence Thomas, who came up through severe deprivation and racism, not the whining of Barack Obama who's led a charmed life in comparison. The difference is in the behavior of the left, which attempted to destroy Thomas, and which created and protected Obama. Their only similarity is they were raised by grandparents.

As a Senator, Obama has spent most of his time running for President. What are his other accomplishments? He couldn't wipe the sweat from Thomas' brow.

Monday Memories--How we saved energy in our dorm room

JoElla and I told each other in elementary school that we would room together in college. I'm not positive I knew exactly what that meant, but I lived in Mt. Morris, Illinois, where my parents and grandparents had attended college. It closed in 1931 with the buildings being used until recently by a publishing company. JoElla's parents also attended that school, but a few years before mine. By the time we graduated from high school we didn't know each other all that well, because I had moved away from Forreston in 6th grade, where we'd met. But, we must have checked with each other and agreed it was a good idea. We moved into the very elderly Oakwood Hall of Manchester College in September 1957. My cousin Gayle lived down the hall, and JoElla's cousin Sylvia also lived in the dorm. Her brothers were near by on campus, and my sister was a few miles down the road at Goshen College.

I got a huge chuckle reading about Tulane's "Energy Star" showcase dorm room. A 2 person dorm room could save about $37 just by using the various products recommended. If all the 3700+ students at Tulane did the same, there would be a savings of about $69,000 in energy costs. I looked through the list--micro-refrigerator, 2 lap top computers, a printer, various lamps and light bulbs, a phone and audio components. Not doing without, mind you, oh no! Just changing the brand name. Wow. JoElla and I didn't have any of these things and we still managed to get a first class education! Refrigerator? We kept our food on the windowsill. Lap tops? We didn't even have a portable typewriter between us. Audio? I suppose we might have opened the door to hear someone else's radio. Phone? It was down the hall, down the steps, through the lobby, and into the office. But the boys still managed to call and make a date. There were runners to tap on your door to alert you. If you weren't home, you checked the message board. It was very exciting, and good exercise. The only footprints we worried about was whether someone in the shared bathroom might have athlete's foot!

Photo: JoElla 4th from right, second row; Norma 1st left, first row.

Fashionista Freshman, 1957
More on Oakwood Hall

Redeemed!

Serious, committed Christians have noticed that as our society falls away from organized religion, interest in some form of environmentalism increases. Sort of, if you believe in nothing, you'll fall for anything (pantheistic global warmism, for instance). For those who were youngsters in the 1970s, it's a way to relive their youth. Others are recent converts. At the WSJ Friday, Stephen Moore commented on similarities and how serious recyclers have become.

Fred Smith of the Competitive Enterprise Institute notes with rich irony that "we now live in a society where Sunday church attendance is down, but people wouldn't dream of missing their weekly trek to the altar of the recycling center." These facilities, by the way, are increasingly called "redemption centers." Which is fine except that now the greens want to make redemption mandatory. Oh, for a return to the days when someone stood up for the separation of church and state.

I don't go to redemption centers, but I do attend church (early, traditional--we have 10 services at UALC) There is a recycling bin somewhere here at Lakeside, although we usually take our cans and bottles home to Columbus--currently have a few (plastic) bags full rattling around in the van. Chalk up one more use for the ubiquitous plastic bag. So far this week I've: cut one up and braided it to make a little rope to attach the basket to my bike; scooped and disposed of lots and lots of kitty poo from our cat Lotsa; used two to wash things I didn't want to touch; covered my bicycle seat; used one over the clothes line to protect an item of clothing from dirt. Does anyone remember the days we were constantly reminded to use plastic bags in order to save trees? In addition, the bicycle is 40 years old, the basket I was attaching is at least 10 years old as is the seat, and the tires were purchased in 1979. I challenge the greenies to match my small biking footprint. Also, my van has been parked most of the summer because at Lakeside you can walk everywhere you want to go.



The worst form of recycling is putting the huge ugly bin in plain sight where it visually pollutes. Our church does that--and I've written about it. Even Meijer's supermarket finds a way to discreetly place them so they don't change the appearance of their store. I guess they think visuals are part of marketing. What a concept!

Rachel Carson

will apparently be appearing this week at Lakeside in the portrayal by Cathy Kaemmerlen. She'll go on without me. The blurb says, "In 1962, Carson wrote Silent Spring, which exposed the hazards of the pesticide DDT. As a result, DDT came under closer governmnt supervision and was eventually banned." Of course, not a single person has ever died from exposure to (or even eating) DDT. But the result of the ban is that more Africans have died of malaria than were killed in the transatlantic slave trade. Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth also lays on misinformation about malaria--says global warming is increasing it. That's also untrue. In fact, our own Washington DC used to be a swampy mess of mosquitoes and malaria. You don't need a warm climate to have malaria. Millions of African children continue to die or live a disabled life due to our environmental movement that puts animals and plants above people. Pesticide soaked bed nets? Would you put your child under one?

A few weeks ago we had a series here on global health, and although I only attended the one by a scientist (Dick Slemons) I know and trust, the usual about health even in JAMA is all about the gap--that some have poor health because we have good health. I noticed the following at what I assume is a libertarian site (since Republicans haven't sounded like this in decades)

Arguments based on inequality are, at root, made from a misunderstanding - willful or otherwise - of the way in which wealth, medicine and technology are best created. Rapid progress for all requires a free market, strong rule of law and property rights. Such a culture necessarily has a power law distribution of ownership and success. There's a reason the US has led the world in technology, for all that it's going to the dogs nowadays - it's the flip side of the reason that communism, socialism and the politics of envy lead to poverty and suffering.

Creating "equality" by taking from the successful ruins the creation of wealth - very much a non-zero sum game - for all. It takes away the vital incentives and rewards for success. At the end of the process, as demonstrated by all that transpired in the Soviet Union, you are left with the same old inequalities, but now taking place amongst ruins, starvation and disease.

Economic ignorance is the death of cultures; it is presently eating away at the US, and is sadly most advanced in medicine and medical research. People who favor equality and envy over wealth and progress are, unfortunately, usually comparatively wealthy themselves and thus largely insulated from the short-term consequences of their ignorance. These dangerous philistines will have to decide in the years ahead whether their dearly-held positions are worth losing their lives to, not to mention the lives of everyone they manage to kill - at the rate of 100,000 with each and every day of delay on the way to working anti-aging technologies. Fight aging

Strickland and Blackwell in 2006

Ted Strickland ran on a jobs creation platform and a "I'm not Bob Taft" plank. Our unemployment rate has soared since he took over, and he's also switched his ethics (a former Methodist pastor) to support additional gambling, which always hurts the poor more and hasn't done a thing to improve education. But I see he is going to speak on the economy at the Democratic convention. Our unemployment was extremely low (state-wide) in 2006, so I wasn't sure why that was such a big deal, but for Appalachian Ohio and inner city Cleveland I suppose it was higher (for those of you geographically-challenged, we don't have a lot of industry in Appalachia and NE Ohio now that liberals have killed coal and created rust belts) But they breathe clean air. And he couldn't really say, "don't vote for the black guy." Although someone in the MSM did refer to Kenneth Blackwell as "the Republican lawn jockey." Interesting that when Obama slips in the polls, it's racisim. When Strickland pulled ahead of Blackwell, it was just good grass roots organizing. And just who are the Democrats calling racist? Wouldn't it be their own party members, since Republicans hadn't planned to vote for Obama anyway? I'm just saying. . .

Obama at the library

The UAPL has 15 copies of Obama's Audacity, and 12 copies of his Dreams, and 8 copies (6 titles) of juvy-groovy pro-Obama books. The newest, #1 Obama-critical title, called Obama Nation, has one copy on-order with 9 requests. I don't know what the tipping point is for ordering second copies, but the standard appears to vary depending on the political slant of the title. There were always multiple copies (one had 16) of anti-Bush books available, but few copies of any alternative view. Same way with conservative Christian books in general. But I've blogged about that before (see my list). Librarians are so liberal, they fall off the cliff for whatever Democrat is running. If I want to read Obama Nation, I'll probably have to buy it. I think that's why they don't get many requests. We get tired of waiting and go to Barnes and Noble. They may be liberal, but they're not stupid.

Portable pensions--we need them

Yes, just ask your union rep who should control your pension. I'm sure they'll be impartial.

"SEIU Promotes Risky Pension Plans

Last month the Service Employees International Union sponsored “Take Back the Economy” rallies in 100 cities, supporting a largely Democratic economic agenda. Included in the union’s wish-list is support for “defined-benefit” pension plans, which SEIU advocates over “defined-contribution” plans for workers. The latter setup, which includes 401(k) plans, allows workers to make regular contributions toward their pension funds—contributions which can be carefully invested and transported from job to job. To the contrary, defined-benefit plans are usually managed by union officers who can steer funds to projects requiring union-only contracts—but not necessarily good investments. The SEIU National Industry Pension Fund, for instance, is underfunded by about 44 percent despite a well-funded plan for SEIU officers, reports Brian Johnson of the Alliance for Worker Freedom." Capital Research Center Newsletter

Kind of reminds me of the well-funded, congress on both sides of the aisle who didn't want to see sound changes in Social Security but had their own pension plan that closely resembled what Bush proposed for the rest of us. When the people have more, the politicans have less.

Can you save the environment by

Making jewelry from used skateboards

or

Chair seats from recycled organic t-shirts?

Paying $200 for a handbag made by West Bengal artisans

Or

$285 for eco-silver earrings?

Wearing an organic wool poncho trimmed with vegan silk

Or

Recycled glass necklaces from wine, beer, and water bottles?

Eating simply with organic pecan bars

Or

Raw cane candy?
Of course not, but it will sell a magazine. This is the newest item in my collection, Boho, Issue No. 1, Fall 2008. Complete with 1970s colors, today's spokesmodels, and canvas bags for shopping. Every marketing technique has been recycled and is guaranteed to go for the green.

Golden boy

You might think ADHD kids can't focus, but that's not necessarily so. Some focus almost exclusively on one particular thing to the detriment of social skills or academic learning. Michael Phelps, according to his mother, has ADHD and as a child was medicated. And this is just a guess, but once she found that swimming could grab his attention, and helped him channel that energy, they were off to the Olympics. Having exceptionally long arms and being very tall with big feet, probably didn't hurt. With 13 gold medals, he's won more gold than any athlete in Olympics history.

I watched an interview with her this morning, and she still maintains a web site for parents of ADHD children. I'm against medicating kids--Thomas Edison was ADHD, too--thank goodness no one medicated him. Maybe Mom or the teacher just need to take something. Michael's mother says he was diagnosed at 9 and went off medication at 11, and that he didn't use it in the summer or on week-ends. I'm not a doctor, but most medications need to be taken consistently. If they noticed any improvement in his behavior, I'm guessing it was the placebo effect. But the medication gurus are pushing their stimulants based on the Phelps case in their publications. Unfortunate.

Turning P-Green

As in pooper-scooper.
Politicians.
Pharisees.
Pile-on.
Peremptory.
Professionals.
Preaching.
Petroleum-free.
Products.
Planning.
Protection.
Pathological.
Program.
Pervasive.
Parade.
Pell-Mell.
Projects.
Plants.
Parrot.
Party-line.
Pedant.
Pestilence.
Pesticide-ban.
Positivism.
Profit.
Pick-pocket.
Pious.
Pitbull.
Performance.
Paranoia.
Productivity.
Passion.
Paternalism.
Problem.
Prove-it.
Purpose Driven Church.
Pantheism.
Perfidy.
Peddle-power.
Prius.
Procedures.
Protesters.
Packaging.
Palaver.
Peevish.
Panacea.
Pandora's box.
Paper work.
Pay load.

Rick Warren and the campaign

When I heard what Warren planned to do I told my husband that it appears he wants to be the next Billy Graham (he always met with presidents regardless of their faith). A friend of mine from high school, let's call him Dave since that's his name, sends a Bible study a few times a week via e-mail to various home boys and girls. Today he commented on Warren's work and prominence. Here's my take, revised from my e-mail to Dave.

Our home congregation (UALC, Columbus, OH) is a believing church and used Warren's Purpose Driven Life as a sermon series about 4 years ago. I read and liked it, for the most part. I compare it to a fad diet--works for awhile and then you yo-yo back to your previous weight. I think for believers it is icing on the cake--can remind them of some things more traditional Bible preachers either forget or don't emphasize. But for unbelievers it is really loaded with fat and empty calories and they could be misled with good feelings and great intentions, thinking it is of God.

I'm analytical--if I don't hear or read some version of "Did you know Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins and rose from the grave and you can too" early in the sermon or book, then I look for what the speaker/writer is building on. Usually it is a version of good works (environmentalism, humanism, political activism, human relationships). Most people desperately want to believe in something, and when it isn't the saving work of Jesus, it tends to be some type of trendy prayer, or human effort (fight global warming), or multiple gods. However, I have to remember that just as there are multipe learning styles, so there are many methods through which God reaches people depending on their personalities and emotional make-up. I've heard plenty of well-intentioned, Biblical sermons that could drive a person into a long nap. Yes, God could reach you in your dreams, but probably not if you're snoring through the sermon. I love certain programs on Catholic radio and TV, but when it's a panel investigating the miracles of praying to Mary or a particular saint, I reach for the remote. It's not for me. Warren just doesn't fit the needs of many Christians; he's Jesus-lite.

Rick Warren has a huge church. I hope that after he draws them down the saw dust trail with the preaching, music and programming, there is a sound small group to disciple the new members or visitors with solid Bible teaching. I've heard there is--sort of bait and switch. The only problem I have with that method, and I've told my own pastors this, you never know when you're in that pulpit (or even conversation) whether this is your last or only chance to reach that person, and God has put him there that Sunday for you to witness to the Good News.

Lakeside 2008, Week 8

It's been a wonderful, music filled week. Last night was the Celtic Tenors, Matthew Gilsenan, James Nelson, and Daryl Simpson. If you ever have the chance to attend one of their concerts, do go! From here I think they went to Milwaukee. A lovely mix of traditional, Gaelic, American, opera, and pop. Handsome and elegantly dressed, too, which after a summer of seeing baggy shorts and flip flops was a treat.

Tonight is Phil Dirt and the Dozers, always a favorite just about anywhere in Ohio. For them, I don't expect a fashion show. They formed in 1981 in Columbus, and they do perform all over the country, but Ohio is their home where they take us back to the 50s, 60s, and 70s. This photo is a bit dated; here's the bio info on the current group. Their drummer died last year. A really fabulous young guy joined them in 2006 whose wife is university faculty in Columbus.

On Tuesday we enjoyed tremendously the piano duets of husband and wife Pierre van der Westhuizen and Sophia Grobler, both from South Africa and who serve on the faculty of Heidelberg College when not touring.

Monday evening was the Lakeside Symphony Candlelight Showcase of homes although we didn't attend. It's a fundraiser. Several Lakeside homeowners host a small group of musicians and guests. People (180 homes this year) also light up their homes with Christmas lights and decorations. It's a festive time!

I skipped Kathy Mattea on Saturday, a CW singer and shill for Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth." At Lakeside we like our social activism from the pulpit (smile). My husband said there was nothing in her concert about her politics, but you never know when you might have a Dixie Chix eruption.