noise

Lover of heavy weather, not smashing houses and people, but yes to the force of the wind on the body, the darkening of the skies, the wavering danse of the rain...

Continental summer, the sweeping mix of warm air swirling, and these violent outbursts.....

Love it.

From Jacob

From Jacob:

I realize that my response to this issue is a little past due. The subject seems to be out of the public discourse for now. Of course i wonder if it ever really was discussed in public or was it simply broadcast on nightly news. The reason i bring up this subject is because i never once heard on any broadcast, or in public, or from any pulpit (Catholic or Protestant) how God views or judges the topic. And the answer, of course, is that God does not judge. We do. We are fallen. We trust Satan and his minions. We trust the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. God said don't eat of it or you will die. You will cease to trust my unending and enduring mercy. The apostle Paul wrote where you judge another you only condemn yourselves.

I bring this up because of its importance. I never heard from any Christian or Catholic institution or person on this subject that didn't automatically assume that what those priests did was wrong and they deserved to be punished for it. And i agree, and i'm sure that all of you agree that what those priest did was wrong. But is that spirit of judgement in us the spirit of God. I am absolutely 100 percent certain it most definintely is not. All those priests and all those ministers and all those lay people who sided with the Church and on condemning and punishing those priests have only damned themselves. God knows our hearts and minds. God knows we are all nothing but filthy, rotten law breakers. He sent his son to take the sin, the guilt of the world upon himself. Paul says that whatever could condemn us has been taken from us and attoned for by God. We are to treat the worst law breaker better than ourselves. In fact, we are to treat law breakers like they are Jesus Christ. I never once heard this argument spoken in public on any issue related to crime and punishment. Why? Because the Gospel is never preached in our time. Never!! And all of our institutions, and our entire judicial system is evil. Evil is untrusting what was accomplished for us on that cross. It is finished. Any judgement against James Peters or anyone reading this is finished. My salvation from guilt and all condemnation, from all judgement has been accomplished. I have been delivered from the bondage of the law, and i now exist in a state of perfect Grace with God. So do i now become a blasphemous hypocrite and condemn those priests? Do i love the sinner but hate the sin? Do i judge their actions. If i do i only condemn myself. "Hypocrite", god says. "I have born your guilt how can you condemn another", the Gospel cries. How can we even punish another for their crimes. It would be much more pleasing in the eyes of God if we went to jail or lost our jobs for the argument that God's eternal perfection and righteous uncondemnation (Gods judgement relievingness) and mercy and grace upon all pedophile priest because we are them. We have done the same thing. If you broke one law you've broken them all, the Apostle James declares. Not this Apostle James but the one in the Bible. If we were punished instead of those priests, that would be a righteous act. If the newly appointed supreme court justice declared that she is to be punished for all wrong doing that would be a righteous act. She knows she's done the same. And if she doesn't God declares her a liar.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on what the Gospel speaks to my heart on the matter of Catholic priest pedophilia.

vundergut

lotts of good

Colour picture of nephew.2 in Tribune

That's him in the back. Here's the story.

Norwegian Wood

Written by Lazers

Names (and one italicization)edited by Hilts

Hopes to try Benkowski trivia (and waitresses dressed like little school girls) at Tilted Kilt again were thwarted, this time by the Stanley Cup Finals. Thus, once again, J&B found itself at the location of its 2009 Championship- Salerno’s.

J&B represented by: Chemical man, Stix, Hilts, Dragon, MG, Jacob, and Lazers

The competition: Slice of Chicago, Logan Square, Funky Monkey, Peeps, Auntie Joanie, and Sharks

First Half: Meet the Hawks/Top European Cities/Before They Were Famous

Summary of European Cities category- know your populations.

Summary of Hawks category: know your birth years and countries of origin

Mathew Perry was a top junior athlete in what sport?

(bad guess from virgin team Slice: “auto racing”)

At the half: J&B 740 Logan 720 Peeps 590 Sharks 540 Monkey 430 Joanie 390 Slice 290

Second Half: Entertainment/60s-90s Music/Recent Baseball

Summary of Entertainment category: know “Home Alone”

Summary of Baseball category: know your 2010 stats as of a couple days back

Who sang “Fly Robin Fly”?

Who sang “If You Wanna Be Happy” (60s)?

Two groups- 1 black, 1 white- who did “Twist and Shout” in the 60s?

Who sang “Stuck in the Middle With You”?

Who sang “Eyes of a New York Woman” (60s)?

In The Who’s “Fiddle About” (Tommy), who commits a crime?

Who sang “Heart and Soul” in the 80s?

This last question led to Stix seeking clarification whether Benkowski was looking for the 1984 or 1987 one, both Top Ten hits. That query was probably one of the several times that Hilts’s friend Jacobrose to his feet and announced to the crowd that Stix is a god”.

Jacob also is disciplined by Benkowski after being overheard asking, “how could anybody know that?”

During a raucous J&B chant, Benkowski: “Remember what happened the last time you did that” along with something about remembering the knives.

Scores after two halves: J&B 1780 Sharks 1510 Logan 1160 Joanie 1110 Peeps 1010 Monkey 700 and Slice left after the first half.

Benkowski holds a random draft lottery for the order in which teams will get to select their category from a group of eight: Superbowl Facts, 80s Cartoons, Celebrity Year of Birth, Miss Americas, Current TV Commercials, 80s Music, 70s Music, 90s Music.

Draft results:

Sharks are first and select Superbowl Facts:

From ’70 to the present: name a QB who won either 3 or 4 Superbowls?

From ’70 to the present: name a QB who won either 3 or 4 Superbowls?

From ’70 to the present: name a QB who won either 3 or 4 Superbowls?

Auntie Joanie is second and selects 80s Music:

Who sang: Babe?

Who sang: Lost In Love?

Who sang: Longer?

J&B is third and selects 70s Music (wagering the classic):

Who sang: Band of Gold?

Who sang: Don’t Go Breaking My Heart?

Who sang: Come and Get Your Love?

Funky Monkey is fourth and selects Celebrity Year of Birth:

Michael Richards

Farrah Fawcett

Tom Hanks

Logan Square is fifth and selects Current TV Commercials:

Is the “perfect allergy medicine”?

For 2 decades, tells us how to deal with the IRS and don’t lose sleep?

Is “revolutionizing the moist towelette industry”?

Peeps are sixth and select Miss Americas:

1984 Miss America- went on to a career in music, TV and movies?

1955 Miss America- played on TV with Buddy Ebsen and played Catwoman?

1971 Miss America- TV career on “NFL Today” and appeared in “Meet the Parents”?

The non-selected category- 80s Cartoons:

“Dungeons and _______”?

“Danger ____”?

“Best of S_____ D____”?

The non-selected category- 90s Music:

Who sang: Professional Widow?

Who sang: Miami?

Who sang: What is Love?

(Note: for that last 90s question, Benkowski said he once used that question when the Tribune was following him for a story about bar trivia, and the reporter called it the best question Benkowski ever had asked. I don’t even know how to respond to that one.)

Gentlemen?


First half answer:
Tennis

Second half answers:

Silver Convention
Jimmy Soul
Beatles and Isley Brothers
Stealers Wheel
BJ Thomas
Uncle Ernie

Huey Lewis & the News (note: T’Pau was the 87 version)


Sharks- with 1510- Superbowl Facts- guess Terry Bradshaw (correct), Tom Brady (correct) and Joe Montana (correct)- all three correct- wagered 1490- with bonus up to 6000. J&B will need the bonus to win tonight.

Auntie Joanie- with 1110- 80s Music- no guess for “Babe” (no), Air Supply (correct), and no guess for “Longer” (no)- only one correct- wagered 460- down to 650.

J&B- with 1780- 70s Music- guesses Freda Payne (correct), Kiki Dee and Elton John (correct) and Redbone (correct)- all three correct- wagered 1241- with bonus up to 6021 and an insurmountable lead. The remaining teams are playing for the Bronze.

Funky Monkey- with 700- Celebrity Year of Birth- guesses 1956 for Richards (no), 1947 for Fawcett (correct), and 1955 for Hanks (close enough)- two correct- wagered 699- up to 1399.

Logan Square- with 1160- TV Commercials- guesses Alevest (?) (no), Mary Hartley (no) and didn’t hear last guess (no)- none correct- wagered 1111- down to 49.

Peeps- with 1010- Miss Americas- guess Vanessa Williams (correct), Julie Newmar (no), and Phyllis George (correct)- two correct- wagered 1010- double up to 2020 for the Bronze.


Correct answers:
Superbowl: Sharks got 3 correct. Troy Aikman also works
80s Cartoons: Dragons, Mouse, Scooby-Doo
Celebrity YOB: Richards ’49, Fawcett ’47, Hanks ‘56
Miss America: V Williams, Lee Meriwether, P George
TV Commercials: Claritin, Roni Deutch, Kleenex
80s Music: Styx, Air Supply, Dan Fogelberg
70s Music: see J&B answers above
90s Music: Tori Amos, Will Smith, Haddaway



Solid win by a full J&B squad tonight. No current plans for the next trivia appearance, but vacation and work trips likely will keep me out of the mix until July. I’m not up for Jacob’s suggestion that J&B attend every Benkowski trivia location in the future.

last weekend

Oi. Wahta weekend. the extremes of life. Friday and Sunday late were reserved for desperate military actions, all plumes and feathers and shined boots riding into combat, but blood and flesh and death strewn me off the field. The Worst of me. Entirely preventable - I needn't really give the orders - but i did.

Saturday nite and Sunday morning were better. Family and frenz. There was the party @ Jokers. Shocking drive way north almost to Wisconsin. Lots of married couples w. 2-6 year old kids and such. What did you expect? - the age. Just a blessed time. Especially important for me is that I'm really slipping off the radar screens of my frenz - it was nice to remember me by actually showing up.

And more- Snowden got married, and here he was telling me @ the peekneek. That's how far off I am - not only wasn't I invited - I had no clue what was going on!

Blessed frenz. Just chilling. And to juxtapose it with the firestorm of horror I created and faced the nite before. Good riddance.

And good food. But, since I was still worn out by battle the nite before, I ate nothing except to shut my stomachs yells of pain. No alcohol. Best site? Way high up, a hawk - not an accipiter, but a big huge one (obv. a female) was leisurely gliding west - well, not exactly leisurely fully, since a grackle was making repeated runs at its back and pecking at it, much like a fight was trying to shoot down a larger bomber in WW2 by trying to shot at it from behind.

Then there was Rockkies b-day party @ that crappy bar on Western. Again, good. Again, frenz, chill, these people are understanding and .... THEY LIKE ME and are not out to hurt me. In fact, they want to do just the opposite - they wanna just chill. SO, it was, again, a great time.

Blessed. Except for the war part.