Johnny Rivers: Secret Agent Man

Psalm 122

Many people use this phrase to describe the joy they feel when going to church. But the psalm is not about going to church. It's about God's temple: Jerusalem.

God has many temples:
A building made with hands
Human beings made by his spirit
The earthly holy City, Jerusalem, which is the greatest non-human temple.
And the spiritual Jerusalem, our future heavenly home which we will in inhabit in the future and which we also inhabit now in the heavenlies in a way we don't quite understand.

This psalm looks back on Jewish feast days in Jerusalem which God declares is Israel's holy city and it also looks ahead to the day when Israel will live securely.

God said that all the world would be blessed in Israel. Very true! 20% of nobel scientists are Jewish. A large proportion of inventors, artists, creatives, are Jewish. Even when a Jewish person rejects his God, the blessing that God gave Jews to have the ability to affect the world remains: hence Marx and others. No other people have blessed the world as much as the Jews have.

It's considered hip today to hate Israel and to ignore what bad Muslims have done to Israel. But let we Christians continue to pray for Jerusalem, the city of the Jews, no matter what Israel has done. Israel is still God's holy people, the people through whom our Messiah Jesus was born, the people who preserved God's words for us, the people through whom all the world is blessed.

Psalm 122

1I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.
2Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.
3Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together:
4Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD.
5For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David.
6Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.
7Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.
8For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee.
9Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek thy good.

WTF Moment in Bible Study: Meek Moses

Moses' description of himself. Okay, if Joshua finished these passages after Moses died, this is understandable. But to read this passage with a straight face:

Numbers 12:3
(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)
Numbers 12:2-4 

So then, is Moses saying it was a straight face? Is he playing with us? I suspect a little bit of both. Takes a very unmeek person to say he was meek above all the men on the face of the earth.

Exodus 11:3
And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants, and in the sight of the people.
Exodus 11:2-4 

Psalm 121

Wow! One of the first three psalms I ever learned from my Methodist minister grandfather.  I remember learning it at bedtime. I really should meditate on this more. Might fight the stress. I think it's a good little psalm and it definitely blows the mind of a little kid to attempt to think of a God who doesn't sleep or nod off. I think about heaven without sleep and I can't quite grasp it. But yes, I must remember that God is my keeper. My shepherd. And when the ozone layer disappears totally, I should remember that the sun cannot strike me. Nor can the moon make me moonstruck. Yes, there's a lot in this psalm. IF I could rest in it: The Lord preserves us from ALL evil.

What are you, you little hills? The Lord has given me power to trample you under my feet and to cast you down!

My God is the Creator God who made the heaven and the earth. He isn't a man who reached enlightenment but the actual creator...and this is the one who keeps me. Thank you Lord! I love you very much, your daughter, Carole.

Psalm 121

1I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
2My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.
3He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
7The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
8The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

Korean Heritage Mass Choir -- My Desire is to Worship God

The Waking by Theodore Roethke

The Waking

I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.

We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.

Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me, so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.

This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.

yes, am seriously annoyed at Square Enix for delaying this game

The Delicacy of Hint and the Mellowness of Sneer

Okay, so there I am attempting to learn humility. There I am attempting to die to self...
The Bible talks about humility and it also says that true religion is the ability to have control of one's tongue." From all the other Bible verses on the tongue, I take that to mean -- only affirming God's truth regardless of the pathological "real" truth, not gossiping however tempting the tidbit (Ah, gossip is so tasty! Our mouth waters! -- Proverbs),  not giving tit for tat, and being silent when one is rebuked -- if it's one's fault.

Humility is frickin hard. And -- because I tend to think of myself as such a sufferer-- it is especially hard for me.

I have to keep my mouth shut when some nasty bill collector calls.

I have to keep my mouth shut when the white doctor tells me that "black women tend to be overweight and did I know I was morbidly obese?"

I have to keep my mouth shut when my Buddhist friends make snide jibes at Christianity. (I don't know what the heck is wrong with the folks at the temple up the road, but dang!  I mean...apropos of nothing we're standing in front of the art house and before I knew it some snide crack about Christians and our belief in hell. I wanted to say "What exactly is it with you people? It's as if your speaker/priest/guru/whatever you call him has filled you all so full with sneering venom and mockery against Christianity that you're are ready to overflow and to sneer at every second. Yes, we Christians believe in right and wrong and in hell. Tons of Chinese Buddhist believe in hell, Emma-soo, hell money and what not! And in the Tibetan Book of the Dead there are instructions to the dead about what and where not to go if one doesn't want to suffer. Heck, every religion has some horrible place where the dead don't want to go...even if it's the desire not to return to life as a fly! For Frick's sake!)

I have to keep my mouth shut when the school nurse calls me up with a lecture (Argh! The cruel snide sneering stuff that we mothers of special ed kids get from the educational system!)

I keep my mouth shut -- am learning to, anyway-- against black christian women who travel all around the world and the country preaching and saying such stupid truly unChristian platitudes without realizing how stupid their preaching is.

I keep my mouth shut at white Christian prophets who seem to equate Pres Obama, the death of a white-ruled America, with the coming antichrist.  I keep my mouth shut when my hispanic church friends buy into this stuff -- and I don't say that this is all part of a white conservative fear that their world is ending and blacks -- AND HISPANICS-- are taking over the world.

I keep my mouth shut because I am trying to learn humility and because I tend to get very very very nasty when I speak my mind.

But of course this leads to me seething -- as I do against the inlaws, as I do against the school system, as I do against racist white doctors, as I do against annoying christians, as I do against hateful non-Christians.

There has to be a middle line where I can truly learn to be humble

--yes, Mr Bill Collector, you are quite right and although I sense that you consider me a dead-beat, I shall buck up and kow tow to your wishes and send you a check for money I don't have.

-- yes, Mr Racist White Doctor, you are quite right. Two hundred and fifty pounds is much too much, and although I sense that you consider all black women moral slovens, I shall attempt to lose these unwanted pounds and move more in line with your idea of Caucasian beauty standards. Yes, I shall even buy skin lightening cream.

You see, even when I try to be humble, I get snide. As Richard Brinsley Sheridan wrote in The School For Scandal, I "lack the delicacy of hint and the mellowness of sneer." I paint my comebacks with too wide and angry a brush. But I really do need to learn how to be humble. For the sake of getting my prayers answered, for the sake of quieting my ego and dying to self. God, help me please! And you alone, I might add. Amen.

• 
  

  Biblical Foundations of Freedom: Destroying Satan's Lies with God's truth

  by
  
  
  
• Art Mathias
• Paperback: 252 pages
• Publisher: Wellspring (2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0972065601
• ISBN-13: 978-0972065603
•  

Here's the blurb:

This profound book is a welcome follow-up to A More Excellent Way. Dr. Mathias takes us on a step-by-step tour of the biblical foundations of sickness and freedom. He talks about sin; discernment; accusing spirits; and the major strongholds or principalities of Satan, including bitterness, self-bitterness, jealousy and envy, rejection, fear, and occultism, pharmakia, and sorcery. Within each chapter, he discusses illnesses caused by these strongholds and provides the biblical methods of overcoming each of them. He concludes with a discussion of our authority in Christ and biblical provisions for continuing to walk in health and wholeness. If these simple principles were followed, we would see considerably fewer illnesses in the Body of Christ.

Dr. Mathias has studied under Pastor Wright and was healed of a disabling disease called Environmental Illness (EI). He had become allergic to most foods and clothing fibers and had found no medical relief. He was healed after applying the principles in this book.

Psalm 120

More and more as I read this psalm I think that the lying lips and the deceitful tongue belong -- not to an external enemy-- but to the owner of those lips and that tongue.

Isaiah said Woe is me!

Isaiah 6:5
Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
Isaiah 6:4-6

St Paul also said "Wretched man that I am" which pretty much is another way of saying "Woe is Me" And why did he say it?

Romans 7:24
O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Romans 7:23-25 


Because he was aware of his helplessness against his mind against his own members!  The spirit of a good person is willing but the flesh -- and its members-- are weak. 

Romans 7:23-25 (King James Version)

 ²³But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
 ²⁴O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
 ²⁵I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Psalm 120

1In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me.
2Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.
3What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?
4Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.
5Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!
6My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.
7I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.
King James Version (KJV)

Dark Parable: baby lion and mining colony in out of space

I dreamed of a gang that wanted to kill my family and a little newborn in our house. They kept shooting at us. At last, they gave us a box with a little lion cub in it. It didn't seem too dangerous in the beginning. But it got a bit bigger and nibbled at the three middle fingers of my left hand as we were trying to get rid of it. Second dreamlet. Seems I was on a mining colony on some colonized planet in space. I worked with other miners. We were led by a tough gruff guy who didn't seem as if he would hurt anyone, but if threatened or annoyed he would. We got a signal from a vessel that the person on it wanted water. Our leader said he would give him some but of course he had to pay for it but he had so little. Our leader asked him to give even a small thing. He had to give something, as a matter of honor and payment. Finally, he found a tiny little box of cereal to pay for the water. We took it. The cereal reminds me of the grain offering. This dream reminds me of David and Abram who wouldn't allow others to bless them by simply giving something. They wanted to pay for stuff folks wanted to give them for free. Haven't had a science fiction dream in a while.

Great post over at Sense & Sensibility about skin colour among East Indians

In her  recent blogging at SENSE & SENSUALITY , Sarojini Sahoo, the associate editor of Indian Age and the veteran bilingual feminist writer, has discussed 

 Skin Colour Among Indians- Is it Really a Question of Fairness?  

The website is here: http://sarojinisahoo.blogspot.com/

Psalm 119

I love this Psalm so much I can't really discuss it.

It's pretty upfront. And the refrain, "As you promised, Lord" really breaks the heartstrings. There was a time I could read this psalm without really connecting to it. But now when I read it, it's as if I'm pouring my heart out to him. And the good thing is that I can say all the verses in this longest psalm of the Bible knowing that I'm saying them truthfully. Avec tout mon etre. With all my being. Read it in French today from my French Bible. God is good, my French is improving. That's a good way to re-learn a language, by the way. If you're a Bible lover, read the Bible in the language you're studying. Your mind already knows the English Bible so it's easy enough to understand the Bible in the new language.

Psalm 119


1Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.

2Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.

3They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.

4Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.

5O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!

6Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.

The rest is here

Weekend Movie-Viewing -- the true love edition

Asian heartbreak and American reconciliations! The stuff of great movies!

First, I've got to say that Korean and Japanese love stories totally believe in that Eros/Thanatos Love/Death thing. Certain kinds of films aren't made in the US anymore and the "I love you and you're dying" movies tend to happen once a year if at all. At least in America. Maybe we're not so focused on the romanticism that comes from death. Heck, with all these healthcare discussions, death only makes us think of money. And obesity. But in Asian flicks...well, heartbreak and bad health go hand-in-hand. Heck, a girl leaves and then you realize you love her (they always realize they're in love way too late) and you're likely to come down with a bad case of fever...even if you aren't the one who dies. American love stories, on the other hand, tend to be about mayhem that brings the should-be-lovers-but-are-too-caught-up-in-the-normalcy-of-life-to-see-clearly feuding lovebirds together. Heavy on the mayhem. 

Tada Kimi wo Aishiteru Just, loving you or Heavenly Forest. Shy guy -- Asian movies abound with shy folks-- is befriended by Shizuru, a girl who seems a bit on the young side. She says she has a growth hormone deficiency but then again, she's in the habit of telling exaggerrated stories, is a total flake, and is more than a bit eccentric. But she loves being with him. They become friends and he teaches her photography. Of course he's in love with gorgeous Miyuki, another college schoolmate. (Triangles just abound in these Asian flicks.) Shiziru goes along with the friendship because he's her friend. But one day after asking him to kiss her  -- the kiss which makes him realize how much he loves her, mind you, the kiss that has to be one of the best kisses every put on the silver screen for its purity, sweetness, poignancy, and all those other lovely love words-- she disappears. Why? Well, he goes to search for her. And, ya know... of course some tragic story awaits. This was the absolute best and sweetest tragic flick. She doesn't die of cancer but one of those illnesses folks die of when they fall in love. LITERALLY! Stuff like this happens in Asian flicks. Reminds me of those Victorian women who got sick on the Moors or fell invalid because of love...or their too-tight corsets. Totally loved this one. 

It's an outsider flick. What I really liked about it also was  how insecure the kids were. Segawa, for instance, thinks he smells (he has had to rub this medicine on his skin from childhood) and so he avoids people. That's why he's shy. Shiziru is allergic and lacks -- she says-- the sense of smell. So of course he figures he can become her friend. He has his moments of being ashamed of her but is still totally in love with the other girl. (one of those beautiful sweet wise girls you can't really find flaws with but would want to.)

When Sizuru (says she) has no home, he asks her to move in with him. Ah, the joys of having a best female friend who is in love with you living in your house taunting you, begging you to sleep with her, and complaining about the girl you love while at the same time reluctantly helping you to win that other girl! This kinda thing is only possible in Asian flicks. If an American director did it, it would lack all sense of fun and believability. But Sizuru is a flake. And also because of him a budding photographer. Anyway, I won't give away the story. Just will say it's beautiful but heartbreaking. 

Favorite lines: 

1) I don't care if you regret'll it. One day you'll say I should've slept with her.

2) I want the one I love to be loved by the one he loves.

3) What if I turn out to be wonderful? What if I turn out to be absolutely incredible?

Then there was Garden of Heaven. In this one a girl is dying of gastric cancer. She meets a gorgeous doctor. Wow, is he ever gorgeous!  He's been forced to take over his deceased dad's hospice hospital. His heart is not in it. In fact, he pretty much says he has no heart and that his heart is crippled. Oh, please! We know better. He just can't deal with all the death he's had to deal with -- like his mom's, like his dad's. Of course, he  falls in love with gorgeous dying girl and gets his heart healed. Okay, I'll admit it. I loved this movie. Who sees movies with hospice patients dying and preparing to die? The thing about seeing a Korean dying movie as opposed to a Japanese dying movie is that the Koreans tend to be Christian so there isn't this part of me saying, "Oh, please Lord! These folks are not saved! Please let there be such a thing as reincarnation!" Which is what I do when watching a movie with folks who talk about reincarnation and ancestor worship. 

Then there is Addicted. Happily married brother Ho-jin and single brother Dae-jin both have car crashes in a single day. Daejin recovers and Ho-jin is brain-dead. But Daejin behaves very much like his brother. Has his brother possessed the body of the younger one so he can continue living in love with his beloved wife? Well, that would be telling, wouldn't it? I'll just say that M Night Shyamalan has nothing on these Asian films with their twist endings. Twist endings are one thing, but heart-breaking twist-endings...well, that takes the cake. Just sad all around. Is it me but is this a case where honesty at the last minute wouldn't be able to unwind all the mess that had gone before? Why wasn't he honest to begin with? I kinda suspect she could love him...but for two people to continue living with a lie? The woman will know it's a lie...and he will not know that she knows... Ah, gee... won't that cause resentment in her heart? And maybe, there'll be a moment when honesty wins out..and they love each other...as each other. I can't imagine the lie being allowed to go on forever. But then I'm not Asian. 

One really sweet one was Viva Love. Not really a death movie, though. In this, a 40-ish woman is living a life of quiet desperation. Her husband has a mistress and doesn't sleep with her. Her daughter is selfish as heck. The woman takes in boarders from a college some distance away so she's always losing them. Then her daughter gets engaged to a very shy thirty-year-old Chinese guy who runs a laundry. The daughter, however, runs off when she gets a job. This leaves Chinese guy heartbroken and Mom attempting to comfort him because she's so ashamed at daughter's selfishness. Well, next thing you know....as they say...they're in love. Next thing, she's pregnant. (Or so she says, not really sure. Will talk about this later.) And hubby doesn't want the kid because he promised his mistress that he hadn't been sleeping with his wife. Young guy pays money for her to go to the clinic and is kindhearted but hubby keeps pressuring wife to get rid of the baby. Then she tells hubby the baby is the young guy's -- after all, she hasn't slept with her husband in years (and he's been wondering how her pregnancy came about.) Hubby calls daughter who comes back with a vengeance and with a story that she too is pregnant by the Chinese guy. Forgot to say that meanwhile all the older women in this town have been pretty much cast aside. Their husbands are busy drinking in the Karaoke and pay zippo attention to them. Anyways, this movie gave me some trouble at the end and I'm hoping it's not the old "All Asians look a like to me" kinda thing. But honestly, although this film won the Korean versions of best picture or something like that, the ending was confusing. First, at the end, all the older women get babies. Long story but let's just say that the may december love story kinda fuelled all the relationships. But in the last scenes we see a baby lying between a dark-haired woman and a man but honestly from the way the camera angle was shown I didn't know whose baby it was. I didn't even know if the older woman hadn't been pregnant at all. So that was very dissatisfying. 

Then there was Ima Ai ni Yukimasu  which is translated, Right Now, I'm coming back to you, or Be With You. Mom dies and son and father can't deal with it. Son is told that his mom has gone to the Archive Planet and will return one day. One day, they visit the grave and who do they see...a woman who looks like Mom. But who is she? She herself doesn't seem to know. Father and son convince her that she is Mio, the dead mom and she begins to believe them until she finds Mio's diary. Okay, I loved this little flick. A bit paranormal and I won't give away the ending. I'll just say that in Korean movies, comas tend to be on the supernatural side.

Another good little flick was Tokyo Boy. A very shy girl named Minato who works in a convenience store, lives with her grandma, and doesn't talk to anyone except her male pen-pal Night (a boy she's never seen) falls in love with the son of a doctor. He's also shy. But they manage to come together. After a while, though, the doctor's son starts avoiding Minato. Turns out Night is not too thrilled about the relationship. And why should he be? After all, he's the male split personality for Minato who's protected her all his life and who's in love with her. Okay...so split personalities aren't healed as fully and as quickly in real life as it is in this film. Actually, the way the male personality finally goes is a bit more like an exorcism than deep psychology. Not overly so, of course. But the male personality is convinced to leave. The thing that bothered me, though, is that I kinda wanted the two personalities to merge. (Okay, the christian in me kept thinking...this could be a possession instead of a split personality... I had watched a horror film before. But I figured I'd go with the split personality trope.) It just kinda bothered me that a new Minato-Night blend didn't emerge. I mean, Minato got better and all but Night was entirely gone. 

Silk  A group of scientist -- one who is a might extreme-- has discovered a way to see ghosts. They're interested in a little boy who is stuck in a little room and does various things during the day. Who is this kid? Why is he a ghost? And why does the really extreme over-the-top scientist have such a passion for death? In the meantime, there's a detective pulled into this. He's not really interested but his mother is on life support and he refuses to let her go. As the film continues, he also has questions about death and if his mother is alive and angry with him.    Are ghosts here because they are angry or because they love? 

These films were watched on my computer and can be seen via www.iidrama.com   www.mysoju.com and   --if it's horrow-- http://asian-horror-movies.com/

On Sunday I stayed in bed all day. Luckily Starz had a free viewing weekend. Wish I'd known on Saturday but hey, better late than never.

First was  Pyaar Ke Side Effects, a Bollywood comedy about a DJ who doesn't want to deal with one of the side effects of love: marriage. Very funny in the bachelor realizes the girl is his true-love vein. He talks to the camera a lot. Not bad. I have a problem with Bollywood movies, gotta be honest. I keep saying, "But these folks would be prejudice against me." Note, I don't say this about Korean and Japanese movies so I know that I'm probably affected by the Indian father in Kansas who killed his son's African-American bride because, well, she was black. Weird thing is that I had an Indian college friend named who belonged to the Black Students Union. She was the most militant of us all, and I have neighbors and have had co-workers who are Indian who weren't prejudiced but still I get nervous about Bollywood. Except for Aamir Khan, of course. Anyway, am gonna try to watch these films without thinking, "Hey, these folks hate black folks; why should I watch their movie?"

Next up was 30 days of night. Ah, I had totally forgotten how totally hot Josh Hartnett is. Okay, so there is this town in Alaska that experiences 30 days of utter sunlessness annually -- perfect for vampires, uh? Josh's character, Ebon (or is it Evan?) is suffering a separation from his wife. He didn't want kids; she did. Basically. Just when she's supposed to go off on the last plane leaving Barrow for 30 days (and to venture off on her separation) what should happen but she misses the plane and evil philosophical vampires enter town. (Okay, vampires are always evil, but few cackle as evilly as these. And, if I remember correctly, the vampire doing most of the talking is the leader who has a kind of debauched UK goth feel to him.) Anyway, I pretty much watched half of this under the blanket. Not because I was scared --alas, the movie is not really scary-- but because it's so dang gory and cruel AND I really hated seeing folks' necks being bitten. In the end -- I won't spoil it for you-- but most of the folks in the town are destroyed and the lovers are reunited. Bittersweet ending, no?

Then there was Vantage Point with my man Forrest Whitaker. Ah the Rashomon treatment of presidential assassination flicks! The Zapruder conspiracy flicks of Zapruder conspiracy flicks! And Dennis Quaid does the aging, loyal, wounded, self-sacrificing Secret Service Agent proud! I really liked it. I'm not sure why everyone hated it so much when it was in theaters. Towards the end Quaid's Agent grows from trembly recovering traumatized antsy oldster to super-hero but hey, it brought a smile to my face. And once again, the couple with marital trials are reunited through tragedy. May I never be close -- physically, at least-- to a couple undergoing marriage troubles -- the whole world has to be turned around for them to get back together.

I gotta say these last two films were totally exhausting. I tend to watch calm little flicks and watching these I realized how unused to excitement this heart of mine is! Glad I saw them but I was actually breathless watching them. Guess my heart needed a workout.

The last was Beyond the Gates, a film about a priest caught up in the Rwandan civil war between the Hutu and The Tutsi. Really good. Absolutely devastating. Survivors of the genocide helped direct and make this film. Basically, it's about one tribe holding out under a UN protection...until they're not... and another tribe killing them. Lots of anger at the UN for not being able to use the word "genocide." It's just really heartfelt and has all those spiritual questions about man's inhumanity to man and God's being co-sufferer with human pain thrown in. John Hurt plays the priest. I read somewhere that he lives in Kenya. He has been one of my favorite actor of oddball types since I was a kid. I have no doubt I fell into a few odd friendships because of him and his depiction of Quentin Crisp. Hugh Dancy places a teacher who is caught in it. The big question of course is...about love. Will the white folks enter into the pain and suffering of the black folks or will they take the chance they have to leave -- since the UN is only helping whites escape? Well, I'll just say...a priest does what one would expect a priest to do. 

That's about it.

Meditation on God's "suddenlies" and His "all"

I am convinced that the Holy Spirit made Luke write about this to give hope to those folks who are bound with several troubles at the same time. When I think of people with a lot of illnesses I always think of Lazarus because being dead he had everything in his body not working. Or I think of God healing all the people who left Egypt of all their diseases when they left the land of Egypt and was so protective of them that their shoes didn't even wear out all that time they traveled in the wilderness.

But Peter's deliverance just really touched me this weekend. Two soldiers beside him, two chains, guards at the door, a closed door. Seven troubles. The perfection of troubles, if you will.
Soldier troubles -- troubles that fight against you
Chain troubles -- troubles that keep you bound
Guard troubles -- troubles that prevent you from moving on
Closed Door troubles -- troubles that you see no way out of.

I really really really feel God brought this to mind because some years ago, I had a dream in which I said to God, "It's not that I think you can't deliver Gabe or me, it's that I wonder if you can deliver us out of ALL our distresses." So I've been pondering this.

So, I'm thinking about this incident. The kind of deliverances in it. And also thinking of the suddenness of the deliverance. I love God's suddenlies. One day I'll wake up and suddenly, we'll be free. Heck, we might even see an angel!

A) The cause of the illnesses at the root of our problems -- only God knows what they are, but maybe with Gabe it's in the stomach. The gut brain connection, the gut allergy connection, the gut immune system connection, the digestion/speak/pain connection.
B) the effects of the illnesses in our bodies. Bad enough an illness begins but then it causes effects in the body as well. Because Gabe can't talk for instance, he could have a splinter and we wouldn't know it. He could be suffering with a staph infection and we wouldn't know it. We've had to play diagnostician much too often and have probably given him medicine for the wrong thing because of our guesses.
C) the effects of illnesses on our finances -- all the idiots who think that God gives us sickness don't know the damage and the poverty that illness brings to lives.
D) the effects of illness on our relationships -- they also don't know how relationships are destroyed. Brothers who should have played together never really bonded because one was sick, or sex being a tool for sleep or peace but not for pleasure or joy anymore.

Illness makes a person poor in spirit. It destroys the soul. I cannot describe the slamming down one gets from judgmental neighbors, know-it-all folks in the educational system, and having to deal with arrogant doctors more than one would wish.

But, Lord, you know. YOU know. Oh, how you know!

But I believe we can all be delivered suddenly! God uses "all" a lot. It's humans who start qualifying his blessings. I believe my family and I can be suddenly freed and that even now God's word is working mightily in us.

Oh Lord, deliver us from the evils we do not know and the evils we do know.
Oh Lord, deliver us from the evils and the abnormal life we've gotten used to because of all our illnesses and from the typical ways of thinking that Christians have used to blind themselves to the truth of the gospel.
Oh, Lord, deliver us SUDDENLY and SOON as you did Peter -- even though the church at large isn't praying for us. I ask this because Jesus' blood bought healing for me and because you promised me. Lord, let not my enemies -- sickness, grief, judgmental Christians, the medical system, the educational system-- triumph over me. Amen.

 ⁵Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.

 ⁶And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.

 ⁷And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.

 ⁸And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.

 ⁹And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision.

 ¹⁰When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.

 ¹¹And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the LORD hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.

 ¹²And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying.

 ¹³And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda.

 ¹⁴And when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate. 

.¹⁵And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel.

 ¹⁶But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished.

Tamil Christian Song

DBSK: Soulmate -- Single: Shelter

Yep, my fave Korean band just dropped a new single. I love the rap and the rhythm and blues feel.

Psalm 118

The Day the Lord has made! There was a day before Christ's death and a day after. Before His death, we were separated from God because we were dead. After his death, we received our life again.

Unlike God who is spirit, unlike the animals who are physical, Adam and Eve were created to be spirit and flesh. We were created to have dominion over sickness, the animals, the weather, time, space. We were created to be an entirely strange species that could be both spirit and flesh. But then we lost that because we distrusted God's love for us. We wanted to understand all the evils in the world although evil had never touched us. Instead of seeking to simply accept God saying, "This is good, this is good, this is good." We wanted to be as God and also know what was evil -- and how to define evil and measure it. We failed miserably. The first thing Adam and Eve did when they discovered evil was learn to blame someone else.

But then God prepared a day! As Milton said, "Oh happy fault that showed so great and good a God!" God showed us His love for us by preparing a sacrifice. All the folklores and cultures speak of  the loss of the original permanent home. All of them speak of a great loss. But they also speak of a great day when all that man lost will be returned to him. They speak of a great book that will show us the Creator's love, or a great sacrifice which will return the world to its proper order, or of a great day.

Jesus, YOU are the DAY which the Lord made! I will rejoice and be glad in YOU.

Past that sabbath, that seventh day, we enter the 8th day and our wonderful NEW DAY. We enter the years of jubilee. Lord, help your people show the world your love...and let your spirit in us prove that we have been redeemed from the world, that the world itself wants to glorify the Son of God, the firstborn of the redeemed sons of God.

Psalm 118 (King James Version)

Psalm 118

1O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever.
2Let Israel now say, that his mercy endureth for ever.
3Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth for ever.
4Let them now that fear the LORD say, that his mercy endureth for ever.
5I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place.
6The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?
7The LORD taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me.
8It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
9It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.
10All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD will I destroy them.
11They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.
12They compassed me about like bees: they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.
13Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall: but the LORD helped me.
14The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.
15The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.
16The right hand of the LORD is exalted: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.
17I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.
18The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.
19Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD:
20This gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter.
21I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation.
22The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.
23This is the LORD's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.
24This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
25Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.
26Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.
27God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.
28Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee.
29O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

It so happens that verse 8 marks the exact center of the Christian Bible. When confronted with the idea of trusting God, of really deciding that He has the answers for your life, we are apt to squirm a bit.  In this world, self-reliance is the mark of the mature person. Dependency is for the weak.  Well, let's be weak. Where we are weak, He is strong.

What Birthers Believe

WTF Moment in Bible Study: Fuller

Okay, like most people I don't know what fullers do. Or did. I don't even know if people still full but I got to thinking about fulling because of this verse:

Mark 9:3 And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.

This is the section in the Jesus' life where we hear about the transfiguration. Other than the other theological stuff that goes on in this verse -- symbols of the law and symbols of the prophets-- meeting with Jesus to tell him about his work, the basic idea of this section is that Holy Spirit is so powerful and pure and so substantial that the spirit within a person can actually transform the flesh and the clothes on that flesh.

Because of the ability of spirit to affect so much, we can lay hands on people and on things such as handkercheifs and those things can affect others. The same spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives within us and can transform our own body.

But then I got to thinking of fullers. In my limited mind, I thought of the fuller brush man. Folks who appeared in old-timey literature. So, yeah, I thought it had something to do with clothes.

But then I thought I'd do a search on fullers in the Bible. In the KJV there are five references, including the above. (And the below.)

1. 2 Kings 18:17
   And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's field.
   2 Kings 18:16-18 (in Context) 2 Kings 18 (Whole Chapter)
2. Isaiah 7:3
   Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field;
   Isaiah 7:2-4 (in Context) Isaiah 7 (Whole Chapter)
3. Isaiah 36:2
   And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field.
   Isaiah 36:1-3 (in Context) Isaiah 36 (Whole Chapter)

So you know that got me thinking about this highway to the fuller's field.

And of course there is this:

1. Malachi 3:2
   But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:
   Malachi 3:1-3 (in Context) Malachi 3 (Whole Chapter)

According to wiki 

Fulling or tucking or walking ("waulking" in Scotland) is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of cloth (particularly wool) to eliminate oils, dirt, and other impurities, and making it thicker.

The worker who does the job is a fuller, tucker, or walker.

Ah, the purity of heaven! The terror of being cleansed to eliminate our oils and purities to make us thicker...and fuller of the substance of God.

I find myself thinking of the phrase, "made of whole cloth." Whole cloth is a piece of cloth as it is was  first made from the creator's hand. Not one which has gotten scraggly and missing bits because it's been cut up to make other stuff.  Whole cloth has no connections to anything else in this world.  (Just like a lie invented totally out of the blue with no support of foundation.)


But the modern meaning of lies aside, I find that I am not made of whole cloth. Little bits of me are all over the place. Hating this person, loving that person, attached to that or this thing. I would like to be pure cloth again.  Can God restore the old cloth? I doubt it. But perhaps he can make all things new and make me pure from scratch? 

And how does God purify us? As Paul writes, "It is the love of God that calls people to repentance." And it's not a repentance that merely cleans up the old man. It's a repentance and a love that makes me an entirely new person and new species....someone as pure as he is because he has refined me to be like himself.

Clean me up, Lord, by letting me see how loving you are and how sinful I am to doubt that love.
Clean me up, Lord, by letting me see how loving you are and how sinful I am to not love others as you have loved me. Clean me up, Lord, that I might be like you...otherworldly. Amen.

Psalm 117

The shortest chapter in the Bible, the verse at the center of the Christian Bible.
Or to paraphrase verse 2: God is good, all the time. 
Need one say more?

Psalm 117

1O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people.
2For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD.

ah, my two loves collide: Asian films and old folksongs

Above All, Faith Matters

Humans can always proclaim their goodness, their kindness toward God, their mercy toward others....but to be full of faith? Where is that person? The Bible says God's eyes are on the faithful of the land. Whenever we see the word "Faithful" in the Bible we tend to read "loyal" more often than "full of faith." It is required that stewards be found faithful.  (1 Corinthians 4:2) Faithfulness implies an ongoing loyal committment to God. 


One can continue being merciful, one can continue being kind toward others, one can continue being good. But faithfulness requires work. Jesus will find many people who are good and kind people when he returns. But how many people who have place a daily dependent reliance in Him, especially in impossible things?  

KJV

Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find? 

Provers 20:6

Douay-Rheims Bible
Many men are called merciful: but who shall find a faithful man?
English Revised Version
Most men wilt proclaim every one his own kindness: but a faithful man who can find?
World English Bible
Many men claim to be men of unfailing love, but who can find a faithful man?

Psalm 101:6 

... My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land

Hebrews 8:9 

For they would not remain faithful to that

Psalm 37:3 

... Live in the land, and practice being faithful. .... ...

Micah 7:2 

... The godly man hath perished out of the land, and there is none upright among men: they all lie in ... Faithful people are gone from the earth, and no one is decent ...

Zephaniah 2:9  

The faithful few of my people will loot them

"When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8

Character torture, author torture

Am not sure what all is going on with me but I find myself growing more and more intrigued with my character, Nahas. He is so utterly inscrutable to his son, Psal. It's as if the guy has two hearts. Cold toward some, and very patient toward others. I'm in love with him. So, yeah, what's that all about? I don't even understand him.

He makes his son's life miserable. Which, of course, is what I like. Character Torture. Poor Psal. I can't help it. Some folks like putting their characters through the wringer.

Psalm 116

I was watching Law and Order -- which I keep telling myself not to watch-- and well, you know how L&O is. They're on a mission. They want to enlighten folks. A noble enough cause except this goal of theirs makes them be very reductionist with their stories. Crimes that happen to black people generally happen because they're black. Crimes that religious people commit generally happen because the person is religious. Hey, one has to use stereotypes, I suppose, if one wants to teach.  So yeah, I kinda attempt to blot out all those poor black moms, angry black kids, sex-craving ministers, judgmental religious folks, etc I see on these stupid L&O shows.

Anyway, recently, a female minister (of course she was female, she was represented as enlightened) says of her old church secretary, "She had a simple faith. She believed everything she said in the Bible." The implication was the old church secretary was behind the times -- as if religious truth changes with the time-- and none too educated (like female minister) or at least not cultured. Aside from the fact that hollywood tends to ignore that the folks they are insulting are folks actually watching their shows, there is also the problem that they want to shame those very same viewers. How can a viewer stand up and not feel shamed by such a slam? Well, I'll stand up and say I have been trying for years to get a simple faith. Do you know how frickin' hard that is to get? Simple faith is one of the hardest thing to come by.

Folks with simple faith, like a little old lady up the road from me, can pray folks out of diseases. Folks with simple faith are cynical as heck and not at all like the gullible types they portray us to be. Folks with simple faith know that if you don't believe in something you will believe in anything -- like scientology and other flaky stuff. Hey, it has taken me years to become this straight-and-narrow-minded and I have still years to go to attain to simple faith.

The Bible describes two kinds of simplicity. One kind which comes from being wrongly educated or miseducated by the world. A spiritually-slothful person is simple, for instance. Think of all those people who hate God, Jesus, and the Bible and have never studied Christianity. It's just a kind of kneejerk dislike they pick up in from the media or society. Or think of folks who never learned to use their minds? This kind of simplicity, the Bible says, can be cured. But it is cured by the word of God, not by the media and certainly not by sneers.

Then there is a different kind of simplicity which means purity, straight, untainted. This is a simpleness that is to be aimed for. No double-mindedness, no being spotted by the world, no being tossed about by every wind of doctrine or by what is considered the "deep" things or the "hippest" trendiest theology. In a world where everyone from psychologists to waitresses who watch too much Oprah to TV producers feel they can teach folks about the Bible, true religion, faith, and God, one can end up losing one's simplicity and having a very muddied religion indeed! Especially because these folks know little about religion, and are often talking about it second-hand.

Various verses in the Bible show the different kinds of simplicity

For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
Proverbs 1:31-33

The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto thesimple.
Psalm 119:130


The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
Psalm 19:6-8


How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
Proverbs 1:21-23 

For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
Romans 16:17-19


A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.
Proverbs 27:11-13 

For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simpleconcerning evil. Romans 16:18-20 


Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright (or simple); but they have sought out many inventions.
Ecclesiastes 7:28-29 

Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it withsimplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.
Romans 12:7-9 



For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.
2 Corinthians 1:11-13 



But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
2 Corinthians 11:2-4 


Psalm 116

1I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.
2Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.
3The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.
4Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.
5Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.
6The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.
7Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.
8For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.
9I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.
10I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted:
11I said in my haste, All men are liars.
12What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?
13I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.
14I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people.
15Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
16O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds.
17I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.
18I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people.
19In the courts of the LORD's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.

Good Hair

Weekend Movie-Viewing -- the kinky Asian edition

Yep, I was in an Asian movie mode yet again.  Herewith, the kinky Asian edition

My Little Bride -- Grandpa of his real family and adopted grandpa of his best friend-who-died-in-the-war son's family tells everyone he promised his friend that their children would marry. Unfortunately that didn't work out because families had sons. But then in the grandkid generation there are Samying playboy 23 year old student and Beong, 15 year old high school student. They've grown up like sparring siblings/cousins and Samying was always teasing her when he wasn't taking care of her. Through being slick, grandpa gets them married. But since she's 15 and in high school and since they aren't in love with each other, it's a marriage in name only. Although they share an apartment together.  Eventually they fall in love, and realize they've really been in love with each other all their lives. When she's older, they consummate the marriage (presumably). This movie didn't creep me out. Thank heavens. Funny and not pedophilia.

My Wife Got Married -- Very sweet guy falls in love with free spirit (or maybe woman burdened with lust.) Anyways, always a dangerous thing. She gets bored easily, drinks a lot, warns him she might fall in love with another person...who knows? But he loves her and nags her until she agrees to marry him -- this after all the heartache she's already put him through. (Honestly, who tells someone "you scare me?" breaks up with them then marries them? Not saying the man is a fool but love does make fools of all of us. Dang fool is under the impression that marrying her will turn her into a good faithful mother. Ah, dream on! But he pretty much agrees that she'll be out all night, doing all sorts of stuff and then she gives in and marries him. Fear of being alone, I think. Even after the engagement she sometimes doesn't answer his calls...and all he wishes is that she "loves only me." Again: poor fool.) Then after a little while she's bored and falls in love with a new guy. Hubby pretends this is fine, but then she tells him she wants to marry the other guy BUT she doesn't want to get divorced. So she marries the other guy as well. Great line (When she tells him that because of him she's learned how wonderful marriage is and so that's why she wants to marry the other guy as well): "You have such a strange talent. You can say something so ridiculous and sound serious?" She wants to live an "honest" life but the upshot is that she has her two husbands lying to their families and when first hubby gets the DNA results that the baby is his and tells her family and her other husband's family she gets angry. (BTW, the film uses soccer as a metaphor. So first hubby says, "It doesn't matter who scores but the record must be exact."  Also, there's this: "What is the problem with Korean football?" "Lack of determination in making goals." Then the other responds: "They problem is that they don't have the joy of becoming one, of all aiming for the same goal." Yep, there we have the thematic question in a nutshell. Also, seems there's some kind of heavy adultery stuff going on in Korean relationships. Kind alike in the US with all these cheating partners.) I liked the guys but I gotta say the girl was annoying. The story's told from his POV and we don't get any backstory for her but we're supposed to think of her as so full of life that she just can't help loving men and being loved by them in return. Bullsh*t! And even if it isn't bull, it's hard to accept that when we know nothing about her life. I mean, why the heck is she like this?

I'm not against the double-marriage bigamy thing, BUT all I saw was just her utter selfishness. I suppose the ending is supposed to be a paean of praise to female sexuality but, critical mind that I have, all I kept thinking was that the film was unbalanced. Sure it might be aimed at challenging rigid minds like mine and a rigid society or the husband's rigid sense of male entitlement to his wife, but I totally disliked it and found myself almost puking at all that uplifting "aren't we guys so enlightened because we're going to live together in this new family forced on us by free female sexuality?" Honestly, it felt old hat to me. Which makes me wonder: have I seen another movie where it all ended like this? Jules and Jim maybe? No, another film. Some sixties free love thing.


Majo No Jouken -- episodic Japanese drama. Didn't watch all of it. Very painful. Troubled 17 year old and troubled 25 year old teacher fall in love, have affair, pretty much ruin each other's life. This drama didn't creep me out either. From what I saw the actors were really good and there seemed to be a lot of unacknowledged mental illness going about.  I don't like certain kinds of bitter sweet endings so when their lives started going terrible bad, I just couldn't bring myself to watch anymore. One of those ambivalent endings, I hear. Now, have totally fallen in love with Takizawa Hideaki. Totally handsome kid. Too too too painful at the end, even with that hanging kinda ending. And honestly, I'm still wondering why not finishing high school would doom him to being a gas station attendant for the rest of his life. Yeah, I know the Japanese system is super strait-laced and one needs important grades from important schools to succeed but honestly, his mom (who had some heavy incestuous thing going) was rich. Couldn't he have gone abroad to study? So maybe with my skipping around I missed where she gave up on him or lost her money. Won't go check it out though. Too heart-rending.


Boku wa imouto ni koi wo suru -- Twin brother falls in love with twin sister and they get into a romantic relationship together. Now this creeped me out.  Okay, I have had two many gay male friends who were victims of  incest when they were younger so I don't exactly take to stories about incest. The only incest story I can remember liking is Close My Eyes with Alan Rickman and Clive Owen. Which is a very good movie despite its cringey subject. But also there's the logistics. I totally believe there's such a thing as genetic attraction, that people related to each other often fall in love with each other if they've never lived together. All those romantic stories of related folks must make us pause. But at the same time I believe in Nobieasku's (my spelling is probably way off) Effect which states that if people live in the same house, related or not, they do not become sexually attracted to each other. Hence kids raises together in families or in kibbutzes or wherever...are not gonna fall in love. Anyway, upshot was -- for all my adventurous movie-watching-- I just was too much of a prig to sit through this. 

Not kinky but also watched:

Romeo and Juliet -- Japanese updated version. And yes, once again my fave Takizawa Hideaki (Now that we're pals, I'll call him Takki, as all his fans do.) Romi is the son of a murderer-doctor in hiding. Romi is a college student. Her father, unfortunately, is seeking Romi's father for the murder. Romi is nobility fallen, so although he picks up garbage and is out of school he's pretty noble. Juri has money -- Japanese detectives make a lot, I gather-- and thus we have this rich kid poor kid dynamic going on. Juri pursues the relationship. They discover soon enough what's going on. Okay, i'll say it..they make a dang cute couple. 






 My tutor friend. A nice comedy.  Rich spoiled thuggy kid should be in college but his grades have left him behind in high school. Poor girl -- her mother is friend of rich boy's mother-- needs money to take care of her own college semester bills. So she's stuck with him although he terrifies her, belittles her, mocks her. But after various issues he respects her. Gotta say this one should've been either more funny or less funny. Maybe it's me -- but i don't think it is. I like Asian comedies-- but some areas seemed to try too hard. And some were failed parodies of Matrix type fighting. I have to be in a mood for Asian thug movies. (Although I have to say that nasty teenage girls are the same in all cultures.) But the flick didn't grab me. But I could watch it again if it came on TV. No heart-wrenching stuff in this, mercifully. There's just so much wrenching a poor heart can take. 








So now I'm in love with Tackey/Takki  (Knowing me, he's probably gay. I'm always getting crushes on gay celebs. And he's a rock star too! Super-neat!)





Translations below:

On and on and on
On and on and on
On and on and on
On and on and on

I just wanna dance the night away
Go ahead and make my day mr. dj
Make the night go on and on
Make the night go on and on

Honeys if you're gay
Burn it up like a xxx parade
Honeys if you're straight
Pump it up take it all away

Intoxicated emancipated unapologetic
Is what i am today light me up

Make the night go on and on and on
You know we go on and on and on
Make the night go on and on and on
I'm living up my life until the day i die
Don't need a lullaby

On and on and on
On and on and on
On and on and on
On and on and on

Music got me sweating hard
I feel my heart
Thumping like an 808
Uh oh okay

Make the night go on and on
If you want to mess with us
Make the night go on and on
Sink you with a counter punch

Honeys if you're gay
Burn it up like a xxx parade
Honeys if you're straight
Pump it up take it all away

Intoxicated emancipated unapologetic
Is what i am today light me up

Make the night go on and on and on
You know we go on and on and on
Make the night go on and on and on
I'm living up my life until the day i die
Don't need a lullaby

Intoxicated emancipated unapologetic
Intoxicated emancipated unapologetic
Is what i am today light me up

Make the night go on and on and on
You know we go on and on and on
Make the night go on and on and on
You know we go on and on and on

Make the night go on and on and on
(intoxicated emancipated unapologetic)
You know we go on and on and on
(is what i am today light me up)
Make the night go on and on and on
(intoxicated emancipated unapologetic)
You know we go on and on
(is what i am today light me up)

On and on and on
(intoxicated emancipated unapologetic)
On and on and on
(is what i am today light me up)
On and on and on
(intoxicated emancipated unapologetic)
On and on and on
(intoxicated emancipated unapologetic)