Weekend Movie Viewing

Well, yesterday wasn't bad. Amazingly.

First movie I really got into was "They Wait." I immediately liked this because the main characters were an interracial couple: white girl, Asian guy. They have a son, Sam, who ends up in the hospital in a coma that can be reversible if some horrible past crime is discovered. Talk about generational curses, hidden family crime, Asian superstition! The ghost story has a real Asian influence, so don't expect the ghost to behave in a western manner. So the story totally worked. And these ghosts are playing fair.

Then there was "Stay Alive" -- a movie where the supernatural doesn't play fair at all. This is a movie about a beta video horror survival game and they aren't supposed to play it. They die when they start playing it. Kinda like the movie with the evil video tape, this one brings mucho trouble to anyone who starts playing it. The game warns them -- after they --like fools-- speak the chant to let the game begin. Pretty sneaky if you ask me. I mean, they didn't know what they were getting into and bingo they're committed. According to the threatening intro of the game, the players have to find out the reasons for a horrific happening years before...and in order to do that they must "stay alive." The game is a bit like Doom except it's based on the life of the Countess Bathory and folks can play it online together or by themselves. And the movie shows us scenes of their real lives when they aren't playing the games or when they die...as their game persona dies. If you play games like this, you'll like it. All that talk about perceptive reality. One of the best lines: "I haven't tripped out like this since I hate that hot dog matzoh ball at Bible camp, Brother"

I actually liked this flick. The girls in it were actually likable...not screaming bimbettes with bouncing breasts. Ah, the young! Always more prone to believe in the supernatural than the older wizened cops. But why do they even attempt to tell these cops the supernatural truth? Do they really thin they'll be believed?

Then there was The Florentine. I swear! Stories about male bonding are great but when it's about neighborhood lost souls on the edgier Catholic side done in an indie flick it really really really has to work. Talk about burdensome and heartfelt indie emotions. The story is mostly about the guys so the women kinda just revolve around them until it's their time to have a scene which affects the men.

After that I watched a little of 1000 ways to die. It's a show dedicated to showcasing people who do stupid things and end up dead because of it. There's even a sociologist who talks about darwinism and the stupid gene. Wouldn't have watched it but I had gone to sleep and dreamed of someone dying in a ridiculous manner. I laughed in the dream and then felt sad about the death. When I woke up I figured I would honor the dream by watching 1000 ways. I pretty much lack a sense of humor when it comes to making fun of other folks getting hurt. I don't laugh at someone falling on a banana peel, for instance. I hate mockery and cruel humor. And when I think of Sheol and folks doing stupid things and possibly ending up there....sorry no way I can laugh. I just can't. -C

Film: Goodbye, Solo

Goodbye, Solo
A film by Ramin Bahrani
Winner of Venice Film Festival

Christian Fiction: Save My Children

src="http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/34580000/34581664.JPG">
Save My Children
by Emily Wierenga
This month, CFRB presents Save My Children: The Story of a
Father's Love by Emily Wierenga.

About the Book:
Save My Children is a fictional retelling of the true story of Harvey
and Elsie Jespersen, the founders of Bethany Homes for Children. The
Jespersens’ desire was simple: to provide a safe place for any child needing a
family. Save My Children traces the lives of battered and mistreated kids
who were cared for at Bethany Homes. From 1948-1991, the Jespersens fostered
over 800 children, taking up to fifty-five kids at a time. The Homes consisted
of old army barracks based on forty two acres of farmland. Through hard
work, determination and patience, the Jespersens transformed those barracks into
a place of refuge for generations of children. Refusing to take any payment
except what parents could afford, Harvey and Elsie depended on faith and the
generosity of others to see them through. Save My Children powerfully
demonstrates love's ability to transform brokenness into beauty.

About the Author:
Emily Wierenga is the author of Save My Children and Canvas
Child, a novel about Anorexia Nervosa which was short listed in 2006 for The
Word Guild’s Best New Author Award. Ms. Wierenga freelances for various
publications including Christian Week,
Focus on the Family magazine and href="http://www.faithtoday.ca">Faith Today. She also appeared on Canada’s most watched faith-based
television show, 100 Huntley Street, and was interviewed by the number one
spiritual talk-back show in the nation, The Drew Marshall Show.

Purchase Save My Children at href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1897213352?ie=UTF8&tag=welctolato-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=
9325&creativeASIN=1897213352">Amazon and href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Save-My-Children/Emily-Wierenga/e/9781897213353/?itm=1">Barnes
and Noble.

Check out these other member blogs this week for more info.
src="http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk166/cfvici/rae.jpg">href="http://cathischatter.blogspot.com/">src="http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk166/cfvici/cathi.jpg">src="http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk166/cfvici/juliana.jpg">href="http://cfrblog.blogspot.com/">src="http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk166/cfvici/cfrb.jpg">

My two favorite april jokes

Say you're one of them by Uwem Akpan

Say you're one of them
by Uwem Akpan
Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (2008)
368 pp., $23.99

Uwem Akpan was born in Ikot Akpan Eda in Ikot Ekpene Diocese in southern Nigeria. He was educated in Nigeria, Kenya, Nebraska, Washington, and at the University of Michigan, where he received his Master of Fine Arts degree. He was ordained as a Jesuit priest in 2003; in 2007, he began teaching at Arrupe College, a Jesuit school of philosophy and humanities in Zimbabwe. He first came to the attention of the reading public with two short stories in The New Yorker, followed by a collection of stories, Say You're One of Them, published by Little, Brown in 2008 to great acclaim. In April of that year, he spoke with Susan Felch at a session of Calvin College's biennial Festival of Faith and Writing. An edited excerpt from their extended conversation follows.

Are all of the stories in Say You're One of Them like the stories in The New Yorker? Are they all about children from Africa and written from the point of view of these children?

The five pieces—two novellas, two short stories, and one short short story—are all about children, issues that affect children; but what I tried to do was to tell these stories from different perspectives. One of the novellas, "Luxurious Hearses," is narrated in the third person, but it's still about the plight of a child stuck in a bus, traveling from northern Nigeria to southern Nigeria.

The rest of the interview can be found on Christianity Today

CFBA: Angel of Wrath

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Angel Of Wrath
FaithWords (April 8, 2009)
by
Bill Myers


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Well, one thing led to another and even though I got C's in my one writing class in college (and told God I could do anything for him but write) I got my first writing job for a TV series. And then another and then some directing jobs and finally some books. (I think I've written and/or directed a few dozen films and about 60 books). The projects have won about 40 awards, I get to travel all over the world, and I'm having the time of my life. I often think that none of this would have happened if I lived my life my way. I would have never chosen writing and directing for a living. Instead, I might be in somebody's mouth this very minute drilling away as a dentist. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with being a dentist, it's just not what I was designed for. So, everywhere I go, I encourage people to say yes to God, no matter how foolish it may feel, because by doing that, they'll be in the center of His will and living a cooler life than they'd ever dreamed possible. It's not always easy and it can be a little scary…but it's anything but boring!

Today I live in California, not too far from Hollyweird (where I'm still trying to make a difference) with two cats, two kids, one dog and one wife.

Another Faithword book by Bill Myers is The Voice.


ABOUT THE BOOK

Thirteen-year-old Jazmin, her ex-Special Ops uncle Charlie, and former FBI agent Lisa are reunited in the second of the Voice of God series to stop a an assassin driven to murder members of a megachurch led by Lisa's brother. This assassin has drawn in a coven of teens toying with satanic practices to support his efforts. The naive youth engage in ceremonies that appear to usher in the death of each of his victims. When their rituals open a portal into the spiritual realm, a terrifying and mysterious entity crosses over to our world.
The battle culminates with the capture of Lisa's father as the next target and a Black Mass requiring both their deaths as a sacrifice. The team will, once again, have to rely on all their wits, strength, and faith to survive in this action-packed, unearthly warfare.

If you would like to read an excerpt from Angel Of Wrath, go HERE

There is a God by Antony Flew

There Is a God: How The World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind
By: Antony Flew, Roy Abraham Varghese
HarperOne / 2008 / Paperback
ISBN: 0061335304
ISBN-13: 9780061335303

Blurb:

Once called the grandfather of modern atheism, Flew now argues for God's existence in this startling testimony! With refreshing openness to argument and an absence of anger and hostility, he reveals the scientific discoveries and philosophical viewpoints that turned him from non-believing into having faith in God as Designer. Eye-opening! 256 pages, softcover from HarperOne.

Here is a review and another and another

What I learned from the movies: How to be a man

The Next Evangelism: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity

The Next Evangelism: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity
by Soong-chan Rah

180 pages
IVP Books (May 2009)
English
ISBN-10: 0830833609
ISBN-13: 978-0830833603

I found these reviews

Review

"Soong-Chan Rah explores the impact of ethnic and geographic shifts on the present and future state of evangelicalism. He gives us fair warning that parts of his heartfelt book are 'intended to provoke,' and they will. But that doesn't stop his book from being timely, thoughtful and very rewarding." --Philip Jenkins, Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Humanities, Pennsylvania State University, and author of The Next Christendom

Review

"In this manifesto for change, Soong-Chan Rah calls for the church to break free from limiting and exclusive paradigms and fully embrace the dramatic cultural diversity that is rapidly defining the twenty-first century in the United States. His powerfully persuasive pen engages and challenges the reader in ways that radically transform how church life is to be understood, shaped and lived. Everyone who cares about the Christian church in the United States needs to read The Next Evangelicalism. This book ignites hope for reconciliation in the world through the church."

Key endorsement on the back cover from Harvey Cox, Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard University:

"One of the most important changes now going on in America -- and indeed world -- religion is the profound transformation of evangelicalism, a movement which encompasses hundreds of millions of people. This book is the best and most balanced treatment of the subject now available. It is well researched, written and comprehensive."

Monsanto's Many Attempts to Destroy All Seeds but Their Own

Monsanto's Many Attempts to Destroy All Seeds but Their Own
Dr. Joseph Mercola

Some say that if farmers don’t want problems from Monsanto, they simply shouldn’t buy Monsanto’s GMO seeds. But it isn’t quite that simple. Monsanto contaminates the fields, trespasses onto the land taking samples, and then sues, saying they own the crop.

Meanwhile, Monsanto is taking many other steps to keep farmers and everyone else from having any access at all to buying, collecting, and saving of normal seeds:

1. They’ve bought up the seed companies across the Midwest.

2. They’ve written Monsanto seed laws and gotten legislators to put them through, that make cleaning, collecting and storing of seeds so onerous in terms of fees and paperwork that having normal seed becomes almost impossible.

3. Monsanto is pushing laws that ensure farmers and citizens can’t block the planting of GMO crops even if they can contaminate other crops.

4. There are Monsanto regulations buried in the FDA rules that make a farmer’s seed cleaning equipment illegal because it’s now considered a “source of seed contamination.”

Monsanto has sued more than 1,500 farmers whose fields had simply been contaminated by GM crops.
Sources:

Surviving the Middle Class Crash February 5, 2009

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

There is a reason why I believe Monsanto to be one of the most evil companies on the planet, and this is in large part due to its activities relating to controlling food production through controlling the seeds to produce it.

For nearly all of its history the United States Patent and Trademark Office refused to grant patents on seeds, viewing them as life-forms with too many variables to be patented. But in 1980 the U.S. Supreme Court allowed for seed patents in a five-to-four decision, laying the groundwork for a handful of corporations to begin taking control of the world’s food supply.

Since the 1980s, Monsanto has become the world leader in genetic modification of seeds and has won at least 674 biotechnology patents, more than any other company.

This is not surprising, considering they invest over $2 million a dayon research and development!

But Monsanto is not only patenting their own GMO seeds. They have also succeeded in slapping patents on a huge number of crop seeds, patenting life forms for the first time -- again without a vote of the people or Congress. By doing this, Monsanto becomes sole owner of the very seeds necessary to support the world’s food supply … an incredibly powerful position that no for-profit company should ever hold.

How do they defend this blatant attempt to control the food supply? They write on MonsantoToday.com:

“Patent protection allows companies to see a return on their investment which enables further investment in R-and-D and product development. This profit-investment cycle drives product innovation that is responsive to farmer needs.”

Farmers’ needs?

Farmers who buy Monsanto’s GM seeds are required to sign an agreement promising not to save the seeds or sell them to other farmers. The result? Farmers must buy new seeds every year, and they must buy them from Monsanto. See rest of article here:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/03/07/Monsantos-Many-Attempts-to-Destroy-All-Seeds-but-Their-Own.aspx

Dark Parable: Once and once again

I dreamed Jesus came to those who were going to be saved -- either by the rapture or in judgment. Then he came back again and looked over the ones who had been saved. Then he trimmed the group down further. I was so nervous because he was winnowing people out.

I'm not really a once saved always saved kinda person but this was scary. Then the lord reminded me that many of the parables of judgment begin with folks already IN the kingdom. The man to whom the traveling lord gave one talent was already in the kingdom. The five foolish virgins were already in the bridal party.

I got to thinking how it will feel watching the great throne judgment. We'll watch as great televangelists we respect, folks who perhaps will have lived scandal-free lives. They'll go up to the throne. And Jesus will say, "I never knew you." What will such folks as you and I think? What chance will we have after seeing those folks? Just hoping I know my lord.

-C

am totally loving this blog

Okay, so there I was on youtube when I found videos from failblog They got me so hooked I bookmarked the site.

To start you off, here's one of their vids of Terry Moran, one of my favorite anchormen btw..so I'm not being meanspirited here.

Human Mirror

Gracias by Marcos Witt

Eat This Not That

Eat This Not That
is written by David Zinczenko and the editors of Men's Health and it's about the stuff restaurants and fast food folks don't tell you about what's in the food they serve you.

Here's an article on the book over at msnbc

Here's an article on usatoday

Kriti Festival Call for Submissions

Kriti Festival Call for Submissions
June 11 - 14, 2009, Chicago
Guests of Honor: Amitava Kumar and Bapsi Sidhwa

DesiLit is pleased to welcome submissions to its upcoming festival of arts and literature, to be held in Chicago, June 11 - 14. Submissions are welcome in the following areas:

- literature (fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, drama)
- film
- music
- dance

We are not currently planning on a visual arts component (although if you live in Chicago and would be interested in curating such an exhibition, please do get in touch with us.)

If your work is selected, you'll be invited to serve on panels and/or give a reading/screen a film/give a performance/etc. At this time, we do not know what our final budget will be, but panelists will receive free festival registration, and if there are funds remaining after expenses, a share of the proceeds towards reimbursing their travel expenses. We'll also do our best to help you find crash space in
Chicago with local volunteers if needed.

To have your work considered please send an electronic sample with the subject line: KRITI SUB [title of work /
your name], following these guidelines:
- a brief bio, PLUS one of the following
- literature sample (up to 20 pages)
- film sample (up to 20 minutes; if you want to send a longer film, be aware that we may only view the first 20 minutes)
- music sample (up to 20 minutes)
- dance sample (up to 20 minutes)

For large sound/graphic files, we STRONGLY prefer that you host the work on your own site and send us a pointer to the URL. If you wish to submit in multiple genres, please submit each sample separately.

For a sample of our 2005 panelists, please visit our website
If you have any questions, please send those as well

DEADLINE: May 1, 2009 (but sooner is better)

More Festival Info

If you live in Chicago, we can definitely use your help in planning and running the festival! We need both folks who can come to monthly planning meetings in the next few months, and people who are available to help out at the festival weekend itself. No experience needed!
Volunteers will receive complimentary registration -- our planning meetings are also a lot of fun. :-) We usually meet at my home in Bucktown (near North Ave. and Damen, convenient both to the Blue line and 90/94), and figure things out over a yummy meal. And even if you can't make every meeting, we welcome your input on our planning
mailing list!

If interested in helping us out, please join our planning list here

And if you're just interested in attending and want to get occasional festival updates as planning progresses, be sure you're on our general DesiLit mailing list -- stop by our website and enter your e-mail address in the box provided.

Kriti is co-sponsored by Roosevelt University and the University
of Illinois at Chicago, and will be held at their two campuses, in the
Loop and West Loop, Chicago.
--
Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago
Executive Director, DesiLit
Executive Director, SLF
www.maryannemohanraj.com

Autistic Boy bitten by hospital tech

Newsboys - He Reigns

Around the internet

Nice little quiz on black geek

Came across Scrah's blog via Angry Asian Man and loved it! He's written a new book called The Next Evangelicalism Freeing The Church From Western Cultural Captivity. YAY!!!!!!! You know I love this stuff if you keep up with my posts on wiconi and Native American Pastor Richard Twiss's book, One Church, Many Tribes: Following Jesus the way God made you. The book is finally expected to be in the warehouse towards the end of this week. I pick up my copies on Friday. It's not too late to pre-order on Amazon. Give his book a first week boost. Order by the end of the month, beginning of April.

Black Women Blow the Trumpet did a post on dismantling entitlement. Okay, I don't mind black folks talking about this cause I know where they come from. So I agree with them when they talk about it. But when certain whites talk about it...uhm...

Maurice Broadus did a great post on Blogging in Black about Race Fail racism and horror and ignoring the elephant in the room. Claire Light also did a post on Race Fail and cultural appropriation in respect to the word "hapa."

Christians in Cinema blog did a post on what the vatican learned from the Da Vinci Code

Christianity Today did a post on christian films being short on substance. Totally true. Honestly, not everyone is brought to christ by being told how sinful they are.

Electronic Village is supporting Genocide Prevention Month

Am really loving a blog called Facing Autism and they did a post on truth which I utterly loved. Yeah, too many romanticized autism stuff in the media.

Living in a Toxic World did a post on Obama overload. They aren't against Obama; they're against the old same-old same-old thinking. Raw Dawg also said the same thing. So it's not a black or white thing. I totally agree with them. I mean, look who he made head of the dept of Agriculture: Monsanto's Man.

And APOOO did a post on African-American women for Women's History Month

Discovered Rob Rey at Artist of the Day blogspot

Aurora Nominees Announced 2009

-------------- Aurora Nominees Announced -------------

This communique is available in both French and English.
Ce communiqué c'est disponsible en français et en anglais.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Anticipation: Press Release #19, March 2009
Aurora Nominees Announced

Anticipation, the 67th World Science Fiction Convention, is pleased to
announce the Prix Aurora nominees for 2009. The Auroras recognize
Canadian science fiction and fantasy artwork, writing, and fan
activities. Any Canadian citizen or resident may vote in the Aurora
selection process. Mail-in or online ballots must be submitted before
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009.

Please visit http://www.anticipationsf.ca/English/Canvention for more
information or to vote.

Best Long-Form Work in English
Meilleur livre en anglais
– After the Fires, Ursula Pflug (Tightrope Books)
– Identity Theft and Other Stories, Robert J. Sawyer (Red Deer Press)
– Impossibilia, Douglas Smith (PS Publishing)
– Defining Diana, Hayden Trenholm (Bundoran Press)
– Marseguro, Edward Willett (DAW Books)

Meilleur livre en français
Best Long-Form Work in French
– Une fêlure au flanc du monde, Éric Gauthier (Alire)
– Les vents de Tammerlan, Michèle Laframboise (Éditions Médiaspaul,
coll. Jeunesse-Plus)

Best Short-Form Work in English
Meilleure nouvelle en anglais
– "All In," Peter Atwood (May–June, Weird Tales magazine)
– "Back," Susan J. Forest (June, Analog magazine)
– "Ringing in the Changes in Okotoks, Alberta," Randy McCharles
(Tesseracts Twelve, Edge Science Fiction)
– "A Bouquet of Flowers in a Vase by Van Gogh," Douglas Smith
(Impossibilia, PS Publishing)
– "Doorways," Douglas Smith (Postscripts Magazine #17, PS Publishing)

Meilleure nouvelle en français
Best Short-Form Work in French
– « Ballade sur Pallide », Michèle Laframboise (Virages 44)
– « La révolte des gilets-malins », Michèle Laframboise (QUAD9 6A)
– « Le Dôme de Saint-Macaire », Jean-Louis Trudel (Solaris 167)
– « Jos Montferrand et le Grand Brigand des routes », Alain Ducharme
(Solaris 161)

Best Work in English (Other)
Meilleur ouvrage en anglais (Autre)
– The Gaslight Grimoire, Jeff Campbell & Charles Prepolec, Editors,
(Edge Science Fiction)
– Neo-opsis magazine, Karl Johanson, Ed.
– Tesseracts Twelve, Claude Lalumière, Ed. (Edge Science Fiction)
– Through the Window: a Journey to the Borderlands of Faerie, Marcie
Lynn Tentchoff (Double Edge Publishing)
– On Spec magazine, Diane Walton, Managing Ed.

Meilleur ouvrage en français (Autre)
Best Work in French (Other)
– Jean-Louis Trudel, Sophie Beaulé, (Éditions David)
– Solaris, Joël Champetier, édition et direction littéraire

Artistic Achievement
Accomplissement artistique
– Looking for Group, Lar deSouza (Online Comic)
– cover Neo-Opsis #14, Stephanie Ann Johanson
– Imagination, Michèle Laframboise (Imagination contre les pigeons
spammers, Vermillion)
– Fear Agent #22, Ronn Sutton (Dark Horse)
– cover JEMMA7729, David Willicome

Fan Achievement (Fanzine)
Accomplissement fanique (Fanzine)
– The Original Universe, Jeff Boman, (Ed.)
– Opuntia, Dale Spiers (Ed.)
– Clair/Obscur, François-Bernard Tremblay, (Réd.)
– Brins d'éternité, Guillaume Voisine, (Réd.)

Fan Achievement (Organizational)
Accomplissement fanique (Organisation)
– Robyn Herrington Memorial Short Story Contest, Renée Bennett (Administrator)
– World Fantasy 2008, Kim Greyson (Guest Liaison)
– FilKONtario 19, Judith Hayman, & Peggi Warner-Lalonde (Co-chairs)
– World Fantasy 2008, Randy McCharles, (Chair)
– Anime North 2008, David Simmons (Organizer)

Fan Achievement (Other)
Accomplissement fanique (autre)
– World Fantasy 2008 Podcasts, Kurt Armbruster, & Ryah Deines
(Producers/Ed./Hosts)
– Impulse, news bulletin of MonSFFA, Keith Braithwaite (Ed.)
– Through the Keyhole – 25 years of Keycon Memories, Jennifer Ennis (Ed.)
– Fan Writing, Lloyd Penney
– Heather Dale Concert, Joan Sherman (Organizer)

Anticipation is honoured to host Canvention, the Canadian national science fiction convention and the Prix Aurora Awards

The 67th World Science Fiction Convention, known as Anticipation, will take place in Montréal, Québec, Canada from Thursday, August 6th through Monday, August 10th, 2009.

More information about Anticipation, including current membership rates, is available on their web site you can also write to us for more information.