Pictures of my family

So I went to Pennsylvania for a few days and here are the pictures of myself and my family.

The four of us. Micheal, Ashley, myself, and Matthew. Ashley's T shirt makes me cry inside :)

My niece Macenzie. (I have no idea how to spell her name) She is the older of my two nieces.

Here is her little sister Kira (no idea again) being held by my brother Micheal's girlfriend Felicia.

My brother Micheal and my father of the same name hiding in the downstairs family room. This is a time honored tradition of my father's.

Ashley holding the family cocker spaniel Lady (she's no Elias).
This was my Christmas visit, I'm hopin I get back during the summer.

~Eikon

Baby awwww

My neice Kiera and my sister Ashley.

~Eikon

On Pennsylvania

Whenever I return to the Coal Region I am struck by the fact that is seems more and more threadbare. I am also struck by the resiliance of the people here who whether knowingly or not somewhow manage in the context of Schuylkill County. I have missed the mountains and the fog. The trees here are unique in their spacing and growth and I enjoy being able to walk through forests (as opposed to the pine jungles of Minnesotta). There is a gap on interstate 81 headed north out of Harrisburg that I have designated as the beginning of home next to the village of Ravine. Between that gap and Hazleton 40 miles on 81 to the north I spent my childhood and my connection to these mountains is very real but strained.

The people here are hard. Kind , loving, loyal, but hard as the stone that their forefather's cut through for a living. It is not an easy place to be a gay boy if there is an easy place for that. People here talk a lot about many things. You can't get a sub ( a hoagie in local parlance ) without having an argument about politics of some sort. It is a welcome change from the quiet Germans of Saint Cloud. The faith of the Coal Region is a very very pragmatic thing and by in large it is a sort of hammer. You use tools for a job religion is a tool that let the people handle a dangerous profession for the better part of 150 years and the economic despair since. That being said no one takes a hammer too seriously.

The issues of the people of the Coal Region with gay men is not religous it has to do with a sense of deep suspicion towards anything new. New= Dangerous New=Weak because the old has survived maybe not prospered but survived and anything that challenges survival is dangerous. My grandparents didn't "know" any gay men, ergo they are new. It takes a while for people here to come to grips with change of any type. In a place where the blue collar working man is the pillar of the community and even the wealthy are despairaged in comparison any sign of percieved weakness is assaulted and gay men are percieved to be weak. Of course the gay men who make it out of here are anything but weak.

~Eikon

Cat in a beer box

Odd

Dreamgirls

It has been a tradition in my family to go to a movie on New Years Eve. Although I did not spend New Years with my full family, I did manage to weasel the weekend off and make it to Milwaukee to visit my sister Ann. I haven't seen a movie on the Screen since Prairie Home Companion (Ok, I know it sucked, but my loyalty for the show and for the man and his message brought me to the theatre.)

Honestly, there PHC is the only movie that I've had any desire to see. . . until I heard on NPR about DreamGirls.

I had never heard of the musical, just a few songs like"And I'm Telling You" that I had heard at Music Theatre Recitals and such. I can't say the movie redeemed a year of lackluster movies (which followed one of the best years in quite some time: Crash, Brokeback Mountain, Capote, and many indie too!).

I didn't know much about the movie, just that it was doing well. I didn't know that Beyonce was in it nor the american idol, Jennifer Hudson (i didn't even know who she was). If I had known that it was cast full of non-acting celebrities, I wouldn't have been as excited to see it. When someone whispered "That's beyonce" to me, I was shocked. Beyonce's acting was so flawless, that she didn't stick out AT ALL (you know, in a Queen Latifa, Spears sort of way).

The star was surely Jennifer Hudson, who did an amazing job. She has been coached and taught well and is far from a tween start on ameture reality star. Her role as Effie has the "Breakdown Aria," "And I'm Telling You," where she realizes (just after finding out she's pregnant) that her love has dumped her from the "DreamGirls". This is opera drama, my friends, and Hudson gave a chilling rendition of it - you can't help but expect her to pull out a knife and kill herself or at least collapse into a puddle of blood (maybe she does collapse; I can't remember).

Hudson was also the star vocally. The movie is set in the 1960s and the music mirrors the time. Aretha Franklin comes to mind. The real problem with the other cast members was that they couldn't seem to place themselves in that genre. The style requires them to improvise, belt, and scream, and too often it sounded a little too much like something you would hear on the radio today, especially riffs and slides between notes. Hudson, on the other hand, gives a stellar and accurate performance. Kudos to her!

May Dreamgirls win many Emmys!

More of Eli on Ice at Sant John's and failed Pysanky

We Took Elias to Saint Johns to play on the Ice but it was making all manner of noises and so we didn't go out too far. There is a chapel at the far end of the lake that is much easier to gt too if you can walk across. Blow are some pictures of the Abbey Church which in keeping with the seventies/ eighties style of catholic curches as evidenced by the cathedral of San Francisco. They attempt to make concrete look organic. [A note from your friendly family liturgist: Although it is not clear as to whether or not Eikon has a favorable oppinion of the Abbey Church, he is inccorrect in saying that it is " in keeping with the seventies/eighties style of church architecture." In fact, this structure is pre-vatican II, offering tremendous forsight as to what would unfold at the Vatican Council. Instead of the monks facing each other, the antiphonal is set so that they curve allowing the monks to face each other, the altar, and the faithful assembly. There are no altar rails, There is a marvelous wall of stained glass that gives fantastic lighting, and an enormous organ, as well. ]

It is a rather stunning building.


A few Nights ago I decided to make pysanky using a technique I am unfamiliar with. Basically you strip away the outer layer of a shell using vinegar and pattern using the wax relief in reverse. Unfortunately it failed but I will persevere.

Tommorow begins the holiday work experience which lasts until Christmas eve in seven hour chunks at a time. Then off to Iowa and then off to PA.

~Eikon

Eli on ice.

so terribly adorable

Ok again with the dog. I know. But they are adorable cuddling together. Eli likes to lie on his back.

Google Takes OVER THE WORLD

So every now and then I surf through the google sites to see what they're up to. Well this is the latest, from any cell phone text the number googl (so the numbers that corospond to googl) and t9 your querie. For example weather 56303 would return weather reports for St. Cloud. Define Christmas would be returned with an explanation of Christmas.

Scary. Huh?
http://www.google.com/intl/en_us/mobile/sms/

It sure is advent. . .

Here is a picture of the church In St. Cloud where I practice organ. It's not very clear, I was just amused by the primacy of the advent wreath.

Woe to The Ukrainain Womens Guild of Cleveland

I have been led astray. Having put my holiday potluck aspirations in the Hands of the 1974 post 14 League of Ukrainan Womens Guild and having followed their recipe exactly it has turned
out ugly. It tastes good but is very ugly.

What's more I gave them the benfit of the doubt having used and failed at this recipe twice before. Well theat guy who wrote all the chinese proverbs is laughing at me. The dough always needs more liquid and then the filling is too eggy. I wish I had either of my grandmother's recipes.

Grumbling,

~Eikon

Oh Christmas Tree!

Eikon and I decorated our first Christmas tree tonight. My mother gave me a box of ornaments. Some of them were Christmas gifts from her, others were from my grandma's tree which I helped to decorate every year. It was sort of wierd, I felt like I was hanging my life on the tree - and at the same time there was a sense of what Mom wanted for me, along the way. The musical instrument ornaments, a collections of clowns. . .well anyway, there was something very sentemental about this ritual that reminded me of my childhood.

It wasn't always good, per-se. I always remember wanting my mom to be as excited about decorating for Christmas as I was - but she wasn't. I imagine she was sad about not being around her sisters - and maybe her parents being gone. Anyway, I was always the Christmas person around the house - make that psycho-christmas decorating boy.
I hang myself on a tree,
like Jesus,
but no blood-
and little redemption.

Distressingly Cute

So when Flopper rises in the morning I am visited in bed ny Elias. Sometimes when I get out of bed he stays. This morning he got under the covers and found the softest pillow.

~Eikon

Weird Cast Iron

While in the hometown of Flopper I have made it my custom to stop at a local antiques store. This is because I am a absoloute whore when it comes to cast iron anything. Now for 12 of Flopper's mother's dollars (I need to send her a thank you). I think it is Indian in origin as it has some rather indian looking script on it but also arabic numbers and most strangely a peace symbol which as I understand it is of Indian origin.

Here is a hat I made From some cashmere and Malabrigo Angora on 6s. The black cashmere rim is big enough to fold over my ears and I intend this to be my "God why did I move to this frigid hell?!?" hat.
And here are pictures of me and Elias cuddling; he's so cute.

~Eikon

Thanksgiving in Iowa Too

Eikon and I traveled to my homeland on Thanksgiving Day. It was an uneventful drive, about 5 1/2 hours, and as soon as we arrived my mother began cooking the meal. It was all together quiet and uneventful. We had a lovely time.

On Friday we spent a goodly chunk of the day helping my parents to put up Christmas decorations. Every year, my parents bring out a 100ft (that's a guess) long fake evergreen garland and drape it from the pillars (yes there are pillars, but they aren't fancy, so don't get any ideas). I wish I had pictures, it's really quite attractive.

Anyway, after that, we went downtown. Eikon did a little picture taking as he is want to do. Here are a few:

We visited the Goats - Johnny and Pepper, that I trained in high school. They're now in retirement at local farmstead. They've gotten older and fatter, and well hey, so have I. No biggie. If you don't know about the goats, check out the GOAT U website.

We were especially impressed by our friends' effort to remodel their house. They re-sided the building with REAL SIDING, and put on a beautiful porch. I hope to lounge on it next time around.

We also made a pilgrimage to St. Mary's Church - the church that I grew up in as a church musician. It's been recently renovated and the church, which was pretty darn ordinary when I was there, is now blue and stenciled and gold, and dare I say it - - gaudy! Ah yes - gaudy, just how we like things.

So anyway. Here are some pictures. Judge for yourself. :-)















While in G.C. we also paid homage to one of the oldest buildings, the Cottage Motel. This building is owned by the city and needs a new roof. What next? Well, what else! Pave the way for progress, de-asbestos it and rip the thing down. The sad part is that I didn't get a sense that anyone back home really gave a damn. It's an old building, rip it down. I suppose that goes along with midwestern sensibility. There really should be something in place to protect buildings like the Motel, but I guess there aren't - that is there isn't anything that I, an outsider who doesn't own the building or live in Iowa can do. Oh well. It's just history right? Anyway, here's a picture. May the building have a happy afterlife.

Thanksgiving in Iowa

We were planning on going to Flopper's brother's for Thanksgiving, but we opted to go to Iowa to be with his parents, who were going to be alone for the holiday. I will take pictures of Guthrie center and post them tomorrow night.

~Eikon

Fast from God

What do you do
when God keeps giving
but his people stop?

I am starved by institution
neglected by one million
men who grow fat with God.

I am forced to reject
God who gives all gifts.

“No thank you, God.
I am not as worthy
as the rest of them.

I fast from God –
undeserving of
my own creation,
unworthy of her
salvation.

But God keeps giving,

I fast from god,
his creature
sculpted to
melt well in hell.

JMRF, St. Cloud, 2006

Well, the bishops came out with their latest gay-bashing document. In case you missed it, you can read it here. They basically reaffirmed what they've said in the past - that it's ok to be gay as long as you don't act on your sexual inclinations, embrace gay culture, or (this one is sort of new) tell anyone. They did say it was ok to baptize children of gay parents, but they also failed to take a negative stance on restoration therapy. They just said it should be attempted very carefully. Gross. It's full of nasty contradictions, here's the most obvious example:

First the document says:

"Church policies should explicitly reject unjust discrimination and harassment of any
persons, including those with a homosexual inclination. Procedures should be in place
to handle complaints."

and then it says that the church reserves the right to not hire and fire (discriminate against) people embracing these values not in tune with the church.

I love job security. Anyone know of any good msuic jobs in non-catholic churches?

FW: Reading machine

Behold the mittens!

So Flopper's hands can now be warm.

Here is the first sock in creamsicle Malabrigo for his mom. Done today in politics.

And here is a hat I tossed together out of some leftover cashmere and a lovely 10 percent cashmere/40 modal/ 50 merino crocheted yarn I've been all about lately for dear RedWing.

Hugs,

~Eikon

the christmas card picture!

If you're lucky enough, you might even get one in the mail!

Cute

Mittens!

So I have been making Flopper some lovely mittens out of Misti Alpaca on #3s in Fair Isle Style.
Eli Likes Mittens.

Oh and I got this distressigly cute tape measure from lantern moon that is shaped like a sheep. Above it is the beginings of a moebius scarf. ~Eikon

Political Ranting - Yay Elections!

Well, as you can tell, I've been very excited about politics this time around. I was initially inspired to vote in Minnesota, instead of my home state of Iowa, by the seemingly evil anti-gay, anti-Catholic, saved-by-jesus candidate for the 6th District Seat in the House - Michele Bachmann. I knew I had to vote in Minnesota if only for the sake of making sure that she wouldn't win. If you're not sure who I'm talking about, the blog - dumpbachmann.blogspot.com did a fantastic job promoting awareness of Bachmann's conservative narrow mindedness.

Over the last couple of weeks I have been telling myself and all of my friends that central Minnesota wouldn't elect someone like Bachmann. I kept saying "Catholics and Lutherans don't like to hear about someone 'accepting Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and savior.'" I guess I haven't been in Minnesota long enough to really understand how such a nasty person could slip under the radar of sensible Minnesotans.

To add a bit of bitterness to the sweet taste of our victory (and it is sweet, wasn't it?), Bush dumped Rumsfeld the day after the election. This is only a reminder of how calculated and deceptive every move the Republicans make can be. Knowing the number one issue was "the war", they campaigned on their pro-war agenda, even though it was failing, because they couldn't handle admitting that they were wrong. They had to hang on to Rumsfeld because it would look bad to drop him during the campaign period, and meanwhile Iraqis and soldiers are dying every day.

The Bush Administration's inability to admit fault is probably what cost the Republican's congress. These are people campaigning on Christian morals? I would have enjoyed seeing Bachmann's competition - Patty Wetterling - sling Christian morals back at her - what about the dignity and beauty of every individual person. Bachmann says, "Don't get me wrong, I love homosexuals" and then writes a marriage amendment and parades around the MN statehouse with ex-gays. Really Christian. Hooray for Christian families. Hooray for Christian Heroes - like Rev. Haggard.

Good. Republicans are falling like Christmas trees.
I like that. I hope the we can find a way to maintain power this time.

Great NPR Story on the eve of the election

All Things Considered, November 6, 2006 · Melissa Blocks talks with voice-over artists Dennis Steele and Scott Sanders about how to make a threatening voice for a political ad. Click here and take a listen!

This is just too funny, I think I've heard both of these guys do their thing. NPR presented them with some re-written nursery rhymes, for them to do their spin on. Here's one:

"Humpty dumpty sat on a wall,
He said he could put himself together again,
But after wasting thousands of our tax dollars,
All the kings horses, and all the King's men, he failed us.
Humpy Dumpty - wrong on wall-sitting."

PDF's of Campaign adds. . .

Since blogger isn't the best format, I've made a pdf of the Liberal Jesus Ad, enjoy!
Don't Vote for Liberal Jesus
oh and here's one against Baby Maia Bernice
Don't vote for Baby Maia

How to write a campaign ad

Hello Everyone -
With the election coming up next week, I've been doing a very careful study on how to create a negative campaign ad. Of course, I'm not running for anything, but when I do - hot damn, I'll be ready! So anyway, here is a step by step guide. . .

Step 1. Find a picture of your opponent. Don't be nice, see what's out there. The more disheveled your opponent looks, the better. Messy hair is a must, and the opponent needs to have his/her mouth open just a little bit. As an example, let's use Jesus. . . I think this anthropological reconstruction of JC fit's the bill.



Step 2. You have to find one or two slanderous words to cast your opponent in a negative light. I think in Jesus' case we'll use the word "liberal." Sure, he holds conservative values like you do, but he did make habit of hanging out with prostitutes and tax collectors, and he tended to be quite the pacifist. He shall now be known as "Liberal Jesus Christ". This separates YOU from HIM, while Liberal Jesus Christ is doing latte with the hookers, you're out there trying to keep immigrants from entering through our borders with a big fence.

Step 3. Hypothesize. Liberal Jesus Christ has never held office, so how do you know the results will be all that bad? You don't! You must make them up! What will happen? Be creative! Liberal Jesus Christ has a record of :

• Hanging out with prostitutes
• Will he legalize prostitution?
  
• Hanging out with tax collectors
  
• Will he give favors to tax collectors?
  
• Raising people from the dead
  
• That's just not natural - it hasn't been tested. Will there be side effects?
  
• Preaching about love of neighbor
• Will he open our borders, and make our country into a big globalized lovefest?
  
• Preaching in general
• Will he get work done in Washington, or will he be to busy praying and preaching?
  

Obviously the list goes on and on, but we only need 3 or 4 hypothesis to throw the mud.

Step 4. Fear. I think in the case of a Minnesota, the key is to emphasize small town values. Remind the people that they're not liberal nut jobs, but Liberal Jesus Christ is!

OK, so now onto structure. One of the key things is to use your name as little as possible. You want to give a negative image of your opponent, but you don't want to be directly connected to the ad. It takes away a great deal of responsibility. Anyway here's the format:
Picture:

Catcher: Are you going to vote for Liberal Jesus Christ this November?

Fear: Do liberal Jesus Christ's views reflect your small town values?

Hypothesis: If Liberal Jesus is elected, he will go to Congress, where he and his Liberal friends will pass liberal laws:

• Legalized prostitution
• Law that favors the wealthy taxcollectors.
• Legalized "revival" techniques
• Open Borders

Catcher: We need a real politician in the Capitol building, not hippie, Liberal Jesus Christ.
Liberal Jesus Christ, too extreme for central Minnesota.

Vote for John Mark on November 7.