Death in the Clouds

I had to check my blog, but it has been over a month since I have finished a book... I knew that it had been a while... school, etc has been hectic... so this past Thanksgiving break, I set out to rectify that, if only for my own sanity... I read Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie... I am always amazed by how she can weave complex plots, cast doubt upon the innocence (or guilt) of ten characters or more and then wrap it up with a solution that makes sense... not my favorite Poirot novel, but it was still good! A murder takes place in mid flight from Paris to London, and Poirot is sleeping on the plane when it happens!

Just about says it all doesn't it?

I saw this truck going down the road one day and got a quick shot...
thought it summed things up rather well...

Zune: So you want to be an iPod killer

I've been looking a little bit into the Zune, Microsoft's new mp3 player as it compares to Apple's iPod... if you've got any advice, feel free to let me know... here is an article to check out if you are interested... "Zune: So you want to be an iPod killer" by Mike Elgan of Computerworld.

Dinner at the Engleharts

We had a farewell dinner for Narin and Maly the other night at the Englehart's house the other night. Narin was returning to Cambodia and Maly is moving on to North Carolina. It was nice to have Socheata and Viseth there as well with their kids.

 

More Moto Mania

This is definitely one of my favorite shots... I call it (rather creatively, I might add) "Five to a moto". When this is all you've got for family transportation, you make the most of it...

 

Moto humor

 

More Moto-ing

 

November Band Concert

Here are some pictures from our band concert last night... there will be more pictures on the MCS website in the near future. Thanks students, you did a great job!

 

Moto travel

Here are some pictures from SE Asia that you can never really explain to people... but these pictures do a pretty good job... every thing goes by moto... very rarely is a truck or car used to transport things... and these things can be carried for hours and hours across the entire country... hope that you get a good laugh... Seda told me that when Cambodians stop and think about it, they can laugh at these types of things, but they are so used to seeing it that they don't even notice it most of the time...

Harvest Concert

This past weekend we had a concert of some of the original Christian rock music from the 1960's and 1970's... I got to play the part of Keith Green, and get this, Bob Dylan. We had a lot of fun, and some of these guys are just great players... a good time was had by all...

Narin in Wooster

My Cambodian friend and brother, Narin, was able to get a visa to the United States for a few weeks to see people who have supported him over the years with his ministry with Campus Crusade. Now that he is beginning a church plant, he is over to connect with those same supporters. It was great to see him along with several of our Khmer friends last Sunday.

Light thoughts

The topic of spiritual light has come up several times lately in a couple of settings... just wanted to share a few thoughts from that...

1 John 1:5 - This is the message we have heard from Him (Jesus) and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

John 3:19 - This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.

John 1:5 - And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

"Where except in uncreated light can the darkness be drowned?" - C.S. Lewis from Letters to Malcom

Time for more books...

I have been doing more studying for my graduate finals lately, so book reading has been a little slower, but here are two I have finished in the last few weeks...

----
"Notice: Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. - By order of the Author" - Mark Twain (at the beginning of the book)

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is a book that I had on the shelf for a few years and never read. It is considered the first true American novel. I have to admit that some of its greatness was lost on me. I would like to say that I saw why it was everything that people say it is... I was more amazed at Huck's incredible ability to lie and create complex stories at the drop of a hat that were quite believable. I laughed numerous times at Huck's reactions to Tom Sawyer's insane ideas for springing Jim from the jail. I would have had the exact same reactions... I found the Duke and Prince very tiresome characters... not because Twain had created them poorly, but because he had created them perfectly... it was not his manner of creation that tired me, but the believe-ability of the characters themselves... I will end with two quotes...

"All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn." - Ernest Hemingway

Three Act Tragedy is the latest Hercule Poirot novel that I have read by Dame Christie. I did not know anything about the story except that it was the next one on the list that I wanted to read. It was good... there were a couple of things that gave away some clues to me (maybe I am starting to understand how she writes)... so I actually had guessed the murderer, and I even was close to the motive... but alas, she is a great and tricky writer... so she fooled me there, but one of the murders in the book I did get correctly (as far as the motive), which was a pleasant surprise... it even has a revelation from Poirot how he may have been the victim by pure chance... well done...

A pic I had forgotten about...

A picture from the summer that has struck me funny almost everytime I have seen it... This was one of the days I was working as the school/ministry photographer...

he is one of the orphans in Chiang Mai...

More blogging?

Dave Atkins, the executive director for Asia's Hope has set up a blog to keep us all updated on what is going on in Thailand and Cambodia while they have teams there... hope that you'll check it out... http://www.asiashopenews.blogspot.com/

Cambodia blogging...

John McCollum is leading a group of people from the Central Vineyard Church in Columbus to serve the varying ministries of Asia's Hope for a few weeks... check out his blog at http://www.othersideofdawn.blogspot.com/.

Ohio State 28 Penn State 6

A friend of mine gave me a really nice gift the other day and took me to a Ohio State game. I took a ton of pics... here are just a few. We also stopped and saw my brother Greg for a few moments as well (top pic). Thank again Dave!