I have also had some household projects going on, which has given me plenty to do the past few weekends and in the evenings. I was supposed to off the entire week following Memorial Day, but that didn’t work out. I did have a couple of those days off though.

This coming Sunday my niece is having her 4th birthday here at the house. The nephews have always enjoyed swimming here, but both niece’s are totally into it, and throw a fit when it’s time to get out and go home.

I also plan to start  new series called, “Say It To My Face.” I’ve really decided that I’m tired of having wingnuts and politicians say just anything they want about LGBT folks, no matter how crazy, dishonest, over-the-top, or insulting. I’m going to try to track down contact information for them, and talk to them (or a staffer), and call them out for it directly. I already have a couple of those to get written, and more are on the way. I don’t know if it’ll change any minds, but I think people generally ratchet down the rhetoric when they have to say it, or back it up, to someone’s face (or at least their telephone voice).

There are couple of movies to get reviewed too, although we haven’t watched many new movies lately. Lay got a call for an interview for TFD, so he’s spent the past couple of weeks and weekends preparing as best he can for that. It’s a huge deal, so send positive thoughts his way.

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Sunday a man came to the Largo Hospital with chest pains and numbness in his left arm. I’d head to the hospital too with those symptoms. They admitted him to the cardiac unit, but around 5am Monday morning he decided he just had to have a cigarette. The nurses told him he couldn’t leave, but he insisted. Went outside, and apparently decided to wonder around a bit, and on a dark stretch of the road, a woman in a Suburban, on the way to her early morning Yoga class, hit and killed the guy. Hope the cigarette was worth it.

And the Tribune is reporting this morning that the Dade City Police are investigating a murder. Armando Uribe, Jr. was found dead in the street with a gunshot wound. Uribe had just been released from the Pasco County Jail Sunday after serving a 10 day sentence for driving while his license was suspended.

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They cite the work for Dr. John Christy at the University of Alabama. Christy claims that the data coming from the earth-based thermometers used by other researchers is inaccurate because they register higher temperatures related to our development. His claim is that parking lots, buildings and other development result in the absorbtion and release of more heat, thus artificially inflating temperatures. Christy uses satellite data. The problem is, even his data shows a warming trend, but he speculates that since it’s a slower trend that every other climate scientist finds, it means it can’t be caused by humans. He even admits the warming trend could be the result of greenhouse gases, so even the scientist the global-warming denier’s want to cite wind up admitting that green house gases may be warming the atmosphere.

We have other religious-based organizations, Pat Robertson, American Family Association, and Focus on the Family, to name just a few are also on the bandwagon of denying (not global warming per sei, but) that global warming is not being caused by humans. For the life of me, I can’t figure out this insistence on them sticking their noses into this discussion.

As a non-scientist, I can’t see how this is not the result of human activity, as that is the dominant activity taking place on earth. We are cutting down our forests, paving over our grass, and pumping millions of pounds of green house gases into the atmosphere monthly. How is it possible this is NOT having a deleterious impact on our environment.

Christians are called to believe that the earth is the creation of God and is a gift given to humans for our care and nurturing. I believe that responsible Christians are especially called on to protect the environment and all in it. In Genesis Chapter 1 (KJV) the Lord gives man “dominion” over his creation. What does that mean. It certainly means to have control over, as a ruler. This then infers the concept of noblesse oblige…With privilege comes obligation…

The literal translation from French of “Noblesse oblige” is “nobility obliges.”¹ To me, this implies an obligation to take care of the things over which one has control, not to destroy or abuse them. There can be no argument that we humans have and are abusing the environment bequeathed to us by God. Who can forget the famous face of the crying Native American from the old public service ads. Not much has changed.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The very word “dominion” derives from the Latin dominium, property, and dominus, lord; or property of the Lord.

This begs the question, “What difference does the specific cause of global warming matter?” We know it is happening, we know we are abusing our environment, and we know that human activity is the most prevalent thing on earth. Those who are truly Christian should be crying out for renewable energy sources (which would help not only the environment, but especially the poor of the world), demanding that the worlds leaders work to clean up our environment, yet they seem to be hell-bent on quibbling over the nuances of data collection to the end of protecting the coal and petroleum interests.

Transitively, this then begs the question, in whose interests and on whose behalf are these so called Christian organizations working?

1. The Dictionnaire de l’Académie française defines it thus: 1. Whoever claims to be noble must conduct himself nobly. 2. (Figuratively) One must act in a fashion that conforms to one’s position, and with the reputation that one has earned. The Oxford English Dictionary says that the term “suggests noble ancestry constrains to honourable behavior; privilege entails to responsibility”. Being a noble meant that one had responsibilities to lead, manage and so on. One was not to simply spend one’s time in idle pursuits.

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Each year, usually when the weather is like this in January or February, I get a visitor. She’s been coming around every year for at least five or six years, and this year she’s about a month early. She also has a boyfriend this year. Earlier this morning I heard a tapping on the sliding glass door in the dining room. When I went to look, there she was, a cardinal tapping on the door, then flying into it trying to get in, or seeing herself in its reflection. I’m not sure which.

But the biggest surprise was a beautiful male cardinal. I snapped a picture from off to the side quickly so as not to scare them off, it’s not a great picture, but I’m including it. This year, I did something I’d been planning for several years, and ran to Lowe’s and got a bird feeder to hang on the side deck, so hopefully they’ll hang around a little longer this year, but if not, at least they have something to eat during their stop off here, and maybe they’re just stopping as they head south, and will be back again in February or March as they head north again. It’s really a very pleasant distraction each year when she comes around.

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Genres: Science Fiction/Fantasy and Thriller; Running Time: 1 hr. 39 min.; Release Date: September 25th, 2009 (limited); MPAA Rating: R for language.

Starring: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Michael Bayouth

Directed by: Oren Peli

Produced by: Jason Blum, Steven Schneider, Oren Peli

We went to see this movie Saturday night at the new CineBistro Theater in Hyde Park Village (Click to read my take on the theater).  We’d heard a lot of hype along with people claiming it was the scariest movie ever. Well let me give away the entire plot of the movie right here:

Something weird happening to the girl..they start recording themselves to see if they catch footage or weird things happening..they hear a noise..they go to sleep..the door opens…they go to sleep…something moves downstairs..they go to sleep..something bangs on the walls..they go to sleep..something breaths..they go to sleep..finally something a little bit scary happens..the movie ends…oh ya and at one point a demon with hooves leaves three footprints on the floor.

One of the big problems was that the “home movie” would be sped up as they slept, and then just before something happened, it would slow to normal speed. Wouldn’t take a genius to figure out that something was about to happen, so all the suspense was sucked out of the movie.

There were a couple of places in the script where there was hope the storyline might get interesting, but in each case, it was never followed up on. I suspect it might have been scenes cut from the movie, but the setups to those should have been cut too if that was the case. It only made me think the screenwriter and director were amateurs.

The concept was OK, but it’s been done before to much better effect. Overall, neither one of us found the movie scray at all.

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CineBistro is a concept created by Cobb Theaters. On their website, they describe it as follows:

Get ready for a CinéBistro experience that will offer anyone who has a passion for movies and a palate for great food an environment unlike anything they have ever experienced before. Each features an upscale, yet inviting and comfortable atmosphere in which to dine while watching a major motion picture.

Cobb CinéBistro will be located in a few, select markets and we’re confident this new upscale theatre experience will rapidly become a favorite of the twenty-one year old and up sophisticated movie-goer.

I’d heard about CineBistro and was interested in checking it out. I lived a few blocks from Hyde Park many years ago the first time I lived here in Tampa, and frequently walked up to the then AMC Theater on Sunday afternoons. Hooked on to the corner of the theater was a restaurant. I only ate there once, and wasn’t overly impressed.

I expected that this concept included that restaurant, but that doesn’t appear to be the way it works.

The theater has been completely redone, and I must admit it was very impressive. The lobby was just phenomenal. Above the ticket counter, they have the movie posters on screens, with their trailers playing in the middle of the poster. I admit, I thought that was pretty cool. You select your seats on a touch screen once you decide on your movie. All seats are reserved, and the theater caters to the 21 and over crowd with a lobby bar, and alcohol available from the wait staff once you’re in your seats.

The seats were fabulous leather seats that were plenty wide enough for my fat butt, but those seats cost a lot. The total for the two of us was $29, meaning seats were $14.50 each. I often evaluate movies in my mind based on how much I spent seeing them. In other words, I might think a great movie was worth every one of the $9 I spend at most movie theaters, and in other cases, I might wish I’d spent the $3 to rent the movie. So while I might be willing to pay $15 to see a movie, it’s gonna have to be a very good movie for me to think it’s worth the price.

I did appreciate showing trailers for high quality nature films rather than the annoying slides and advertisements usually shown.

During the time leading up to the “coming attractions,” you have a chance to order from a small menu that includes appetizers, main courses and deserts. As noted previously, you can get the usual sodas, but also mixed drinks, beer and wine. We were taking in a later movie, and had already eaten, so we didn’t order food. But two couples in front of us did. (Popcorn and over traditional movie fare is available, but the waiter made it clear we have to get that ourselves.) There is a small airplane size tray table that swings to you for eating, but it doesn’t allow a lot of room, and the portions and dishes are small.

The folks below us ordered a main course only, and a glass of wine. The price was $50, so that means their entire evening was around $80. (A 17.5% gratuity is included in the bill, something I’ve never really liked.) The meal service is completed prior to the start of the movie, and if you want more drinks once the movie starts, you get those yourself. So, if you want to eat at the theater, you have to get there enough in advance to be seated and make your selections prior to the start of the coming attractions.

While I appreciated that there were not servers moving around during the movie, I can’t imagine sitting there for a two-hour movie with empty dishes sitting on a tiny table in front of me.I was hoping and expecting the food service would be in the original restaurant.

Cobb has opened seven of these theaters. I think if the concept is going to work, Hyde Park is probably the place where it will work. It was, for us, a pleasant experience, but I think to do the whole thing (dinner and movie), the cost is a bit high. We’ll see how well the concept can catch on. Lay thinks they won’t make it. I think they might.

Do you have an opinion yet on this theater and the concept?

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The group cites a few reasons why the Bible is too progressive: “Lack of precision in the original language … lack of precision in modern language” and “translation bias in converting the original language to the modern one.” Because you know those darned liberal monks back in the days of King James just didn’t really understand the ancient biblical languages. Who knew.

According to an article on Salon.com:

Some of Conservapedia’s denizens, apparently including Schlafly, have been working on a new version of the Gospel of Mark. That has involved, at times, trying to come up with more modern terms for the Pharisees, a group of Jews who are often seen in the New Testament as Jesus’ antagonists. There’s been a bit of debate about what to call them — one contributor used “intellectuals,” for instance, while another said, “In an effort to capture the flavor for conservatives, I suggest changing Pharisees to ‘the Self-Proclaimed Elite’ or maybe just ‘the Elite.’ Given modern culture, I think this is more accessible and has a less benign/neutral connotation than ‘intellectuals.’”

Another contributor had a better term: “Liberals.” That’s led to verses like this one, for now Conservapedia’s version of Mark 3:6:

The Liberals then fled from the scene to plot with Herod’s people against Jesus, and plan how they might destroy him.

Sorry folks, but Jesus was basically a socialist, and was very liberal and progressive, but of course, whoever said Conservatives cared about the truth. You entitled to your own opinion, but not your own set of facts.

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Of course one usually hears it in the context of baseball, and that is where the term originated. In the early days of baseball, the baseball diamonds were laid out with the corner at home plate pointing west. This design was to avoid having the batter facing the afternoon sun. (As the batter is facing the pitcher, he’s facing east.)

This means that pitchers were typically facing west (obviously), which means that the pitcher’s left arm/hand would be on the south-side of his body.

It’s also commonly used in reference to left-handed boxers, but also to any boxer who uses a stance with the right foot in front of the left. This is often referred to as a “southpaw stance.”

According to Wikipedia, only about 7 to 10 percent of the population is left-handed, and many of those exhibit some degree of ambidexterity.¹ My guess is this is due to the fact that so many implements are geared towards right handed use, that southpaws have to adapt to some degree.

1. Wikipedia – Left-handedness

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Blue Ridge Parkway Viaduct

OK, I know that about this time every year I write something about Autumn being my favorite time of year. I know, Tampa, FL is not the place to be thinking about Autumn. I think we get our Autumn here in January, the time of year when these nasty live oaks dump a big portion of their leaves. Still, there is a rhythm that comes with the seasons no matter where one lives, and I love this time of year for the sense of “settling-in.”

There is always the hold-over of the school cycle when students and school employees all head back to their routines. The Summer vacation season is mostly over, and people start getting back into regular routines. With grandparents who were a farm family, I’m familiar with that time of year when the cash crops and the garden vegetables are all “coming in.” Lots of picking and canning going on.

A cool front has come through to help me at least pretend Fall has arrived here in Tampa (at least for a couple days).

Then, if one lives in the right region, there are the colors of Fall. The Piedmont North Carolina region where I grew up can boast of a beautiful Fall, but nothing compares with the Appalachian Mountains for a spectacular display. I do miss not being able to get to the mountains more.

Fall Colors in Shelby, N.C.

Here’s a poll asking about your favorite season of the year.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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