Archive for December, 2004

FPJ Dies

Oh, the things I miss when I fail to follow Philippine news for just a few days. FPJ was the classic formula Filipino action star. It’s said that he could never be shown dying or being defeated in any of his films, because the one time it did happen that his character was killed, Filipino [...]

Falsetto Sotto Voce

Yesterday was the Christmas Candlelight Service at First Baptist DC, which, for the choir, meant a full day practicing with two other choirs and a brass ensemble. Musical highlights included Verdi’s Ave Maria (the one with the scala enigmatica, and no, I don’t know what Baptists were doing singing an Ave Maria) and Dirksen’s Welcome [...]

Empty Sanctuary

Sanctuary of First Baptist DC, empty while the choir practices for tonight’s Christmas Candlelight Service.

Dropping Calvin’s Shuriken

Post-Reformed, Not Post-Reformed: Tim decides to leave the label behind him, while Aaron expounds on Compassionate Calvinism. I wish Brian at Barukatash were still around with permalinks so I could reference the entry where he says he’s not out to “stab people with his five points.” (Aaron’s post, by the way, includes an excellent quote [...]

Rowing out of a Trough

From the quality and frequency of my posts, you can conclude that I’m in the middle of one of those cyclical creative troughs we all go through, when time, energy, initiative, and intellect are sapped down into a whirlpool of idleness and something bordering on, but not quite, ennui. I guess writing about it is [...]

Ashes Upstairs

I took a flashlight to the roof deck level of the stairwell, and sure enough, there were cigarette ashes on the floor, and some of the smell was still in the air. I don’t see a smoke detector in the immediate vicinity, but it’s a good bet that enough smoke wafted down to set off [...]

False Alarm Again Again

Again, the fire alarm went off. There was much milling in the hallways, and I stuck my head out the door to ask one of my neighbors, “Is this another false alarm?” “There’s smoke in the stairwell, coming from the top floor,” she said, hurriedly heading downstairs. I called 911, informed the local Fire Department [...]

(Birth)Day of Infamy

Today, December 7, is notable, not only for being a day which will live in infamy, but also for being my older brother’s 31st birthday. Happy birthday, Francis! You can see him here, harnessing the power of the Schwartz.