sophie's fair

The Grinch (c) Universal, Donald Duck (c) The Walt Disney Co., Gepetto (c) The Walt Disney Co., Looney Tunes (c) Warner Bros.

On the second day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

grinch. flew. wingperson. christmas. doesnt make sense, does it? guess i've got a lot of explaining to do. i read three articles that i find interesting and i would like to start off with how the politically correct grinch is stealing christmas.

"Holiday trees" instead of "Christmas trees," "Season's Greetings" instead of "Merry Christmas." We seem to be editing Christ right out of Christmas and it is getting pretty ridiculous.
A New Jersey high school brass ensemble was not allowed to play Christmas carols at their annual concert, this year, even instrumentals, which made a lot of students and parents angry.
One female student said, "This is censorship at its most basic level, and political correctness to the extreme. You are supporting ignorance and I think it's very sad."Across the nation, Christianity is under attack by those who do not want religion in the public square.One Chicago school dropped the words "Merry Christmas" from a traditional holiday favorite, singing it as "We wish you a swinging holiday."A Christian church was told they could not enter a religious float in Denver's holiday "Parade of Lights." Many Americans are outraged at the growing trend that takes Christ out of the holiday that celebrates his birth.
-- Darla Sitton, CBN News Producer

as i wrote here, christmas is not about us. others think that Holiday celebrations where Christian music is being sung make people feel different. And because it is such a majority, it makes the minority feel uncomfortable. not everyone who belongs in the minority feels the same, dude... one jewish parent says it is ok with him if his son plays Christmas songs in the ensemble. another observed, "We need to look at the center. The center in this country is vanishing."

The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel -- which means, "God with us."
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
-- Matthew 1:23, John 1:14

NEW YORK - A British philosophy professor who has been a leading champion of atheism for more than a half-century has changed his mind. He now believes in God — more or less — based on scientific evidence, and says so on a video released Thursday.
-- Richard N. Ostling, AP Writer

he's talking about antony flew, a famous atheist who now believes in God.

At age 81, after decades of insisting belief is a mistake, Antony Flew has concluded that some sort of intelligence or first cause must have created the universe. A super-intelligence is the only good explanation for the origin of life and the complexity of nature, Flew said in a telephone interview from England.
Yet biologists' investigation of DNA "has shown, by the almost unbelievable complexity of the arrangements which are needed to produce (life), that intelligence must have been involved," Flew says in the new video, "Has Science Discovered God?"
Prometheus specializes in skeptical thought, but if his belief upsets people, well "that's too bad," Flew said. "My whole life has been guided by the principle of Plato's Socrates: Follow the evidence, wherever it leads."

although flew only accepts a "minimal God", a God who is distant and doesnt show concern for his creation, at least, he now acknowledges the fact there really is a God -- and that's a start.

Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things -- and the things that are not -- to nullify the things that are.
1 Corinthians 1:26-28

now on to the lighter side:

what first comes to mind when we hear the word "wingperson"? sound ludicrous? wait til you read the following paragraphs...

CHICAGO - Two friends are at a party when one sees a potential love interest across the room. Immediately, the other friend swoops into action, making an introduction and helping to keep the conversation going — all so the buddy can score a phone number.
It's long been a ploy in the flirting arsenal. But now, those who ride shotgun for the sake of love have a name: They are the "wingmen" and "wingwomen" of the dating world.
"Every guy's gotta play the role of the wingman at some point in his life. It's the unwritten guy code," says Steve Dybsky, a 25-year-old Chicagoan who works in advertising and has been a wingman for friends — and had them do the same.
It's become such a popular concept that people are even posting ads online, looking for wingpeople to accompany them on a night on the town.
"If a guy talks to a girl, she knows she's being hit on," Forbes says, even if that guy is a wingman.
Jay O'Sullivan, a 28-year-old software developer in Montreal, can attest to the advantages of having a wingwoman along, especially with a group of guys.
"When you throw a woman into the mix, guys get competitive and try to be funnier," he says. "So the whole night just sort of takes off."
-- Martha Irvine, AP Writer

wow, how come i didnt know that?? frankly, i was surprised by the growing number of singletons who would go through hell and high water just to have someone to cuddle with on a cold winter weather. i dont have anything against this kind of arrangement ('though i wouldnt do it myself, honest!) -- if it makes people happy this christmas, go ahead and get a date with destiny. just make sure he/she isnt alex forrest reincarnate.

did you know...
Everything in the film "The Grinch" revolves around a swirl, the same as in the original drawings of the book. This includes the clouds. If you look closely at in several scenes, several times the initials "C.H.", "J.C.," and "R.H." briefly form as the clouds move. This stands for actor Clint Eastwood (Whobris), actor Jim Carrey (The Grinch), and director Ron Howard.