Rogue planets? Unwed to any star? Japanese astronomers now claim to have found such free-floating planets. Could it be that Immanuel Velikovsky's infamous book Worlds in Collision is now vindicated?

Was a rogue planet the titular force responsible for some of the Bible's most famous miracles?

Velikovsky is still near-universally poo-pooed, and more's the pity. People still accept the more than 150 year old findings of Darwin in spite of some of his scientific conclusions' complete real(read: modern)-world failure. Let's face it, there were things about the human cell Darwin could not have known; science had not advanced enough to give him a proper view into the inner workings of the cell. He didn't even know about DNA which was discovered (and not by the name 'DNA') 10 years after his Origin of the Species was first published in late 1859.

Before the early 1860's the cell was thought to be simply a bag of protoplasm with a nucleus. Darwin's understanding of DNA, therefore, was non-existent-- though he did have a grasp on the idea of mutations within what would later be called DNA.

I've said all this to say that we often assume that what we know at present is the 'end all, be all' of human understanding. Velikovsky, to many, is considered a crackpot, even though he's been right about a number of things.

But wandering stars? Even the bible spoke of such things... Jude 13

The Trouble with Happiness
Alexander Green, Whiskey & Gunpowder, May 16, 2011

"Every life is lived between the poles of joy and sadness. Laughter and love are part of it. But so are pain and suffering. To deny the tragic aspects of the world is to suppress a large part of what it means to be human..."

Great artists often try to awaken us — or stir our conscience — by reminding us of the more doleful aspects of life. In response to the 16th Street Church bombing in 1963, an attack by the Ku Klux Klan in Birmingham that killed four girls, saxophonist John Coltrane wrote "Alabama," an instrumental work that expresses anguish and sorrow more eloquently than words."

In 1890, Vincent Van Gogh, overcome by feelings of worthlessness, walked out into the southern French countryside and shot himself in the gut with a pistol. Just 37, he died from the wound two days later. Yet in the previous two years — and despite his bleakness — he completed more than 200 paintings, many of them masterpieces.

Handel, after years spent at the top of the musical world, fell into terrible poverty, ill health, and deep depression. Yet from the depths of profound despair, he completed his greatest work, "Messiah."

Beethoven raged against advancing deafness and his own finitude, yet created immortal works during this period, including his Fifth Symphony; his only opera, Fidelio; his late string quartets; and the Ninth Symphony, with its triumphant "Ode to Joy."

We all want to be happy. But life is also about education, work, courage, honor, empathy, and resilience in the face of hardship. Real contentment comes from a feeling that your life is worthwhile, that it is dissolved into something meaningful and great. That leads to gratitude.

And gratitude, it turns out, is an indispensable part of happiness."

It's worth a read, if you have time.

Let's start with a beaver. I like beavers. I like Mr. Beaver in the first Narnia movie. I like anything with innate ability to build a house... even if it has to cut down the forest with its bleeding teeth to do so.

I also like Mel Gibson, despite the all-around angry guy he's become, or has finally allowed us to see. I've loved him as an actor ever since Galipoli, my first Mel Gibson film, a beautifully poignant and tragic historical epic.

I'd title this post as one in a long line of my "Pithy Reviews" but I haven't seen this film. I simply hope to. Judging strictly from the trailer alone it appears to be just what the doctor ordered for Mr. Gibson... both personally and professionally. I can only hope there is a lesson in the sets and dialogs of The Beaver that will give Mr. Gibson some personal clarity and, perhaps, a point in the right direction.

One review I've read claims this is not a drama... and is not meant to be comedic. I can only imagine how uncomfortable some might feel watching a man brought to this depth of depression and not be asked to laugh. The previews takes pains to make us want to laugh, so... how does that work? A drama that's not a comedy but asks us to laugh anyway. What is funny about a man who breaks down and struggles to find his way back? I hope I get to find out.

Pithy Review
(a few years late)

The Wrestler, starring Mickey Rourke. The most depressing movie I've ever seen. I want to say it was also beautiful, but now that I think about it... many of the camera shots were beautiful; the imagery was captivating, but there was nothing beautiful about the story. In short, The Wrestler is a personification of personal despair and flogging loneliness.

I'm not even sure I liked it; I felt enthralled by something I couldn't pull my eyes away from, like a train wreck you see coming but can't turn away from. There wasn't even a Rocky fanfare at the end... not at the beginning, the middle... no where. It opened without a shred of discernible hope, and it died that way. Even at the end with the hope of a Talia Shire moment in the person of Marisa Tomei... Nothing.

Disaster porn. You don't want to see the blood, the tears, or the bodies as you drive slowly by... but neither can you turn away. I've always liked Mickey Rourke, and his performance here was stellar, but a more depressing film he could not have made.

In the end I was, perhaps, more impressed that I sat all the way through it without changing the channel. Which means I'll likely watch it again sometime in the future.

Sucker Punch
viewed: 040211

Anyone who's seen the trailers? That's pretty much the movie, in terms of action. The creators chose not to tell you that there was another dark, depressing, less visual facet to their film. Nor did they bother to inform you that it is this other facet which propels all the action. Without the part you didn't know about, the rest falls apart.

As a whole, the movie is ultimately tragic; a Romeo & Juliet without a Romeo. You know how it's going to end in the first 8 minutes. They tell you. So don't be surprised or ticked off when it happens. But it's this knowledge that keeps you rooting for Baby Doll. You want her to win. You want her to escape her fate, but with the final rap of a small hammer it's done.

Sucker Punch succeeds very well in this respect; the investment you make in wishing her well. Another plus in Sucker Punch's favor is the music-- forget the art and color, you already knew that was in there. But the music! Specifically, White Rabbit (originally of Jefferson Airplane fame) by Emiliana Torrini.

She totally owns this tune. Before Emiliana all we had was Jefferson Airplanes cheap two-and-a-half minute, albeit great tune. Truly great. But Miss Torrini's version, clocking in at just under 5 minutes 10 seconds... modern, embellished, loud and explosive, is worth the .99 cents I spent to download at Amazon. Jefferson Airplane ends White Rabbit abruptly with little fanfare, leaving you wanting more. It's a shame it took 40 years for someone to explore the lengths to which Jefferson Airplane could have taken this iconic tune.

You may have heard Sucker Punch described as 'eye-candy'. Well, it is. The whole thing, not just the hookerishly-clad chickies. Even the depressing parts. And that's about as negative I can be. Would I buy this on DVD? I haven't decided yet.

But I am pleased with my music download.

I've got a headache. The kind that shoots spears of lightning down the muscles of the neck and back-- it's a vice that seems to know but one direction. Headaches, for me, cause everything else to grind to a near standstill.

I wrote a poem once, while in the beginning throes of a migraine. As short as it is, it still took more than an hour to get right.

This time around my inspiration came not from the headache, but from a single word which caught my eye while scanning a random page of text... That word?


Capulet

Capulet sing
To the morning sun
Of all the things you haven't yet done
Ask him to stay
A little long 'neath his cover
Give you more time
Alone with your lover
Capulet sing

Capulet sing
To the dark starry night
Sing of the things you haven't got right
Ask them to shine
A little long in the sky
Give you and your lover
More time for goodbye
Capulet sing

Soft-throated murmurs
And sighs on the bed
Clasped and fervent
To the boy you have wed
Oh, Capulet sing
Of eyes deep and burnished
Tongues steeped in honey-sweet dew
Your lips on the curves
Of your dear Montague
Oh Capulet sing
Poison and daggers
Are terrible things

Sing and let go
Without fear or doubt
To your sweet Montague
Unstained and devout
Sing Juliet and maybe you'll see
A life beyond whispers
And cold rosary

Capulet sing
To the cold fates of love
Pray to the God who watches above
For Romeo rises
And Mercury too
Tumult and Tybalt
By the hand of your poor Montague
Oh, Capulet sing

Soft-throated murmurs
And sighs on the bed
Clasped and fervent
To the man you have wed
Oh, Capulet sing
Of dreams for the future
Of love, unembattled and true
Your lips on the breast
Of your dear Montague
Oh, Capulet sing
Capulet ring
Capulet love
Till the morning takes wing
Oh, Capulet love
Oh, Capulet sing
Daggers and poisons
Are terrible things


ELAshley
033111.110726.
.113625.1


This is more of a song and, as is rarely the case, I actually have a melody for it-- I already know the chords, I know notes of the whistle between chorus and verse. The poem/song is what's called an aubade. The tune 'Save Tonight' by Eagle Eye Cherry, is a fine example of an aubade.

Of the Fiction/Nonfiction variety...

"There's a reason you separate military and the police. One fights the enemies of the state; the other serves and protects the people. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the state tend to become the people."

--Commander William Adama, Battlestar Galactica, quoting Jefferson while commenting on the unrest in Egypt.

Atheists are the saddest lot there is.

While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

Behold my brethren...

[Link]

0050 GMT: We've all heard of the religious harmony displayed during protests in Cairo. But now we have images showing the chivalry displayed by Christians of Egypt, during this time of crisis: @nevinezaki has this photograph, showing Christians, forming a human chain around their Muslim countrymen to protect them while they pray in Tahrir Square, Cairo:

You and every other American, past and present, who did not stand up for the only known source of goodness in our society-- namely; God.

Consider the thoughts of Dr. Michael Youseff...

It came as no surprise to me that, immediately after the shooting, the liberal media jumped on the bandwagon with accusations. Because the congresswoman was a Democrat, members of the press surmised that the shooting had to be an act of "right-wing extremist groups."

Why didn't they wait to comment until they had examined the psychological history of the young gunman? What about evidence of occult worship found in his home? Why was it okay to immediately and emotionally target a group of people without all of the facts?

There is something else they have overlooked. Those who are fighting so strongly to have God removed from our culture do not realize that when God is kicked out of public life, He will not be replaced with "nothing." Instead, Satan and his demons are hard at work and are waiting with baited breath for the vacuum created by God's name being evacuated from a society. The void that remains will not be empty; it will be occupied by Satan and his minions.

Attributed to Spinoza is the oft quoted phrase, "Nature abhors a vacuum." And, since nature is the product of a loving God, it must therefore be true that God Himself abhors a vacuum. I imagine God sees the vacuum as waste, whereas evil views it as an opportunity. What does that say about those who saw in the Arizona shooting an 'opportunity' to strike out at those they hate? Namely, all those who offer an alternative to Liberal ideology, and whom the Left deems a threat to their social agenda.

Dr. Youseff is correct; you cannot kick God out of education and the public square and expect nothing to fill the void. We are reaping what we've sown. Nothing more, nothing less.

Only an idiot points his finger at any one person-- Sarah Palin, for instance --for purely partisan reasons, to assign personal blame. This is the same mentality behind the Obama administration's steadfast refusal to appoint proper blame to radical Islam for the Fort Hood shooting, the Underwear Bomber, and the Time Square Bomber; all adherents to the religion of Islam.

This is the rub for many honest thinking Americans-- how can one group (specifically progressives) deflect blame for the religion of Islamic perpetrators of crime, despite overwhelming evidence against their faith, and yet blame anyone and everyone conservative without the slightest scintilla of evidence? How? Because the Left isn't interested in honest-to-goodness Truth. What they're interested in is ideology-- their own.

And it's an ideology void of God.

Want someone to blame? Take a good hard look at yourself. What have you done to defend rightness and goodness in your world? What did you do to defend God, and the right of everyone to freely worship and teach Him in public?

The reason so many people want God expunged from the public square is because they want to be able to do as they please without any fear of social guilt. If God is banished, who can tell them that what they choose to do, and how they choose to live, is wrong?

Jared Laughner is to blame. He pulled the trigger. If anyone else is to blame it is we who stood by and allowed the godless to strip us of our Constitutional right to freely worship the only true God... YHWH, Jehovah, Hashem, the LORD G-d Almighty, to whom each of us owes our very existence.

What was it Edmund Burke said?

All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

Stand up for God, and fight back against those who hate Him-- and PRAY! Nothing else can push back against the growing tide of violence.



After Thought:

I have to wonder if the Left, Media and Democrat Party included, has abandoned commonsense. Do they think they can win votes by abandoning sound, logical reasoning? Fomenting hatred toward their political foes is going to sweep them back into power, how? The unprecedented level of death threats against Sarah Palin since last Saturday's shooting helps their cause, how? It was right and good that Obama took the stance he did last night against apportioning blame unduly and unjustly. He should have said as much, publicly, days ago... his words appear to have sounded upon deaf ears among his base. And, I have to wonder, had he spoken out days ago, would it have made any difference?

Pardon my language folks, but the very sound of this man's voice makes me want to projectile vomit.

It's not illegal to have an opinion. But neither is it illegal to be a complete and utter moron. If this is what passes for enlightened thinking on the Left, then let's hope the Left is quickly relegated to defunctory status-- the sooner the better. I'm not sure how much more idiocy I can continue to take from men like Maher. I think I'd rather gouge out my ears than have to listen to the likes of this buffoon. Praise God the Left was dealt that embarrassing defeat last November.

This man isn't going to like hell one bit.

How's this for an interesting dichotomy? Our president insists:




There's something wonky with our president's priorities, not to mention a bit self-serving.

But have it your way, America. After all, this nation resembles more and more the neighborhood Burger King than the America our Constitution describes. Yes, the Constitution is ALWAYS good, but when you can add or remove-- at will --any ingredient that doesn't tickle your palate, is it still the same advertised burger? Or have we, by adding and subtracting the things we do and don't like, created an altogether new burger?

President Obama does seem to enjoy a good burger, but then there's nothing wrong with that... unless your name is Michelle.

I'm coming out of a week-long illness/fugue. On the 23rd I helped a co-worker carry a number of cases of printer paper to "the dungeon," and that night I thought I was on my way to the emergency room. Sitting in an office all day doesn't offer much in the way of exercise, and so, I ended up over-exerting myself.

I felt uncomfortable all Christmas weekend while visiting with my family, and it only got worse upon returning home. But last night... FINALLY, after some prayer at church Thursday evening, I seem to be out of the woods.

I literally thought I was going to die. Without going into specifics, I hurt something in my neck and chest while carrying those boxes, and that hurt kept me light-headed and heavy-chested, with muscle spasms up both sides of my neck.

I didn't go to the hospital... don't have the money for it. So I relied on prayer, fasting, and a number of healthy cocktails. I'm feeling so much better, but not entirely out of the woods.

I give God all the credit, with kudos to sensible 'natural' applications, for getting me to a new year. Whether I live or die, it's all in His hands anyway, but it's nice all the same to still be here.

It is my wish that everyone have a rich (spiritually speaking) and prosperous 2011.