53 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 11-15-18”

  6. Son in Virginia sent a picture of snow along with birthday greetings to son in Pensacola. I sent a picture from outside, it was black. They get up early back there but apparently so does the sun.

    Liked by 3 people

  7. How come you people have snow?! It has barely snowed here in the past few weeks. They can’t use the snowmobiles, there is so little snow. The days are rapidly getting shorter (by 3 in the afternoon, it is pitch dark – which is bewildering to my internal clock), the fjord is freezing over (each morning, there is more ice formed), and there is barely any snow. The locals say this is highly unusual. The snow seems to have lost its bearings and headed south instead of north.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. I mentioned earlier that in auto commercials, where there are two people, the woman is always driving.
    When the driver is doing something stupid, it is always the man driver.
    😆

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  12. What is this “Camp Fire” business?
    All I know is the name.
    Did it start from a camp fire?
    If so, it wasn’t Boy Scouts. That would never happen. scouts learn to handle such safely.

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  13. Well, Chas, men are almost two times more likely to have a fatal car accident than women. Marketing is all about using statistics to sell things to people.

    The portrayal of a wise woman vs. a foolish man is a theme found repeatedly in Scripture. There was Jael vs. Sisera, Abigail vs. Nabal (modern conservative Christianity would completely condemn Abigail for her lack of submission in what she does and what she says about Nabal’s character – in fact, ATI did try to condemn her in their ‘character sketch’ about her), Esther vs. Haman, the wise woman of Abel vs. Joab (II Samuel 20:16-22), etc. Then there is the portrayal of Wisdom herself, in Proverbs, seeking out men willing to be taught. Perhaps we are over quick to find fault with secular stories that are pale imitative shadows of the blood and flesh stories told in Scripture.

    Liked by 1 person

  14. chas, the Internet knows all.

    https://www.sfgate.com/california-wildfires/article/Why-is-it-called-Camp-Fire-name-Butte-County-destr-13380824.php
    ____________________________

    Why is it called the Camp Fire? How California’s most destructive wildfire got its name

    Butte County’s deadly Camp Fire was named after Camp Creek Road, the location where the fire started.

    Wildfires are often named after their places of origin. …
    _______________________________

    Liked by 2 people

  16. Oh, you have to wait for your ice, huh, AJ? We got ours overnight. Our poor car, her first winter not to be in a garage, has icicles hanging all over her. My husband went out to get a few groceries last night–we were already well stocked, but he never likes to run out of bananas and that does mean frequent trips–and he said the store was quite busy. Neither of us has to go out today . . . well, I see I didn’t post this, so I guess I will add to it, saying that I chose to go out a few minutes ago to get some “ice” photos. The ice was already thawing off the twigs and snow was landing as rain. And the snow we had a few days ago killed most of what was left of fall color. But the fall color / winter precipitation mix is so rare in the Midwest (or at least Illinois and Indiana), and so pretty, that I had to go get some photos, and I think I got a few decent ones.

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  17. Roscuro, men are often more aggressive drivers, which can be either good or bad. But being almost twice as likely to have a fatal accident might be an irrelevant statistic. What percentage of miles driven are driven by men? It wouldn’t shock me if men do at least two-thirds of the driving, at least in America. Not only do men nearly always drive if a man and a woman (or a group) are in the car together–including vacation miles, which add up fast as a total percentage of a family’s driving–but it seems to me that men are many times as likely to drive for a living (truck driving, taxi driving, etc.). And men are more likely to drive long commutes to work. (I don’t know any women who live 50 miles or more from where they work, but I have known quite a few men who do/did.)

    Liked by 2 people

  18. A few years ago our Christian radio station ran an advertiser’s ad in which the husband was totally stupid and his wife had to set him straight. I wrote them an letter suggesting that it was inappropriate. They responded with an apology and took the ad off the air.

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  20. Roscuro – The difference between those stories in scripture and the frequent portrayal, in ads and TV shows, of husbands as silly or foolish is that the scripture doesn’t intend to teach that men in general are doofuses. (Or should that be doofi? 😀 )

    Liked by 3 people

  22. In the discussion yesterday, I mentioned that we stand for the singing portion. The opening prayer is also said while we are still standing. But if anyone is not up to standing for any reason, it is okay to stay seated.

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  25. AJ, when I was out for an hour earlier today, I thought, “This is one year I don’t have to wait for winter for a ‘winter wonderland.'” Looks like you don’t, either! (We only got a bit of ice and some snow wet enough that it mostly melted as it fell, though.)

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  28. How do you know that the ads are intended to portray that men are doofuses in general? The marketing companies who produce this stuff are made up of many different copy writers, producers, art directors, etc. It is doubtful that they have a concerted agenda to put down men. In fact, given the general male domination in the art director/producer occupations, most of these ads are probably produced by men. They are probably just going for the laugh factor, because humour is a good memory hook. The popularity of shows such as ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos’ demonstrates that laughing at others’ stupidity sells.

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  31. What do you mean deteriorated? That looks wonderful! Meanwhile, it is probably in the fifties around here, time to go dig up some cherry and ash trees and move them around.

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  34. Kizzie, once again, most of those comedies will have been produced, directed, and written by men. When I was young, we watched reel to reel films that we borrowed from the library. Some of my father’s favorites, thus becoming ours, were old black and white comedies with Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Laurel and Hardy, all of which portrayed men acting silly and getting into ridiculous situations as a result. Chaplin and Keaton wrote, directed, and produced their films, while Laurel and Hardy worked for Hal Roach studios. Then there were the Marx brothers, the Three Stooges, Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis, and many other male comedians who specialized in playing the fool. These were all wildly popular long before the modern feminist movement that began in the 60s and 70s. One can go further back. Dickens, in what many critics call his greatest work, The Pickwick Papers, portrayed a group of none too bright men going about getting into hilarious situations because of their lack of foresight – a fine old intellectual British gentleman I had the privilege to know regarded Pickwick as the epitome of good literature.

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  35. Cheryl, men are more likely to be involved in serious accidents and to be drunk when the crash occurs, suggesting that risk taking behaviour is an important factor.

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  36. I forgot I was baking bread. Cinnamon rolls. Now I have read that a five to six year old deer has been dodging traffic and eluding hunters for seven years. That must have been a challenge.

    Liked by 2 people

  38. I don’t like slapstick, either. My husband does, and he has showed me a few movies that are borderline, but pieces we both enjoy. For me, not only do I not like slapstick, but I don’t enjoy the implausible, over-the-top comedy. But we have found some movies we both enjoy, and he watches some that I wouldn’t like by himself, so it works.

    When we were courting, I was at his house and he and I and the girls were watching a movie he loved, “The Long Race” I think, and I found it so tedious I couldn’t wait till it was over, and it just went on and on and on. (I didn’t tell him that for several years.) Had we been married already, I would have eventually retreated to another room or taken a nap with my feet on his lap. Had the girls not been present, after two hours I would probably have been asking, “How long is this, anyway?” As it was, I just endured, but made a mental note to say “no, thanks” if he suggested that one after we were married.

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  39. I watch Roy Clark every Sunday night on Hee-Haw.
    He is a mister, as you can tell by the clip. He plays all sorts of string instruments, not just guitar. A good comedian too, as you might guess by the clip.

    But for guitar picking, I like the style of Chet Atkins and Merle Travis better.

    Liked by 1 person

  40. Slapstick wasn’t what made filmmakers like Chaplin and Keaton so renowned. It was their ability provoke self reflective laughter in their audience that gave them universal appeal. They were and are so well respected worldwide that I have seen tribute paid in Hindi language films to their work. Their ‘slapstick’ is not of the same kind as the Three Stooges, which does get a little old after a while, because the Stooges’ comedy had no fixed purpose other than entertainment. Chaplin and Keaton’s use of physical comedy has purpose and meaning. I once wrote an essay as a writing exercise on Chaplin’s Modern Times in which I pointed out that the imagery of man trapped in a machine had also been used in the German Expressionist film Metropolis, but Chaplin’s work was much more effective, because it provoked laughter instead of horror, as the German Expressionist was trying to do. The ability to not take oneself too seriously is, as G.K. Chesterton often observed in his works, the gift of sanity.

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  41. I’m just in from a quick run to the grocery store. We’ve had fire survivors with us since Monday night–here for a couple more days and then into an apartment. The nine-year-old stayed with me today; their school is STILL out owing to poor quality of air.

    She’s a smart fun child who practiced the piano, worked puzzles, read and kept herself pretty well entertained until about 1. Every 45 minutes I took a 15 minute ergo break and we played a game.

    I wrote a blog post, two articles, two newsletters and answered email. A very productive day. I may need to keep her . . .

    And in between all that, got four radio invitations for Poppy.

    A very good day!

    Now to finish the stew for dinner and off to choir.

    We’ll take that snow–anything with moisture. It’s better out here but still, I’m leery of going outside.

    Liked by 3 people

  42. Looking at that wonderful header photo, I read that it has now been 215 days since northern California had even 1/2 inch of rain. It has never been this dry. and new fires are very likely until we get some drenching rain.

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  43. Roscuro – That is interesting that it is men behind it. Could it be that they are catering to things women would usually watch?

    To be a little clearer, I was referring to the kind of comedy or commercial in which the husband is clueless and the wife has to set him straight. Often there is a lack of respect from the wife, but not always. If it were common for the roles to be reversed – the wife was always clueless and the husband had to set her straight – you can bet there would be an uproar about that. (Yes, I know that kind of thing used to be more popular, but not so much anymore since feminism gained ground.)

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  44. When you say that men are more likely to be involved in serious accidents and to be drunk when a crash occurs, is that comparing the percentage of accidents that men are in to the percentage that women are in? IOW, X% of accidents involving male drivers were serious crashes in which the driver was drunk vs. X% of accidents involving female drivers were serious crashes in which the driver was drunk.

    If that is true (that male drivers have more serious accidents, etc. proportionally) it wouldn’t surprise me, as men do tend to be more aggressive than women, even in driving.

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  45. It’s dry as a stick here still, my hair snaps with static, my sinuses uncomfortable 😣

    🤧 sneezing all day.

    We really need some rain this year – there is rain forecast for a week from Friday but that’s so far away it is likely to change.

    Dilemma for Thanksgiving — the usual group of friends are
    getting together for a Mel out (at 11 am which is way early for my tastes but they all seem to like the timing); my cousin suggested getting together (which is what I’d really like to do, maybe a movie and turkey at a cafe); but Carol wants and expects me to take her out since I’ve been doing that semi-regularly. She remains in the hospital and I have a feeling she won’t be out before Thursday (rehab will follow as she’s on a long course of antibiotics – last time that took close to 3 weeks.

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  46. I feel bad if Carol can’t get “out” of the ‘facility’ for a holiday — but no one except me is doing that for her and I guess I sometimes feel a bit trapped now that she’s used to it and expects it.

    The outings with her have become much more difficult this past year in terms of just getting her into and out of my car (I doubt we’ll be able to do them at some point in the near future) and there’s just a lot of driving involved for me, period. (Last year on Thanksgiving I picked her up in the morning and brought her back down to the area where I live to meet up with the group’ “early” meal gathering, then took her back, then had to come back home myself — which put me on the road for a total of like 3-4 hours altogether that day — rather exhausting, all the back-and-forth trips from morning to late afternoon). It was also 90 degrees that day (it should be much cooler this Thanksgiving).

    There is a restaurant near her that would be much easier to take her to so I’ll just do that if I wind up taking her out this year. And of course she’s already told me she’ll have “no money.” I’ve given up on that point with her.

    But I’d really like to spend the day hanging out with my cousin this year instead.

    Maybe I should just decide to do that and let Carol know now (since also it’s very uncertain whether she’ll even be out of rehab by then). At some point plans have to be made.

    OK, thanks. I guess maybe I’ve come to a decision lol

    Liked by 3 people

  47. DJ, you are doing something with Carol because she doesn’t have family . . . but you do. Your cousin probably wants to spend the time with you, too. With Carol it isn’t friends get together to mutually encourage each other, but all one-sided. So, can you tell her you can’t get together on Thanksgiving (assuming she is even free that day), but that a different day you will get together for a meal? Or see if a family can invite her over this year?

    Liked by 2 people

  50. Thanks, I texted my cousin when I got home tonight to say Thanksgiving sounds good. I’ll let Carol know when she calls tonight. I may try connecting with someone at her home church to just put the word out that she’d appreciate some more visits, phone calls. Holiday invites would be wonderful, too.

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  52. Talked to Carol, I think she’s OK with it — she’s still not feeling well, they’re waiting to hear from the infectious disease doctor and will likely transfer her to a rehab in a day or two.

    Meanwhile, I sent an email to the man from her church who had been so kind to her last year. He’s had health problems of his own but I asked if he could pass on the update on Carol to the church elders/deacons. I told him she’d very much appreciate calls, visits, cards — maybe even holiday invites if someone is so moved. I realize people just forget and some get *lost* so easily from the flock.

    Liked by 2 people

  53. Oh look at that snow up there…I sure do hope we see some of that around here this winter!! ⛄️
    Catching up on the postings here…Dj I am glad to read you will be spending time with cousin… 😊
    Hannah has to work on Thanksgiving…so we have decided to have our Thanksgiving meal for the three of us on Wednesday. I have hosted out of town family at Thanksgiving for the past two years. It will be a welcomed change up this year…eating leftovers on Thanksgiving day 🦃

    Liked by 2 people

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