text:
Flash Gordon: Swashbuckling Minus The Swash… and the Buckles…
August 8, 2007 Sheldon Wiebe	Leave a comment
The thing that stands out after screening the first three episodes of Flash Gordon [Sci Fi 9/8C] is that the show's creative team seems to have to discarded everything about the popular comic strip except for the names of the characters and places. That strategy worked to telling effect on Battlestar Galactica and looks to have a lot of potential on NBC's re-imagining of Bionic Woman. With Flash Gordon, it seems that it might not be the best of all possible space operas… Continue reading Flash Gordon: Swashbuckling Minus The Swash… and the Buckles… →
Ben 10: Secret of the Omnitrix – Is It The End of the Universe As We Know It?
Ben Tennyson has used the Omnitrix to become various aliens for two reasons: the help others and because it's just a lot of fun! Now, in saving the world from a DNA Bomb, Ben accidentally pushes the Omnitrix into SDM – Self-Destruct Mode! In Ben 10: Secret of the Omnitrix [The Cartoon Network, Friday, 7/6C], the Kirbyesque series gets its special, feature-length, primetime movie – and the fate of the entire universe does indeed hang in the balance! Continue reading Ben 10: Secret of the Omnitrix – Is It The End of the Universe As We Know It? →
Sci-Fi Channel, Television
Flash Gordon Mania Starts Today With a Photo Journey from Michelle's Recent Set Visit!!
August 6, 2007 Michelle Alexandria	Leave a comment
It's a big week for Flash Gordon fans. The Sci-Fi channel's long awaited debut of the brand new Gordon hits the small screen this Friday at 9pm EST. But before we get to this blessed event, you have to stick with EM's five days of Flash! We have an exclusive interview with one of the stars of the show, video Q and A with the Cast and Crew from my recent set visit. A Look at the brand new Flash Gordon Remastered DVD and more surprises. We're going to start off the week with a look at the Flash Gordon Set. Last month I was in Canada visiting the set and had a chance to partake in an extensive Q and A with the cast. We took lots of photos, here's a sneak peak at the sets and cast from Sci-Fi's recent Digital Press tour. Flash, ahaaaaa!!!! Continue reading Flash Gordon Mania Starts Today With a Photo Journey from Michelle's Recent Set Visit!! →
Announcements, Sci-Fi Channel, Stargate Atlantis
Original Stargate SG1 Cast Supporting CanStruction
February 24, 2007 M R Reed	Leave a comment
Paul Brown of Legend's Memorablila announced today that original Stargate:SG-1 stars, Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks, Amanda Tapping and Christoper Judge are participating in Legend's charity auction of SG1 props to raise money for Vancouver's CanStruction event in support of the foodbanks of Greater Vancouver.
For the 2007,
Hollywood Insider, Sci-Fi Channel, Stargate Atlantis, Television
Stargate:SG-1 Movies A Go
January 15, 2007 M R Reed	Leave a comment
Sci-Fi Channel, Stargate Atlantis, Television
Michael Shanks In 3rd Stargate Series 'Just a Rumor'
December 27, 2006 M R Reed	Leave a comment
Over the days before the Christmas holiday, rumors and 'news items' about a possible third Stargate series began to appear on various Stargate related sites. Both Gateworld and Stargate:SG-1 Solutions were posting news stories based on information garnered from anonymous 'production sources'.
From Gateworld came the announcements that there is to be a third Stargate series added to the franchise and that MGM has officially put an end to plans for a season 11 of Stargate: SG-1. However when contacted about these two things for official comfirmation, MGM could not confirm either a new series in the works or cancellation of plans for a season 11 of Stargate: SG-1.
Sci-Fi Channel, Television, TV Reviews
Battlestar Galactica: The Insurrection Begins!
September 27, 2006 Sheldon Wiebe	Leave a comment
We've had to wait an extra four months for the return of Battlestar Galactica [Sci Fi, Fridays, check local listings], but it was worth the wait. The special, Battlestar Galactica: The Story So Far, this week – and when the third season premieres, next week, it returns the show to its place in the ranks of the very best programs on television. It also begins four months after the Cylons discovered New Caprica and forced the government of the Twelve Colonies to surrender. Where to begin? The Leoben [Callum Keith Rennie] model has returned and taken Kara "Starbuck" Thrace [Katee Sackoff] away to live with him; the Brother Cavil model [Dean Stockwell] is advocating the reduction of the human populace to something more manageable; Lee "Apollo" Adama [Jamie Bamber] has gotten fat, and Gaius Baltar [James Callis] is now head of a puppet government. In short, things are going to hell in a handcart and there doesn't seem to be anything anyone can do about it. Continue reading Battlestar Galactica: The Insurrection Begins! →
Battlestar GalacticaSci-Fi
STARGATE COMES TO iTUNES
August 23, 2006 M R Reed	Leave a comment
Fans of the highly popular scifi series STARGATE SG-1, now in its tenth and TV history making season, and STARGATE: ATLANTIS, now in its third season have a totally new way to access them. Yesterday MGM announced that current episodes of the hit science fiction/adventure series will be made available for purchase and download from the iTunes Music Store (www.itunes.com).
The first five episodes of STARGATE SG1 season ten and the first five episodes of STARGATE ATLANTIS season three are now available for download and subsequent episodes for both series will be available within 24 hours after airing on the SCI FI Channel.
"By making these popular series available through iTunes we're able to extend the reach of the MGM brand and the STARGATE franchise,
iTunesSci-Fi ChannelStargate Atlantis
Hollywood Insider, Stargate Atlantis
The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful: Q&A with Morena Baccarin of 'Firefly' and 'Stargate SG1'
July 24, 2006 Carole Gordon	Leave a comment
Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Morena Baccarin was raised in New York and attended the prestigious Juilliard School. Her role as the Companion, Inara, in the short-lived cult science fiction show 'Firefly' and its big-screen follow-up 'Serenity' has made her recognisable to sci-fi fans around the world. She is now appearing in the tenth season of 'Stargate SG1' as Adria, daughter of intergalactic maverick Vala Mal Doran (Claudia Black). And there are hints in the wind that she will soon be taking on the lead role in a new version of 'Wonderwoman', a rumour neither confirmed nor denied by Morena Baccarin in this question and answer session with Carole Gordon.
CG: Your mother was an actor. Did you always want to follow her into acting?
MB: I never thought I was going to be an actor. My entire family was in the business in Brazil and I wanted to do something completely different. And look where I ended up?!
CG: What do you consider to be your best work?
MB: Some things here and there. A couple of scenes in 'Firefly' I really like. Like the one I tell the Captain I'm leaving. Also some plays I did in school because they are characters I probably won't get to play for a long time.
CG: How did you get the role of Inara on 'Firefly'?
MB: I auditioned for the casting directors in LA and then they had me wait around to meet Joss. After that I had to test for the network. It all happened very quickly since they were already a week into shooting.
CG: How would you describe Inara?
MB: She is an incredibly smart and studied woman with a very deep dark secret. She is someone that has seen a lot and carries the weight of her experiences with her. She is compassionate and at the same time resourceful.
CG: Inara's relationship with Mal seemed at times antagonistic. Was it leading to something else if the show had continued?
MB: They are star-crossed lovers. Too stubborn to see past their own hang-ups. I have no idea what would have happened had the show gone on, but it would have been interesting.
CG: Were the cast shocked that Joss Whedon killed off Book and Wash in 'Serenity'?
MB: Yes!
CG: Were the cast and producers happy with how 'Serenity' turned out?
CG: Any news on a follow-up series or movie?
MB: No.
CG: If the show were to return, what developments would you wish to see in Inara's storyline?
MB: I'd like to see more of her past.
CG: What would you feel about continuing on the show without Wash and Book?
MB: I'm sure Joss would find a way to bring them back. It wouldn't be the same without them.
CG: It's often reported that the cast of 'Firefly' are very close. Do you all still keep in touch?
MB: Yes. We see each other every once in a while. At BBQ's or lunches. We stay in touch for sure.
CG: Since then, you have appeared in 'The OC'. Was it hard to move on after 'Firefly'?
MB: I unfairly compare every experience to 'Firefly'. Nothing quite equals it.
CG: You now have a recurring role on 'Stargate SG1' as Adria. Could you say something about this character?
MB: She is truly evil. It is so fun playing her. She is sure that her religion is the way and she won't take no for an answer.
CG: How do you feel about playing the baddie?
MB: It allows a lot of freedom. I love the powers I got to play with.
CG: How did you approach the role?
MB: I had to do some research on who everybody was and what was my history since my character had already been introduced. 'Stargate' is confusing if you haven't been watching the past few episodes. I had to get the names of all the kinds of people down.
CG: How do you get on with your "mother" (Claudia Black)?
MB: She is amazing. A very sweet person and an incredible actress. She was very welcoming and warm.
CG: How difficult was it stepping into a group like the SG1 cast and crew, many of whom have worked together for several years?
MB: They all made me feel very welcome. They know each other well and have a good rapport with one another, so they just opened the doors for me to step in.
CG: Do you have any anecdotes about filming with the Stargate team?
MB: There were a lot of World Cup soccer arguments going on. Being from Brazil I was sure we were going to win. I may have been a touch obnoxious about it. But it was all in good fun.
CG: Both 'Firefly' and 'Stargate' have very loyal fanbases. Is it scary to have such dedicated fans?
MB: No. I have certainly appreciated the encouragement. It was the fan base that got 'Serenity' going so…
CG: You have done a number of conventions. Have you had any memorable moments at a convention?
MB: There are always a couple of jerks here and there that can make you feel uncomfortable but for the most part people are very nice. It is fun to get a chance to meet face to face the people that are watching you.
CG: Do you think life is getting harder for actors these days? Are reality shows reducing the availability of roles for actors?
MB: Business is tough anywhere. I have experienced a lack of work overall. In TV and films. Hopefully the drought will end soon, with some sort of new media.
CG: Which current TV shows do you particularly admire?
MB: I love 'Grey's Anatomy' and 'Boston Legal'.
CG: Are there any actors and directors you would particularly love to work with?
MB: The list is very long. Terrence Malick, Ralph Fiennes, Spielberg…. it doesn't end.
CG: Do you have other projects in the pipeline?
MB: Hopefully!
Hollywood Insider, Sci-Fi Channel, Television
Hail to the Chief: Interview with Aaron Douglas, Battlestar Galactica's Chief Tyrol
Aaron Douglas, 'Battlestar Galactica's' Chief Petty Officer Galen Tyrol, is not a fan of remakes. If something is really great to begin with, he thinks they should just leave well enough alone. No doubt that sentiment was echoed by many fans of the original version of the 1970s cult science fiction show. But, as Douglas explains to Carole Gordon, 'Battlestar Galactica' is different. "I don't think the original 'Battlestar' had the run it deserved," Douglas says. "I certainly don't think the writers brought the story to fruition. And combined with that they were going to re-imagine it, I thought 'Okay, it will be different enough; it will be that in name only'." Continue reading Hail to the Chief: Interview with Aaron Douglas, Battlestar Galactica's Chief Tyrol →
From Atlantis to the Stone Age: An interview with Gary Jones
March 5, 2006 Carole Gordon	Leave a comment
Gary Jones never stops. When he's not playing Chief Master Sergeant Harriman in 'Stargate SG-1' or 'Stargate: Atlantis', he's busy working in films, on writing scripts, or following a full schedule of convention appearances, entertaining fans in the US, Germany and UK. During an appearance at a Level 3 Convention, he takes time out to chat to Carole Gordon about the continuing success of the 'Stargate' franchise, the development of his character and how he's currently developing a project about a caveboy in Stone Age Britain . . .
Many characters on long-running TV shows start out as unnamed figures and remain nameless throughout the show's run. Gary Jones's character on 'Stargate SG1', now heading for its tenth year, has the pivotal role of the person who opens the gate and closes the iris. Initially known simply as 'Technician', he was affectionately dubbed 'Chevron Guy' by fans after his regular refrain, counting off as the Stargate's chevrons engaged.
Then, as the character and the show gained in popularity, he became Sergeant Walter Davis. That is, until his name suddenly changed in Season 7 to Walter Harriman. Why remains one of the mysteries of the universe, even to the actor playing him. "I have no idea," says Jones. "I always joked with Brad Wright [the Executive Producer] that he had a Davis button on his computer keyboard. If he ran out of names, he just hit 'Davis'! Everything's Davis, right. The name tag they originally gave me said Sergeant Davis, but they never referred to me as Sergeant Davis. It was either 'Technician' or 'Hey you'. Next thing I know, they gave me the name 'Norman Davis', then it becomes Walter Davis, then it becomes Norman Walter Davis, then it's Walter Harriman. Don't ask me why!"
Jones is brimming with enthusiasm for the up-coming Season 10. "Words can't describe it," he says with a grin. "But I'll try to use as many words as possible! It's just unbelievable. Somebody just asked me, 'Did I ever think that it would go for nine years?' You'd never think that in a million years. I just lucked into this gig that just keeps on going." Things have definitely changed for his character in nine seasons, particularly over the relationship Walter has with the incumbent General – now Landry, previously O'Neill and before that, with George Hammond. "My feeling is that when I was with General Hammond, I didn't really have a relationship. They hadn't written one. It was only when Richard became a General that he was around the base more and he, for his own kind of amusement, just said, 'Well, I want to have more of a relationship with Walter and make him like a Radar O'Reilly kind of character in that he knows what's happening at the gate, he knows everything that's going on.'
So by the time General Landry takes over, Walter is working with his third General. He knows how the SGC runs and is able to advise him. "That," Jones says, "coupled with the fact that they've just given me way more to do with General Landry, I'm around the base more and just doing other stuff, you can just see the progression of the relationship. And it's funny because it's just as a result of being there for nine years, for being there for that length of time."
He suggests, with tongue firmly in cheek, what he would like to see happen to Walter in Season 10. "He's killed and never brought back – just kidding!" Then he bursts out laughing before continuing with a more serious view of his character's future.
"All I can say is, I am chuffed with whatever they give me because they always give me great stuff. You have got to remember in Season 9 they spent all this time introducing Ben Browder, introducing Beau Bridges, then you've got to work in Teal'c, and Carter and Daniel Jackson and all these other new aliens so they can't really spend a lot of time on my character."
Jones would love to see a running story about Walter to flesh him out more, but is pragmatic about it happening.
"It's not like I'm not ambitious or wouldn't love that," he says, "but I'm realistic about what they already have to work with and all the stuff they have to get across."
But he still harbours a wish for Walter to finally go though that gate!
"Oh, I would love Walter to go, wouldn't it be great for Walter to go through the gate? Can you imagine being the guy that stares at the gate for nine years and never goes through? It's kind of like flying in the flight simulator as opposed to actually taking off in the plane!"
With a new set of actors on the show, Jones agrees that there are differences to the show now, following on from what he calls the 'Richard Dean Anderson years'.
"There's more jokes, the scripts themselves are actually funnier, that's what I find anyway. Not to the point where they are slapstick or anything. Richard Dean's character was kind of droll and sarcastic. It was his show, so he had all the best lines. When Richard Dean left, they took all those lines and they just divvied them up, so everybody now gets funny one-liners or little funny scenes, because it's like starting fresh."
And, of course, Richard Dean Anderson was well-known for ad-libbing his lines, which Jones corroborates.
"He ad-libbed tons and, if he thought something was funnier he would just change it. But I find that for any comedy stuff the writers write really funny stuff within the context of the genre, keeping in mind that it's action adventure sci-fi, drama essentially, but then of course life is not all action adventure – there's comedy in there. They never overdo it, and it's written just perfectly. My job, if they give me any funny lines, is to make sure I don't overplay it, that I don't chew the scenery, just treat it like my other dialogue."
Jones is astonished to realise that he had, at that time, appeared in more than 90 episodes, with the hundredth likely to be reached in the new season. With so many episodes under Walter's belt, how did he keep the character interesting for himself and for the viewers?
"Again, it's the writers, it's not really me. I have my own way of delivering a line or putting a spin on something but it's so kind of concentrated, the amount of time that Walter is in an episode that I just try to give each little thing its own little moment. But most of my relationship is with the General. I have just kind of taken what they have mentioned, like the Radar O'Reilly thing, and tried not to overdo it, not tried to imitate Radar, but just have fun with it."
Fans have picked up on similarities between Walter and Radar O'Reilly, a character in the long-running series 'MASH', who always managed to predict what the officers needed before they issued an order. Jones confirms that this was a deliberate connection.
"Yeah, everyone has picked that up and the writers just kind of ran with it. It's not blatant but everybody gets enough of it that they go, 'Oh he's so much like Radar.' Especially due to the way they would shoot it where I would suddenly appear at a doorway, 'Where did he come from?' In other words, I knew what was going to happen before it even happened so I just showed up. Richard Dean again was very much responsible for that kind of thing. I think he just wanted the chance to do some funny stuff, some comedy."
These scenes also gave Jones the chance to show the producers, and particularly Richard Dean Anderson, what he could bring to the table in terms of playing comedy.
"My background is comedy for fifteen to twenty years. I've been in Vancouver almost twenty years; for nine of those years, I've been on 'Stargate' but that's like once every couple of weeks. For the most part, I'm known in Vancouver as a comedian or a comedic actor so he [RDA] kind of played to those strengths."
Walter has also shown up in the 'Stargate SG-1' spin-off, 'Stargate: Atlantis', in the episode 'Critical Mass'. Was this a different experience to working on the SG-1 set? There is, Jones says, a welcoming and totally comfortable environment because many of the crew have also worked on 'SG-1'.
"When you work on the set you are either working with Martin Wood, Andy Mikita or Peter deLuise so you are already comfortable working with the director – you know the guys. So whenever you go on 'Atlantis', it's like, 'Oh I know these guys!' And I know the crew."
Not only that, but Paul McGillion (who plays Carson Beckett on 'Stargate: Atlantis' and who earlier played the young Ernest Littlefield in the 'SG-1' episode 'Torment of Tantalus') is an old Vancouver buddy.
"He's hilarious," Jones grins. "Such a funny, funny guy. I love hanging out with him."
Gary is enthusiastic about the idea of crossovers between the two shows and thinks they add an extra layer of believability to the 'Stargate' universe.
"It's so cool doing crossovers, because you are trying to create a believable world and the minute you cross over somebody that's so established into another world that you are trying to get people to believe in, they can't help but go, 'Well, Walter is there', so it lends to the credibility of the world and that's what I think crossovers are fantastic for."
Behind the scenes, Jones has also contributed to the DVD commentaries. But, he says, he doesn't prepare for these in advance, for a very good reason – he has no idea ahead of time which episodes he will be seeing and discussing!
"Absolutely, zero preparation! The deal is, I go in, I don't know what episodes are going to be shown. About a week ago, I did three commentaries with Peter deLuise, one 'Stargate SG-1' and two 'Atlantis'. I said to Peter, 'Why are you getting me down, are you <b>sure</b>? Two 'Atlantis' – I'm not even in them!' He goes, 'Oh it doesn't matter, just come down and have a laugh.' I feel that my strength in being part of a commentary is to throw in ad-libs, take it somewhere that Peter might not take it and that's what he appreciates too."
Jones says he gets great feedback from fans who have enjoyed the commentaries that he and Peter deLuise have done together.
"We are very comfortable with each other," Jones says, "and have a certain style of doing them. It's just great."
In addition to working on 'Stargate', doing DVD commentaries and travelling the world for public appearances, Jones is also working on other projects, including a recent movie by Vancouver-based independent film-maker, Ann Marie Fleming, called 'French Guy'.
"That was about this woman who has a brain operation, she has cancer of the brain, and they let her out of the hospital too early, before she is fully recovered. She kind of goes a bit nutty and she ends up accidentally mutilating a young guy that she picks up on the beach. There's a lot of blood in it, a lot of blood."
When Jones auditioned for the movie, he didn't know of Ann Marie Fleming or how well-known she was, until friends put him straight.
"I said to people, 'I've got this part in this film with this Ann Marie er.. .' And they go, 'Ann Marie Fleming? You're in an Ann Marie Fleming film?' 'Yeah!' and they're like 'Oh my god!' She's a very cool film-maker."
The film is deceptive, looking initially as though it will be a standard rom-com until, Jones says, it "just goes off the rails".
"I'm her best friend that she's in love with, she's living in my apartment. I come back from holidays; I started out as a heterosexual man, I come back with a boyfriend. I'm like this uptight stockbroker and I meet a man, I come back, suddenly I'm gay! And through the course of the film I discover what she's done with this other young guy, and she ends up killing me. I get brutally stabbed, blood everywhere!"
With his writing partner, Richard Side, Jones is also developing a cartoon book by Raymond Briggs (author of 'The Snowman') into an animated series. Called 'Ug, Caveboy Genius of the Stone Age: In Search of Soft Trousers', the story revolves around a cave-boy inventor.
"As soon as I saw 'In Search of Soft Trousers', I was like, 'I have to work on this!' All he [Ug] wants to do is make his Stone Age life nicer, softer, warmer. He's trying to invent things just to make it so it's not so hellishly stone-ridden. And it drives his mum nuts because she just wants him to be a Stone Age kid and throw rocks at things and run and chase. But he comes up with all these concepts that we would understand as incredibly modern concepts, like the wheel, but they don't go quite the way he thinks they are going to go."
Back on the subject of 'Stargate', Jones is delighted with the addition of Claudia Black and her character, Vala Mal Doran, to several Season 9 episodes.
"She's fantastic, great," Jones says with enthusiasm. "She's a really good actor, she's gorgeous and funny and just – what can you say? The relationship between her and Daniel is just so funny. She's great!"
At that time, Jones had not heard the news that Claudia Black would be returning in Season 10 and that she would be joining the regular cast.
"As a regular? Really?" he asks, with surprise and obvious pleasure. "Wow, see, I didn't even know that!" He pauses for a moment, before asking with a broad grin, "Hey, am <b>I</b> back?!"
Fans of '"Stargate SG-1' and the no-longer-nameless Chevron Guy will be hoping that the answer to that is a resounding "Yes!"
Biography: Gary Jones was born in Swansea on 4 January 1958. He moved to Canada in 1972, settling in Vancouver in 1986. He is married and has three children.
Further information at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0428104/
Level 3 Conventions: Information about Level 3 Conventions can be found at: http://www.l3conventions.co.uk/
© Carole Gordon
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Balloons is all it takes!
Using balloons to decorate your event, store front, or even sending a balloon-a-gram is a cost effective way to bring joy to and individual, fill a space and add life to any event! Balloons can be used to fit any occasion. They can be created into a sculpture, or simply blown up in your colour theme. Most importantly, balloons have a magical way of bringing happiness, fun, and cheer to any event! Be sure to call Bring on the Fun! to solve your decorating delima by having us design and decorate your next function. From client/employee appreciation to birthdays and showers, Bring on the Fun! has you covered! Give us a call at (647)224-6747 or email us at info@bringonthefun.ca and we will Bring the Fun to you!


As an artist, I've always been drawn to the colours that Autumn brings and as the seasons change I love to curate a little art just to inspire myself. I think my love of Autumn goes way back to my early childhood days and the back yard that I grew up in. I love collecting little pieces of the puzzle on my travels and adventures, sometimes I'm drawn to a piece not really knowing why but in time that little treasure usually will tell it's own story in a unique way. I've slowly acquired many treasures over time but I think my favourite of all is the antique wedding dresses that I just friggen love.


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Classical Period I: Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
ethanlitwin Uncategorized May 17, 2022 May 14, 2022 2 Minutes
Haydn was not the first classical composer. As noted last week, Bach's son, CPE Bach, Antonio Salieri, and Christoph Gluck, among many, many others, pioneered the slow movement away from the Baroque. Some of these efforts were well underway prior to 1750 and some of these early classical composers–Salieri in particular–continued to soldier on into the 19th century. Some (like Salieri) were important teachers, but there is a reason that their music is seldom performed: What came afterwards was just so much better.
Franz Joseph Haydn is not one of my favorite composers. But his contribution to music history is undeniable. Remembered as the Father of the Symphony is evidence enough. But he also pretty much did the same thing for the string quartet, the backbone of classical chamber music and the format that supercharged post-war jazz. His students also went on to great success–both Mozart and Beethoven studied (the first informally, the second formally) with Haydn. For these reasons, we remember this very prolific composers (108 symphonies, over 200 chamber music compositions, 20 operas, 14 masses, 6 oratorios and the list keeps going) as "Papa" Haydn.
There can be no denying that Papa Haydn was a man of his age–the Age of Enlightenment. His character comes down to us as a man of generous and kind spirt, a natural optimist. His music reflects this core Enlightenment balance between intellect and emotion. Haydn's music only ever gets so dark; the emotional highs are similarly muted. If I could sum up Haydn's soundcape in a picture, it would certainly be this:
Fragonard, The Swing
Much like I do Fragonard, I find Haydn's music altogether a bit too too. But there is no doubting Haydn's skill–his development of themes, original modulations and carefully arranged orchestrations laid the foundation upon which the temples of Mozart and Beethoven would be built. And those temples still reside at the summit of muic history.
Let's begin with my favorite Haydn work, the first movement of his Trumpet Concerto in E-Flat, which strongly recalls Handel's Trumpet Concertos we heard earlier. Perhaps a minor Conversation here. Once again, we turn to the great Maurice Andre, who lends his golden tone to one of the classic melodic lines in music history.
Franz Joseph Haydn, Trumpet Concerto in E-Flat, Allegro:
Previous Post Interlude: Transitional Figures at the Side of the Road
Next Post Haydn: Chamber Music

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
package ram

import (
	"fmt"
	"testing"
)

func TestDeleteLoginProfile(t *testing.T) {
	var req DeleteLoginProfileRequest
	req.Init()
	req.SetFormat("JSON")
	req.SetRegionId("cn-shenzhen")
	var accessId = "Ie65kUInu5GeAsma"
	var accessSecret = "8cCqoxdYU9zKUihwXFXiN1HEACBDwB"
	resp, err := DeleteLoginProfile(&req, accessId, accessSecret)
	if err != nil {
		t.Errorf("Error: %s", err.Error())
	}
	fmt.Printf("Success: %v\n", resp)
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Референдум в Республике Македонии по вопросу одобрения договора с Грецией, предусматривающего смену названия страны, прошёл 30 сентября 2018 года. Гражданам бывшей югославской республики предлагалось ответить на вопрос

Поддерживаете ли Вы членство в ЕС и НАТО, принимая соглашение между Республикой Македонией и Греческой Республикой?

Референдум был призван разрешить двадцатисемилетний спор между Грецией и Республикой Македонией об именовании последней, из-за которого Грецией были заблокированы переговоры о вступлении бывшей югославской Республики Македонии в Европейский союз и НАТО.

Предыстория
После отделения Македонии от Югославии в 1991 году правительство Греции выступило против наименования новой страны, считая, что оно предполагает территориальные претензии на провинцию Македония в составе Греции. При присоединении Республики Македонии к Организации Объединённых Наций в 1993 году был достигнут компромисс, согласно которому страна в составе ООН получила временное официальное наименование «Бывшая югославская Республика Македония». При этом Совет Безопасности ООН рекомендовал обеим сторонам продолжать сотрудничество для разработки всеобъемлющего решения конфликта, которое устраивало бы все стороны. Однако в течение последующих двадцати пяти лет попытки разрешить спор путём переговоров оказались неудачными.

В конце 2017 года интенсифицировались контакты между высокопоставленными представителями двух государств, что сделало возможным визит заместителя премьер-министра Республики Македонии Буяра Османи в Афины 9 января 2018 года для обсуждения возможных вариантов разрешения спора. На встрече премьер-министра Греции Алексиса Ципраса и Республики Македонии Зорана Заева на полях Давосского форума 24 января были достигнуты договорённости о вариантах решения спора об именовании Республики Македонии и об улучшении двусторонних отношений. Зоран Заев согласился предпринять меры в ответ на обеспокоенность Греции из-за политики антиквизации. В ответ на это Алексис Ципрас пообещал разблокировать процесс интеграции Республики Македонии в региональные инициативы и соглашения.

17 июня на торжественной церемонии, проходившей на озере Преспа на границе Греции и Республики Македонии, был подписан договор об урегулировании спора об именовании Македонии. Согласно договору бывшая югославская Македония будет переименована в Республику Северная Македония (). Официально признанным языком страны останется македонский со ссылкой на то, что он принадлежит славянской группе, а не родственен греческому языку и соответственно языку древних македонян. Граждан Республики Северная Македония по-прежнему будут называть македонцы. В течение шести месяцев после вступления договора в силу Республика Македония должна пересмотреть статус памятников, общественных зданий и инфраструктуры на своей территории и, если они каким-либо образом относятся к древнегреческой цивилизации, составляющей неотъемлемую часть культурного наследия Греции, принять соответствующие меры для указания на принадлежность соответствующих объектов к культурному наследию Греции. Македония обязуется больше не использовать символ Вергинской звезды, который был изображён на первом варианте флага независимой Македонии, и убрать все соответствующие изображения с государственных и общественных учреждений. Через месяц после подписания соглашения стороны создадут на паритетных началах Объединённый междисциплинарный комитет экспертов по историческим, археологическим и образовательным вопросам для выработки объективной интерпретации исторических событий на основе достоверных и научно обоснованных исторических источников и археологических находок. Комитет рассмотрит и, если потребуется, внесёт изменения в образовательные материалы, такие как учебники, карты, исторические атласы, используемые в странах-участницах, в соответствии с принципами и целями ЮНЕСКО и Совета Европы для устранения любых ирредентистских или ревизионистских отсылок. Комитет также будет оценивать все новые издания образовательных материалов.

20 июня 2018 года Собрание Республики Македония ратифицировало договор с Грецией, однако президент страны Георге Иванов отказался его подписать, отправив договор на пересмотр в парламент. 5 июля 2018 года Собрание Республики Македония повторно ратифицировало договор, после чего он был вынесен на всенародное голосование.

Избирательная система
30 июля Собрание Республики Македония назначило дату проведения референдума на 30 сентября и вынесло на голосование следующий вопрос:

Поддерживаете ли Вы членство в ЕС и НАТО, принимая соглашение между Республикой Македонией и Греческой Республикой?

Для признания референдума состоявшимся в нём должны принять участие более половины от зарегистрированных избирателей. Согласно решению, принятому Собранием Республики Македония, референдум будет консультативным и не имеющим юридически обязательных последствий. Для вступления в силу поправок в конституцию после референдума их должен будет поддержать парламент большинством в две трети голосов. После завершения конституционной реформы соглашение также должно быть ратифицировано Грецией.

Избирательная администрация состоит из трёх уровней:  (ГИК), восьмидесяти муниципальных избирательных комиссий (МИК) и комиссии города Скопье и около 3480 участковых избирательных комиссий (УИК). Согласно поправкам в Избирательный кодекс от июля 2018 года был сформирован временный состав ГИК на шестимесячный срок. Все члены ГИК были номинированы парламентскими партиями (четыре от партий правящей коалиции и три от оппозиции, включая председателя ГИК). В состав МИК входят пять членов и пять заместителей, а УИК состоят из трёх членов и трёх заместителей. Члены МИК и УИК выбираются случайным образом из числа государственных служащих.

Право голоса имеют граждане старше 18 лет, за исключением лиц, признанных недееспособными по решению суда. Списки избирателей составляются ГИК. Предварительные списки избирателей, включающие 1 805 700 имеющих право голоса граждан, были опубликованы 9 августа. С 9 до 23 августа проводилась общественная проверка списков, при которой избиратели имели право обратиться в ГИК для исправления обнаруженных несоответствий. В итоговый список избирателей, утверждённый ГИК 7 сентября, включены 1 806 336 человек, в том числе 2 694 человека, зарегистрировавшихся для голосования за рубежом.

Позиции

За соглашение
Главными сторонниками соглашения являются партии, входящие в правящую коалицию: Социал-демократический союз Македонии, Либерально-демократическая партия, Демократическое обновление Македонии, а также партии, представляющие албанское меньшинство. Эти политические силы считают договор с Грецией историческим шансом, который позволит интенсифицировать интеграцию страны в Европейский союз и Организацию Североатлантического договора. Правительство Республики Македонии на своём сайте разместило информацию о подписанном договоре, которая отвечает на наиболее распространённые причины обеспокоенности и критики соглашения.

Против соглашения
К числу противников договора относятся крупнейшая оппозиционная партия ВМРО-ДПМНЕ и ряд непарламентских партий. Для противодействия вступлению соглашения в силу ВМРО-ДПМНЕ использовала как парламентские методы, голосуя против соглашения в Собрании Республики, так и непарламентские, включавшие организацию демонстрации противников договора, вето президента Георге Иванова, члена ВМРО-ДПМНЕ, на соглашение и отказ назначать своих представителей в Государственную избирательную комиссию, без чего она не могла начать работу. Блокирование работы Государственной избирательной комиссии со стороны ВМРО-ДПМНЕ продолжалось около месяца, пока правящая коалиция не пригрозила изменить порядок формирования избирательных комиссий в сторону меньшей зависимости от мнения оппозиции. После этого ВМРО-ДПМНЕ пошла на уступки, согласившись избрать новый состав Государственной избирательной комиссии в обмен на избирательную реформу, согласно которой за сто дней перед любыми будущими парламентскими выборами действующее правительство будет уходить в отставку, уступая власть техническому кабинету, который должен будет обеспечить свободные и справедливые выборы.

Противники договора считают, что он несёт в себе угрозу национальной идентичности македонцев и ставит страну в зависимость от иностранных держав. Тактикой поведения несогласных с переименованием страны стало не призывы к голосованию «против», а бойкот референдума, чтобы явка не превысила необходимые 50 % от общего числа избирателей. Для координации кампании было сформировано неофициальное движение «Бојкотирам», что в переводе с македонского значит «бойкотирую».

Опросы общественного мнения о референдуме

Ход референдума
Референдум начался, как и было запланировано, 30 сентября 2018 года в 07:00 по местному времени на 3480 избирательных участках. Следили за ходом голосования около 500 иностранных и приблизительно 12 000 местных наблюдателей. Явка в первые 2 часа составила 2,45 %. К 11 часам по местному времени явка избирателей достигла 8,12 %, а к 13 часам 15,68 %. На 15 часов явка составила 22,68 %. К 18:30 34,76 % избирателей, имеющих право голоса, пришли на избирательные участки.

Результаты
Подавляющее большинство граждан Республики Македонии, пришедших на избирательные участки, поддержали Преспанское соглашение с Грецией, однако из-за того, что явка на референдуме не достигла 50 %, эти результаты не признаны действительными. При этом, поскольку референдум носит консультативный характер, он не накладывает никаких юридических ограничений на продолжение процесса ратификации Преспанского соглашения, для чего необходимо одобрение не менее двух третей депутатов Собрания Республики Македонии. После объявления результатов референдума премьер-министр Республики Македонии Зоран Заев пообещал внести на рассмотрение парламента конституционные поправки, имплементирующие основные положения соглашения с Грецией, и призвал депутатов оппозиционных партий поддержать их. В случае провала ратификации соглашения в Собрании Республики Македонии Зоран Заев заявил о готовности использовать «оставшиеся в его распоряжении демократические механизмы», а именно провести досрочные парламентские выборы с целью осуществления ратификации соглашения уже в парламенте нового созыва.

19 октября 2018 года парламент Македонии проголосовал за инициацию процесса внесения в конституцию представленных поправок. Из 120 депутатов решение поддержали 80, 39 проголосовали против, один воздержался.

3 декабря 2018 года парламент Македонии одобрил проект поправок в конституцию 67 голосами против 23 при 4 воздержавшихся. На данном этапе достаточно было простого большинства (61 депутат из 120).

11 января 2019 года состоялось третье и последнее голосование депутатов по новому названию страны. 81 депутат (при минимально необходимых 80) из 120 поддержал соответствующие поправки в конституцию. Воздержавшихся и голосовавших против не было.

25 января 2019 года греческо-македонское соглашение ратифицировал простым большинством греческий парламент. 153 депутата парламента поддержали соглашение, 146 проголосовали против.

Примечания

Ссылки

Выборы в Северной Македонии
Македония
События 30 сентября
Сентябрь 2018 года
2018 год в Северной Македонии
Топонимия Северной Македонии
Спор об именовании Македонии
Македония

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Recap: UPB's She Hoops Clinic By Ellie Lieberman
Recap: UPB's She Hoops Clinic
Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic is well known to basketball fans everywhere as a superstar; however, many are unaware of a person responsible for igniting his fire, none other than his older sister, Elise Gordon.
Elise played basketball at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose and then at Harvard. Beyond being named Most Improved Player for the Crimson, Gordon studied politics and eventually earned her
Master's degree from USC. Her influence extended beyond the court and classroom, with her working diligently as a personal manager for Aaron, per Marc Spears of The Undefeated. She's an important asset in helping Aaron with endorsements, finances, appearances, and her fluency in Spanish has been a massive asset for changemaking in Orlando. Now, she's working to make the game of basketball more inclusive through her Play Make Hers series.
Though all three Gordons, including Drew, who is currently playing for Stelmet Enea Basketball Club in Poland, have been staples at UPB, Elise's impact cannot be overstated. This October, Elise and Packie brought the first Play Make Hers clinic, She Hoops to Burlingame. These clinics are meant to inspire girls and women of all ages to pursue various paths on and off the basketball court, as well as the values that come with the game. In an article with Mitch Stephens of The San Francisco Chronicle, Gordon spoke of her goal in creating these clinics; "I want to provide a safe and welcoming space for young women hoopers to develop their skills both on and off the court."
The clinic at UPB was made available to girls of all ages, from Kindergarten through 12th grade, as well as boys. Appearances at the October She Hoops included countless college and pro basketball players include current Stanford superstar and high school player of the year, Haley Jones, former Santa Clara guard Iman Scott as well as the most beloved photographer in the NBA, Cassy Athena. She currently has over 200k followers on Instagram and has shot the likes of LeBron James and Steph Curry. Beyond being an overwhelming hit, She Hoops was also for a worthy cause because 10% of camp proceeds ultimately supported breast cancer research and awareness.
Just last week, Gordon held her second Play Make Hers clinic at the Amway Center in Orlando. With the backing of UPB, the Orlando Magic, and the biggest ballers in and around the game, the Play Make Hers clinics have a bright future ahead.


text:
11:16-33 To Be a Pilgrim
2 Corinthians 11:16-33 "I repeat: Let no-one take me for a fool. But if you do, then receive me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool. Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast. You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or pushes himself forward or slaps you in the face. To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that! What anyone else dares to boast about 'I am speaking as a fool' I also dare to boast about. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have laboured and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised for ever, knows that I am not lying. In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands."
"I hate to do this. I feel rather foolish when I even think about what I'm going to do, but, take me as you will, I will do it. I am now going to indulge in a little boasting. I know I'm not talking as the Lord would talk if he were standing in this pulpit. This is not being sensible, I know, but boast I'm going to. The world does, and so am I."
Now I have the complete attention of all of you and I guess that some of you have been thinking, "What's happening? I hope he's not actually going to boast. What's he got to boast about? How embarrassing! Don't do it, Geoff, think again!" But most of you understood perfectly well that what I've been saying is telling you what Paul has written in this particular passage to the congregation in Corinth. This is actually how he introduces a section which summarizes the intense sufferings which came to him as a follower of Christ. "It seems that simply everyone is bragging these days. We are living in 'The Days of the Braggarts' and so I thought that I might as well join in. You in your … great wisdom … gladly put up with these foolish boasters because you are … so wise. Well, you can put up with me!" (v.19) So the apostle becomes bitingly ironic and decides that he's going to have a piece of this braggadocio. He will boast too. "When you first hear these words it will be as if the elder standing in the pulpit were reading the letter of a fool, but, what can I say about that? You appear to be putting up with many foolish braggarts these days, so you can certainly put up with me and my boasting. You have been incredibly gullible in swallowing everything the false apostles have been saying, so you can take in your stride what I'm about to tell you. You're such … smart people … after all! If you can willingly become the slaves to people who actually hit you in the face then you can bear with my foolish words. Personally we find ourselves too weak to enslave you."
So Paul begins his 'boasting', conscious he is speaking foolishly, but determined to make it absolutely plain to the Corinthians what were the painful consequences of being a true apostle of Jesus Christ. We can divide up his boasting into four areas.
1. PAUL BOASTS IN HIS JEWISHNESS.
"Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I" (v.22). From this we gather that those 'super apostles' must have been Jewish. Paul hasn't mentioned that earlier, but it figures. The Jews, of all the peoples in the ancient world, considered themselves to be the experts, connoisseurs and aristocrats in religion, and they divided into their different parties, Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Zealots, and the followers of the different rabbinical schools, fighting amongst themselves. It was easy enough for them to drift effortlessly onto the high ground of faith: "You ain't much if you ain't Jewish. You certainly don't know much about religion, because we've been immersed in it for 2,000 years. We're the tops."
To describe his religious background Paul uses these three different designations; first 'Hebrews', the national name, broadly referring to their history, culture, nation and language – Paul's pure Jewish ancestry. There is the patriotism of the Hebrew whose land at the present time was under the occupation of the Roman army. He was certainly not a Gentile. Then the second designation is 'Israelites', the descendants of Jacob, the witnesses of the divine glory, the recipients of the covenants, the law, the temple, and the promises. Here is a theocratic and worshipping spiritual community. Proselytes became Israelites, but they could never become Hebrews. The third designation is 'Abraham's descendants.' Here are a people deeply conscious that they were the heirs of the promise God made to the old patriarch. They had a special relationship to the one God, the mighty Creator. The God of Abraham was their covenant Lord
What a wonderful inheritance. Imagine that the people of the British Isles could trace their history back 4000 years, and that we were worshipping today the same God whom the people of those days knew, and that what he said to our fathers those millennia ago, and what was written down by Moses 3,400 years ago, we actually knew and it had bearing on our lives today. Wouldn't you walk tall? Wouldn't you remind your children of such a lineage? Didn't the apostle feel that? There was a great affection for his nation. Didn't he say that he would willingly wish himself accursed if his fellow countrymen could be saved by any judgment that came upon him? That was his heart's desire and prayer for them. He never stopped being a Jew, and loving to be with his fellow-countrymen.
So, when he heard that these 'super-apostles' (who were splitting the Corinthian church – as they had done in other places – and were undermining the gospel of grace and assailing his authority), were actually defending these actions on the ground that they were real Jews while he was being faithless to Israel, then Paul raised his voice in protest. "I am as much a Hebrew and an Israelite and a descendant of Abraham as they are." He had the most magnificent sense of his people's glories, but he could see that their history of redemption was all focused on this great event that the Lord Christ, the promised seed of Abraham, should come and bless all the nations of the earth. Israel's Messiah had come and now the uniqueness of the land, Jerusalem, the Temple, the feasts, the seventh day Sabbath, circumcision and so on, had all come to an end, never to be restored. The New Testament Christian cried, "We are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh" (Phil. 3:6).
We can think of them as one of the 'neo-Jewish-Christian-splinter groups' of the New Testament times, and they wanted to take a parcel of their religion and weld it onto the work of Christ. They wanted to do this in order to make things easier for religious people. All the traditions and laws of the Pharisees made things easier for people. People were told just what to do in every circumstance of life, and that was religion. So these neo-Jewish-Christian-splinter groups told Christians to get circumcised, or keep a seventh day Sabbath, or refrain from eating pork and other foods, and soon it became a pretty Hebrew sort of lifestyle – with Christ, of course, in there too … somewhere. But Paul of the true circumcision will have none of it. The more that came in, the more Christ was pushed out. He affirms, "We (he stands in solidarity with the whole uncircumcised Philippian congregation) are the true circumcision who worship by the Spirit of God, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh."
2. PAUL BOASTS IN THE PUNISHMENTS HE HAD KNOWN SERVING CHRIST.
"Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea," (vv.23-25).
Were these men servants of Christ? That's the key question. Who were these 'super-apostles' serving? Was it Christ? Had they ever served him? Let's understand how anyone becomes a servant of Christ. You don't look at the job description and make a decision all by yourself that you'll take it on. The Lord Jesus Christ has to make us his servants. He gives the permission, and authority, and power to serve him. "Come to me and I will make you my servants," he says. "Take my yoke upon you." Ichabod Spencer of Brooklyn, New York, was once preaching a sermon in which he compared the people of this world who are without God and without hope to men and women stumbling across a dangerous mountain in the pitch dark. It became an unforgettable picture to one woman who was converted that night. Spencer vividly pictured the scene; no moon, no stars, no lanterns to help them, the walkers were utterly lost, and it was growing blacker by the minute. That is where you are tonight, you who are without God. You are groping your way along the sloping edge of a dreadful precipice and the winds are blowing stronger, and soon you come across some companions who are slipping and sliding down the steep slope to the edge. They are catching onto bushes and holding on for a little while before the rye grass comes up by its roots and they slide down nearer the edge again. "Hold on!" your friends cry in the darkness. "Hang on!" you shout to the sound of the voices near you. "Hold on!" everyone shouts as the darkness gets deeper, and the winds blow stronger, and the roots of the bushes give way , and you jerk down lower, nearer the edge, clawing for something to hold onto. Will you be dashed to pieces? It's giving way but you grab another little branch and hold on. "Hold on!" people cry: "Hold on!"
I read in the Times yesterday an account of a man holding on in the darkness. His name is Richard Pryor. He is a notorious American black comedian and film star. Almost twenty years ago his salary was 4 million dollars for his part in "Superman III." He has been married seven times, and has been addicted to hard drugs. He suffers from mood swings and once tried to burn himself to death while taking cocaine. A film about him was made by a director named Paul Schrader, and he called Richard Pryor, "the unhappiest performer I've ever come across." Here is a man hanging on to weeds in the darkness. Fabulous wealth, fame, drugs or women have been no light to him.
What have his psychiatrists and friends and wives said to him? "Hang on!" That is a very natural cry for people to make who can't see a light, a rock, some shelter, a path, or any way of deliverance. "Hold on! Hold on!" Wouldn't you shout those words if you could see someone on the edge of a cliff with a great drop below them? "I'll go for help. Hang on!" That is the natural man, holding on to whatever's at hand, one thing after another, but they are all giving way. Nothing is strong enough to support the soul of a man made in the image of God that can save him from the bottomless pit.
A man called John Farese is severely disabled in his arms and legs so that he cannot even sit up. He lives in Florida and he operates a Christian website which informs people about gospel churches all over the world. You can find there our own church and this week I have written to him again. My friend Bill Hughes of Glasgow has this year become his minister. Fifteen years ago Johnny was just hanging on in the darkness of his life. He had given up on religion after years of church attendance, and repeating prayers, and even being taken to Lourdes. He then entered a period of self-destructive darkness which lasted twelve long years, holding on to gambling, heavy drinking, marijuana abuse, visits to strip clubs, and frequent engagements with call girls as the blackness of pain, loneliness and emptiness hemmed him in. "Hold on Johnny!" the world cried as they all went slipping and sliding to the edge.
However, there is another great reality to be seen which these "Hold on!" people know nothing about. At the bottom of that precipice stands the mighty Son of God, Jesus Christ. His hands are outstretched to catch us, if we consent to let go and fall into his loving arms. The rye grass is coming up by the roots, but there is a Catcher in the rye. This Saviour is crying out, "Let go! Let go!" Everyone else is saying, "Hang on! Whatever you do, hold on!" But down below Jesus is saying, "Let go!" You are hanging on to the bushes of sin, to the twigs of self-righteousness. You are hanging on to the tattered remnants of your own thoughts about life and God and death and eternity, and all the world is shouting to you in its darkness, "Hang on to what you've got! Don't let go of that!" But the Lord Christ is willing to catch you and he is able to catch you, but you must let go. Let go of your ideas that your good living is going to save you from the fall. Let go of your half-baked ideas about religion and what life is all about. Here is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the preacher of the Sermon on the Mount, the one who died for sinners and rose again on the third day. Here is the living one, and he cries to you, "Let go of the rye grass, sinner, and fall into my hands. I can catch you. I can keep you from falling. I will present you faultless at my throne in that great day." Stop your shouting! Stop telling other people to hang on to what they think and what they believe, and listen to Jesus who is saying to you, "You must let go and fall into my kind arms. Let go of everything and come to me." No hope, no light, and no peace is possible without that.
That is what happened to Johnny Farese. His brother Bernie had already let go of his own works. Through the testimony of one of his neighbours Jesus Christ had become Bernie's Saviour. Bernie was driven by a daily desire to please God. Then a dozen years later his younger brother Paul, who had also been hanging on to the weeds of sex and drugs, also let go and fell into Jesus' kind arms. Both these brothers then prayed for Johnny and urged him "Let go!" For six months he refused but that half year was the worst period of his life. In the indignity of that darkness, and hanging onto joyless sex and drugs and gambling John became increasingly despairing, and he eventually did let it go. It was when he was reading the Sermon on the Mount that God opened his eyes to the truth about his sin and the inability of religion to deal with it, and the need to repent and let go and trust in the arms of Jesus to take and keep him.
The following are the words he has written in tribute to his Saviour, and when I read them this week I thought of this bedridden paralyzed man, suffering with the most painful bedsores, yet operating that useful website which he does by blowing through a tube. He says this: "Jesus has turned my mourning into laughter and my desolation into joy. He has made my heart rejoice with 'an inexpressible and glorious joy'. When I struggled to escape from his grace, he drew me to himself. I bear witness that never servant had such a Master as I have, never brother such a Kinsman, never spouse such a Husband. No sinner ever had a better Saviour than Jesus, no mourner a better Comforter. I want none beside him. In life he is my life, and in death he will be the death of death. In poverty he is my riches, in sickness my health, in darkness my sun. Jesus is to me all grace and no wrath, all truth and no falsehood, and of truth and grace he is full – infinitely full" (quoted by John Blanchard in his "Is God Past His Sell-by Date?", Evangelical Press, 2002, p.186). When John Farese let go that was the Saviour who caught him.
William Carey was the father of the modern missionary movement. He died in India where he had made the most extraordinary impact for the Lord Jesus Christ. These are the words he chose to have inscribed on his tombstone in Serampore:
William Carey
Born August 17, 1761, Died June 9, 1834
A wretched, poor and helpless worm,
On Thy kind arms I fall
He is quoting the words of a hymn of Isaac Watts who also had fallen into Christ's kind arms. So had William Carey. So has John Farese. So have I, and many here also, but have you? Or are you still hanging on? That is how worms become servants of Christ. Let go of ceremonies and circumcision and hands placed on your head and kneeling at alters. They cannot save you. Your righteousnesses cannot save you. They are all tattered rags with no strength to keep you from the pit. Only he can! There is a catcher in the rye! Fall into the arms of Christ and then he will tell you how to serve him. Let's make sure that we are servants of Christ not religion! Let's be confident that he has given us the authority to work for him and please him in everything we do.
That's what Paul had done, and then his life was spent in telling others of the Saviour. It meant Paul laboured away in serving Christ, as he says here, "I have worked much harder." It is a strange juxtaposition, that salvation is all of grace, coming to us as we stop hanging on to our own works and falling into the arms of Jesus. But all who have done this then become zealous in their hard work for Christ. Paul looked at his Hebrew fellow-country men and all their legalism, and he said to them, "Let go of it all! Fall into the true Messiah's arms as they are outstretched to save you." He came to the Romans with their pride in power and law and military might and worship of Caesar, and he said to them, "Let go of it all! Jesus Christ the King of kings and Lord of lords will become your Saviour if you entrust yourselves to him." He came to the Greeks with their culture, poetry, games, philosophy and he said to them, "Let go of it all! In Christ are his all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He will receive you if you come to him."
What was their response? Some of you will think that Jews, Romans and Greeks were all waiting to hear this message, that there was a hunger for it everywhere, and that they ditched all they were clinging to without a second glance. From that error you might go on to think that if droves of people are not lining up to accept our message today then there must be something wrong with us. It is because we must be boring and unloving and pharisaic. But I would say to you that Paul was none of those things. He was Christ-like, and when he had preached at Lystra the people who heard him thought he was the god Hermes who had taken human form. They did not think his speech was contemptible! But when they heard him clearly tell them to stop hanging on to the weeds of their religious systems and fall into the arms of Jesus they hated it. In Lystra the people who first thought he was a god soon changed their tune. "They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead" (Acts 14:19). The Jews hated him. The Greeks hated him. The Romans hated him.
Paul makes it clear to us in these verses just how much they hated him; he was often thrown into stinking prisons. Clement of Rome said that the apostle had been handcuffed seven times. He was frequently flogged, and he was exposed to death again and again. Men hung around in the dark to kill him. But he gets more specific, "Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea" (vv. 24&25). The thirty-nine lashes were counted out loud that no mistake should be made. The number thirty-nine was determined by a division into three parts: thirteen lashes were laid upon the chest and twenty-six on the back of the person. The victim was laid out on the ground and a leather whip was used. That is the response of the world to a man telling them that to be saved they had to let go of everything and fall into the hands of Jesus. The world hated that message! It hates it yet! This is what Paul boasts about. "If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness" (v.30).
3. PAUL BOASTS OF THE DANGERS HE HAS ENDURED.
"I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have laboured and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked" (vv. 26&27). Eight times the word 'danger' is repeated. This is not the fake danger of watching people in films acting as if they were in danger and being entertained. This is the real thing, like walking home alone one night and a man is walking up behind you getting nearer and nearer. There is no one about, and suddenly he lunges at you. Horror!
How did Paul travel anywhere? By boat, and then there were storms, shipwrecks and pirates, or Paul simply walked there. "I have been constantly on the move," he remarks. He can say that again! If he walked twenty miles a day – depending on the road conditions and weather – then Ephesus is about a thousand miles from Jerusalem (Aberystwyth to Rome, or to Warsaw), and at twenty miles a day Paul would take about three months to walk there. Philippi to Jerusalem would be by ship and on foot and he would take seven weeks to get there. On the journey he would spend some nights in inns and others in the homes of Christian friends, or he would pitch a tent he had made himself in an open field and seek to keep warm. Swollen rivers had to be forded if there were no ferrymen (it is interesting that the word 'bridge' is not found in the Bible).
Then there were bandits lurking in the mountain passes. There were dangers from his fellow-countrymen. He could never think, "This stranger has a Jewish accent so I can trust him." Similarly Gentiles were a threat and even some people within the church itself were dangerous men – false brothers. When Paul met a man as he was walking along in the mountains who told him he was also a Christian Paul still had to keep an eye on him. When they bedded down for the night in a lonely spot Paul slept lightly. The man could have been a Judaizer who hated the apostle. There was no safe place for Paul, in cities, in the country, on the ocean, every day was a day of danger. He could be dragged into court, whipped, and imprisoned. Think of the stress the apostle lived under. "If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness." (v.30).
This was his condition, "I have laboured, and toiled, and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked" (v.27). It is an astonishing picture of discomfort and poverty. How can the sleek proclaimers of the health and wealth message bear to read inspired words like this? Shouldn't it make them deeply ashamed? Paul's travelogue of pain makes us ashamed – and we despise their message. What deprivation he endured. Paul doesn't tell us merely that he worked, but that he laboured and toiled. There was no end to it. He doesn't say he went without sleep but that he had often gone without sleep, and "often gone without food" and so knew hunger and thirst. When did anyone here go without food because he had no money to buy any, and no one would give him even a cup of water, so that he often had those pangs of hunger? Paul says he often knew this. Paul was oftentimes cold and naked. He wrote to Timothy near the end of this life asking him if he could bring the cloak to him that he had left behind at the home of Carpus in Troas. It would help keep the cold off at night and when crossing mountain ranges in winter. So with those words he ends his list of references to his condition and appearance.
These are the things Paul was boasting about! Little wonder I didn't boast to you. You were right. I have nothing to boast about. What a contrast Paul was to the false apostles who lived like kings! This was the cost of being appointed by the Lord an apostle to the Gentiles. How often had his mind gone back to the very beginning at Damascus and Ananias befriending this unlikely convert. "I'm ashamed to say that I doubted whether you could ever be saved," Ananias had confessed to him. "But the Lord said to me, 'This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name'" (Acts 9:15&16). How sobering for Saul of Tarsus to hear those words. They were written on his heart. It was to an apostleship of suffering that he was called. The disciple was not greater than his Master. Every time they turned their dogs on him, or waited in a dark alley and beat him up, or hurled stones so accurately at his battered body, or spat on him and cursed him Paul could cheer himself that he had been chosen by the Lord for this very vocation, to suffer for the name he bore. The Lord was going to make plain to him this was his calling. "I'm still on line," he could smilingly say to himself as he nursed a broken rib, or held a cloth against a wound to prevent the flow of blood.
But it was not just the pain it was the psychological humiliations of all this suffering that he had to resist. Notice how the chapter ends – just before Paul speaks of being caught up to the third heaven in the next verses – he tell us that he was let down from a window in a clothes basket like a bundle of merchandise! It was probably his first taste of the ignominy of persecution, and it left an indelible impression upon him: "In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands" (vv.32&33). Remember who this man is, dangling in this basket, an absolutely brilliant individual, one of the great intellects of all history. We heard Dr Lloyd-Jones say something like this on more than one occasion: "Paul was a man who was endowed with unusual and exceptional natural ability. There is no question about that. It is something that comes out everywhere in all his epistles, and in what we are told about him in the Book of Acts. This man undoubtedly was one of the great brains, not only of the church but also of the world. That is something that is acknowledged by people who are not Christian at all. I remember that towards the end of the Second World War a series of lectures was given here in London on 'The Master Minds of the Ages'. It was a secular society that arranged them, but in the list of the men dealt with came this man, the Apostle Paul, because they had to recognize and to admit that he was one of the master minds of the ages. And that is something that comes out very clearly in everything he does. You cannot help noticing his tremendous reasoning power, his logic, his arguments, the way in which he marshals his evidence and his facts, and presents them. He was, then, a most amazing man if you look at him only from the natural stand-point and consider the unusual ability which he had…
"Yes, but not only that; he was also trained as a Pharisee; he had the privilege of sitting at the feet of Gamaliel, the greatest teacher amongst the Pharisees, and there, under that expert teaching, he himself became an expert on the Jewish law, at least as it was taught and interpreted by the Pharisees. He tells us that he excelled all others. He obviously came out top in all the examinations. He could simply drink in knowledge and information, and here he is, therefore, 'a Pharisee of the Pharisees', an expert in the Jewish understanding and interpretation of the law of God … Yes, but another thing about him is that he was born a Roman citizen … Now that meant a great deal: it was a high honour … with all the privileges which that implied…" (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, "Romans: The Gospel of God," Banner of Truth, 1985, p.8). This is the man bumping down the side of the city wall at night in a basket to escape from bully-boys who want to murder him.
This was no wild-eyed fanatic foaming at the mouth on a street corner denouncing everyone who past by in the most unguarded language! Here was a refined intellectual, a leader amongst men, wise and discerning. Here was a meek and gentle, Christ-like man. There was one way he could have avoided this catalogue of pain he presents to us, and that is by being unfaithful to his calling to preach the message of Jesus Christ. But once he spoke the truth about the living God and the plight of man in sin and the only way God could have been reconciled to us Paul was destined for a life of fearful suffering.
4. PAUL BOASTS OF HIS CONCERN FOR THE CHURCHES.
"Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?" (vv.28&29). You understand that Paul was not worried about the churches. That was forbidden by the Lord, but he was concerned for others. The good Samaritan was concerned for a hurting man. He simply couldn't carry on walking. There was a cry of compassion in his heart. The pressure made him stop and help. Paul received news from the churches at Antioch, Thessalonica, Galatia, Ephesus, Colossae, Philippi, Rome, Corinth and others bringing him daily pressures and concerns. It was so stressful being the apostle to the gentiles, laying a foundation for the whole future of the expansion of the gospel into the world. He tells the Romans, "even we ourselves groan within ourselves" (Roms. 8:23). You might walk past Paul's room one night on your way to the bathroom and you would hear soft groaning coming from within. You think to yourself that he might be ill, and then you remember his anguish in prayer. Some of you fathers were with your wives when they went into labour and you remember their gasps and panting and pain before your sons or daughters were born. Paul tells the Galatians, "My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you" (Gals, 4:19). It was not slick and mechanical to bring a newborn Christian into the world. We will never grow in size until there are some pains of childbirth in many more of us.
Paul asks, "Who is weak?" There are weak Christians. People on the fringes of the church, not quite in the world and not quite in the church, Christians not responding well to their providences, not going on in their walk with God, not growing in grace and in the knowledge of God. Like Lot they linger outside Sodom. Like Lot's wife they often look back. Weak Christians. The hour calls for men, but they, alas, are children. They neither know, nor care, nor feel, nor understand, nor think, nor read, nor exercise their minds, nor trouble their heads as much as they ought with affairs of the congregation. They could not tell us what is the meaning of conversion, grace, justification and sanctification. They could you tell you where their teams are in the football league, and what is number one in the Top Twenty but they could not list the ten commandments, and they could not recite the beatitudes. Weak Christians. When they grow in numbers in a church the whole life of the congregation is threatened. They will silence the pulpit and make it like themselves. Hasn't it happened all over the country? Weak Christians lead to weak churches, terminally declining churches, and soon to no churches at all.
Paul says he feels weak when he meets them. They had an effect on him. It is a contagion. They cooled his ardour. They dampened his zeal. He was tempted to cut corners when he was with them. We have known young men who kept the faith throughout their theological training because of godly fellow students keeping an eye on them and encouraging them. Then they entered a modernist-dominated denomination with a congregation full of weak Christians, and soon they were weak themselves, and they never recovered. They have settled into the bands and casual folksy worship of casual Christianity. How they joke about their earlier convictions – "when we thought we had all the answers" – they say derisively, glorying in their shame. Weak Christians.
They had once believed that man was a sinner, but that word is no longer used from the pulpit to describe the congregation sitting in the pews. Modern church-goers do not feel sinful. What they want is emotional self-indulgence, and an affirmation (to which they believe themselves entitled) of their personal significance. Their goal is happiness, and the minister they have called and pay for is expected to serve that end. Weak people, no longer adherents to Christianity. Christianity is about a life of following the suffering Saviour and experiencing the pain of identifying with him and his message. It is about surrendering one's will to the will of God. True Christianity is far too demanding to satisfy the artefact of casual praise that they have come to consider faith.
A weak Christian is weak doctrinally. As J.C.Ryle says, "All of us know what a vast difference there is in the manner in which such people leave the world, and the amount of comfort and hope which they seem to feel. Can any of us say that he ever saw a person die in peace who did not know distinctly what he was resting on for acceptance with God, and could only say, in reply to inquiries, that he was 'earnest and sincere'? I can only give my own experience: I never saw one! Oh, no! The story of Christ's moral teaching and self-sacrifice and example, and the need of being 'earnest' and sincere, and like Him, will never smooth down a dying pillow. Christ the teacher, Christ the great pattern, Christ the prophet, will not suffice. We want something more than this! We want the story of Christ dying for our sins, and rising again for our justification. We want Christ the mediator, Christ the substitute, Christ the intercessor, Christ the redeemer, in order to meet with confidence the King of terrors, and to say, 'Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory?' Not a few, I believe, who have gloried all their lives in rejecting doctrinal religion, have discovered at last that their 'broad theology' is a miserable comforter, and the Gospel of mere 'earnestness' is no good news at all. Not a few, I firmly believe, could be named, who at the eleventh hour have cast aside their favourite, new-fashioned views, and have fled for refuge to 'the precious blood,' and left the world with no other hope than the old-fashioned doctrine of faith in a crucified Jesus. Nothing in their life's religion has given them such peace as the simple truth grasped at the eleventh hour" (J.C.Ryle, "Charges and Addresses," p.57, Banner of Truth, 1978).
Just as I am: without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee
O Lamb of God, I come.
Weak Christians spread their weakness through a congregation. What a pressures of demoralisation they bring to the congregation's leaders.
But Paul goes one step further. "Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?" (v.29). When Ananias and Sapphira fell into sin what soul-searching must have taken place amongst the apostles. Peter and John burned inwardly at the deceit. When one member of the Corinthian congregation was led into sin it was Paul who inwardly burned. The church was proud. The skids were under them, and they were finding it hard to believe in a God who thought so much less of them than they thought of themselves. Their religion, in short, was moving from Paul to a religion of therapy, a religion not formulated as a response to the demands of God made to them through his apostle, but a vapour rising from untutored individual need. It was, in short, derived from human vanity.
There was a fire in Paul's bones. Was he burning with agony, or concern, or distress, or indignation? All those one imagines, and in some sad sympathy with the sinner too, but distress over that sin tolerated in the heart of the church, anger towards those who led them into sin and a burning longing to see remission and restoration. All such burning Paul knew. He was drawn into fighting weakness and yet a burning longing for holiness in the people of God.
All this is what the apostle boasted about, the immense cost to a sensitive man like Paul of what serving Jesus Christ was all about.
3rd March 2002 GEOFF THOMAS


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The special train tour from Istanbul to Thesselonike departs on 8th of October.
As special tours are expected to become widespread by liberalization, the first special train tour is being organized to Thesselonike, to the city where Ataturk, the founder of Turkish Rebuplic was born, on the day of his death anniversary.
The tour is being organized by Raytur, a subsidiary of TCDD Foundation. The train will follow Istanbul-Drama-Thesselonike-Istanbul. Passengers will stay two nights at sleepers and one night at a hotel at Thesselonike.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner is included in the tour with the prices starting from 650 €/person.
These special train tours are generally very expensive all around the world. Trans-Siberian Express is one of the most famous one with prices about € 10k/person.
That trip sounds fantastic. Would so love to do it.


text:
Home Minerals Diaspore
Muğla Province, Aegean Region, Turkey "Courtesy of Rob Lavinsky, The Arkenstone, www.iRocks.com"
Locality: Common world wide.
Name Origin: From the Greek word "to scatter," referring to the mineral's easy disintegration in the blowpipe flame.
Diaspore also known as empholite, kayserite, or tanatarite, is an aluminium oxide hydroxide mineral, α-AlO(OH), crystallizing in the orthorhombic system and isomorphous with goethite. It occurs sometimes as flattened crystals, but usually as lamellar or scaly masses, the flattened surface being a direction of perfect cleavage on which the lustre is markedly pearly in character. It is colorless or greyish-white, yellowish, sometimes violet in color, and varies from translucent to transparent. It may be readily distinguished from other colorless transparent minerals with a perfect cleavage and pearly luster—like mica, talc, brucite, and gypsum— by its greater hardness of 6.5 – 7. The specific gravity is 3.4. When heated before the blowpipe it decrepitates violently, breaking up into white pearly scales.
The mineral occurs as an alteration product of corundum or emery and is found in granular limestone and other crystalline rocks. Well-developed crystals are found in the emery deposits of the Urals and at Chester, Massachusetts, and in kaolin at Schemnitz in Hungary. If obtainable in large quantity, it would be of economic importance as a source of aluminium.
Diaspore, along with gibbsite and boehmite, is a major component of the aluminium ore bauxite.
It was first described in 1801 for an occurrence in Mramorsk Zavod, Sverdlovskaya Oblast, Middle Urals, Russia. The name is from the Greek for διασπείρειυ, to scatter, in allusion to its decrepitation on heating.
Ottomanite, and zultanite are trade names for gem-quality diaspore (also known as Turkish diaspore) from the İlbir Mountains of southwest Turkey.
Recommended For You Matlockite
Physical Properties of Diaspore
Cleavage: {010} Perfect, {110} Good
Color: White, Greenish gray, Grayish brown, Colorless, Yellow.
Density: 3.3 – 3.5, Average = 3.4
Diaphaneity: Transparent to subtranslucent
Fracture: Brittle – Conchoidal – Very brittle fracture producing small, conchoidal fragments.
Hardness: 6.5-7 – Pyrite-Quartz
Luminescence: Non-fluorescent.
Luster: Vitreous – Pearly
Streak: white
This sample of diaspore is displayed in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. The sample is about 3 cm across and is from Mugla, Menderes Mountains, Anatolia, Turkey.
DIASPORE on MARGARITEMugla Province, Aegean Region, Turkey Miniature, 3.8 x 2.6 x 2.3 cm "Courtesy of Rob Lavinsky, The Arkenstone, www.iRocks.com"
Taking Selfie at Crater Base
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A final rule that would require new heavy-duty trucks to be equipped with electronic stability control systems has cleared the White House Office of Management and Budget and could be officially published soon. OOIDA opposes a government mandate, saying that technology is no substitute for a skilled, experienced driver behind the wheel.
The final rule on electronic stability control, ESC, cleared the budget office on Thursday, May 21, inching the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration closer to publication. The 2012 transportation bill known as MAP-21, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century, required NHTSA, which has jurisdiction over new vehicle standards, to issue a rule on electronic stability control.
OOIDA has offered up alternatives to a government mandate since the rule was in the proposal phase. Eliminating the underlying driver errors that NHTSA uses to justify an ESC mandate lies with training drivers, the Association has said. Better signage and highway markings and better enforcement of a "plethora" of existing laws against unacceptable and negligent driving practices would also help.
Most of all, OOIDA says that stability control already exists in the marketplace and, therefore, the carriers that already use it should have less crashes.
"If it's already available and already being used, there shouldn't be any need for much speculation. If, in fact, it does lead to fewer crashes, it should speak for itself – that there are fewer crashes among the companies using the technology," OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer told Land Line Magazine.
"And if the agency does not pursue a comparison of carriers already using the technology to those not using the technology in terms of crashes, then we would be very skeptical of any claims made by the agency," he added.
Makers of stability control system, companies like Bendix and Meritor-Wabco, say that their technology is not meant to replace skilled driving, but is meant to enhance it.
Spencer says that while that may be true, a federal agency should possess real-world data before publishing a final rule.
"Technology can certainly do fantastic things, but we don't think it can replace a skilled, experienced driver. Could it enhance a skilled, experienced driver? We hope so," Spencer said, "but more than that, before there is any kind of a mandate, the agency should clearly look at how the technology plays out in the field.


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Unbelievable Tragedy in Karachi -Sydney hotelier Minhas Zulfiqar shot dead in Pakistan
Minhas Zulfiqar Receiving Sada-e-Watan Award from High Commissioner
Ms Megan Levy and Ms Rachel Olding of Sydney Morning Herald covered a tragic death of Leading Australian Pakistani Businessman Mr. Minhas Zulfiqar Managing Director Crowne Plaza Norwest Sydney. On Wed, 20th March, Minhas Zulfiqar has been shot dead in Karachi as a wave of gun violence. For further details, Please visit Sydney Morning Herald.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/sydney-hotelier-shot-dead-in-pakistan-20130321-2ghds.html
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Our Citrus + Seashore candle smells of a fresh ocean breeze with a top note of fresh, apple, melon, orange and bergamot. The heart blends lavender and bois de rose leading to a base of woody violet and musk. This candle is infused with natural essential oils, including orange.


That's the question I've been pondering since I left work at the end of June.
I had to clear the decks to answer that call: to ask, to listen, to obey. I know I am incredibly privileged to not have to work and be able to spend this time in discernment.
I've been told more than once that this will be really hard, to not be drawn back into that old way of being.
But I've promised God to sit at His feet and learn what it is that he has in store for me next, and it wouldn't surprise me that I will discover a few new things about being in relationship with God in the process.
I have to put to one side all speculation on the future, all that I am comfortable with now, all that others hope I will do, and allow God to reveal God's plan.
Wow. It really sounds like I've been peering closely at my navel and being super-holy, doesn't it?
Turns out, not so much. I've done very little sitting at his feet.
Yes, I've been doing lectio divina weekly (thanks to the Cup of Sunday Quiet podcast for making that resource available). A good chunk of my morning is spent reading, and I've been faithful to my prayer life. The week spent icon writing fulfilled this too.
But even on retreat I didn't do a whole lot of listening. A whole lot of resting, yes, and watching woodpeckers tend to their nest.
The kind of listening I'm talking about is not my growing awareness of God at work in my world, but in the way of discernment. In the last week, I've become aware of this. That in reorganizing my day into blocks of prayer, work, reflection (which has been reading mostly) and art, I have failed to make that reflection block a truly reflective block.
I am hardly ever still.
I have replaced the busyness of work with another kind of busyness.
I know God is still talking to me through all this: that I need to transition, even grieve what once was, rest. I've even learned patience (more or less) during a week of icon writing. My art reflects my faith more and more.
So I suspect this is just another stage of transition and I am doing my usual thing on being hard on myself but also I am thinking through things aloud. I have the time to make the time to listen after all.
I hope I won't be linking to this post two months from now and wondering why I forget what God has taught me so often.
This post is prompted by reading a blog today. Over at The Poorganic Life, Katrina shared a truth straight out of scripture.
Oh wow. Just what I wanted to hear this morning. I've been whining for a while: "But God, what do you want me to doooooooo" (insert wailing and gnashing of teeth).
Okay! I've been aware the past week that I haven't been making space for him. I need to stop keeping myself busy and start being.
Or better yet, pray for me.