Thursday, July 12, 2007

Soccer Night #6 July 12-07


Soccer Night #6 July 12-07

The rain held off tonight! She spent most of the game in the net and had a great save, as well as some great compliments from her coach.

B.

Soccer Night #4 July 5-07


Soccer Night #4 July 5-07
Originally uploaded by Binky

Amid the deluge...

B.

Noah's Other Son


Noah's Other Son
Originally uploaded by Binky

Here is the cover of my cousin Brian Brown's new book.

B.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

My Cousin Brian's New Book! NOAH’S OTHER SON: Bridging the Gap Between the Bible and the Qur’an

My first cousin, Brian Brown has published a new book.  Brian is my Aunt Margaret's son and has had very successful parallel careers as a United Church Minister and author.  Here's his publisher's description of his new work:
______________________________________________________
 
NOAH'S OTHER SON: Bridging the Gap Between the Bible and the Qur'an
By Brian Arthur Brown / Salman Rushdie contributes to the Foreword
Book launched at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, April 16, 2007
Published simultaneously by T&T Clark (UK) and Continuum Group (USA)
Contact John Mark Boling, Continuum, 212.953.5858   $21.95 US hardcover / 256 pp 
In these troubled times of religious extremism, interfaith relations between Christians, Muslims, and Jews are increasingly important. A minister of the United Church of Canada, ministering in communities where  Christian majorities interface with robust Muslim and Jewish minorities, Brian Arthur Brown began to ask questions after 9/11, and what he found fascinated him.
 
The Qur'an says Jesus was the Messiah, born of the Virgin Mary, rose
on high, and will return prior to Judgement Day? Biblical women had names preserved in the Qur'an?  The coming of Muhammad was prophesied by both Moses and Jesus? Who knew these things?  Then there is the story of Noah's other son, a story not found anywhere in the Bible. 
 
In the Qur'an, Noah is described as a "warner" and his youngest son, Canaan, was among those who failed to heed the warnings in this cautionary tale.  Canaan derides his parents for making an ark and refuses to get on board, even as the rain falls, and he drowns. Brian Arthur Brown uses the story of Noah's Other Son as a parable for our time. Al Gore and Michael Moore are famous warners in the twenty first century.  Will we listen or perish.  This book is itself a warning about internecine strife, particularly among the members of what Brown calls "Abraham's dysfunctional family."
 
Noah's Other Son examines twenty-five familiar figures who play major roles in the Qu'ran and in the Bible, revealing how understanding the characters in these texts can point the present-day Muslim, Jew, and Christian toward a more mature concept of religion. Noah's Other Son also serves as an introduction to the place of the Qur'an in Muslim and world culture, as well as a tool to help equip moderate religious people to deal with extremism wherever it may be found.
 
BRIAN ARTHUR BROWN received theological training at McGill University in Montreal, completed his doctorate at the San Francisco Theological Seminary, and did postdoctoral work at Harvard. He is an established author in the fields of French-English relations and Native-White tensions in Canada, Canada's relationship with the USA and Canada's role in peacekeeping around the world. He and his wife, Jenny, now live in Niagara Falls, Canada, in a rambling old house frequently filled with their children and grandchildren.
______________________________________________________
 
We have a copy - bought it through Indigo.  You should be able to get it through both Indigo and other booksellers.  I'll write more as I start to read it.
 
B.
 
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Soccer Night #5: No Rain, One more goal, One more friend (July 10, 2007)

Last night I stayed home with Super Girl (3) and was happy to help her load the Barbies up in their little jeep (and two in a tractor) for their big trip to the living room/someone's birthday. We had fun.  I'm probably not the best judge of this, but the girls are beginning to build up a good quality Barbie collection.
Meanwhile, Action Girl (6) scored another goal, was not rained out, and the little boy next door ("A.")  joined her team (The Eagles).  Every week, Action Girl can get her shin pads on quicker and quicker.  We sometimes play a little game where after she gets them on, I (gently) kick her in the shins to make sure they're working.
 
Onward to soccer glory!
 
B.
 
 
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Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Soccer Night #4: At least no one drowned-ed *CORRECTION*

It has been respectfully pointed out to me that I MAY have mis-outed the number of ears that 4 people would have , in the preceding post. Conventionally, four people (like our family) would have EIGHT ears, not 16. I maintain that I was counting both inner and outer ears. However in the interest of clarity, I correct the number of ears mentioned in the preceding post.
Ears to you all,
B.

Soccer Night #4: At least no one drowned-ed

Last Thursday was a soccer night like no other.  It had been cold and threatening to rain/pour all day.  We ate supper with 16 ears glued to the notices on the radio station.  Funnily, while switching rooms/radios we had missed the first part of an announcement, only to hear "[click]... under 6 and under 8 soccer canceled for this evening."  What to do?  Was this (possibly wise) announcement for our club, or another club?  Should we just call it a night on our own?  What would responsible, mature parents do?  Who are these parents and how do we reach them?
 
I called the club president and asked.  [Pause for suspense...]  She said that yes, we were on for tonight.  From the nature of her response, I may have NOT been her first such call of the evening.  The day before, I had promised Super Girls (Age 3), that she could go to watch her sister for night #4.  In expectation that we might freeze to death or drown, Super Mom did not go in order to keep our family history and traditions alive, in our memory.
 
It was drizzling as we arrived at the field at 6:30.  The coaches looked uncertain.  Soon they (and we) looked wet, instead of uncertain.  Action Girl (age 6) kept her jacket on for the entire game as did most of her team.  The cold was worse than the rain.  For a good part of the night, I had Super Girl on a lawn chair with a hat and jacket on AND a towel over her head (and most of the rest of her).  Even I wore a jacket (and shivered).
 
At 7pm, the game itself started.  At 7:10 the coaches called the game.  The main reason for this was not the rain or the cold, but the slippery field.  Even in that short time, Action Girl scored another goal!  We went victoriously home in search of dry towels.  By the end it was raining so hard that the water on my glasses was making it hard to see.
 
I have a big soft spot in my heart for a sport that stresses that rain and extreme cold shall not keep small children from having fun and learning the value of team.  The possible lightening may be another matter, but sport shall prevail!
 
We need a team song....
 
B.
 
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Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Night Three of Soccer

Another goal last night! I took a night off to stay home with Super
Girl who was under the weather. Apparently. said goal was in some kind
of exhibition game with the coaches. A goal against an adult should
count double!

I have a picture from last week that I'll try to post tonight.

B.


Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Canada Day Weekend-ing

Before we had kids, Canada day was a holiday when we had friends over and spent that day with them. Sometimes, I miss that tradition and hope to get back to it, in time. That said, we had a wonderful weekend with (and without) the kids. We all worked/went to daycare on Friday. Friday night we went to Super Mom's cousin's house (M. and D.) to meet a cousin who was "home" from Alberta. The four of us had a great time. "M." lives in a beautiful, large old farm house. The girls spent some of the time in their bedroom watching TV. Because they have an en-suite washroom, the girls compared the room and the house to a hotel (and a nice one at that).

On Saturday, we spent the morning around home then took the girls to my folks for an overnight visit. My dad's sister is visiting and they were able to spend some special time with her as well. Amid the dark clouds that only rained a bit, we went out to dinner with some friends (I surprised Super Mom). Sunday we picked the kids up and had a visit with my folks and with Super Mom's folks, out on the farm. We went home for supper intending to head back in town for the fireworks. The girls made other plans. After a couple of exciting nights, they were TIRED! Super Girl (3) fell asleep in the car (at about 5:15PM) and was down for the night! Action Girl (6) was tired but at least managed to have supper. No fireworks for us, this year (but that's fine).

Yesterday was a quiet day at home. This was just as well as Super Girl was under the weather. Today is the first day at home for S-Mom and the girls and will hopefully be a good one for recovery.

B.
[Please excuse the tag here, but I am writing this on my coffee break at work.]

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Tuesday, June 26, 2007

First Night of Soccer!


First Night of Soccer!
Originally uploaded by Binky

June 26, 2007

One goooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal.

One assist.

One happy girl.

B.

What am I listening to now? An audiobook review.

Q:  What am I listening to now?
A:  The audio book version of IBM and the Holocaust  by Edwin Black (2001)
 
Each summer, I try to check out some decent non-fiction audio books while I cut the grass or in the car.  I did not imagine this title would be a light read and was prepared for its dark tone.  Aside from the movie Life is Beautiful (which admittedly made me uncomfortable on some level) its simply impossible to, I think, to have anything of substance about the Jewish Holocaust that is an easy read.  Humanity at its worst does not make for happy reading.
 
That caveat aside, I've been very pleased and impressed with this audio book.  The story of the ways in which IBM punch card technology was used by Nazi Germany with the support of IBM is sobering and fascinating.  Punch cards are the analogue pre-cursor to the computer mainframe data storage.   It sounds quaint, but punch card data brought an ability for governments, militaries, and industry to maintain, manipulate, sort, analyze, and manage records and data.  It was a world-wide technology that became essential by the inter-war years.  The Nazis were among the first people to utilize information technology in such a widespread and co-ordinated way. 
 
Basically, Black's main points are that:
1)  IBM technology was essential for the orderly and effective pursuit of the extermination of European Jews, from census work identify jews to shipping inmates to the death camps,
2)  IBM knew of Nazi anti-Semitism, militarism and this didn't stop them from using their German subsidiary to make obscene amounts of money, and
3)  Furthermore IBM, put extensive effort into covering up this involvement including the ways in which they knew just how indispensable they had been to the Nazi war effort and the SS's work to exterminate Jews and  other groups.
 
Given how "heavy" this material is, I'm impressed that work itself is highly entertaining and even compelling.  The author himself is the reader and I think this may be tied to his passion for the subject.  At first, I wasn't sure what to think of his reading (he has a slight lisp, as do I) but I now think that an actor's reading would have reduced its impact. 
 
"The dawn of the information age began at the sunset of human decency."
IBM and the Holocaust by Edwin Black
 
Highly recommended (and available at the library),
 
B.
 
 

The Strangest/Best Things Found While Spring Cleaning Our Basement

-  Two and a half Duran Duran cassettes (if you have to ask who they were...please don't),
-  A pirate hook,
-  Old pictures of a significant proportion of the people who might be reading this note,
-  A Diaper Genie (empty and broken),
-  1980s pattern Canadian military web gear,
-  Far more used painting supplies than we should have,
-  A mix tape that Steve Ellis made us both for Christmas in 1995,
-  Bungee chords (man, I love those things),
-  A box of out-dated Air Cadet recruiting brochures,
-  Cardboard boxes, many, many cardboard boxes,
-  More cardboard boxes,
-  A key to my 1993 Geo Metro (yes, I no longer have that car and we suspect it has been scrapped),
-  My pellet gun (a rifle, safely stored- I knew exactly where it was just hadn't looked at it for a loooong while) 
-  A 1971 era bottle warmer that plugs into a car cigarette lighter,
and much much more...
 
B.
 
 

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Yes, I'm still out here....

Long time no post... If you're reading this you haven't totally given up on me. Please check back by Wednesday night for some actual new posts!!!