The story of Halloween

Today is Halloween. I’m not sure what you are going to be doing, but I will be hiding in the farthest room from the street without any lights on, watching the TV through a headset. Why? Not because I’m a Christian and don’t celebrate Halloween, but I don’t want to give out candy. I never know what to do or say when kids come to the door looking for sweets. Plus, I don’t want to have to walk from the TV all the way to the door, and then back again. It’s very exhausting.

I received an interesting question from someone, who unfortunately doesn’t read this blog (like many of my “friends”). I figured, it’s a good topic, and then when people ask, I can always point them to this journal entry, (or here, which is more complete). So, take out your laptop, huddle near your door and read about the history of Halloween, while giving out candy to the children.

Unlike all the other sites, I’m not going to start at the usual place, the original name of the festival, and yadda, yadda, yadda. First and foremost on everyone’s mind (well, at least in my mind), where does the name Halloween come from? It comes from the term All Hallows Eve, which later was shortened to Hallow Evening. And finally, because when people talked faster and started to slur their words, it became Hallow’een. Then keyboards were invented and it was tough to find the apostrophe, so it got shortened to Halloween.

I know what you’re thinking next. What does Hallow mean? No, it’s not a typo. Hallow is actually an ancient term, meaning Holy. Like hallowed halls? So, now, this is where the history portion comes in. A LOOOONNNG time ago, there were people living in Ireland, called the Celts. And they had a religion and their priests were known as Druids. Now, for them, they marked their beginning of the year on the day when the harvest days end and winter begins. This day was called Samhain (which you’d think would be pronounced sam-hane, but is actually sow-in. Those wacky Celts!), which translated to our calendar was roughly November 1^st. On the night before the new year, the Celts believed that the boundary between the living and the dead weakend, allowing spirits and other otherworldy creatures to cause trouble and damage crops. So, the Celts held a festival, where they would sacrifice animals and crops to their deities for protection.

A couple thousand years later, the Catholic Church rose to power. In attempt to abolish all pagan rituals, the Church converted many of them into Christian-themed festivals, while at the same time denounced the pagan rituals as evil and demonic. Samhain was one such festival. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV created All Saint’s Day on November 1^st. This was a time to honor the saints and Christian martyrs. Yup, this is where the Hallow of Halloween comes from. All Saint’s Day in Middle English was called Allholowmesse. And naturally the day before it became known as All-Hallows Eve.

So, what about the traditions of Halloween? Where do they come from?

Bobbing for apples: Most historians believe this tradition came from the Roman festival to honor Pomona, the goddess of fruit and trees, which occurred around the same time as Halloween. Her symbol was the apple.

Trick or Treating: There are several possible origins for this tradition. During the 800s, people would leave out treats to placate the spirits that were out. Another origin comes from England, where Christian beggars would go door to door begging for soul cakes. In return for the cakes, they would pray for the deaths of any of the family members. Early Christianity, they believed that more prayers would help expedite the dead’s passage into Heaven.

Costumes: The celts, when they sacrificed the animals, wore animal heads and skins. Another theory was that during the time when people began to put out treats for spirits, people would dress up as these spirits and go around grabbing the treats. One other theory was that people would don the masks when they went from their homes, in attempt to “blend in” with the other ghosts and spirits.

Jack-O-Lanterns: This tradition clearly comes from the Irish, and was brought to America during the big Potato Famine. There are many stories about him, but here’s my favorite. There was a notorious Irish trickster named Jack. Well, one Halloween night, Jack was drunk, and Satan came to tempt Jack and take his soul. However, Jack told Satan that first before giving away his soul, he would like to have an apple from a nearby tree. Eagerly Satan agreed and climbed the tree to get the apple. Quickly, Jack pulled out his knife and carved a cross onto the bark of the tree, thus preventing Satan from coming back down. Jack would only free Satan on one condition, that the devil stop tormenting him forever. Satan quickly agreed, and the cross was rubbed out. The very next year, exactly on Halloween (I mean, what are the chances, huh?) Jack died. Because of his wicked deeds, he wasn’t allowed into Heaven. And he was denied Hell, because of the bargain that was made. So the Devil gave him a burning ember, and told Jack to go find his own way home. Jack placed it in a turnip, to make the flame last and began to wander the earth. People began putting candles in turnips and set them outside their houses so that Jack could grab a new light without bothering them. When the Irish came over to America, pumpkins were more plentiful than turnips, so they used those instead.

Making Shadow Puppets

I always wanted to do shadow puppets. I had memorized them before, but forgot most except the dumb bird and dog. Here's a site that shows you how to do most. Remember, practice practice! Then you can be cool and entertain people during a movie!

Work Friendly

Now you too can be like me! Read my blog and follow the links without getting caught by your boss! It's the new WorkFriendly site. Simply enter any url into the thing, and it will pop up the webpage, but it looks like a Microsoft Word document. Pretty cool! Check it out!

Game: Dice wars

This game is kinda hard, but it's pretty addicting. There's no instructions, but I have shouldered the burden of figuring them out for you. Yes, I braved this game, all for you, my dear readers! Here's how it works, you get a stack of dice, and you click on other territories with stacks of dice to conquer. The computer will roll the total amount of dice you have and compare it with the total amount the other country rolls, whoever has the highest roll conquors the territory. Ties go to the defender. When you conquer that territory, you leave one die behind on your territory and move the rest onto the other territory. You keep doing that until you have no more moves. Then when you end the turn, for every territory you possess, you get that many reinforcement die. Unfortunately, it's random where they appear. And you cannot move one stack of die onto your own territory. You can only attack. It's pretty hard if you don't go first. The key to winning i think is to try to grab as many territories as possible so that you can get more reinforcements. So far, I've only won one game, and that was just a 2 player game. It's pretty difficult. Wow, I wrote a lot! Anyway, enjoy!

Aaron Sorkin (Pt 2)

So, Aaron's got a new show this season. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be as big a hit as West Wing was. I think West Wing got a big boost from the presidential election that year, and it was the right show at the right time, I guess. I mean, the two shows have the same creator, the same smart writing, even some of the same actors! While one is a behind-the-scenes show about the presidency, the current one is a behind-the scenes look at Sketch comedy show. However, while West Wing had 4 glorious seasons and 4 not-so-good ones, Studio 60 is in the middle of a heart attack.

Why is that? Well, one reason is that the skits within the show just aren't funny. Aaron should either a) hire a better skit-writer or b) not even show any skits, just mention them in passing to the viewers (or do anything else, but please spare us from having to endure lame jokes and the actors fake-laughing as if it's the funniest thing they ever heard. Actually, that's a perverse pleasure of mine, is to hear Tim Busfield do his fake chuckle and shake his head. That's probably the funniest unintentional laughs.) The second reason I think the show is doomed is because of its religious content. In the TV series so far, we learn about: a sketch titled "Crazy Christians" (even though the viewer doesn't see the sketch, the premise is pretty obvious), actors praying before every 'show', the lead actress is an evangelical Christian, and that an evangelical group is a major percentage of the viewership (apparently Rapture magazine has more subscribers than Vogue). Aaron's point? TV networks are very concerned about Christians.

And, I think, they should be. A prime example: look at one of last year's shows that bombed miserably, Book of Daniel. It was a mid-season replacement (It aired its pilot in January) and only showed 4 episodes before it went away. The reason NBC pulled it was due to low ratings. Digging deeper, Christian groups had spoken against the show, despite not even seeing one episode. As a result of that backlash, several TV markets didn't even air the show at all. Advertisers were also unwilling to be associated with the show as well, and pulled out their ads. Aaron addresses this very issue in the second episode of Studio 60. In the episode, the head of NBS programming was informed that if she let the show do a skit called "Crazy Christians", several TV markets would not show it. Her reaction? Do it anyway. And, this being a fantasy show, it worked, and the show got even higher ratings.

However in the real world, it's just the opposite. Every week, the show is losing more and more viewers. And, I think it's because Christians can't laugh at themselves which is a very sad thing. Apparently, Black comedians can make fun of Black people, gay comedians can ridicule gays, but Christian comedians can't poke fun of the Christian facade. I think it's time we, as Christians, get off our high horse, with our attitude that we're too holy to be made fun of. It's another reason why the world doesn't like us, and not in the good, Satan-hates-us, Bible-sense either. It's more like in the bad, hypocritical, We're-holier-than-you sense.

25 Most important Questions

Altho a pretty long article, it's got pretty interesting questions and answers. So, pop open a soda, relax (You made it through the middle of the week!) and read the answers to the 25 most important questions.

Aaron Sorkin (Pt 1)

I really like Aaron Sorkin, especially the way he portrays Christians on TV. Under any other writer or for any other show, I would cringe. They always get it wrong. Law & Order, Nightline, you name it, Christians are always stereotyped and one-dimensional. And guess who they base it on? Take a look at the "famous Christians". I'm sure they are as much an "inspiration" for other Christians as well as non-Christians. I've talked about them in previous posts. I'm not ashamed of them, because it only proves that we, humans, are weak. We shouldn't admire any people, not even "men of God", because we all sin. It's just a matter of how well everyone hides their sins. Despite this, Christians still are viewed unfairly because the only famous Christians that are news-worthy are generally the ones who've done something wrong. You don't flip on the news, and see an uplifting news segment about Billy Graham not doing anything bad. It doesn't exactly make riveting news. But nothing captures the hearts and minds of the American Public than a scandal. Maybe it's because of the common conception of Christians thinking they are superior to the rest of the world, and it's good to see them taken down a peg or two. Hey, I totally feel the same way as well about any famous person, Christian, Muslim, Jewish or Scientologist-ism...

So anyway, I was saying, it's easy for TV writers to totally stereotype Christians. But not Aaron. For once, he doesn't show the "perfect" Christian, he shows: the real Christian, both the good and the bad. I remember clearly, West Wing was getting rave reviews by Christian magazines and websites. "Oh, they totally get Christianity (especially in the episode with the Chinese Underground Refugees). " And then what happens? Mrs. Landingham (President's Secretary) gets killed in a car accident, and the president is crying out against God in Latin. Reaction by the Christian media: "Boo! Hiss! Aaron is the anti-christ!" Umm... have they ever heard of Job? David? Read any of the psalms? It's ok to question God, to ask him, "Where were you when the fake secretary died?"

32 He is not a man like me that I might answer him,
that we might confront each other in court.
33 If only there were someone to arbitrate between us,
to lay his hand upon us both,
34 someone to remove God's rod from me,
so that his terror would frighten me no more.
35 Then I would speak up without fear of him,
but as it now stands with me, I cannot. (Job 9:32-35)

Background story: Job got punished by God, rather unfairly he thinks. And he would love to confront God about it, take him down to People's Court, and really grill God. I'm sure Job had many questions to ask God. For example, "What did I do to deserve losing my entire family and health?" or "How can you justify doing the things to me? What am I, your lab rat?" But of course, Job can't do that. Why? He's afraid of God! Piss the Big Guy off, and He could truly end Job's suffering... permanently. So, he doesn't. But these verses still express his frustration and his true wish. If he could somehow talk to God without fear of consequences, why, he'd really let Him have it! In fact, he kinda does in the next chapter. "Does it please you to oppress me, to spurn the work of your hands, while you smile on the schemes of the wicked?" (Job 10:3) So, long story short, I think it's ok to question God, because God didn't ultimately kill Job in the end.

So yeah, I like Aaron. I think with that episode, I knew Aaron really "got" what a Christian is really about. They stand up for what they believe in, yes, but they don't say outrageous things like "New Orleans was being punished for their sins." The true evangelical Christian is just an every-day person, trying to cope with sin, but also the pressures of family life and/or professional work. They are more interested in coming up with fellowship activities rather than proving that the Christian Right are the most patriotic position in the government.

Study: Like Better

Here's a study that apparently can tell things about you based on which pictures you pick. Try it out, it seems pretty accurate, I found only one prediction wrong. Play it here.

How to find the job you love

So, it's monday. Are you dreading going to work? Well, perhaps you're not happy with your job, or your boss is a monkey's butt, or maybe your workplace just sucks. Have you always heard about the key to happiness is to find a job that you love to do? Well, here's a site that tells you how to do it practically.

Power of the pen

It's amazing that a simple ballpoint pen could save lives and the Moon Race. Here's the fascinating story.

Video: Heat Vision and Jack

This is a pretty campy TV pilot , directed by Ben Stiller. You may have heard of some of the actors on the show :)
Enjoy your Friday!

Crazy Christians

Pat Robertson:
We have imagined ourselves invulnerable and have been consumed by the pursuit of ... health, wealth, material pleasures and sexuality... It [terrorism] is happening because God Almighty is lifting his protection from us.
Robertson's explanation of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, in a three-page statement released Thursday, September 13, 2001

I know it sounds somewhat Machiavellian and evil, to think that you could send a squad in to take out somebody like Osama bin Laden, or to take out the head of North Korea, but isn't it better to do something like that, to take out Milosevic, to take out Saddam Hussein, rather than to spend billions of dollars on a war that harms innocent civilians and destroys the infrastructure of a country?
The 700 Club television program, August 9, 1999

The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians.
fundraising letter, 1992

Ann Coulter:
Being nice to people is, in fact, one of the incidental tenets of Christianity, as opposed to other religions whose tenets are more along the lines of ‘Kill everyone who doesn’t smell bad and answer to the name Muhammad.’

The Great Satan is wearying of this reverse hegemony, in which little pipsqueak nations try to impose their pipsqueak values on us. Aren't we the ones who should be arrogantly oppressing countries that unaccountably do not have the death penalty?

(Mel) Gibson didn't insert Jews into ("The Passion of the Christ") for some Machiavellian, racist reason. Christ was a Jew crucified by Romans at the request of other Jews in Jerusalem. I suppose if Gibson had moved the story to suburban Cleveland and portrayed Republican logging executives crucifying Christ, the left would calm down. But it simply didn't happen that way.

Boy, I can't imagine why Evangelical Christians have a bad rap. Do I even need to talk more? Why are we still letting these people represent the Christian populace? Or maybe I'm putting too much emphasis on this. I guess the real Christian leaders are busy in the background doing the important stuff and letting these guys run the "smoke screen" as it were. But, I'm here, not really doing much, so I'll handle the trivial stuff while letting the real guys get to work. That was a joke, btw.
I have several theories on why we still have Pat Robertson speaking, let alone have his own TV show.

Reason 1: He's harmless and good for a laugh. Does anyone still take him seriously at this point? I don't know about you, but hearing his quotes just makes me laugh. I don't think he takes himself seriously at this point. It's gotten to the point where any disaster strikes, I'm anxiously waiting for Pat to speak up about it, just to hear what he says next. ("Oh the earthquake in Hawaii? That's because God hates macademia nuts.") And to those anti-christians, or the liberal left (no relation) who actually take him seriously, give me a break. You can't feel justified with your position by pointing at whatever he says as a logical point. It's like using the great "Are too/am not" lines in a political debate. (Oh wait...)

Reason 2: If we shut him up, someone worse may actually replace him. What we don't need right now is someone intelligent as the spokesperson for the Christian Right. That could lead to actual war, and as everyone knows from WW2, you don't want to fight a two-front war, especially during an election year. Robertson is pretty harmless. See Reason 1.

Reason 3: Pat and Anne have gone so far to the right, that it has to be an act. I'm not sure they entirely believe the stuff they say. I think it has to be a role they play just to get attention. They have always craved attention, and now they will say or do anything to get it. Because they're harmless, when they fall or sin, it's not a huge blow to the rest of the Christian community. Don't believe me? Imagine if a scandal were to arise concerning Pat Robertson. Like he was embezzling money from his foundation. Now imagine that same scandal from Billy Graham? Which would rock the Christian foundation more? And you know why? Because, Pat has already established himself as a loony, and clearly from his remarks, he doesn't know what he's talking about anyway.

Reason 4: Maybe they are perfect examples to Christians on what not to believe in. Oh, Pat says assassinations are good, well then I'll believe the opposite!

Reason 5: It's God's Will. Sure, this reason works for everything from George Bush as President to me still having a job. But, nevertheless, it's still an important reason. God wants Pat to have that 700 show to sell-- I mean solicit donations, and Anne to keep saying preposterous things on talk shows to sell books. Everything is for God's glory.

Anyway, it's not like I can do anything about it except rant and rave. Surprisingly, I do feel better now though.

Seeing with Sound

An incredible story! A boy blind since 2 is able to get around using echolocation or the echoes from sound. It's very similar to how bats and dolphins get around too. He doesn't even need a cane or anything!

Christian Politics

I've been waiting a while before tackling this sensitive subject. I was waiting for either a stable user-base, or as in this case, a user-base of 1, before deciding to talk about Christians and politics. Nothing divides a room faster than religion and politics, and mixing these two volatile mixtures into one is like mixing nuclear waste with ebola. Not a very pleasant combination. So, here's a fair warning. Feel free to disagree with me, and that's ok. You are entitled to your opinion, no matter how wrong I think you are. I kid, I kid!

I'm going to be talking about this article, so please read it before continuing. Don't worry, I'll wait for you. I'm very patient.

Done?
So, what do you think of it? Ok, that's good... you do realize I can't really hear you? You can always comment though! But, here's my take on it.

The Christian Right give all of us Christians a bad name. There, I said it. I'm not quite sure how it happened, but since when did us, Christians, become so thin-skinned? Why can't we laugh at ourselves? Throughout most of the NT, the early Christians had endured torture, beatings, hangings, stonings. And yet we, in the modern world, can't handle jokes? That's pretty sad of us. So now, if something offends us, not only do we boycott the program, we have to make such a big public outcry about it. It's displayed as news, thinly disguised as an example of how "the Morals" of America are going in the bucket. Oh, boo hoo. Seriously, it's not TV, or a play or a cartoon that is corrupting the youth. Believe me, the youth have been corrupted since they were born. We've been corrupted since Adam and Eve ate the apple.

While it's true, the squeakiest wheel gets the oil, it also annoys the other wheels as well and gives all the wheels a bad name. For me, I think it's time that we provide a balance to the Christian perspective. As the article says, not every Evangelical is politically-active and goes to large Churches, which are often run more as a business rather than a body of Christ. There are those of us who are just regular people, nurses, engineers, bus drivers who just happened to be Christians. We aren't a political demographic to be catered to, nor are we an advertising audience that needs to be catered to. We are every day people, who believe in one God. We enjoy the same movies as other people do, we watch the same TV, and enjoy playing the same games as others.

That's why I always shake my head, when I hear about a "Christian-themed" movie, or a "Christian-themed" game. That's when I know the media producers just don't get it. You don't need to lure us with a Christ-centered theme. Alll it has to be is well-made and we'll go see it. Next time, I will really talk about those "Crazy Christians".

Quiz: Internet Addiction

How addicted to the internet are you? Take this quiz and find out! I think the quiz is flawed though, since I got a 34, which apparently is average. Yay! I'm only average in Internet Addiction! ;)

Masks (Pt 2)

But (ha, you just knew there was a but there somewhere, huh?) are masks really a bad thing? I suppose if you are a humanist, and believed that deep down inside of all of us humans that we’re all really, really good people, then yeah, masks are bad. As impressionable teenagers, there’s no need to put up a “front” for people to like us. If we’re ourselves, there’s bound to be people who will like us. And those are your true friends, the ones who like you for you. And this is “The More You Know” segment of my blog. Looking at it this way, it’s a self-esteem issue. We don’t have to wear masks and pretend to be something we’re not.

However, are we good people deep down inside? Do you really want to see the inner-being of people, without masks?

Have you ever read comic-books, or even, seen any of the X-men movies? (Wow when did geek become chic?) Remember Professor X (aka Captain Picard) who could read everyone's minds? That's what it would be like if no one wore any masks. It won't be a paradise like all those motivational spiritual leaders think it would be. Sure, there would be no more misunderstandings, but that won't mean no more wars or fights. Think of it. A couple passes you by, and you notice the beautiful girl hanging on the arm of the loser. Rather than carefully keeping your face neutral and eyes straight ahead, you instead are leering and ogling the girl (OK, if you're a girl obviously flip all the sexes. ) . One of two things is going to happen: a) The girl is repulsed and the guy kicks your ass or b) The girl enjoys it and the guy kicks your ass. Either way, your butt is going to be sore. Or even imagine the president, instead of putting on his "politician" mask, tells you exactly what is going on in his heart. He's invading Iraq because he can, and he needs an excuse to put more money into military spending. (Ok, this is just an "example" people! Put down those arms and back away slowly...)

We need masks. It's what allows humans to co-exist in a society. We are not good people deep down inside. We have to put up a mask or else no one will like us. Truly, and honestly. We are all sinners, we were born a sinner, we're going to die a sinner. But even the masks sometimes aren't enough to cover up the evil that is inside us, kinda like no matter how much perfume you put on a rotting corpse, it's still a rotting corpse, only with a thick layer of floral stench.

Also, masks are not just protection for us. If you turn the situation on it's side, really, what is a mask, but a role you play. Just like Bruce Wayne donning the Bat-suit, he became Batman. Just like me donning Spiderman, I became... well... crazy, but still! The point is somewhat the same. A mask is another role, and even the Bible says that's a good thing. Look at these verses in 1 Tim 3:1-7. How many roles do you see in that one man? I count at least 3. First the role is obviously the overseer of the church. But what else? He needs to be a good husband, and third a good father. That's three different roles or masks. The wife doesn't see an overseer, (well at least not in today's post-feminist society!), she sees a loving husband. And the children obviously don't see a husband, they see a stern but loving father. Three different roles, hats, masks, but all just one person.

Watermelon Carvings

Very intricate and beautiful carvings on watermelons. Usually popularized by the Chinese and Japanese cultures.

Game: 8 planets

Sorry for the deluge of stuff today, but yeah, I didn't have time yesterday for the column, and someone has convinced me it's cheating to backdate things. So anyway, you get 3 new things to do today other than daydream about your weekend!

Some wierd Chinese Game, where you shoot balls at a string of multi-colored balls. Three colors in a row pops them. Try to get rid of them all before it hits the sun. Or something like that.

Video: Star Wars on Banjo

Funny video of a banjo player, playing the Star Wars theme. At first it's hard to figure out the theme, until somewhere about the middle.

Map of War

A quick 90-second history lesson on the wars that have gone on in the Middle East.

Masks (Pt 1)

It’s October, time for the ghouls and goblins, or is it now school shooters and terrorists, the new monsters? Anyway, it’s time for kids to don disguises and legitimately hold their neighborhoods hostage with threats of toilet paper, raw eggs, and flaming bags of poop. Their demand? Raw, bouncing-off-the-walls, sugar-loaded, fat-gaining candy.

When I was a child, Halloween was practically a holiday for me. I remember clearly not paying much attention to school work, but thinking about donning my Spiderman or Superman costume and going out to get as much loot as possible. I remember wearing that plastic mask with the white rubber band that always broke after the first 10 minutes of wearing it. I remember the sharp nostril holes cutting into my face, along with the pools of breath sweat lining the mouth and nose. Come to think of it, the mask was probably the worst part of the Halloween experience, but hey, it’s all part of the job. You don’t want people to recognize you as the one who always rings the doorbell and leaves, right?

Masks. My very first spiritual experience had to do with masks. At the time, I thought it was a very deep and philosophical topic. How did I know, it’s a favorite topic among all Christian themes, right up there with “stepping out of your comfort zone”. Anyway, this was back in High School, and I never went to any type of Christian conference before. So the theme was masks, which at first blush, I thought was a pretty stupid topic. But then the priests trotted up one high schooler after another who then talked about the masks they wear, and how they had to “hide” their true inner self. Then I was like, “Ohhh, I get it now.” And of course, throughout the year, during retreats or other “spiritual” times, people would share, and inevitably they’d bring up “Masks” as if to show the teachers, “Hey I remember crap!” Don’t you hate that when other people try to repeat the catchphrase of that year just to show their “on board” or part of the “bandwagon” or “with it”.

Not looking at it too deeply, it seems like an awesome and admirable goal. Let your mask down, and have your true self shine. Sounds admirable huh? No need to lie about ourselves, but just act truthfully. And then there’s that whole trust issue, where if two people are in a trusting relationship (I’m talking in general sense, not just boy-girl, but even two close friends) they should let down their masks and, I dunno, hug and cry, I suppose. I don’t do that; I like my masks, thank you very much.

Invisibility Shields!

Now this is serious cool. Scientists are working on materials that are invisible, or can bend the electromagnetic spectrum in weird ways. The article is very techno-sciency, so you are forewarned. Here's the article.

Game: Logic Puzzle

Here's a cool puzzle you can try. Just link up the 2 colored ends together. And you can't cross other colors.

Out of Body Experience

New York Times normally requires registration to see their articles, so click this link while it's still free! Basically, scientists are able to stimulate an area of the brain that can cause people to have out-of-body experiences. Fascinating article.

Minimalism (Pt 2)

Can you imagine what it'd be like if your pastor ended on time? Worship goes on for about 15 minutes, the pastor gives his message for half an hour, and there's still 15 minutes left for announcements and stuff. Imagine how enjoyable it would be for you, sitting there! You check your watch, and you know instantly how much longer the sermon will be. Everything is as it is expected. And guess what? You'll be that much more interested in the sermon! Why? I think it's because it's all about expectations.
For me, because I like to bike, I think of sitting in a lecture as riding a bike uphill. If it's the first time for me up the hill, I usually try to take it easy, conserve my energy, because who knows how far away is the top of the hill? Actually, I hate going uphill, and I end up going a lot slower than my friends. Because I don't want to run out of gas in the middle of the ride and force to walk the bike up. That's the ultimate shame of a bike trekker, I usually snicker at those people who walk. Well, in my head of course, I'm not that mean. Anyway, if I have been up that hill before, or I can see the top, I am more apt to go faster and expend more energy, because I know exactly where the end is. In this case, the pain is temporary, and I know when exactly the pain will end. Of course, usually it's followed by a very fun but short downhill and then an even longer uphill. But that's not the point of my analogy. So, attending a lecture is kinda like that for me. I don't want to expend all my concentration (read: energy) listening to things that may or may not be important now. I need to conserve it so I can reach the end without --what, class?-- that's right-- falling asleep. And if I know precisely how much time there is (read: the top of the hill) the more I can motivate myself to stay awake til the end. Oh yeah, and I might learn something along the way.
When I was in college, I found that I was always more awake during a lecture when I knew that the end was coming up. When a professor tells us there's 10 things to know, it's more of a countdown really. He's going down one by one, and when he hits 10, class is done! That's one reason why I like lists. It shows clearly where I am in the class, and how much I missed when I fell asleep. Another thing I like is when the professor hands a lecture outline. That's even better a list because who knows exactly how much he's going to talk about between point 3 and 4? I mean, he might lull you in a false sense of speed by blazing through points 1 and 2. By then I'm thinking to myself, "Alright, at this rate, we'll be done in half an hour!" And then he hits point 3, which has 10 subsections, and the thing just starts dragging. I'm staring at point 4, wondering if he'll ever get to it. The WORST is when he has the 10 points, but it's a to be continued in the next lecture. Bleh. So, anyway, yeah a lecture outline is great because it's a more detailed map of when he's done. Of course, it could backfire if you notice that he's got a LOT of subpoints in between. But the outline is also good because, really, you don't have to take notes... I mean, he did that for you already.
Now, this may seem like a radical idea, but how about ending lectures, sermons, class early! Wow, what a concept! If a teacher ends early, not only have they delighted the listeners, but guess what, they retained more of it! Expecting to be bored, they haven't even got a chance to get comfortable for the long haul. Someone told me how the class they taught was very happy they ended early. Not only will the students remember more, but also it gives time for discussions or sharing. Plus, if the teacher announces the class will end early if everyone participates, guess what? You will have complete attention because who doesn't want to finish early? It's so crazy it just might work!

Minimalism (Pt 1)

Look! A blog entry on time! What are the chances of that?!

Did you know that the average person only retains about 20% of what they hear? And of that 20%, most of it happens in the first 10 minutes of a talk, lecture or sermon. I’m not sure why. Maybe because people are more alert in the beginning. They just walked in, finished talking with their friends, maybe they just finished singing a rousing praise song for the 20th time, because the worship leader happens to like the chorus and doesn’t seem to be the type to ever get tired of things easily. Or maybe it’s because the speaker has started with a funny story, and you were drawn into it, or maybe he told a joke or even a personal story about his life. Maybe the guy uses an overhead projector! Ooh, look at all the pretty shapes, but eventually that novelty wears off as he’s stopped drawing pretty circles, and is resorting to “writing” “words”, which a blackboard is clearly capable of handling. Whatever it is, eventually your body gets comfortable in the seat, and then the speaker goes through a boring patch and your mind starts to wander… about what you should have for lunch, when to drop off the car, who’s turn is it to pick up the kids, where are the kids, oh-my-gosh-did-I-leave-them-in-the-soccer-field!?

Oh sorry. So, where was I… oh yeah, boring. Then once your mind starts to wander, it’s very, very hard to get back on track unless the teacher is throwing something at you, or the class suddenly starts laughing and you’re left wondering what’s so funny, so you spend the rest of the time listening hard, because you hate to miss a good laugh. After your mind wanders, it’s a quick jump-and-hop into that wonderful dreamland where the world is made of cookies and you’re drinking out of a chocolate stream.

Another easy way to get people to stop listening to you, if that is your intent, is to throw them tons of information. It’s kinda like the air and the flame situation. Fire needs oxygen so you pushing air into a small flame will cause it to go higher. Then, somehow you get the idea that if a little air will cause a flame to brighten, then blowing a LOT of air will cause the flame to burst into a blaze! So you blow as hard as you can. Result? You leave yourself dizzy and the flame goes out. It’s the exact same idea with knowledge. Give a student a little knowledge and they absorb it and use it. Blowing gobs and gobs of gobs of hot ai—I mean information won’t ignite the student’s passion, it’ll overwhelm it. And the result? Rather than become as passionate as you are about the life cycle of rocks, they’re seeing if they can stick pencils in the cathedral-style ceiling.

Finally, I think another reason why speakers feel the need to fill up the entire time allotted to them is the whole American philosophy of, best value for the buck. I mean, students pay money expecting to be taught for 50 mins each class. If you really only need 20 minutes, then the students might feel cheated. (Trust me, they won’t). Or sermons. A parishioner spends a good hour getting up early on a Sunday morning, gets dressed, looking very prettily and dolled up, they’re gonna feel cheated if the entire worship service lasts 30 minutes. Right, cause now they only nap for 10 minutes instead of their usual 30.

Optical Illusion

Happy Monday! Isn't it great to start a new week and a new month!
This optical illusion is a little different, in that it doesn't involve staring at a dot for hours. Nor does it involve crossing your eyes. It's kinda cool. Check it out.