Thursday Notes

BISON, NOT SASQUATCH. That's the verdict regarding the hair that was used for a DNA test in Canada. Of course, this doesn't mean that those people in Teslin, Yukon didn't see Bigfoot -- only that the hair sample they found on a bush didn't come from Bigfoot.

WHY DOES THIS CAR SMELL SO FATTENING? It could have to do with the alternative fuel it is burning.

CHERYL CAME BACK from her walk this morning and reported that she had been rained on. In the Central Valley we don't usually get rain between May and October -- and there wasn't much of it this morning. But it was water falling from the sky. None of the weather forecasts mention precipitation. They just say "heat" and "more heat" -- which is just fine with me.

SUSTAINED HEAT is a sure sign that the Stanislaus County Fair is afoot. Indeed, from our house, a few blocks west of the fair grounds we could already see the Ferris Wheel up and aglow last night. The fair starts tomorrow.

It's not as bad as you might think, living close to the fair grounds. The fair itself isn't really very disturbing. But as of late the post-fair traffic through the neighborhood has been loud (mobile boom boxes parking in a residential area at 2 a.m. -- causing bad dreams and the dishes to rattle -- even though the car is a block away) and messy (lots of trash and beer bottles).

The recent decision to study the possibility of moving the fair grounds is a logical step toward sanity.

OUR VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL kids have been collecting coins to help children in the Democratic Republic of Congo buy school supplies. At the beginning of the week we challenged them to come up with 50 pounds of coins. As of last night they had brought in and deposited in a giant bottle 54 pounds (!) -- which we've been wheeling around on a hand-truck. One more night to go.

The money will be channeled through the Paul Carlson Partnership, which is helping to reestablish basic health and education structures in the northern part of Congo, following a most uncivil war.

A RECENT STUDY funded by Pew Internet and American Life Project found that teens prefer instant messaging over email.

I suspect that it has to do with purposes. Teens are more likely to use the Internet as a social tool and thus are willing to invest the time that IM takes. Adults prefer email because it doesn't require ongoing attention to the conversation and because you have an electronic record of the conversation.

READING BETWEEN THE LINES of used book sales -- economists explain how the sale of used books next to new books on Amazon.com actually fuels the sale of new books -- NY Times article

ALSO IN THE NY TIMES is an article on the less lucrative world of professional miniature golfing. (Thanks, Kottke)

THE ANGLICAN MISSION IN AMERICA, the most vibrant of the continuing Anglican communities, is celebrating five years.

KEITH DRURY HAS TURNED 60 and has become fanatical about embracing his elder status. He has grown a beard (because bearded people are taken less seriously) and has made some senior citizen vows. Including:
I'm gonna' laugh more and take things less seriously. Everybody in the church is too serious -- even young people. As a young man I've taken myself far too seriously and acted at times like the church was about to collapse. As an old man I now know that the church will survive all kinds of things. I've seen it survive past "emergencies" like holy laughter, WWJD, KJV-RSV, the Church Growth movement and the Prayer of Jabez so I now know it will make it through Purpose-Driven pot-holders. It survived Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and Tammy Faye so I know it will survive Brian McLaren, Rob Bell and Joel Osteen. And in the interest of being lighter I plan to make fun of things more and poke fun at people -- especially Baptists and Nazarenes, who are my most frequent readers...