First they clobber you with commercials, all of them featuring exceptionally bad music with the volume turned up so that your bones vibrate.
Then come the previews, about a dozen of them. And they all look like the same movie! Is it my imagination, or are movies getting uglier? They previewed a new Stephen Spielberg film based on a video game, “Cowboys and Aliens,” and all the actors looked like they’d just crawled out of the gutter trying to find another drink. I guess they just don’t make movies like “Casablanca” anymore–you know: with smart dialogue, fascinating multi-dimensional characters, and an actual story line. Who needs that stuff, when you can base your movies on video games and comic books?
I’ll have much more to say about “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I,” in the review that I’ll write for Chalcedon (www.chalcedon.edu ). But here are a few short takes.
1. Why do some of the characters in this movie say “My God,” when there is no God in J.K. Rowling’s alternative universe? Correct me if I’m wrong, but what role would God play in a world where children and bad guys wield fantastic magic powers and function as gods themselves?
2. Is it my imagination, or does one of the female villains in the movie bear a striking resemblance to Hillary Clinton?
3. If there is no God in the Harry Potter world, and the good guys and the bad guys use exactly the same techniques to get their way (you can tell the bad guys from the good guys in this movie because the bad guys are even uglier than the good guys), what is the source of morality in this alternative universe?
4. Why do so many Christians, especially Christian parents, seem to have no problem with this stuff?
Once again we see that modern Christians seem perfectly content to take the culture as they find it, and make no effort to bring it under the dominion of Christ the King.
Maybe that’s why our culture is turning into a cesspool.
I check my checking account balance every day. Just a habit from being a bookkeeper for a long time. I noticed the day before yesterday that there was an odd amount being withheld from the balance. I called the bank and was told I would get a call back. When they called back they told me that because Lee had died they were holding money back.
I had not told them of Lee’s death yet, so I assume it was Social Security who informed them. I had to run to the bank with a copy of the death certificate, fill out and sign a couple of forms and it was rectified. If I had not done so, anything that would come in for Lee (like his pay) would bounce back out of the account. Nice one, guys–a call to me would have been a help. I had had the account with that bank for close to fifty years. We were also assured at that time that it was joint–no problem if a death should occur. Wouldn’t it have been just dandy if my check to the lawyer had bounced? This bank also keeps sending e mails to their customers telling us how they are always “here for you.” Phooey.
I also noticed that in my previous post about the NFL, I neglected to mention that Bad Bunny was their choice to be featured in the Super Bowl half- time show. That was the “entertainer” that I was talking about. 
How silly–we all know there is no such thing as a bad bunny.
God Bless Everybody
Patty
My daughter works for a large retail chain in the Southeast. She was recently promoted from Sales to a position in Human Resources ( why they changed it from Personnel I don’t know).
From the beginning she noticed big problems with hiring and keeping employees. This really is a good employer, by the way–large employee discounts, performance bonuses, great pay, advancement and recognition–you name it.
Here’s what happens far too much of the time.
Someone is hired, fills out all the required 
complex paperwork, and never shows up.
Shows up for a few days, then disappears.
Works one day, calls in the next day, then disappears.
Stays out, never calls in.
And so on.
It is a constant churn of interviewing and hiring. Very few new hires actually remain as permanent employees.
I had heard of these employment problems before, but was not aware of how bad it truly is.
This is a symptom of a vast cultural un-caring. Where is the work ethic?
How do these people think?
And how do they manage to live?
I’m sure we are now seeing the results of the participation rewards given to children in primary school. You get a prize just for showing up.
This does not bode well for the future of our country.
God bless everybody
Patty
“Goodbye, cruel world” ?
Oy vey and holy cow! Remington has had to recall more than 56,000 electronic hair dryers, due to risk of… electrocution.
No one’s been killed yet, but the company isn’t taking chances. These units are purchased online and delivered to the buyer’s home. Remington warns users that there’s a “serious risk of electrocution” if the unit comes in contact with water while it’s plugged in.
Well by cracky! Columbo! Murder, She Wrote. Mannix. Whole battalions of classic TV cop shows–how anyone could be ignorant of this gimmick is beyond me. Don’t take your electric hair dryer into the bathtub with you!
But the fact that no one’s been electrocuted by one of these gizmos yet suggests that the TV shows are doing their job, protecting us from Reddy Kilowatt on the warpath.
(Move over, sonny!)
We saw our new primary care physician yesterday, and we liked him. He didn’t seem to be in a hurry; he was very thorough.
Today we see some other doctor, one I don’t think I’ve ever heard of before, and he’s gonna do… what? I don’t know. Something to do with my hip replacement. It would be awfully nice to walk across the living room without needing a cane. Can this Dr. Whatsis make that happen?
This business is mighty distracting. Now, even generating a small blog post is a challenge: can’t concentrate. But I will keep trying. Somehow.
Please, let’s join together in prayer for Heather, daughter of our dear friend, Thewhiterabbit. Heather, 55, has come down with liver cancer. Her father, our friend David,. is with her now.
Please, Lord, bless and defend this family, your servants. Protect and heal them by the power of Jesus’ name: Amen.
I think I posted this song recently, but no matter: if a reader requests it, I post it.
Requested by OhioChessFan: the Chuck Wagon Gang sings When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder.
Well, I hope we’re all there for that!
I’m sure I don’t know why, but I find a degree of comfort in this song. I’m looking at a wide river now. Will the Lord carry me across? And what will I find on the other side?
Father, if I ever needed faith, I need it now. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Boy do we ever need a rest today! (Interrupted by brief coughing fit. *Sigh)
I’m still trying to catch up on lost sleep, and Patty’s morale is shot. For me it’s been almost a whole year since I’ve been healthy. Patty got her affliction from her visits to the hospital.
I want an orange! I want to play basketball! I want my wife to enjoy good spirits! I want to get back to writing novels! I’m sick of being sick!
We’re supposed to have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow. It seems there’s ALWAYS one of those just around the corner.
Please keep the prayers coming. Patty and I need them.