So I was looking around for something to post about and came upon a story about a couple who are brewing a doggie beer for their pet, who has digestive issues. It is called Good Boy Dog Beer and is sold at some locations near their Houston home.
The brews are called beer "because we use a lot of the same equipment a brewery does. We just skip the fermentation process," Megan Long told USA Today. She said the beer contains all natural ingredients, including vegetables, meat and turmeric, a spice known to aid digestion in canines. The Good Boy Dog Beer company now has products available at more than 20 dog-friendly bars and restaurants in the Houston area and they also ship their products in cans. The beer is available in three varieties: "IPA lot in the yard," "Session...Squirrel!" and "Mailman Malt Licker."
IPA Lot In The Yard, I love it! But frankly, I said to myself the other day that they should make a low-ABV beer for dogs- and the little voice in the back of my head told me, "Well, KC left that Budweiser in the fridge..."
And a few days ago, I shared some with Scrappy. Because he loves beer, and was dying to have some Golden Monkey (which I would not part with). But after I finished my GM, I thought perhaps the Bud would then be palatable (it was not) and I wouldn't mind giving him a little in his bowl.
Before you all come down on me, we are talking about a 15-year-old dog whose body is rapidly falling apart on him and deserves a little treat now and again. God knows, he would LOVE to be able to do walks like he used to. I am afraid of the day that he loses function in a leg, or falls down and can't get up, so I regulate his adventures far more than he would like. Yesterday, though, we went out into the wild...
One of several ground hogs I saw- and you get to see- while he merely got to sniff after the facts. But it evens out in that he saw five deer that you don't get to see because they were going too fast.
It was a gorgeous day, and he seemed quite sprightly. Then I figured out why...
These last two pictures were but a couple of the many ways he TRIED to get me to let him go down to the creek and drink himself into a coma. He did not succeed. Mainly because the water was a bit "blue" for my comfort, and tangently the last time I let him sample the ditch at home, he had to back out of it because his back legs got stuck and they no longer have the strength to get out of muck.
A couple of shots at Woody...
And the Bluebird of something less than happiness shooting us a dirty look...
I thought about supplementing these with pictures that I took on the 15th of October in other years, but learned that it was the FIRST October 15th I had pictures for! So I looked at the 14th...
in 2015...
Ducks were starting packing for the trip south...
And the colors were a bit better than now.
2016...
Well, that was the second of two straight nights we ran into a whole herd of deer up by Coliseum Blvd....
Geez, lookit 'em all!
Moon's coming up- time to head home!
Mars and the moon to light the way...
Last year...
Pretty much the last time we ran into our foxy friends...
Darn it, I KNOW he went in here...
So now, we move ahead a couple of days to this date in 2013...
Oh boy! We went to The Spot!!!
Today, though, we will eat a peaceful meal at home, count our blessings for yesterday's trip, and go to bed dreaming of another unique day before it all fades away....
We got a new bird feeder this summer, and lately it has been a hub of activity for many species. Allow me to introduce some of our guests. They are a bit skittish- I believe it has become an underworld dive. I have not gotten pics of two guests we know as "The DoveFather" and a Blue Jay known as "Squealer." But I have managed a few candid shots...
Of course, Scooter is the unquestioned king...
Elements of the dreaded "Sparrow Mafia..."
Bird: "Seriously, how do you do that?"
This is Tits, aka Mrs Scooter
The chickadee...
...and Woody...
Hey, where you goin'?
"Shhh... slippin' into the back room fer a sec..."
I love the way God orders our days when we listen. We say, "Let me get to this one thing first, and he says that line about putting hand to the plow and looking back- in ways both apparent and subtle. In other words, this morning I got a "Do this first", and it began with a line from Chuck Swindoll's daily devotional for Saturday:
Ours is a hell-bound, degenerate world, and you know it. Political corruption abounds. International peace, a splendid ideal, continues to blow up in our faces. The crime rate escalates as domestic violence and gang wars and drug traffic and overcrowded jails continue to plague society. Pending legal cases choke the courts of our land with an endless litany of litigation. And even when cases are finally brought to trial, no courtroom or prison cell can remove madness from minds or hatred from hearts. Satan, our relentless enemy, has a game plan, and it's on the board. Knowing that his days are numbered, knowing that he has an appointed amount of time before the scoreboard counts him out, he holds the world in his lap and gives it directions, implementing his strategy day after day. If our Christian message is a mirror image of the message of the world, the world yawns and goes on its way, saying, "What else is new? I've heard all that since I was born."
And the reason that struck me was its connection to what I felt led to share with you this time- homosexuality, the government, and the Church. Now, to the LGBT person- and unfortunately, to many Christians- there are two sides only from which to look at this. But, give me a moment, there are THREE.
First, you have the Christian's duty to resist sin. Make no doubt- homosexuality is a sin. Period. Born out in dozens of verses in the Bible. It is on the Church to do their best to lead the society away from the commission and celebration of sin...
Rom 1:32 Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
Given that, we must also remember, as has been Christ's theme with me lately, that He calls us to mercy. Sin is the enemy- Satan, as Chuck said, is the enemy. And the community that "take pride" in that sin, they say we are their enemy. Fine, if they want it that way. But, the second side of the non-equation begins with, what is a CHRISTIAN supposed to do about enemies?
27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic[a] either. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. 31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. 32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
So let's list our actions against our "enemies", required by Christ:
Love them
Do good to them
Bless them
PRAY for them
Lend to them
Be an example of God to them
Be merciful to them.
Two of these I think need a little expansion. One is the concept of bless. Any idea what that means, class? Does it mean to treat them like a sneeze? No, "bless" actually is a compound of two Greek words that mean- ready for it?- speak well of. Connotating that it is speech TO GOD that is being referenced here. Thus, it is an example of how we are to PRAY for them.
Second, where did I get, "be an example of God"? Look again at the passage-
35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.
So now we are to exemplify God's kindness to all men. Now, break down the word "kind". It boils down through one word to another that means to be useful to someone, to FURNISH WHAT IS NEEDED. For God, that means that everything we get from Him in this world- rain, sun, food, air- as well as the chance to repent- they get as well. For us, that means, you don't shun them FOR their sin. You serve, you live, you respect their persons- and you give them a chance to repent.
Which brings us to the third leg in this tripod- government. I had this thought listening to a man who has tried to convince legislators away from hate crime legislation, believing (rightly or wrongly) that LGBT activists will use this as a legal wedge against Christians. He made much of the fact that every time he was called to testify before a body, it was him alone against several LGBT activists fighting FOR the legislation.
Is this our fight? Well, it is certainly our fight to see that legislation is written in such a way that ALL people are afforded the BEST protection possible. But consider, the government is not and cannot and SHOULD not be an arm of the Church. The government, at any public level, is a secular organization serving the WHOLE body- Christian AND secular. If some LGBT feel they need protection against bullying, against job discrimination, against persecution, well, they do. Just like Christians, and Muslims, and veterans, and the handicapped, and the unborn. That protection is a SECULAR job.
Some Christians feel the battle is against the radicals, the in your face-ers, and the government is their sword against them- and they are in a desperate struggle with them for a grip on said sword. And that is true so far as it goes. But are we cutting radical and non-radical alike- tarring all with the same brush? When we do that, " the world yawns and goes on its way, saying, "What else is new? I've heard all that since I was born."
So the lesson here is:
1- Know the REAL enemy.
2- Remember there is a difference between the sin and the sinner, even when THEY don't.
3- Treat all men the way Christ commanded.
4- Use government for what government is for. It is your shield against the world- The Spirit is the sword against the enemy.
Sadly appropriate that the week that, in 2018, Michael buries his head of fury into the Deep South, we go to the same date in 1962 and run head-on into the Great Columbus Day storm of '62 in the Pacific Northwest. Originally Typhoon Freda, it took at turn at the World Series in San Francisco and then a hard north to land near Vancouver Island as an extratropical storm. As an ExTrop, it had certain differences from the hurricane it had been- one of those differences was NOT the wind. Readings from 145-179 MPH were recorded. 46 people died, and Washington and Oregon lost more board-feet of timber in the storm than they normally harvested in a year.
Meanwhile, I was now one day shy of 150 days old, and presumably enjoying lots of formula and naps. And a nice 79 degree day with light breezes about a tenth of what the PN got.
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And it's that time again, as we take a trip on the Time Machine that has a big winner in the Panel picks, another no-debut week on the M10, a visit into the ancient blues- and some more modern stuff; And Dion DiMucci at the Panel picks! Strap in, here we go!
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Just because it was so good that I have put it into the M10 shuffle, and because I have no other songs to put up here yet, here's a song that was the #60 in '60- and might be in the M10 some day soon... Ms Della Reese...
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And now (see what I did there?) it's time for Dion -er, wait a minute...
...it's Dion AND the Belmonts!
Um, Nardole, step over here please... (whispering) Why did you bring the Belmonts, too? They were broke up when he did Runaround Sue...
Oh, sure. Blame it on the little bald minion who cooks and cleans and launders George Harrison's trousers after he's...
Clamp it. This is going to be nice and awkward, and any mess that gets made is ALSO going to be your clean up...
(Speaking) ANYway, I'm, er, glad you all could make it...
Dion: No problem, man! Always glad to help... Carlo: You don't have to speak for us anymore, pal. Remember, you dumped us... D: Now hold on a sec! We just outgrew each other musically... Fred: ...and Ego-wise... Angelo: Yeah, you got too big for the neighborhood. D: Guys, it ain't like that... C: How's rehab going?
OKAY, gentlemen, we're all here together, in front of an audience...
D: The man's sayin' ,'be civil'... F: Yeah, yeah, we're chill. C: So it says here, you made the Rock N Roll hall of fame and WE didn't. How'd ya manage that?
HEY! Get away from there! How'd you get that?
C: Presley's in the green room.
DAMNIT, ELVIS! You know, your extended existence depends on this show- which you're trying to sink...
E: Aw, man, I wuz just havin' a little fun.. Look guys, just pull together for the show, and I'll get the buffet all set up.
No liquor...
Nardole: And no Bologna Casserole... E: Shorty, are you STILL mad over that? How's I supposed to know that Brits can't digest Southern cooking...
I just want to apologize to everyone insulted by the insinuation that bologna casserole is "southern cooking." Okay, are we doing this, or would you like to unearth some more information which I'll just have to erase from your heads when you leave?
D: Guys? F: We're cool. Make with the list.
Thank you. This week we had 14 contestants from 40 stations. First, the one-vote wonders...
C: All right, now... Nat King Cole was #2 on Cashbox with Rambling Rose... F: Tommy Roe had Sheila at #11... A: Roy Orberson had Leah at #91 as a day-boot... D: That's "Roy Orbison," and "debut". A: So it is, Big Shot. Yer next! D: Sigh...Kris Jensen's Torture was at #30... C: Georgia locals the Tams were at -oh, wait, debut next week- with Untie Me, which peaked at #61. F: And, Bobby Rydell debuts at #71 with The Cha Cha Cha.
Okay... and the also receiving votes list...
A: A'right, I gots Frank Ifield's I Remember You at #9 wit' 2 votes... D: Then it's Chris Montez's Let's Dance, also with 2... C: Brenda Lee singin' All Alone Am I at #23... F: Dickie Lee is at #5 with Patches and 3 votes... A: An' it's the Crystals wit' He's A Rebel at #24 wit' 3 votes.
Okay, and that leaves you 3 contestants going for the big prize- and they will be rather unevenly dividing the other 23 votes...
D: Here, three songs, you guys do them. C: Oh, no, we wouldn't DREAM of hogging your spotlight... A: Ey, give 'em to me I WOULD dream of it! Youse all vote for... Do You Love Me by the Contours at #8... The Monster Mash by Bobby "Boris" Pickett an' the Crypt-Kickers at #3... Or da number one song on Cashbox, da Four Seasons wit' Sherry! C: I bet Frankie Valli never goes solo on those boys... D: Now just a minute! I'm about to get out my two fists of iron and...
AND that's all the time we have guys! Nardole, please escort them to Elvis' suite to finish their discussion, while we move right along...
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So this week our 6D victim was Booker T and the MGs at #4 with Green Onions. I noted in my research that this song was recently inducted into the "Classics of the Blues" section of the Blues Hall Of Fame! I thought I might share a little bit about the other four entrants at this point.
The newest outside of GO was Albert King's Crosscut Saw...
Albert got this to #34 on the R&B chart in 1966. One thing you can count on with old blues standards is risque lyrics...
Now I'm a cross cut saw, drag me 'cross yo' log I'm a cross cut saw, and drag me across yo' log Babe, I'll cut yo' wood so easy, you can't help say "hot dog"
And "cut yo' wood" is revitalized as a euphemism for... you know...
Next is Bo Diddley's I'm A Man from 1955. This is the song the Yardbirds covered, and NOT the one that Spencer Davis or Chicago did. It is, however, the flip to the self titled #1 of his.
From way back in 1938 was the next inductee, Big Joe Turner with Roll Em Pete, featuring keyboarder Pete Johnson.
And finally a song you know well in various versions, See See Rider Blues by Ma Rainey. An aside here on the lyric thing- Ma had several tunes that "experts" point to as proving she was bisexual. One of them, Prove It On Me, was allegedly written about her arrest from a lesbian orgy two years before. At any rate, let's have a listen...
Definitely a different take than Mitch Ryder, eh?
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Our label battle this week was pretty tight, and this time was reflective of the "next new thing"- which was the aforementioned Four Seasons. Which is why, with a 5 song average placement of 27 on the year's hot 100, the winner is-
....Vee-Jay records! They claimed 2 big hits from Frankie and the guys (Sherry at #7 and Big Girls Don't Cry at #11), two from Frank Ifield (#8 I Remember You and #70 Lovesick Blues), and Gene Chandler's Duke Of Earl (#28)!
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Stat Pack time- and here's some of my beloved irony- check the titles of the two songs that tied for biggest mover:
Bobby Darin, If A Man Answers (27 notches #73 to 46)
Brenda Lee, All Alone Am I (#50 to 23).
Well, I thought it was funny...
Jazz keyboardist Jimmy McGriff took the #101 spot with I've Got A Woman.
The #62 in 1962 was Chuck Jackson's I Keep Forgettin' - yes the very same that Michael McDonald synthesized up much later. I think we've done that tale before, but I keep forgettin'. (See what I d- oh, never mind.)
I knew 35 on our charts, and 14 of the 50 UK hits, which included 5 of our Panel picks- Sheila at #3, I Remember You at #8, Ramblin' Rose at #11, Let's Dance at #21, and Sherry at #25.
Knew the #1 as well- the Tornadoes and Telstar.
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And Now (yes, I did it again!), the M10!
Vanessa Carlton slides from 3 to 10 in her seventh week with Lonely Girls- which puts her into a logjam for 15th this year.
Also sliding, from 4 to 9, is Eleanor Friedberger's Everything, after 5 weeks and a peak of 4.
Rad City moves up a pair to #8 with Ghost Organ.
Three weeks on the chart, all at #7 for Escondido and Crush On Her.
Eight weeks on, and Blackberry Smoke's One Horse Town moves into 7th for the year, dropping just one to #6.
Leon Bridges' former #1 Beyond goes down 3 to #5.
ELO moves up 2 to #4 with Train Of Gold.
Then come the two big six-notch movers- Frankie Cosmos's Apathy at #3, the Decemberists and Sucker's Prayer at #2.
Which means the song at #1 holds on for a second week...
...Anna Burch and What I Want!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And the Panel vote?
Well, if you took the Contours, you got 10%...
If you took the Four Seasons, you got 17.5%...
But if you wanted to get the winner and its 30%, you have to...
...do the Mash- Do the Monster Mash!!!!!!!!! That oughtta set me up for an interesting Panel list next week....
This week, we skip the verse that inspired the journey- John 3:16 (we'll hit it at the end) and skip over to Acts. Acts 3:16 is right smack in the middle of the story, and like so many of the verses we have looked at, it is the dividing line in the story. But it not only divides the story, it shows us the style of Peter's evangelism.
The story starts with a man lame from birth, who was practising Israel's form of "welfare"- he was begging at the Gate of the Temple called "Beautiful". I have since learned there is no real agreement on where this exactly was, though it was most likely an outer double-gate leading onto what was called Solomon's Porch, as it would have been a high traffic area he would have been allowed access to. Other such theorized locations would have been further inside the complex and his admittance would have been iffy.
Anyway, he begs from Peter and John, and Peter gives him one of the most famous responses in the history of panhandling:
Act 3:6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
And he went leaping and rejoicing onto Solomon's Porch, where a crowd began to gather in amazement, as they well knew this man had laid there lame for many years, begging from all of them. Seeing the crowd, Peter jumps into stage one of his witnessing plan. First, he gets their attention with his usual lead in: "Why are you amazed?" He didn't mean them to think it a mundane thing- he actually wanted them to think about the amazing thing that happened, and open themselves up to learn how it occurred. Then, he goes on the attack- refreshing their memory that it was in the name of the Jesus THEY crucified that the man was healed. Before you can save someone, they must be made to see the guilt they wear before God.
But hammering someone with that is not what will save them- a thing a lot of Christians forget. Peter established the fact- and moved on to the hinge point, our verse:
Act 3:16 And his name--by faith in his name--has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.
Thus the miracle becomes the hinge point- the proof of the Power of Christ. They cannot deny Christ's power legitimately anymore- they are now witnesses, and it has become a "accept or reject" scenario. So Peter has first opened the door to discourse; then established the problem- and the solution is set up. Now, he brings in "the hook".
Act 3:17 "And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.
Act 3:18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.
Act 3:19 Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out,
Act 3:20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,
Act 3:21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.
Not only does he give them the benefit of PREVIOUS ignorance, but then begins to show how this is not something AGAINST their belief system, but in fulfillment OF it:
Act 3:22 Moses said, 'The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you.
Act 3:23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.'
Act 3:24 And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days.
And he goes on to bring up the rest of the prophets who have carried this drumbeat of Moses- and their own connection to it.
And in this, he lays out the whole process of witnessing. And the proof of it was in the results- the priests came and had he and John, arrested.
Oh, and one other thing:
Act 4:4 But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.
So we have the intro, the problem, the witness from which one must accept or reject, the mercy, the repentance needed, the family bond established. And it worked for Peter- but maybe not right away. After all, those who heard apparently raised no protest after the arrest- they must have had to think on what they saw. Let me re-run 4:4 from Young's Literal Translation:
Act 4:4 and many of those hearing the word did believe, and the number of the men became, as it were, five thousand.
Note the word "became". Maybe some believed right away, others took a little longer, but the EVENTUAL effect numbered 5,000. This is after all, a process. Not all of us get the immediate, miraculous transformation that this man did. Some of us go through a process like my "but I'm a Catholic" phase- a phase I see many Catholic friends observing, but not making the connection. Back in our verse is the key phrase, " And his name--by faith in his name--". Not by Church membership, or infant baptism, or being born a Jew- but FAITH IN HIS NAME. That is what releases the power.
A lone man looking for means of expression in a tsunami of information. Seeking truth justice and the American way in the perspective of a Nixon conservative. And the Commissioner of the free world's smallest and best fantasy football league.
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