Author: David

Over-educated Curmudgeon, Bit-Bucket Tuner and Budding Brewmeister.
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Go Tell It!

A very brief snippet of a James Taylor performance of “Go Tell It On the Mountain”

[audio:http://www.thirdworldcounty.us/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Go-Tell-It-James-Taylor.mp3]

Go tell it on the mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere,
Go tell it on the mountain,
That Jesus Christ is born.

When I was a seeker
I sought both night and day,
I asked the Lord to help me,
And he showed me the way.

Go tell it on the mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere,
Go tell it on the mountain,
That Jesus Christ is born.

He made me a watchman
Upon a city wall,
And if I am a Christian,
I am the least of all.

Go tell it on the mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere,
Go tell it on the mountain,
That Jesus Christ is born.

Continue reading “Go Tell It!”

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Christmas “Chili”

Since there is no “chili” spice in this (aged anaheim chilis–the base of standard chili recipes’ sauces–are completely absent from this recipe), it’s not actually a chili, and I’m not actually reproducing the recipe here, just giving a pointer and an instruction: Go here. Follow the recipe and add the suggested green chilis and tomatoes amendment.

Done. It’s green and red (with some white) and delicious.

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Keep “X” in Xmas!

Some folks get fixated on the silliest things. I can recall folks, speaking from their profound, almost impervious to reason, ignorance, condemning the formulation “Xmas” as being somehow disrespectful of Christ. *sigh* Are these same folks condemning the Chi Rho symbols so common in Lutheran and RC and other heavily tradition-oriented church use? Do these same folks become incensed at their own use of the ignorant display of a “fish symbol” on their own cars? *heh*

Sidebar: the “IXTHUS-fish” symbol was a very, very early “Chrismon”–a symbol meant to represent the Person, life and work of Jesus Christ–formed from the first (Greek) letters of the phrase, “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior.” In case it flew by you, “X” is the first letter in the Greek word we transliterate as “Christ.”

“Xmas” IS “Christmas” just as much as the Chi Rho (Chr–first two Greek letters of “Christos”) symbol is a long-established and respectful Chrismon for “Christ”.

So, folks, let’s put X back in Xmas, OK? At the very least, perhaps it will open doors for a conversation on just Who “X” is.

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The Nativity

A note from C.S. Lewis:

THE NATIVITY

Among the oxen (like an ox I’m slow)
I see a glory in the stable grow
Which, with the ox’s dullness might at length
Give me an ox’s strength.

Among the asses (stubborn I as they)
I see my Savior where I looked for hay;
So may my beastlike folly learn at least
The patience of a beast.

Among the sheep (I like a sheep have strayed)
I watch the manger where my Lord is laid;
Oh that my baa-ing nature would win thence
Some woolly innocence.

— C. S. Lewis, from POEMS, edited by Walter Hooper, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1977

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Announcing: Carnival of Christmas, 2009

Folks, get your Christmas posts ready for the Carnival of Christmas, hosted by Cathouse Chat, again this year.

Note the specifications:

A Carnival for anything Christmas related. You can share Christmas stories, Christmas poems, Christmas podcasts, Christmas parodies, Christmas pictures, etc. The only requirement is that the post be respectful of the Holiday and in the Spirit of Christmas cheer and kindness.

Kat adds these clarifications:

…first of all, absolutely no political or advertising posts. I want to make sure the Carnival remains focused on the season and that it celebrates the joy, solemnity and unity that the season ought to bring. Secondly, I earnestly request that all submitted posts be dated from November and December of this year, 2009.

*sigh* And here I was going to simply submit pastiches of past Christmas posts… Oh, well. 🙂

Getcher fingers tappin’ folks.

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I Like It When My Directions Are Followed to the Letter…

Saw this at “etsy” (off a reference from Lovely Daughter’s blog, A Dash of Nutmeg),

Obey-Gravity

It attracted my eye because of a lil schtick I pull from time to time: shopping in a store, set something down (perhaps in a cart or basket or even at the checkout), point at it and glare sternly saying, “Stay!” It almost invariably gets a decent reaction from whatever audience I have.

“Tis a small thing but my own.

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A Reminder

As crass commercialism and political correctness collide to create “The Contemporary (Generic) Holiday Season” once again this year, may I–once again–offer a modest proposal not to just defend a traditional “Merry Christmas” greeting but to stop and consider the season?

The Gift

Trees and lights and bells and carols,
Bright-wrapped packages piled high.
Winter’s sharp blow joins the heralds:
“Christmastime is nigh.”

Mailmen hurry; shoppers scurry;
Time is fleeing–Oh! so fast.
Parties gather, loud and merry,
Grander than in Christmas’ past.

Pause a moment to remember
That a Savior’s simple birth
Still stirs angel wings in susur’–
“Peace to men; goodwill on earth.”

Now the Father’s hands that molded
The first Adam in the clay,
Gently ’round a manger folded,
Cradle a Baby in the hay.

So, the Greatest Gift extended–
Gift of love and peace to all;
God’s great love to man descended
Calls us to a stable stall.

Tiny Babe, Eternal Son;
First step to Calv’ry, vict’ry won.

©1990-1991 David W Needham

Continue reading “A Reminder”

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I Want It!

Nice enough, but I want to hook it up into home automation hardware/software. Heck, I want to hook it up into some robotics… send a robot on down to the PO to pick up my mail, to the grocery to buy some munchies, to the kitchen to cook up dinner (and then serve it), to a client’s to work on some hardware. Now, that’d really let me sit n veg out, lard on the fat, whatever.

This isn’t nearly to that point yet–not even within an order of magnitude “near”–but it is cool enough for what it can do. Hmmm, with voice recognition software integrated, it could enable a lot more “hands free” computing. Too bad it’s just for gaming at this point, since I have just about zero interest in that.