On his Myspace page, Jody Bilyeu said this about his favorite music:
I love best the practitioners who are trying to honestly communicate real experience to somebody. Generally speaking, I've found, at least here recently, that means not the best players and singers, necessarily, but the best poets, speaking now not of the poet as writer but the poet as humble priest of the soul's mysteries. [Emphasis mine]
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Is this an example of cultural arrogance on behalf of the writer or is this an example of missionaries having an undeniably positive impact? Matthew Parris, an athiest, has written an article for the Times arguing that Africa needs Christian missionaries.
Now a confirmed atheist, I've become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people's hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good.
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My family has gone out to visit my uncle that lives near Asheville, North Carolina. We had lunch at the historic Grove Park Inn and took some time to look at some of the gingerbread houses that are on display.
Gingerbread Chess
Gingerbread Grinch
Gingerbread Fantasy Scene
I hope that all of my readers have had a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
When I'm back in Springfield, I start to think about Springfield things and my childhood. As a card holding kid's club member, one of the persistent influences on my youth were the cartoons that were shown on KDEB 27. The man that hosted those cartoons was a goofy guy named Mike Malibu. He would come on each day a perform ridiculous skits and talk about the 'toons.
I got to wondering about Mike Malibu, and found out that the character was played by an actor named Jim Kellett. His biography says that he started his career studying at Missouri State University, but he has now gone on to do a whole host of other things including getting a master's degree from Syracuse, working at the Travel Channel, and producing in Colorado.
A few old Mike Malibu sketches can be found on YouTube. Check out "Malibu Baby." I think that I was in fifth grade when this came out.
(via Desdinova)
Thinking about Mike Malibu caused me to consider other Ozarks television show hosts. My mom talks about watching Aunt Norma, along with her puppets Rusty and Skinny, on the KY3 Children's hour. "Aunt" Norma Champion was probably a better role model than Mike Malibu. She actually tried to teach things to kids and dressed respectably. She went on to teach communications at one of the local universities. In fact, she's now a member of the Missouri Senate. However, maybe it is too soon to judge. Is it possible that I'll see a "Mike Malibu" Kellett on the ballot in my lifetime?
Read more about The Children's Hour in the book Hi There, Boy and Girls by Tim Hollis.
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A Reuters report just came out that says that people were trapped in the Singapore Flyer for six hours. I'm glad that it wasn't me that was stuck up there.
Read the Full Article
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A low budget trailer for the film 21 and a Wake Up has been released on YouTube.
(Via AmyAckerFan.com)
Through serendipity, my flatmate and I were extras in this film. If you pause the frame at 4:15 you can see the back of my flatmate Zach Smith's head as he closes the truck. I am on the other side of the truck in the slouch hat.
Read my original post about this film.
Extra! Extra! I Went to Vietnam
About a month ago, I was carefully considering my future plans for the next two or three years and, after being inspired by Bing Crosby, called my parents up to tell them, "I'll be home for Christmas." Unfortunately, the airlines aren't helping me much. Or, more accurately, the airlines in America aren't helping me with that much.
After engaging in the miracle of human flight all of the way across the Pacific Ocean, I find myself stuck in Minneapolis waiting for my connecting flight to the Springfield-Branson Regional Airport. I'm a little perplexed about the reason for my delay, but I'm not that upset. At first, the people at the connecting flight counter told me that the delay was weather related; that is, they told me this until I went to the "World Perks" counter (I'm a frequent flier). After flashing my card, the man at the ticket counter told me that the flight was delayed due to a mechanical failure. He then proceeded to print out vouchers that allowed me to stay at the Radisson and eat eighteen dollars worth of airport food.
For the record, I do think that the cause was mechanical. On the hotel shuttle I met a cute female doctor, also heading to Springfield, that got the same voucher. She said that, at first, the airline was only going to pay for half of her amenities until she argued with them. It was her second day experiencing delay. Apparently, Northwest only tells the truth to frequent fliers and rich, attractive people. (I guess I'll be going back down to the lower echelons after my frequent flier card expires in February.)
The exact same scenario happened to me in Chicago last June while flying United (where I'm not a frequent flier). Only that time, the people at the gate told me that the plane was stalled due to mechanical failure, but the people at the ticket counter said that the plane was stalled due to weather. Of course, the bad weather takes precedence over the mechanical problem so, if it hadn't have been for my friend's travelers insurance, I would have had to pay for my delay.
Truthfully, I find both scenarios inexcusable. Yes, travelers that pay more and frequent travelers should be given extra privileges and amenities; but, when it comes to delays, everyone should be treated the same. No one should be lied to by the airlines. On the board that lists departure times and flight delays, a reason should be posted next to all cancellations. These reasons should have to be validated by an FAA representative. If the reasons are related to anything but weather, all delayed passengers should be entitled to a one hundred dollar a day hotel and food voucher. And, no, weather related delays at other airports shouldn't hinder your departing flight. If a plane coming from Fort Wayne, Indiana, was delayed for thirty minutes and your red-eye flight departing from Minneapolis is somehow affected and delayed until the next day, the airlines need to take full responsibility for the delay. That is not your weather delay. The airlines need to either pay for your accommodation or leave the airport open thirty minutes longer until your plane can leave a little late.
Overall, I am actually ashamed of airlines in America. When I fly internationally, these delays just don't happen. And if the delays do happen, the airlines take good care of you. In the past three and a half years, I've flown to or from Bangkok, Tokyo, Kunming, Lizhang, Kuala Lumpur, Taipei, New Delhi, Chennai, and Ho Chi Mihn City. I've never been delayed over night. In fact, I've never been delayed more than three or four hours. In fact, of all of my friends and colleagues that travel around southeast Asia, the only significant delays that I know have occurred took place in Thailand, but those were flukes: five years ago there was a deadly tsunami and last month the entire airport was shut down due to a strike.
I've only been through Europe once, but in my short experience their track record was astounding. I had a delay that was, arguably, my fault. However, KLM still saw that part of the failure was theirs. They paid in full for me to stay the night in Amsterdam and then upgraded me to first class on a flight between Amsterdam and Singapore, one of the longest possible non-stop flights. This was well before I had any frequent flier status.
The first problem airlines in America face is that everyone is just too grouchy, both the employees and the customers. Sometimes angry American travelers will ask for unreasonable things. Suspicious of customers and and frustrated by his or her lack of power to help, the person at the ticker counter will then take a defensive stance for the rest of the day and, possibly, career.
The second problem lies with the rules of the airport. When nighttime flights are delayed, the airport needs to stay open longer. Overbooking flights should be a crime. In order to make more money, airlines will sometimes sell seats that don't exist with the hope that a few people won't show up. It's a totally stupid strategy. If you buy concert tickets and don't show up, your seat is empty. If concert tickets were "overbooked" the venues would be sued out the wazoo the first time someone had to sit on the lap of a stranger. Airlines should follow a similar strategy. If someone doesn't show up, that means more elbow room for everyone else.
The third problem lies with American flight unions. In Asia stewards, stewardesses, and flight counter employees are young, energetic people that only anticipate a limited tenure at their job. At four in the morning they have the energy to greet you with a smile on their face, and they haven't yet arrived at that stage of middle-aged, service-sector sassiness that gives them the right to talk down to the customers. To see what I'm talking about, go to a McDonald's restaurant in America. If a teenager gets your order wrong, they'll typically fix it without asking questions. Slightly embarrassed, the pimply-faced kids will just give you a new McChicken. In contrast, if a middle aged manager gets your order wrong, the personal embarrassment will be absent and defensive mechanisms will kick in. Expect a personal insult, complaint about the company, or rude remark to be served on the side of your burger and fries.
Don't misunderstand me, I'm a union supporter for certain industries. The mechanics that have their head in a jet engine all day long, and the guys in the back that wreak havoc on their bodies by lifting heavy luggage throughout the day, need union protection. Corporations are greedy and they will sacrifice their workers' health for their own profits. However, service sector folks such as flight attendants and desk attendants have one job- make sure the customers are happy. They don't need union protection and the industry isn't served by protecting them. As soon as your attitude, communication skills, or capacity to deliver the product in a way that makes people happy are compromised, you've failed to do your job, plain and simple. At the very least your job needs to be downgraded, people that pay thousands of dollars to get places they need and want to go shouldn't be subjected to your rude remarks; those comments should be reserved for people that paid for a McChicken but really wanted a Big Mac.
I spotted this sign at a shopping center near SimLim Square in Singapore.
I found this little fellow marching around near Salvador's Coffee House last spring in Kunming. He's the pet of one of the nearby shop owners and he will follow you up and down the street as you browse the goods.
This photo was taken on a Treo 680.
An excerpt from John Piper's article "Pursue Mature Manhood and Womanhood":
I encourage you to be like a dolphin in the sea of our egalitarian, gender-leveling culture. Don’t be like a jellyfish. The ocean of secularism that we swim in (including much of the church) drifts toward minimizing serious differences between manhood and womanhood. The culture swings back and forth as to whether women are mainly sex objects or senior vice presidents. But rarely does it ponder the biblical vision that men are called to humbly lead and protect and provide, and women are called to come in alongside with their unique gifts and strengths and help the men carry through the vision.
I found this beverage at an international grocery store in the New Territories section of Hong Kong. This Pepsi is imported from Japan and supposedly yogurt flavored. I didn't taste any special yogurt flavor. To me it seems like repackaged cream soda.
I've read that there is also a cucumber Pepsi, but I didn't see any of those.
When I first came to Asia over three and a half years ago, I found shopping exciting for the first time in my life. The night markets of Chang Mai were abounding with fake Gucci and Prada, brands that my Missouri eyes had only seen as the accessories of rap star girlfriends on MTV. Bootlegs of films still in the theater were for sale inside the duty free zone of the Batam Ferry Terminal. And the secondary school dropout genius hacks of Malaysia illegally reverse engineered all of the latest video game machines in Johor Bahru's Holiday Plaza. Today the long arms of the international law are cracking down and the gray market free-for-all of yesteryear is slowly going by the wayside.
I never bought that many knock-off items. The software that I purchased three years ago gave my computer a virus, and I had to throw it away. I've also heard that some of that stuff was produced by the mafia; out a sense of moral duty, I've cut my purchase of knock-offs and bootlegs to nearly nil.
I've also been assured that all of the bootlegs still exist, but instead of being out in the open, they are now in the back alleys. However, enduring the stares of knife weidling punks doesn't seem like a wise peril to brave simply to buy my flatmate a new X-Box game for Christmas.
On my recent trip to Hong Kong, this lonely teletubby was the only illegally produced trademarked item that I noticed. It looks like a teletubby morphed with the deformed guy in the 1985 film Mask. Asia, if you're going to rip-off western trademarks, you can do much better than this!
One of my biggest regrets about my time in Singapore is that I didn't make more of an effort to be involved in the literary scene. One of the projects that I would have loved to make contributions to is the Create Le Voyage magazine. A completely online venture, Create Le Voyage seeks to network Singaporean Christian artists and record the work of the Singapore arts scene.
The news issue was released on November 27, 2008. The issue's focus is on the concept of "New Jerusalem," and it has a variety stories and reflections focusing on that concept. There is also a series of insightful reviews. Among the most memorable is a review of the recently complete Singapore Biennale by Annabelle Bok and Daniel Ang. Their thoughts are often negative, but they do a great job of highlighting the aspects of the show that were memorable and redeemable.
The latest issue of Create Le Voyage
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The Create Le Voyage review of the 2008 Singapore Biennale
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My Flickr set of 2008 Singapore Biennale photos
I'm sorry that I've done such an attrocious job of labeling the photos. I will fix it when I have time.
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Last Monday I had my first (and probably last) calendar shoot. A professional photography and social media enthusiast named Willy Foo decided to put together a calendar of Singapore bloggers.
Aside from my facial blemishes, I found out why I'm not a model. When faced with the flash of a camera, I'm stiff as a board. It took everything in me to force a grin and pretend to act natural (if that makes any sense).
The friendly and charismatic woman in the picture behind me is named Pamela. The reason she's in the picture with me is because she was the only other blogger in the group that was born in the month of July. You can read all about her life, her husband, and her kids at her blog Dreaming Reality.
The calendar will be available for sale next month. I'll post more details later!
Today's Word of the Day is pamplemousse.
My flatmate spotted this funny word on his drink box this morning. It is the french word for grapefruit.
The Urban Dictionary identifies this word as an insult.
Along the harbor in Hong Kong's Tsim Sha Tsui is the Avenue of Stars. You can read the names of long dead silent film stars, compare your handsize to Sammo Hung, and see several bronze recreations of movie making paraphenalia.
The most memorable and iconic attraction along this stretch of celluloid iconography is a statue of Bruce Lee. Funded by his own fans, the statue sits as an impressive tribute to the man. Though Bruce Lee died almost thirty years ago, he set the standard for what an action star should be. He performed many of his own stunts, never lost his cool, and was somehow able to adapt an acting style the shook off the Shaw Brothers trademark campiness.
By the way, if you're on my Facebook account, I'll publish a few crazy pictures later.
I recently went to the International Childrens Educators Conference in Hong Kong. In order to scope out the city, the school's IT guy and I left Singapore a few days early. A friend of a friend even picked us up from the airport to show us the city. One of the most beautiful places on Hong Kong is known as The Peak. In order to get there, you take an uphill cable car that was constructed in colonial days. At the top, you can see all of greater Hong Kong in a breathtaking view. On one side, tall shiny skyscrapers dot the landscape in the same way that trees cover a Missouri forest; on the other side is a beatiful bay in pristine and natural condition nudges against the foaming sea. What is the venue that Hong Kong citizens have constructed for such a gorgeous presentation of their city?
A shopping mall.
In one of the most beautiful and historic places in all of Hong Kong you can buy video games, shop at a supermarket, and even eat at a Bubba Gump's restaurant. Isn't life grand!
FindArticles - Germ-free nation: is our obsession with cleanliness beginning to backfire?
Vegetarian Times, July-August, 2004, by Alan Pell Crawford
This album has apparently sold 80,000 copies. It features the greatest artists of all time: Rebecca St. James, Matt Redmond, Delirious? and Sonic Flood. Dare I say, the greatest artists.... ever!
It was so great that they had to make a Volume 2.
You can read more about this European made CD at Cross Rhythms. Link
I wonder if Bach, King David, and Isaac Watts would agree with the title?
