Thoughts On Image & Reality Television

Czarnohora, Ukraine (trekearth)

A&E

A. Thoughts On Image

I can respect this young woman for the willingness to go out into public with this condition for which there appears to be no treatment or cure. She is still attempting to deal with what might possibly be at times the very intense pain of negative comments online and offline because of her image. She attempts to treat herself with respect. Without doubt a Christian position should be to treat a person like this with respect and love. Christians should love neighbour as one loves self in Biblical terms (Matthew 22: 37-40, Mark 12: 28-34) with an attempt at understanding the condition as opposed to gawking as many in the world would do.

I can only relate to this type of struggle with self and image on a small scale in comparison, as with my sleep apnea. It is now virtually cured with metabolism pills as I continue to scale down in size to what I should naturally be as I work out 1-2 hours a day and eat quite moderately. I have always lived that type of lifestyle since I can remember, as far back as four years old. I am quite muscular and although cardiovascular ability does tend to decline as one leaves their twenties I am most certainly stronger than I was in my teens or twenties and probably ever. By God's grace this has been accomplished by eating moderately and responsibly and through the use of martial arts bag work, sparring and weapons, dumbbells (30-50 pounds, no I am not a dumbbell thankfully) long walks and and some running. My goal is to be biologically ten to twenty years younger than my age for decades and so far according to my medical records I am succeeding, despite sleep apnea.

However, when the sleep apnea was at first undiagnosed it was difficult. Then when it was diagnosed the Medical Doctors were experimenting with CPAP and then the Klearway dental appliance and my appearance, although not horrid at all, in photos was not what I would like. To me it also serves as a practical lesson within the problem of evil, philosophically that one at times can do most things correctly, and not many things wrong, and yet nature, in my case my three stage, neck, jaw, and nose (sleep) apneic nature, outside of my limited freewill, and these aspects of nature still contributed significantly to my 'Kingpin' frame.

In regard to the young woman, she as well did not choose the nature of her condition with the use of limited free will.

The song 'Oh Lord it's hard to be humble' may be semi-serious. But, actually is is not hard to be humble is this fallen world.

As noted previouiously on this blog, besides the metabolism pills I have also had a UPPP surgery done in British Columbia, which is uvulopalatopharyngoplasty that is intended to enlarge the airway by removing the uvula and removing the tonsils and adenoids. As well because in Manchester, England, Uncle Chuckles and I were attacked December 24, 2000 by three men in a group of thirty approximately and when the three could not beat me up one of them that I had hurt with a round house kick and ran off then ran back, and cursed me out with the 'f' word and threw a wine bottle at me in the face breaking my nose and two front teeth. I could not move out the way quick enough as two other guys were hitting me. Therefore, I needed to have had nasal reconstruction and tip reduction, a rhinoplasty when I came back to British Columbia.

Well, I did have a slight overbite previously. The UK dentist stated 'Instant orthodontic' as she gave me crowns. They were eventually done again in British Columbia because of swelling.

Although I technically won the fight against the three men, getting in the better shots, taking in no serious hits, because I was bottled, after the incident, in the next few years with further study and dialogue with a couple of former professional government operatives online and study, I realized that my approach had been somewhat wrong in the battle. I fought too defensively in order to avoid being stabbed by a knife or screwdriver, and should have had more techniques to take out three men sooner. I did not factor in being struck from distance while surrounded.

I heard a report on Talk Sport radio (UK) that there are an estimated 50, 000 underage criminals in the UK and that was the environment I was living in for two years. While I lived in the Manchester area a neighbour was murdered...beaten to death in a chair. I have more of these techniques now as well as more training with weapons. This type of issue is actually a problem with much traditional martial arts in that they often have some technical value but they often fail to train for real life street fighting situations.

I know, I know, it is sad for a Christian to have to think in those terms but when one is attacked in that manner one has to seriously consider if there is a 'next time', and I am one who fully intends to learn life lessons. I think sometimes what would have perhaps happened to a couple of young ladies in that same situation that night.

Some of my conclusions about image are very similar to a Pastor I heard at Northview Church on the weekdays that a few of us used to attend during my Bible school and seminary days. Basically concerning image one should do the best with what he/she has and live for
God.


Lake of Solonets, Ukraine (trekearth)

B. Thoughts On Reality Television

Reality Television from Wikipedia

To paraphrase Wikipedia:

Reality television is modified, highly influenced, and sensationalistic in order to attract an audience and gain advertising revenue. Persons are placed in strange situations, in scripted situations to create and illusions of reality.

In my terms it is theatrical reality as opposed to a true documentary reality. This should be understood for those that claim 'fake' etc. It is theatrical. It is not always entirely fictional but is often non-fictional with theatrical aspects. At first other than 'The Apprentice' I was rather closed to the genre, however when my brother visited from Arizona in 2011 for seven weeks I watched some of his programming and now I watch some more of it. Here are some reviews:


2004-Present (Wikipedia)

Donald Trump demonstrates some business skill and presents good lessons on how to succeed in life, especially in 'The Apprentice' series. 'The Celebrity Apprentice' lacks the business quality programming but has more comedy material as celebrities although playing for charities are generally wealthy and really do not need the job as the Apprentice. This shows in their comedic and bizarre actions. An annoying aspect of the second show is an overemphasis on money raising. At times I receive the implication from the program that being able to raise more money means one is more successful in life in it entirety. Financial success is just one aspect of success in life.

Consider:

Matthew 19:16:30 (English Standard Version)

16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

23 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 27 Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” 28 Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world,[a] when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold[b] and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

Mark 10:17-31 (English Standard Version)

17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is[a] to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him,[b] “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” 28 Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Luke 18:18-30 (English Standard Version)

18 And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” 21 And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” 22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 23 But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24 Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! 25 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” 27 But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” 28 And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.” 29 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers[a] or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30 who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”

A reasonable Biblical and Christian approach is to work for, and ask God for financial success while at the same time placing greater emphasis always on spiritual issues of God, family and others.


2011-Present (Wikipedia/A&E)


(A&E)

I keep reading and hearing online that Moe looks like the man with the fake glasses and mustache I must admit when I first saw him he made me laugh so hard I texted my brother in Arizona and he had not seen this Storage Wars spinoff yet, but Moe does seem to know his business.

I also think that quite a few members of the cast may need to consider contacting their MD in regard to metabolism pills...

I also doubt that they under eat and swing 15 pound martial arts clubs or aluminum bats...

I still prefer the original series to the second one because the first has more seasoned buyers, and Barry Weiss is the main star.

With both of the Storage Wars programs there is something intellectually interesting about the history of collectables, antique furniture and other findings within a storage unit which can be quite educational.


2010-Present (Wikipedia)


2006-Present (Wikipedia)

This show (stated somewhat in the shows intro) fictionalizes and makes theatre of actual repossessions that have occurred over the years. Actors are used to portray supposed actual events in fictional form. The result is a very funny program as long as the show does not take itself too seriously.

September 14, 2012

Testing out new white dress shirt for US/Vancouver wedding party I am in this month. Seems good. Please note I am not affiliated with any religious organization particularly associated with white shirts or door knocking.

Ridiculous and Bizarre Baby Tossing in India

Netarhat Lake, India (trekearth)

Preface

Obviously from the article title I do not support these Hindu/Islamic religious practices and reason they are ridiculous and bizarre. Further, although I understand there are other religious traditions in the world apart from Judeo-Christian that have thousands of years of history, I would state that these particular practices are dangerous and unethical as I reason it is not worth it in any way risking the well-being of babies with such practices. In particular a head, back or spinal cord injury to one of the babies in my mind would not be worth the risk of obeying an age old religious practice. I am not involved in the medical profession but based on the fact babies are being tossed, they are seemingly rituals where something very wrong and something very immoral could potentially take place.

Mr. Jeff Jenkins of Thoughts and Theology blog posted a BBC clip of one of these events concerning Muslims on Facebook and I thought the story would serve as good religious education. I can certainly state more in the comments section if there is a suitable public response.

The Telegraph

Quotes:

'In a bizarre ritual, Hindu priests in the south Indian state of Karnataka toss babies from the rooftop of a temple onto a cloth held by waiting men, believing that this will make them grow stronger.'

'Thanks to their parents and a deep-rooted belief, babies in the Bagalkot district of south India's Karnataka state unwittingly found themselves being tossed off the roof of a temple onto a sheet held by men waiting below, in a ritual that is believed to make them stronger.'

'Though the ritual often evokes criticism, it is defended by devotees and priests, who feel that their belief necessitates a ritual that places babies at such huge risk. A trustee of the Marutheshwara temple, Basavaraj, said that the ritual was an age-old one and it was important that it be respected.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2126845/Baby-tossing-ritual-Karnataka-India-Priests-hurl-children-30ft-good-luck.html

Quotes:

'Terrified toddlers scream and sob as they're shaken by men in robes and tossed from a balcony 30ft above the ground. It's not the plot of horror film - but an ages-old annual ritual carried in southern India, meant to bring participating infants good luck, health and prosperity.Hard-to-watch footage of the ceremony, held each year in the state of Karnataka, has horrified children's rights groups, who have labeled it 'barbaric' and want it banned by the Indian government.'

'The practice is believed to date back centuries and takes place across India - involving both Hindus and Muslims.'

'When the children land safely, the crowd celebrates wildly, passing each infant around before returning them to their mothers. Local campaigners managed to get the practice banned in 2011, but it returned to Digambeshwara temple in Nagrala village last week - much to the frustration of Lov Verma, from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.'

BBC clip on the Islamic practice. Babies are thrown fifty feet from a tower.

End
Personal Reflections


September 6, 2012 (Not India)
It looks like no one has been watering the front yard of 'my estate'...


September 6, 2012 (Not India)


Ninety minute round trip, Saturday afternoon Metro Vancouver commute. Another problem of evil? I was heading home after assisting my good friend move. I decided to stop off at Canada Safeway for gasoline and groceries.


Short martial arts workout with aluminum baseball bat. One hand and two hand. Sort of satirical perhaps... But only if I don't connect with a home invader.;)


Evening computer work after walking hours in Vancouver September 9, 2012. Matt and I and some other friends parts of the journey, walked from Burrard Street to downtown Vancouver and back. Reminds me of Manchester and the four hour walks after church, from church back to my flat. I rival those walks in Vancouver somewhat.  Pardon my ignorance, but I thought at a crosswalk that the 'white man' signal meant we could walk, and the ' orange hand' meant stop, but today when we were heading across a crosswalk, I was in the lead this particular time, someone in a sports car decided to try and beat me across the crosswalk, and succeeded. My first thought was not to pray for him. No comment on comments under my breath.;)

I think the webcam works pretty well.

Philosophical & Theological Reflections On Satirical Images III: Webcam

Venice via email


Venice via email


Venice via email

Very Demotivational.com

Bizarre Records

Very deotivational

When I was a teenager I had a German Shepherd-Husky dog named Rebel, nicknamed 'Jerkhead'. He was a very kind dog to children and most people but he had some interesting habits which involved going for runs.

My Mom and I brought him home when he was 1.5 years old. Soon my Dad had to have the backyard fence extended by several feet because Rebel could jump over it. Once Rebel could no longer jump over it he would dig under it.

Once out of the backyard he would look to do the following, or the following would occur:

Deliver a 'parcel' to a neighbour's yard.

(Yes he could have done that in our yard, but no, no, no, that would not be neighbourly, would it?)

(He was the Mr. Rogers of German Shepherd-Huskies.)

Attack a male canine.

Mate with a female canine.

Chase a feline. In particular a certain orange and white cat that my Mom also did not like that much. This cat liked to for some reason take swipes with his claws at both Rebel and my Mom.

The cat liked me though.

Have an automobile 'incident'. Once he decided to rest in the middle of the street right in front of an RCMP patrol car.



My deduction is that this is an example of employees going too far with late night humour.

However, I agree, I too will go with the salad.

I will go further, I will avoid McDonalds (for the most part).



On the bright side, a person can sit and tie his or her shoes without someone opening the door. Genius!

Religious Album Covers



I realize this album was likely done decades ago but there should be some common sense used when marketing an album that will be sold in both Christian and secular culture, which do overlap.

Romans 12:2 comes to mind:

English Standard Version

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

New American Standard Bible

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

The Christian, the follower of the Biblical God is not to be conformed to the world, as in the system of thinking in the world, but is to follow the will of God. However, this should not mean that the Christian necessarily develops and uses language such as in 'touched me' or 'touches me' in marketing which are understood in a spiritualized way in a certain Christian context, knowing full well that when marketed in a broader Christian and secular context will be ridiculed in a way that may produce more harm than good. I reason much thought (prayer) needs to be done on these matters.



Five Worst

Quote:

'Bruno Maltise is a Chicago-based Christian musician, so he probably does know something about hit men. I’m really hoping the man in this picture is some sort of hit man, because if it is a picture of Bruno himself, I don’t think many people would go to see his concerts, and there would certainly be very few groupies around to hang out with him after the show.'

If that is Bruno or other, he looks like either perhaps:

A) A person made up with a lot of makeup to look like a movie hitman. Probably the horror/mobster genre.

B) An actual person that has been involved in several dramatic, traumatic, life incidents that figured what the heck I might as well use it to market an album.



Let me guess, does he mean drunk via the Holy Spirit? More spiritualized language perhaps? Is that moonshine?



I have had this image on a previous archived post.

'Brilliant' evangelism work Barry!


Reformed Presbyterian Mr. Matt smoking his pipe with his freedom in the Lord as he sees it.



Reformed Presbyterian/Baptist Russ having no desire to ever smoke and wondering if Mr. Matt should be doing so, even though he has the freedom in Christ to do so.

Matt is smoking the pipe upside down some kind of Vancouver non-conforminity thing?