tagryn | Entries tagged with disney

We had a good harvest this weekend, I got 7-8 tomatoes off the plants, plus three green peppers and a couple jalapenos.

Google Maps has posted images of Disneyland Paris to their StreetView feature. From seeing them, I can already tell that seeing it in person is going to be a surreal experience. Its Disneyland in most details...but its not California. Other neat shots from DLP: Phantom Manor, Skull Rock.

Julia Ecklar has a new puppy!

I finally finished Zerg Mission 7 in Starcraft. That was hard. I found the solution somewhat unsatisfying, basically requiring a final banzai charge where you throw all your units at the final goal and hope the bad guys are so busy killing off all your remaining forces that your character can slip through, akin to in the DS9 episode Sacrifice of Angels where a lot of ships are sacrificed to create a small opening for the Defiant. I don't know if I want to invest much more time in this game, given that the remaining missions are supposed to be much harder than this. sigh.

Megan McArdle at Atlantic Monthly touches on whether portraying the protesters at the health care town hall meetings as insane is a useful strategy for the Democrats. I fully agree with one of her responses in the comments section:

If you've managed to convince yourself that the only opposition to your plan comes from crazy people, you are not going to communicate very effectively with those whom you wish to persuade.

Basically, its a lazy strategy of dismissing all critics as nuts, rather than doing the much harder work of crafting a message which can persuade those with concerns that reform is a worthy idea.

There's been an interesting cross-blog discussion going on regarding Catholic's beliefs on Communion and when it is appropriate to receive it. Rick of "Brutally Honest" decided to receive Communion after years of not attending Church and without going through the traditional preparation step of Confession, then returned the next week and also encouraged his (non-Catholic) wife to partake as well. He represents an 'ecumenical' viewpoint towards Communion, and his retort to critics has been "What would Jesus have done? Would Jesus have turned my wife and I away?" The Anchoress provides a 'traditionalist' answer to Rick's question. As with certain threads, the comments are really worthwhile to get a diversity of viewpoints on this.

I will say, if I don't get to Confession in the week before a Sunday, I don't receive Communion at that Mass. I'm not saying Confession is at all easy, not at all (1), but I think it is a necessary precursor for Communion to be received properly. I also think Rick is missing the larger statement that Communion makes, which is that one is by and large gemutlich/in accord with the beliefs of a particular faith, and that you are part of the body of believers that one is sharing Communion (and hence communion) with.

(1) - the only thing that makes Confession at all easier is for one to remind oneself that God already knows everything you confess, so the process of the sacrament is more for cleansing one's own being, rather than to make an admittance of guilt, which I think too many people tend to view it as.