Here’s a very weird little video, featuring a couple of fellows, one of whom is apparently speaking Old Norse authentically. The other may be doing the same, but I’m not sure. There’s obviously some humor going on here, probably crude in view of the “grabbing” gag.
But it’s fun to hear Old Norse done in an impressive voice.
My hip replacement procedure is scheduled for January 30. Your prayers are appreciated.
Today I transitioned from a cane to crutches, because I needed that mundane kind of support too.
Just an update on my health situation. It’s a short one — I don’t know anything I didn’t know Tuesday.
I have an appointment to see my surgeon tomorrow. I assume I’ll learn something then.
They gave me pain killers, which help a fair amount. One odd side effect is the hiccups, and a diminishment of appetite.
I’ll keep you posted.
I don’t do personal blogging as much as I used to (no need to thank me; your look of dewy-eyed gratitude is thanks enough). But I got medical news today which you have a right to know, since it’ll probably affect my posting.
I saw an orthopedist, and they did an MRI (just like on TV!). Turns out I have a condition called “osteonecrosis.” In other words, some of my bone, specifically the balls of my hip joints, is dying. This is a condition most common in people who’ve abused steroids, of whom I am most decidedly not one. At least one hip replacement appears to be in my immediate future. I’ll be seeing a surgeon soon.
Prayers appreciated.
Gwen Burrow writes about the second Hobbit movie, which she didn’t totally hate:
In fact, the film’s worst faults are the very transgressions which Tolkien rebuked back in the 1950s when another maladroit tried to translate his books to screen. Some of these apply so well to Peter Jackson’s work, it’s downright eerie. I already mentioned a few of these in my critique of the first Hobbit, but here’s another flyby:
“The failure of poor films is often precisely in exaggeration, and in the intrusion of unwarranted matter owing to not perceiving where the core of the original lies”…
Here’s a large handful of predictions for 2014. What will Joe Biden do? How will Europe continue to dissolve? Will Republicans take YouTube by storm? Will Miley Cyrus host a series on Masterpiece Theatre? Will Jonah Goldberg develop a new book?
In other news, How Many Novelists are at Work in America? Look at that list of stats at the top of the article. Wow. Across all genres, 1% chance of a published book being stocked in a brick-and-mortar store.
In looking over news from the past year, I was a bit discouraged to remember that Mr. Obama was reelected. But that wasn’t the only news from 2013. Here’s a roundup.
Our friend, The Very Right Holiness Prophet Dr. Hunter Baker, joins other friends of NRO to give the year’s highs and lows. “The fear, uncertainty, and loss experienced by Americans because of ill-conceived legislation and incompetent management, however, are unrelievedly negative.”
World Magazine has their 25 of their most read articles from 2013. They also offer this column on the year’s propaganda. Marvin Olasky notes:
MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell stated in May, “IRS agents did nothing wrong.” Even in November Ruth Marcus of The Washington Post claimed, “This has been a really relatively scandal-free administration, first term and second term.” If that statement is relatively true, it’s only because most reporters haven’t looked.
Andrew McCarthy reviews American Betrayal: The Secret Assault on Our Nation’s Character by Diane West.
Her purpose was to explore the Cold War paradox: Despite our seeming victory over the evil empire, we lost the same Cold War at home, to a lasting, corrosive effect, thanks to a “riddling, corruptive drive against what we now regard as ‘traditional’ morality, Enlightenment logic, and cultural memory.”
Collin Hansen on the best of 2013, including a piece recommending the legalization of murder.
“The Eight Kinds of Commenters in the Christian Blogosphere” as told by Dale Coulter(via Jared Wilson)
Yes, Buzzfeed is an ugly site, but they occasionally have good lists, like this one on beautifully designed book. They say, “Not only have e-books not killed print books yet, they’ve actually made them better by pushing publishers to give readers a reason to buy print over digital.”
So, here’s nineteen examples. This one of Dickinson’s envelope poems, The Gorgeous Nothings, looks wonderfully inspiring.
“Do we wish to seek our life except in God?” – Calvin