Pronouncing Band Names

Pink

This week, the monotony of mowing the lawn was interrupted by an enjoyable little surprise. A few delicate little flowers sprouted up amid the grass. Please comment if you can identify this flower.

Revised Prayer List Page

I finally decided to revise the Prayer List page. When I originally posted it, I rushed through the explanation. It was sloppy, but is now much more clear.

Comments are disabled on this post. If you have something to say, do so on the Prayer List page.

Identicons as Default Avatars

Don’t freak out when you see some weird graphic beside your name and comment. WordPress recently added a new feature which provides avatars for users who don’t have one. I have chosen to enable this feature, here, on my insignificant, seldom-read weblog.

Default Avatar Options - Identicons

I would highly recommend trying out Identicons, which are a cool math-based image idea created by Don Park that’s unique to the commenter, so even if someone doesn’t have an avatar yet they have a consistent (and handsome) image next to their name when they comment.

This post has plenty of comments for you to get an idea of what Identicons are like. I’m not sure I agree with them being “handsome,” but they are certainly more pleasing to the eye than the gray mystery man. If, by chance, you don’t like having a generated avatar for yourself, you can always use a Gravatar.

Suspicious Voter Registration Call

I received a suspicious automated phone call recently concerning voter registration. I emailed the North Carolina State Board of Elections. Here is the exchange.

Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2008 07:59:43 -0700 (PDT)
From: “J.S.Brown”
Subject: Phone call about voter registration
To: elections.sboe

I just received a phone call. It was a recorded message that said something like this:

“Hello. This is Lamont Williams. In a few days you should be getting a voter registration form in the mail. Please fill it out and return promptly and you will be able to vote. Thank you.”

Is this legitimate? I thought I was already registered to vote. Should I ignore whatever arrives in my mailbox concerning voter registration? And who is Lamont Williams?

Subject: FW: Phone call about voter registration
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:42:53 -0400
From: “Don Wright”
To: “J.S.Brown”

The State Board of Elections knows nothing of this. If you get anything from this man or group, fax to my attention at [FAX NUMBER REMOVED] and we will investigate.

Don Wright
General Counsel

The automated phone call seems, to me, like an attempt to trick new, unregistered, and unsure voters into submitting sensitive personal information. So far, I haven’t yet received any mail about voter registration. For now, it’s no more than a suspicious phone call. I advise everyone to be cautious.

I apologize for not posting this sooner.

NC Democratic Primary: Unaffiliated Voters

I’ve been hearing that unaffiliated voters won’t be allowed to vote in the upcoming North Carolina Democratic primary election. Since I have been planning to vote in said primary, I was unhappy to hear this.

Good news! According to the North Carolina Democratic Party’s website:

In North Carolina, unaffiliated voters are permitted to vote in the Democratic primary.

However, if an unaffiliated voter chooses to vote in the Democratic primary, he or she cannot vote in a Republican runoff (or second primary). Similarly, an unaffiliated voter who votes in a Republican primary cannot vote in a Democratic runoff.

To Pray or to Reason

Astoundingly, today is National Day of Prayer in the USA. Fortunately, there are some smart people in this country who have countered it by starting a National Day of Reason, which falls on the same day.

This day offers a choice: will you pray, or will you reason? It’s an easy choice for me. I’ve tried both. Only one has ever been useful to me.

I wrote about this last year, though my blog was on Yahoo! 360° at the time. I brought that post with me to WordPress. You can read it here, if interested.

PZ has a good post on this today: Happy National Day of Prayer!

Todd Bentley’s revival continues

Mary wrote to me on MySpace to tell me that the healing revival in Florida, with Todd Bentley, will be on at 7:00 PM this week. Since I missed the shows on Saturday and Sunday, which I wrote about, I decided to watch tonight. It’s still on now…

I tuned-in at 7:00 PM. After about ten minutes, I realized the music portion of the show was to come first. I flipped back and forth, checking for something new. The band played what sounds, to me, like one boring, never-ending, horrible song. The keyboard player / singer actually whistled at one point.

Todd Bentley didn’t come on stage until 84 minutes into the show. From the first time I saw him, he was lying. Seriously, he was outstretched on the floor, shaking his head, and possibly drooling. I call that metaphorical Freudian foreshadowing.

It’s now almost 9:00. He’s still preaching / ranting. So far, there has been no healing, or even any “healing.” The only highlight was his anecdote about seeing a “light” in Applebee’s earlier today. And then “the angel of the lord” appeared there. Unbelievable.

I simply can’t tolerate anymore of this. I held out as long as I could. Holy shit!

Florida Healing Revival - LIVE

…anyone who can demonstrate the existence of the supernatural and/or paranormal. I am also interested in meeting anyone who can demonstrate faith as a valid epistemic strategy.

That’s what I wrote on my profile at MySpace in the “Who I’d like to meet” section. So far, no one like that has come along. It’s possible, however, that things are about to change.

Earlier this week, a MySpace friend, Mary (click with caution: awful religious music, plus the typical religious cheese), suggested in my “comments” section that I should watch the Florida Healing Revival, live with Todd Bentley. She said he may be able to demonstrate the supernatural or paranormal to me. Yay!

A few days ago, I posted a bulletin about a revival going on in florida that you can watch live over the internet, or if you have Direct TV, it will be on live the 18, 19, & 20th on ch.365. A man named Todd Bentley, is the one who went there to have a conference, and now he doesn’t know when he’s leaving. I know it will interest you. The man is strange, not like any “preacher” you’ve ever seen, he’s got tatoos all over, and says weird things. It will entertain you to say the least, and I thought you might enjoy it. This is not like watching a church service, when he comes out, all kinds of stuff starts happening. Just thought it might be of some interest to you. So if you’re bored at 7P.M., click on, http://www.ustream.tv/channel/great-florida-healing-revival

He may be able to “demonstrate the supernatural or paronormal” to you, since different things happen every night, and you have stated you want to meet somebody like that. I am reading one of his books, and I haven’t even heard of some of the things he says, like, transporting, (your body going to another place) being able to go into the heavens, seeing the supernatural. I honestly have never met a christian that believes the way he does.

I checked it out. The “healing revival” airs the 18th and 19th on GodTV (seriously) at 7:00PM ET on DirecTV channel 365. I have my satellite box set so I won’t miss the show, if I’m around to watch. So, will it convince me that the supernatural and/or paranormal are legitimate? I’m skeptical. Here is my response to her.

You’re right that I am interested in meeting those people who can demonstrate the supernatural or paranormal. Seeing someone perform on television doesn’t qualify. I have seen the shows of a number of tele-evangelists in which they claim to heal members from the audience, or receive and relay messages from “god.” I’m not convinced. I have no way to know if they are actually doing what they claim. The same will likely apply to the performer in Florida.

We’ll see what happens. On a side note, I’ve been watching (mostly listening to) GodTV while writing this. I find it naive, overly dramatic, and vomit-inducing. Christianity has a special ability to be lame, cheesy, and disgusting in a way of which no other endeavor is capable. Amen.

*Update (21 April): I was gone all weekend, so I didn’t get the chance to see the show. If anyone has a link to highlights or reviews, post them below.

Merry USAmas

Back in December, I saw something which caught my attention. I was on my way to the local transfer station (recycling center), when I drove past a residence decorated for Christmas. I didn’t have a camera with me, so I was unable to capture the moment. I’ve been back to the facility twice, and forgotten my camera both times, but the decorations were still there. Today, the 16th of April, I remembered to take a camera.

I haven’t seen this lit, but I imagine it radiates with glorious liberty, spawning patriotism among the passing drivers. (click for full size)