Smokey the Bear, long known for his famous tag-line Only you can prevent forest fires, has received a make-over for his 60th birthday (which was in 2004).
Smokey is now going by his formal original name, Smokey Bear, rather than the more common nickname, Smokey the Bear. So ingrained is this beloved moniker that the more correct (or so they claim) Smokey Bear sounds strange to my ears.
Smokey’s famous admonition has also been updated to be more inclusive of all kinds of fires. Now rather than simply encourage us to prevent forest fires, Smokey has expanded to crusade against wild fires. Way to go, Smokey!
My friend Brian has apparently given up on blogging. In its stead, he’s taken to emailing pictures to me. Well, actually, he’s only done it once, but it could be the start of a new trend.
Specifically, he sent me two pictures from our recent Homeschool Christmas Concert, which included presentations by the choir that I direct and two bands.
This is our eighth year of the choir, which offers choral singing opportunities to older homeschooled students (and their younger siblings) from the Cedar Rapids area. Choir has been a wonderful blessing to me and my family for these several years.
Our choir this year features 60 voices. Unfortunately, due to weather-related school closures, our regularly scheduled concert was postponed until December 23. As a result of the schedule change, a handful of students were unable to participate. (We are having an extra concert on January 7 to provide an opportunity for all to sing.)
Since I didn’t take the pictures, I don’t know the specific details about them. However, I suspect that this first photo of the entire choir was taken prior the start of the concert, immediately after I’ve opened the curtains and am walking across stage. As you can probably tell, the choir wasn’t posing for this photo.
2008 Homeschool Choir Christmas Concert
The second photo is a close-up picture taken while singing one of our songs. (Sorry, I don’t know which one.)
2008 Homeschool Choir Christmas Concert
Choir parents: to download a full-size copy of the picture:
Click one of the photos to see it full size
Use your browser to “save image as” to make a copy on your local computer; the exact wording of this feature varies
We recently had the opportunity to see a free movie (with free popcorn!) and chose to see Marley and Me, a movie about a family and an unruly dog.
The story begins on John (Owen Wilson) and Jenny’s (Jennifer Aniston) wedding night, and follows them through their jobs, their first house, their first dog (”Marley”), and first children. John and Jenny find that dog ownership, and indeed, life, isn’t always as expected.
World Magazine’s Megan Bashan writes this about Marley and Me:
Few major Hollywood offerings focus on life in the suburbs, and when they do, the picture they paint is hardly pretty. Audiences who reside in the family-friendly communities that border metropolitan areas routinely see their lives portrayed as rife with violence, depression, sexual betrayal, and lots and lots of quiet desperation. What they rarely witness on film are the encouragement, pettiness, insecurity, deep love, and profound commitment that are more common features of middle-class American marriage. When the screenplay for the best-selling memoir Marley and Me landed in director Dave Frankel’s lap, he, along with stars Jennnifer Aniston and Owen Wilson, saw a chance to change that. “We were all excited to be a part of a film that actually shows a happy couple,” says Frankel. Aniston adds that the film offers husbands and wives something they rarely see — a romantic comedy about married people. 1
Marley and Me is a feel-good movie that may make you cry. It might seem odd to combine “feel good” and “make you cry”, but isn’t that just the way that live is? Joy and loss intermingle in a beautiful way.
(The above was not an actual scene from the movie, by the way.)
1. WORLD, December 27, 2008 / January 3, 2009, page 17
We recently had the opportunity to see a free movie. Of the choices available, I wanted to see Bedtime Stories, but others in the group wanted to see Seven Pounds. Since I’m a pretty good dad except when I’m not, we watched Seven Pounds, even though we knew very little about it. (”An IRS agent changes the lives of seven strangers.”)
If you choose to see this movie, then this is the kind of movie that you should see without knowing very much about it. So, I’m not going to say much more about it, except for this — this thought-provoking movie is rated PG-13, but should perhaps be rated R for disturbing thematic elements.
If you do opt to see Seven Pounds, let me know if you think that the name is a Shakespearean reference.
It’s the first of the year and I’ve received notice of changes to my health insurance policy, so it’s time once again for my annual update on the state of my health insurance. As you may know, I am partner in a small business and an employee of that business, and purchase private health insurance for my family.
If you’re new to this discussion, you may want to start by reviewing the previous three articles on this topic:
While this might initially look like an improvement — after all, the rate increase was “only” 13%, the lowest annual increase percentage to date — the rate increase is coupled with a deductible increase from $4000 to $5700.
So, let’s do some math to put this into perspective.
Hourly income required to pay for health insurance: $14,304 / 2080 hours = $6.88 / hour 3
Ouch.
The trends suggest that health insurance is going to become an ever increasing percentage of my income. One wonders how and where it will stop.
I have no way of knowing if my insurance carrier (Assurant, aka Time Insurance) is experiencing these same cost increases, or if they are taking advantage of the fact that current customers have a disincentive to change providers due to pre-existing conditions, Byzantine application and underwriting forms, etc.
It is, unfortunately, however, easy to imagine a time when private health insurance is simply unaffordable (as if it is “affordable” right now), such that the options are reduced to having no insurance, having government-provided insurance, or employer-provided insurance. And that will be an even bigger problem…
If you have any suggestions for me (other than “Get a real job, Jeff.”), let me know.
Notes:
Note the increase to the plan deductible that is paired with this premium increase.
It could be debated whether this is a cost of health insurance coverage or not. However, given that the deductible must be met before the insurance company pays for any expenses, I think it is reasonable to include this as an expense.
This estimate does not account for income tax. In order to pay $6.88 per hour for health insurance coverage, more than that must be earned.
He’d recently borrowed my pickup while his car was in for repair. Unfortunately, since ice is no discriminator, he ended up trying some off-road. (While you can’t say that Mike is a stick in the mud, he was definitely stuck in the mud.)
Stuck in the Mud
His wife took this photo, which shows a muddy truck and a not-so-happy Mike behind the wheel. We’re just thankful that he went in backwards, and not sideways!
In March 2005 a New Jersey homosexual, Eric McKinley, sued dating site eHarmony.com for violating the state’s Law Against Discrimination by not offering dating services to gays and lesbians. Last month eHarmony settled the lawsuit with the New Jersey attorney general by agreeing to set up a new website call Compatible Partners that will offer “male seeking a male” and “female seeking a female” matches.
As part of the settlement, which admitted no wrongoing on eHarmony’s part, the company agreed to pay the state $50,000 for the cost of the investigation and $5,000 and a year’s free membership to McKinley. It also agreed to use pictures of gay couples in its advertising and state that Compatible Partners is affiliated with eHarmony. The new website must be available by March 31, 2009, and operate for at least two years.1
This is sobering news to business owners and aspiring business owners.
Do you want to open a chocolate shop and sell homemade fudge? You’d better be prepared to offer sugar-free alternatives (that taste just as good!) for diabetics. Do you operate a hot dog stand? Perhaps you’d better add beef kabob and vegan hummus (similar to, but not to be confused with, humus) to your menu. Are you a book publisher? You had best offer every single title in large print and braille, for the vision impaired. Do you own a clothing store that caters to the plus-size business women? You’d better have the same stylish choices for cross-dressing business men, too. Want to open a gay bar? Tut, tut, that’s “discrimination”, too.
Or is it?
While it might be discriminating (look it up) to focus your business attention on a smaller market niche, is it necessarily discrimination? Some call it market differentiation and targeting your market and product branding.
I like Christmas as a Christian observance, when we remember and commemorate the birth of the Savior. Even though it’s unlikely that Jesus was born on December 25, or even in December, Christmas can be a meaningful season as we consider the significance of our need and the Savior who fully meets that need.
But I also like the Christmas sentiment: gifts, decorations, traditions, Santa, reindeer and elves. There can be a certain sweet sentimentality that I enjoy.
For instance, tonight we watched a Hallmark movie: Moonlight and Mistletoe. It’s not a Christian film. There’s no mention of Jesus or even of church, no matter how generic. There’s not subtle Christian symbolism to strengthen your faith by osmosis. It’s all about Santa, the Christmas spirit, resolved family conflict, and romance. It was predictable and (perhaps not surprisingly) corny, but it was sweet.
And then there’s nice guy Steve Guttenburg’s Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus and Meet the Santas, two more Hallmark Christmas shows that mix a little tension with wholesome romance. They’re all about the Christmas spirit with out any of the Christmas Spirit.
And let’s not forget the “classic” The Santa Clause series with Tim Allen.
Speaking of classics, there’s It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street (both old and new). Both are classic Christmas films that skip the true meaning of Christmas in order to focus on the sentiment of Christmas. Yet, I still like them.
Some Christians reject the celebration of Christmas entirely. Others reject the ungrounded sentimentality. But for now, I’ve opted to both love the Christmas Spirit and like the Christmas spirit, too.
P.S. For a Christmas movie that is really about Christ, consider The Nativity Story.
Should the motto “In God We Trust” be removed from U.S. currency?
___ Yes. It’s a violation of the principle of separation of church and state.
___ No. The motto has historical and patriotic significance and does nothing to establish a state religion.
As this article is published, the poll is still open. If you’d like to participate, the poll can be found here.
