Since we haven’t had any Pandora photos for a while, here she is, sleeping on her favorite pillow, in successively closer photos. I tried to get an orking shot, but she doesn’t like having the lens in her face.
Memorial Day Weekend 2006
Memorial Day Weekend was warm and relaxing. Amy and I met up with my brother Francis for a few hours on Monday, as he was visiting high school buddies. We tried some of the dimsum at NuBao Cafe in South Street Seaport, and paid $3 each to tour the historic ships docked there — the Peking and the Ambrose. You certainly get your money’s worth with those ships! Here’s Francis aboard the Ambrose, with Brooklyn and various tourist boats behind him:
Through the course of the long weekend, we also hung one of Amy’s latest paintings on the dining room wall (laser levels are fun), watched X-Men: The Last Stand with Amy’s brother Bob, Amy sketched me as I dozed on the couch to the tune of Bach’s Coffee Cantata, and we listened to PastaKeith finish up his Da Vinci Code sermon series. Take a look at Amy’s diploma project painting, newly hung:
‘Twas a good long weekend to cap off a busy, busy, busy month, and I look forward to the comparatively restful workaday grind.
Patriotic Songs in Church?
Fellow American Christians, what are your thoughts on the singing of patriotic hymns at worship service on significant historic holidays such as Memorial Day and the Fourth of July? I always took it as given that these were improper for an event meant to be focused on God, so I was somewhat taken aback when I recently attended at a Baptist church where the Memorial Day service began with such hymns as “America the Beautiful,” “My Country ‘Tis of Thee,” and “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” with lyrics projected onto a screen over a backdrop of waving US flags.
I tried to get into it, singing along with the congregation, but this gave me such an overwhelming sense of guilt that I had to stop, and the absurdity of it all had me giggling some, which probably wasn’t a good sight in the pews.
I don’t hate America, despite being a registered Democrat [ba-dum-tish]. Singing songs dedicated to America at a time when I would normally be singing to God strikes me as idolatry, a manner of having another god before God. Yes, American history is steeped in the mythos and imagery of our faith, but I can’t see it as “God’s country” (as some veterans say), and there’s a danger in conflating the purposes of the state with the purposes of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Still, there are some patriotic hymns I’ll let past my personal God/Caesar filter: the ones which still address God without overemphasizing how great the state is. “God Of Our Fathers” and “Eternal Father, Strong To Save” spring to mind. (In fact, “Eternal Father” is perfect for Memorial Day, being a prayer for those in military service abroad.)
More from David Opderbeck, PoMoMusings, and this Pew Forum news story from last year.
Lost Bags: Followup
My squeaky wheeling about Airtran and Lost Bags received some “grease”: email apologies from DCA Ops Manager Robert Sullivan, Carla Hodge of Airtran’s Central Baggage Service, and Airtran’s DCA Station Manager Chanel Johnson. Miss Johnson was very responsive, promised action on the hitches in the process, and offered to repair or replace the bag within the bounds of Airtran’s lost baggage claim policy. I dropped off the old bag with its shattered plastic lining at the Airtran desk on Thursday, and by Friday afternoon, a shiny new replacement suitcase had arrived via Fedex.
I am quite appeased by this, and am endeared once more to AirTran for my travel needs thanks to a response that exceeded expectations. (And I wanted an excuse to use my Photoshopped “Lost Bags” graphic just one more time because I’m pretty proud of it.)
Update: 50 Ways to Lose Your Luggage, via Chops.
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Amtrak’s Bad Week
This hasn’t been a good week for Amtrak along the East Coast. First you have the guy hit on the tracks near Philly, then the train fire near BWI, then yesterday’s rail power outage, on the same day that the House voted on a one-third budget cut for the government subsidized rail service.
This is all very encouraging to me as I prepare to hop an an Amtrak Regional at the peak travel hour of the pre-Memorial Day weekend rush to go visit Amy. I’m reminded of my trip up to NJ on the 4th of July, 2003, when even the aisles of the train were so crowded with standees that I had to spend the entire trip in the vestibule. Really looking forward to that.
LOST 2nd Season Finale: Now Widmore Penny
The LOST finale established a bunch of major plot points. (Spoilers after the Macho Trio.)
Tres Amigos y sus armas, muy macho.
They’re not in purgatory. They’re not in a post-apocalyptic future. The Swan Station Hatch, computer, and electromagnetic anomaly were all real, and not just a behavioral experiment. The Pearl Station was the behavioral experiment. The plane crashed because of the Hatch Magnet. The boat is Desmond’s, via Libby. Kelvin made the blast door map. Desmond looks a lot better clean-shaven with short hair. Locke cries like a girl. The Others were faking the whole “primitive village” thing. Not Henry Gale is a Higher-Up among the Others.
The former Island Mystic Shaman, after being told what he cannot do.
Here’s what I’m wondering: Did Libby get committed before or after giving Desmond the boat? Why is Charlie so flippant about Locke and Eko disappearing with the Hatch — is it something to do with his disillusionment with both? Where’s Rousseau, is the sickness real, and is the vaccine really necessary? Four toes? The Whispers — are they the thoughts of the Others? What are Walt’s powers? What’s up with the Hurley bird? Where’s the black smoke lately? Why couldn’t Dharma technicians just automate the keystroke-execute sequence to reset the magnet, rather than need people? And the question that has remained unanswered since Season 1: what do the numbers mean?
This Island was once inhabited by the Simpsons.
A few other notes:
Desmond refers to a “snow globe” — cute little reference to Tommy Westphall there, possibly a red herring to point to the “it’s all a dream” theory. Other than that, it’s possible the island is inside a self-contained cosmological loop, closed off from the rest of the world to keep it hidden — except, perhaps for that thin filament at heading 325, towards which Michael is heading.
Charlie’s loss of hearing is a potential source of inner conflict for the third season: he’s a musician, remember. Now he can’t hear his own guitar.
As evidenced by the big snowy ending (I’m guessing Antarctica), LOST Island is in the real world, and Penny Widmore is searching for it, I guess so she can find Desmond. Poor girl.
All in all, a pretty good finale. As I expected, it raised more questions than it answered, which should keep the fans hungry for more when the third season starts this fall. I guess the pause gives them enough time to go rush to the bookstore and slog through Dickens’ “Our Mutual Friend.” Have fun with that.
More from Crapfilter, Isoceleria, TheoryMonger, TVSquad, Entil’zha, Channelsurfer, My Gift is My Song, and Mostly Muppet. Add Widmore Labs to the list of viral sites.
Heh, slight goof with the Others: Alex accidentally felt up Kate’s boobs.
They’re real, and they’re fabulous.
Union Water Tower/Sphere
The Water Tower of Union, NJ is hailed as the world’s tallest water sphere. Here are a few photos of the tower from the fields by Kawameeh Middle School:
Also see this aptly named site: The World’s Tallest Water Sphere.
Update: I have received accolades from the Water Sphere guy, thanks to our shared passion for this illustrious New Jersey landmark.
Update: Also see Lost in Jersey’s page on the Water Sphere.
Last Weekend’s NJ/NYC Trip
Saturday morning, I went up with Amy to NYAA, from where she had just graduated the day before. Though I missed the ceremony, I was glad to be able to see her final diploma project on display in the graduate exhibit.
We also went over to the West Side and walked along the harbor, from Christopher Street down to Pier 40, then down to Battery Park. It was lovely out, and she pointed out to me a spot from where she had painted a landscape scene of the view across the river, with a Holland Tunnel ventilation tower jutting from its pier.
The next day saw a trip to visit Amy’s grandmother, and a walk around Union Township to admire the famous water tower from scenic Kawameeh field.
More photos from last weekend, plus a wiggle GIF of Amy in her studio:
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(mo_496_.jpg, uploaded by brownpau.)
Union Station seems to be locked down right now due to a ‘suspicious package.’ I just got yelled at by Capitol Police for getting this close. Off to catch a bus, I guess.
Update: Just got off the bus and I’m still not seeing anything in the news or in Metro service alerts. Also, apologies for the filename-based title.