Bethlehem's Child

R.I.P

I had two funerals this week. Two elderly sisters in the ward died last Friday. They weren't even that close to the top of the list. There are about 30 people in the ward over the age of 80. Three of those are sisters who really could go any day. We hadn't had a funeral since Richard Seiger's in March. I thought we were on a roll. I made a deal with the Lord that any more funerals this year had to take place on Saturday so I wouldn't have to adjust my time off schedule. So with annual reviews this week, I had to come in early to make up the time. I got an email early last Friday that Elva Werner died. On my way home from work I stopped by to meet with Glen. Then 11:30 that night Lorin Simper called to tell me that Viola had died.

The funeral today was very nice. There was a sweet spirit there, almost like our ward conference last year. We managed to start almost on time. It is nearly impossible to finish the viewing in a timely manner so that the family prayer can begin when it needs to. People think they can show up at 15 minutes to the hour and get through the line and there won't be any delay. Also the service ended almost exactly on the hour.

My remarks focused on the sister's service to the ward. She was the Cub Scout den leader up to the very end. I hope I'm still attending my meetings at age 84. I told them I needed to point them to Christ. But, it wasn't a big stretch from this sister's example to Christ. I Spoke briefly on Christ as the Bread of life and quoted the text of the Bach song "Bread of the World." And then I ended with the idea that our sorrow now at her departure is overshadowed by the joy of the reunion on the other side as she is received into the arms of a loving Father in Heaven. There were also two musical highlights: One of the sons is in the Tab choir and he had his quartet sing "Consider the Lillies." It was simply marvelous. Also, a granddaughter played an original composition "Brother Joseph" that was just great. I really want to get a copy of the music.

Vi and Lorin were eight days shy of their 60 year anniversary. At least two of the musical numbers had been planned for that party. But, were used for the funeral instead.

Lenore wasn't able to attend because Laney and her class were singing a Christmas program at the Mall. I thought the performance was at exactly the same time. But, about 10 minutes before the end of the service I got a text message from Ailsa asking if I was going to be able to make it. When the service was over I responded asking if they had started yet. I managed to get there only about 30 seconds after it started. So it was very fun to be able to watch her program. At first she was crying because her Santa had broken. But, before long she had settled down. It was a touching treat to be able to make that program as well, another tender mercy. Thank goodness for text messaging and cell phones.

The Way the Tookie Crumbles

In the seventh grade our advanced placement civics type class participated in an exercise called "Womertopia." We played legislature for weeks on end presenting bills, debating them (this is what I mostly remember.) And I guess we eventually voted on them. The main thing I remember about the debate was that it seemed to be me against the rest of the class. On all of the hot button issues, especially Abortion and the Death Penalty I felt like the only person holding forth on the conservative view. I think this is part of the problem with conservatives. I probably wasn't the only one with my views. But, I was one of the few willing to argue for them publicly. Remember this was smack dab in the middle of very conservative Orange County in the early 70's. I re-lived a lot of this last night listening to those pleading for the life of "Tookie" Williams.

These are the arguments for sparing Tookie:

1. Killing is wrong. The Bible prohibits it;

2. The trial wasn't fair. He's really innocent; and

3. He is reformed and can do a lot of good if allowed to live.

Rebuttal:

1. Liberals love to throw the Bible back at us. But, if they knew it well they would realize that the law of Moses established the death penalty for infractions perhaps quite a bit more minor than murder, such as transgressing the law of the Sabbath. So with that in mind, what does the Bible mean when it says "Thou shalt not kill?"

2. Tookie's supporters have been assailing the trial with every weapon available for 25 years. It has stood up to numerous reviews and appeals, even at the hands of the Ninth Circuit Court. Second guessing the Judicial system can only go so far. As far as I'm concerned it went about 24 years too far. When OJ was acquitted they loved to say Justice was served and OJ's detractors had to live with it. Doesn't that idea apply now too?

3. Let's apply this argument to the practice of abortion.

It is not retribution. It is Justice.

Mr. Sharpton said that many would-be gang members would be drawn to a better life it Tookie were spared, they would want to work with the system. I don't think that is how gang members think. In the words of Inigo Montoya "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

Liberals say that deterrence doesn't work. It absolutely does. Tookie will never kill again.

Liberals see it as "hateful" to execute a killer. It really isn't done out of hate. But, rather justice. Is it not more hateful to kill an innocent unborn child through abortion?

I think the only fair argument for sparing Tookie is the he should have had swift justice.

Jensen's Latest: "Saturn"

NAMCLA

You may remember the account below about Laney licking Maxine. I was awakened early this morning by Tommy grooming the back of my head. At first I thought he was just very close to me and was getting my head while licking himself on the follow through. But, after awhile it was apparent he was licking only me and was doing it on purpose. I tried to thank him gracefully and encourage him to stop so I could get back to sleep. He obliged. So I smelled like tuna cat lick until I was able to take a shower in the morning.

Parker Poseurs

We just spent a wonderful three days at Kim and Ed's house at the Colorado River near Parker Arizona. I am about six pounds heavier.

We had a heck of a time trying to leave Murray Tuesday night 22 Nov. I took a vacation day on Weds so we initially planned on leaving right after I got home from work. But, Ailsa had to work until 9:30pm. So, I set up some bishopric stuff since I was kinda behind. One of my appointments apparently didn't show. So, I left early to go gas up the Blue car. Lenore called me and told me I needed to go back. I met with a sister for about 45 minutes, during that time I must have had five or six phone calls. I think there were two or three more when I got home.

We picked up Ailsa about 9:50 and headed out. Only a couple of hours into the drive I was falling asleep so we stopped in Fillmore to pick up some goodies and a Mountain Dew. There was very little traffic for our whole trip down to Parker. The price of gas in Needles was $3 so we bought it in Parker for $2.15.

We weren't having our Thanksgiving meal until Friday because Sean and Tamsyn were arriving then. So, Thursday I went for a bike ride. I thought it would be a good chance to see the difference between my top condition and probably my lowest. It has been two months since I rode. The Ehrenburgh road is very flat and you can go a long way without stopping. I was pushing hard and not really loving it. So, I decided to limit myself to 20 miles. I reached 10 miles and turned around at 32 minutes. And I reached 20 miles at 1:04:00. So it must be pretty flat.

When I got back I sat on the dock and repeatedly helped Laney get in the water. She would swim to the beach, drifting slightly downstream, climb out and come back around to the dock. The water was very cold, probably no more than 55-60 degrees. During the winter they tend to let less water through the Parker Dam. So the level starts out quite low in the morning and then reaches an okay level in the evening. During the Summer late in the day the flow is quite strong and we have nightmares of somebody's kid getting in the water and drifting down to the Gulf of California before we realize it.

I didn't ride anymore because I am a fat lazy slob. We went shooting three of the days. We used the 32 caliber semi-automatic pistol that belonged to J.C. Lillywhite and the 22 revolver that belonged to Boone Wade (and perhaps even his father) and also a couple of 22 rifles. We probably went through a couple thousand rounds and shot up everything we could find including the kitchen sink. Well, actually a bathroom sink. I shot the drain out of it at 75 yards (after many attempts). We let Laney shoot the revolver and one of the rifles. When the clip on the rifle emptied she said, "I need more bullets."

On Thursday we had Prime Rib that was very good and throughout the weekend we had more food at our disposal than we really needed.

The drive back (stopping for the night chez Puggas in St. George) was relatively uneventful. But, there was a lot of Thanksgiving return traffic and a lot of people camping out in the passing lane.

Boy Band Redux

Our Stake had a dance/concert event Friday night with the Joe Muscolino Band. We did the same thing a couple of years ago and it was mildly popular and sort of fun, mainly because the band was entertaining. I wasn't really enthused about going and neither was Jensen.

Shortly after we got there Jensen said she thought the singer looked like one of the guys from "Sons of Provo." We were clear across the hall from them so I couldn't tell. I went in for a closer look. It seemed it was either him or his brother.

So at the next break we cornered him out in the hall and talked for about 15 minute. It was Danny Taresevich. In the movie it was fairly easy for me to pick him out as probably the strongest voice. He does a great job with the Joe Muscolino Band. Lots of stage presence and a great voice with a great range. He was also very friendly and down to earth to talk to. Now when I listen to the SOP soundtrack I can tell that he does most of the prominent vocals.

Post 911 Stress?

We saw "War of the Worlds" with Tom Cruise over the weekend. I can't say it hit on all cylinders. But, it was okay. I think it especially did a good job of conveying the "nightmare." I had a bit of a flashback during the first scene where the tripod is attacking in Brooklyn(??) I've had a few dreams in the last couple of years where end of the world events are clearly taking place. One of these occurred within the last week or two. A volcano was exploding and chunks of rock started falling out of the sky. Of course, they kept getting nearer and nearer to where I was until one huge piece came extremely close.

A couple of years ago I had a dream where airplanes started falling out of the sky in the same manner, getting ever closer to killing me and the people with me.

Several months after 911 WSJ columnist Peggy Noonan said that she had heard a lot of stories of dreams and spiritual experiences connected with 911. She asked people to write in to her about their experiences because she thinking of compiling a book on them. I wrote her about a dream I had probably less than a week or two at the most prior to 911.

The setting of the dream was Florence Italy (where I have never been but, in retrospect I think was meant to represent the seat of the "Empire".) We were visiting some acquaintances of mine from my mission. Again, I don't know anyone in Florence. I ventured out of the apartment which was right on Piazza San Marco (which is dumb because Piazza San Marco is in Venice.) There were lots of people milling around. All of a sudden there was a loud report and I turned to see some smoke and dust issuing from high on one of the corner towers of a very large palazzo that surrounded the piazza. This palazzo was immense in scale. Shortly after this "report" the palazzo started to crumble and everyone started scrambling to safety. I ran with Lenore and turned into a side street where we sought shelter in a doorway. At this point I awoke from the dream.

I Forgive You

I'm not a huge fan of the "Mormon" movie genre. There have been some good ones: Saints and Soldiers was great, on par I think with just about anything Hollywood has done recently. Brigham City and Best Two Years were quite good. Most of the others have been entertaining enough. But, they still usually showed an amateurish side. No problem I can cut them some slack.

Some stars have emerged from this effort. Corbin Allred is a great actor. But, that is evident even without his performance in Saints and Soldiers. I really like Kirby Heyborne (his accent in Saints and Soldiers first struck me as odd. But, I like it now.) and I'm still rooting for Richard Dutcher and Heather Beers. Ms. Beers is beautiful enough to make watching Baptists at our Barbecue tolerable. But, there were a couple too many slow ponderous pans of her that shouted "omygosh, she's soo beautiful, do you want to see her again?" She was in our ward about 10 years ago and I have to say I like the new lightened and frosted hair. Although I wouldn't have guessed that it would work so well.

I had seen trailers for Sons of Provo that made me want to see it. But, then I heard critiques and reviews that made me doubt. So I was ambivalent at best when any opportunity arose. My in laws bought the DVD and we watched it recently. Now, This is not a great movie. It may not even be that good. But, It works pretty well for me. We didn't necessarily laugh out loud. But, did a lot of giggling. There are some gags still that are a little over the top, not subtle enough. This problem will probably plague the "Mormon" genre for some time. But, the music and the Boy Band performances were spot on. I still don't love Will Swenson as an actor. But, the music that he and Jenny Frogley wrote is crammed with talent. They could have written for any of the Boy Bands. Vocally all three leads are very strong. To my ear Danny Tarasevich may have the best voice in the group, which is saying something.

The scene our family liked the best was the one with the girl (Rachel Emmers) who was "confused" at the rap music. She did a fantastic job. I also liked Kirby serenading on guitar under the moonlight when their manager pulls out her trombone to accompany him and the device of having the boys riding bicycles in "Spirichal As Me" and changing their pedaling tempo when the music does.

Jensen's Sketch of "Sifu"