Classic Arthur Weasley Moment

Just thought I'd share a classic Arthur Weasley moment with you:

"Tell me Harry, what exactly is the function of a rubber duck?" -- Arthur Wealey.

ROFL! So flippin' hilarious

Enjoy

Sliiiight change of plans

I've had a slight change of plans for my Halloween costume. I am postponing the Quidditch uniform until next Reformation Day. This year I plan on being Harry in his school robes. http://www.whimsicalley.com has been most resourceful in my costume making. (Maybe next year someone will have all the guards for sale - otherwise I'll have them made from scratch).

I'm still excited. I'm realizing that I like costumes with robes (Luther, Skywalker, and now HP). *grin*

That's all for now. Time to act like a needle and hit the hay!

Zzz

CoB

Finished the Order of the Phoenix!

WARNING - This entry is only for those who have finished reading the first five books in the Harry Potter series. This entry will contain spoilers, and should be avoided if you haven't read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix! Thanks mucho! (which I think means: "Thanks a bunch ya'll")

As the title explains, I finished reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix!!! Oh my goodness! I finished the book while at Starbucks. I set down the book and looked around desperately for someone to talk to ... anyone ... about what I had just read. No one was to be found! I was alone, and it was super late so I couldn't call my friends! I was left to ponder the fifth year at Hogwarts all by myself. It's a wonder I survived! =)

I was deeply saddened that Sirius has died. Poor Harry.

Okay, so I had this crazy idea that Harry should have thrown one of the two way communication mirrors into the archway then try talking to Sirius, lol. Hey, it's worth a shot eh?

I bought book six, and can hardly wait to begin!

If anyone wants to discuss Harry Potter with me, please lemme know. Us Harry Potter fans have gotta stick together.

November 18th approaches!

On another note, the Harry Potter movies have moved up to 2nd place in my top 10 (2nd only to Star Wars).

Frankenstein

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. School has me swamped.

This week I finished reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and wrote an essay about it. The essay was more of an explanation about how the Enlightenment was portrayed in her book. Apparently, Frankenstein is supposed to depict the French Revolution and the Enlightenment period. *yawns* =)

From a purely historical perspective, the book interests me ... but not THAT much. The Enlightenment is an interesting period in which much good resulted. But I can't overlook the deemphasis of religion stemming from the Enlightenment. I think Academia views the Enlightenment like us Reformed folk view the Reformation. To the secular education system, the Enlightenment represents some kind of extreme naturalism, almost to the exclusion of the supernatural.

But I finished my essay, and did fairly well on it if I do say so myself. Now I have another book to read, aaaand another essay to write. Due Friday. *gasp* Not to worry - I'll get 'er done!

Yay for creatures formed from reanimated flesh.

Way Ahead of the Game

Reformation Day (aka Halloween) is rapidly approaching: October 31st. This is the third year I will be dressing up since I was a wee lad. Martin Luther, Anakin Skywalker from ROTS:

and now Harry Potter. But I'm not just doing the common school robes costume, I'm going in Harry's Quidditch uniform:

As of now, I have Quidditch goggles, replica glasses, a wig (yea - never again will I do hair extensions!), the Gryffindor Quidditch sweater, replica of Harry's wand, Quidditch shoes - which I am overly impressed with, a handcrafted Nimbus 2000 broom (that needs some minor adjustments), a Gryffindor Quidditch patch for the sweater and another for the robe.

Christina is making the robe for me. I still need to buy the pants, socks and scar paint.

There is only one part of my costume I am worried about: the Quidditch guards - gloves, forearms, knees and shins. The best idea I've got right now is to buy some cricket shin guards, skating knee pads, football forearm guards and sew some vinyl onto each piece. I have no idea what to do about the gloves yet. If you have any ideas at all, please let me know. Keep in mind that I am going for a realistic look here. Oh, and I am aware of the "children's Quidditch kit" which includes all this, but is too small for adults (I've checked) *grin*

Here's what it should look like when I'm done:

Anyone else dressing up? You've still got plenty of time ... get crackin =)

Case of Base

Remember Cedric

*** WARNING - this entry contains spoilers from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire*** If you have not read the book, please, do not read this entry. Read the book =)

This is your second WARNING *grin*. If you have not read the book, you are not supposed to read this entry.

   "Every guest in this Hall," said Dumbledore, and his eyes lingered upon the Durmstrang students, "will be welcomed back here at any time, should they wish to come. I say to you all, once again--in the light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.
   It is my belief--and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken--that we are all facing dark and difficult times. Some of you in this Hall have already suffered directly at the hands of Lord Voldemort. Many of your families have been torn asunder. A week ago, a student was taken from our midst.
   Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory." (Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Pgs. 723-24).

I finished Harry Potter's fourth year last night. This book is amazing. Year 1 was great. Year 2 was better. Year 3, better still! But year 4 is incredible. I'm sure you agree with me that out of the four books, the Goblet of Fire is by far the best!

The last 100 pages were so intense I couldn't put the book down. It was late, and I had to be up early in the morning. But how could I go to sleep once Voldemort was back!!!

I was completely caught off guard when Harry and Cedric were transported by the Goblet of Fire acting as a gate. And when Cedric died, oh man.

And Harry r0x0rz man! Voldemort is such an arrogant fool. Evil never triumphs in the end. Did anyone else want to kill Lucius yourself? Jeeze, I knew he was a Death Eater! Grrr

So when I got to Dumbledore's speech (appearing above), I nearly cried. It was a serious moment. This felt like the second climax of the book.

Welp, I've started the Order of the Phoenix and I can't get enough of it.

One prediction I will make and that I hope happens: Harry and Hermione get together and ultimately get married. (Please don't comment on this though - if year 5 and 6 go in another direction, I do not wanna find out via blog. I wanna discover for myself) =)

To all the HP fans out there: thanks for sharing this little moment with me.

RustyPotter

Justified by faith in Christ or the faithfulness of Christ?

Galatians 2:15-17: "15 We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles;16 nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified. 17 But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be!"

My homework for Greek this past week was to translate the above text. In addition to translating I was to categorize the different types of Genitive words that appear in these verses. Rather than boring you discussing each Genitive in the passage, I would like to discuss one phrase of Genitives that is considered somewhat controversial. The phrase I'm referring to is found in verse 16 where Paul writes: "a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus." The Gentive words that appear are: FAITH, CHRIST, and JESUS. The Genitives here can be translated in one of two ways: (1) As Objective Genitives, or (2) as Subjective Genitives. If we were to translate this phrase as Objective Genitives it would read: "a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus." But if we were to translate this phrase as Subjective Genitives it would read: "a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through the faithfulness of Christ Jesus."

Historically this phrase has been translated Objectively. It is fairly recent where we see certain movements trying to find ways to translate the phrase Subjectively. (This is a MAJOR summary folks, come on, cut me some slack here. It's 2am) =)

Being the good Greek student that I am, I waited until two days before class to begin considering what types of Genitives were in this rich passage (Hey I was in Cali people! gooOOOSH!). Even though I was late getting started on my homework, I really worked hard on understanding this text. I don't know how many times I read my own translation as well as the NASB's. I wanted to have this figured out, and soon.

Then it hit me. If the phrase being discussed was translated Subjectively, why in the world does Paul include the next clause: "even we have believed in Christ Jesus." Think about that. If we are justified by the faithfulness of Christ, why does Paul then say that we have believed in Christ? Why does he mention our faith? It seems totally out of place! BUT if you translate the phrase Objectively, it makes perfect sense: ... we are justified through faith in Christ, even we have believed!

There is much more technical stuff that might be added at a later date (whenever I get to the ... technical stuff). Nevertheless, translating the text Objectively seems to be true to the text. We are justified by faith in Christ alone. Sola Fide.

Anywho, just wanted to share that neato little piece of information with ya.

Btw, this is all stuff Gobbler has gone over in our class. It is an exciting thing being taught to better exegete the Scriptures. Thanks professor.

the mathetes,
Case of Base

I survived

By God's free grace alone I survived watching "Beaches." As I mentioned in an earlier entry, Olivia and I made a deal: if I watch the chick flick of her choosing then she would then watch all six Star Wars movies. Why did I do this? Because I love Star Wars and nothing would make me happier than to know that Olivia AND Warren can now watch the glory of the Star Wars Universe together at last.

Anywho, so I watched "Beaches." For a chick flick it wasn't too bad. The acting was well done. Sad ending though.

In case you're wondering if Case of Base cried ... you should know me better than that =). No, I most certainly did NOT shed any tears.

What was the moral of the story? To be true to your friends in good and bad times, and to enjoy those friendships for as long as you have them. As a Christian I cannot help but add that it is God who blesses us with friendships.

Will I watch "Beaches" again? In the event that my future wife has a burning desire to watch the film, then, and only then, would I consider watching it with her =).

Rusty

Gone to the Happiest Place on Earth

To properly ... experience this entry, please listen to this little tune while reading...

Our fam's headed to Disneyland for the weekend!

I won't be bak 'till Monday niters. My phone's on, so feel free to call. Have a nice 3 day weekend everyoneallbody =)

This is Case of Base, signing off