A True Mad Scientists House


lol on the subject of weird modern house archeticture, I figured I would do a piece on the late Inventor, Buck Minster Fuller's invention the "Dymaxion House".


This is about as eccentric as it gets. (one of my good friend's and college roomates was a big fan of "bucky").


As one web site describes this house

http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=669486

quote
It looks like a flying saucer but was actually meant to be a home. World War II had just ended and returning veterans and their families needed a place to live. The Dymaxion House was supposed to be a new way of living.
The Dymaxion House, designed by engineer, architect, writer and philosopher R. Buckminster Fuller. Bucky thought his "dwelling machine" was a solution to what the world needed, mass-produced, affordable and practical homes. The most unique feature is the moveable, hollow walls to make rooms any size you wanted.
Nancy Bryk, of the Henry Ford Musuem explains, "The house itself could be taken apart, put in a huge trailer, shipped off and re-errected somewhere else."
quote


Wikipedia has a nice write up on it here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dymaxion_House

My Future / aka "My Best Friend's Latest Obsession"


My best friend has become completely obsessed with the new building trend, of building houses, apartments and condominiums from shipping containers.While this immediately looks like some wacky Myers Brigg techno obsession, there actually is a lot of good reason for it.For the both of us, the big one is the price tag. Your average raw material cost, for the raw materials to construct such a house varies of course from house to house. But I hear, the average house is around 10K. (you pay a few thousand, for each huge 10x40 ft container that put together like Legos to construct whatever kind of a house you want. And of course many interesting floor plans already exist that you can get from various companies).


And of course the actual construction cost is a fraction of what a traditional house is. You save on having an army of carpenters and construction people working for weeks/months. Instead you have a couple welders, work a few days, as well as few electricians, plumbers.There are a few other benefits. The actual structure of the house is really, really strong (a few times stronger than a regular house). Which for natural disasters and other catastrophes is a plus.But the price tag, that really the ticket. We are both use to being at "The wrong end of the power curve". When we finally become Holy Chocolate multimillionaires (dream) we want to invest and/or save that money. And we don't want to wait a million years waiting to save money enough to afford a down on a house in our current ridicoulously inflated area (should we end up staying here). And of course construction time itself is a fraction of a regular house, plus weather is not a problem in building except for laying the foundation.


Of course there is a down side to the container house. Namely the reputation. City building permit givers may have the same reaction as Gina (a negative one). But it's important, to not make snap decisions, but look at "All the facts". Which is why I included the nice interior picture (see the pretty picture Gina, don't you see how this can be nice).

Anyway for those of you interested Iwould recommend these articles on the web.

"So Called 'Container Houses' "from LiveModern and "Shipping Container Prefab" from treehugger.com

I would link to them but doing so screws up my formatting.

A church friend, sent me this email and story, for us all to pray about.


Dear Father, Brothers, and Sisters,It is with sadness I share with you those horrible attacks on ourbrothers and sisters in a small village closed to Luxor, Egypt. As thebible says when a member of the body of Christ is suffers, the rest ofthe members suffer too. They're members of this body that we too belongto. It breaks our hearts to see them severely suffer. This is why Iam asking each one to pray for them and for Christians in Egypt.The following are copied from:http://freecopts.blogspot.com/


"Saturday, January 21, 2006Beating and Humiliating Copts in Cairo: Revealing the Egyptian Police'sUgly FaceOn January 9th 2006, a woman named Hanan tried to buy some clothes fromthe Good Shepherd Center in Cairo's district of Shobra, which has ahigh Coptic concentration. The clothes were worth L.E. 270 but thewoman tried to buy them for only 150.Reymond, the owner's son, and Theresa, a shopkeeper refused. One hourlater the woman returned with a large number of police forces anddetectives from the Rod El Farag police station.They ruined the center's goods and arrested Reymond and Theresa in ahumiliating manner. Both were brought to the police station where theywere accused of stealing L.E. 750 from Hanan. There, Reymond andTheresa learned that the woman was a relative of a police officer.Reymond's father was called to the Rod El Farag police station, wherethe officer who runs the station, namely Mahmoud El Sayed, threatenedhim saying: "Either you pay or your son will be humiliated and put injail and tried for theft!" As the father insisted on his son'sinnocence and accused the woman of lying, the officer screamed at himsaying: "Get out you thieves, I can put you in jail as well. As if wedon't have enough problems with Reymonds, Theresas, Georges,Abdelmessihs, and all that garbage." (All are Christian names) Thefather was understandibly troubled, for he realized the story wasreligion-fueled, and that the officer was dicriminating against him,his son, and Theresa because of their Christianity.When the father was taken to where Theresa and Reymond were detained,he found Theresa begging the woman and saying: "Ma'm, I'm like yourdaughter, would you accept for your daughter to be humiliated likethis?" But the woman interrupted her: "Shut up you felth! You arenothing but a thief and a shopkeeper. My daughter is a physician!".Then an officer called Mohamed EL Barbary got up and slapped Reymondand Theresa on their faces a number of times and screamed at thefather's face: "Won't we ever finish with your headache? We can do moreto your son and put him in jail, so you'd better pay the woman L.E. 750and end that story." Fearing for his son and the shopkeeper, the fatherdecided to give the woman the sum she wanted saying: "I entrust thismoney to God." So she pulled the money saying: "As if you (Christians)know God!".The woman subsequently left with the officer in a police car withplates 21/2779.For one last time, the officer looked at the father threating him: "Iwill teach you a good lesson! I will show up at the center and make youpiss on yourselves when you see me!" A complaint was sent to theminister of interior dated Janaury 9th 2006, and another was sent tothe head of the State security. Obviously no action was taked by eitherof them.# posted by Copts @ 9:11 AM 7 commentsEgyptian Security Forces Inspire the Muslim Crowd to Attack the CoptsMuhammad Nour, Security Chief of Luxor tells Fr. Sarabamoun : Theseforces are not here to protect the Copts but to prevent them frompraying in church:Security Chief has asked Fr. Sarabamoun,- the priest of Holy VirginMary Church in the village of Udayasaat, Luxor- to enter the church,once he did and saw the alters he informed the priest not to pray andto leave the church, later on he informed the security forces thattheir mission is not to protect the Copts nor the church but to preventthem from praying. Afterwards the Muslim crowd started attacking thechurch and the Copts in a barbaric way at 7:00 PM on Wednesday night (January 18, 2006) , the raid continued till 2:00 AM despite the heavypresence of security forcesYou can listen to Fr. Sarabamoun's description (in Arabic) of thesorrowful events by clicking hereFr. Sarabamoun is making an urgent plea for HELP to protect theinnocent Copts against the aggression of the Egyptian government andthe barbaric attacks of the Muslims in the village of Udaysaat, Luxor.Mr. Kamal Shakir Megala'a, seen here- died as a result of the injurieshe suffered during the attack

Another Military saint

2. The Martyrdom of St. Theodore El-Mishreke (the Oriental).
On this day also of the year 306 A.D., the church celebrates the commemoration of the martyrdom of the courageous prince, St. Theodore El-Mishreke (The Oriental). He was born in the City of Tyre in 270 A.D. In his youth, he enlisted in the Roman army and was promoted to the rank of commander. His father's name was Sadrikhos, "Adrakos" who was a high ranking official during the reign of Emperor Numerianus (283-284 A.D.), and his mother was the sister of Basilides, the minister.
When Emperor Numerianus died in the war against the Persians, his son, Justus, was fighting in the west. The two officials Sadrikhos and Basilides continued to run the affairs of the Empire, until the infidel Diocletian took charge of the Empire, and started to persecute the Christians. At that time, St. Theodore was in charge of the army that was fighting against the Persians. He saw a vision at night: a ladder was extended between earth and heaven, and at the top of the ladder the Lord sat on a great throne, surrounded by hosts of angels chanting. He also saw under the ladder a great beast which was the devil. The Lord said to St. Theodore, "Your blood will be shed for My Name's sake." The saint asked the Lord, "How about my friend Lawondius?" The Lord replied, "Not only Lawondius, but Banikaros, the Persian, also."
During a truce, between the Roman and Persian armies, St. Theodore met with Banikaros, the commander of the Persian army. St. Theodore guided him to Christianity and he believed in Christ.
Emperor Diocletian ordered that Prince Theodore be brought to him. The prince came back with his army and with him were Lawondius and Banikaros. When St. Theodore knew that the Emperor was going to ask him to worship idols, he told his soldiers, "Whoever among you wants to fight for the Name of the Lord Christ, let him come and join me." They all shouted in one accord, "We die with you and your God is our God also." When he arrived in the city, he left his soldiers outside and went alone to the Emperor who received him well. The Emperor inquired about the war and the army and he asked St. Theodore to worship Apollo.
The saint answered in great courage and faith, "I do not know any god that I can worship except my Master, Jesus Christ."
Diocletian commanded his soldiers to nail the Saint to a tree and to brutally torture him. But the Lord was strengthening and comforting him. Finally, he delivered up his pure soul into the hand of the Lord Whom he loved. He received the crown of eternal glory in the kingdom of heaven. The Emperor sent the priests of Apollo to the soldiers of the saint, to call upon them to worship the idols. They all shouted, "We have no king except our Master, Jesus Christ, Lord of Lords, and King of Kings." When the Emperor heard what they said, he had them all beheaded. They received the crowns of martyrdom and eternal bliss.
Their prayers be with us all. Amen.

Togetherness



Were having another con-cellebration between all the Oriental churches.


"Oriental Orthodox Con-celebration To be held on February 4, 2006 at St. Mark's Syrian Orthodox Cathedral, Teaneck, New Jersey (USA)Acknowledging the significance of sharing common ground, the Oriental Orthodox Churches of the World professing similar faith, doctrines, traditions and values are preparing for a con-celebration of the Holy Eucharist at 10 AM on Saturday, February 4, 2006 at St.Mark's Cathedral of the Syrian Orthodox Church, 260 Elm Avenue, Teaneck, New Jersey 07666 (USA).This year's con-celebration and the festivities are being hosted by the Malankara Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church in North America lead by Archbishop Yeldho Mor Titus. This event, symbolizing the unity among the Orthodox churches that are in communion, will be participated by several prelates such as Archbishop Mor Coorilos (Syrian Orthodox Church), Archbishop Khajag (Armenian Orthodox Church), Bishop David (Coptic Orthodox Church), Archbishop Matthias (Ethiopian Orthodox Church), Bishop Mor Severios & Archbishop Mor Titus (Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church).A similar annual con-celebration was previously held under the auspices of the Armenian Orthodox Church at St. Leon Armenian Church, Fairlawn, New Jersey (USA) on December 4, 2004


http://groups.msn.com/SOCM-FORUM/concelebratedooliturgy2003.msnw

Saving the Best for last.


http://www.copts.net/detail.asp?id=861

The Baptism of Jesus Christ
by Fr. Mathai Varkey Puthukkunnathu

http://www.socdigest.org/articles/05jan06.html

This was a company I ran acrossed at last years Fancey Food convention. I was very impressed by their chocolate. The flavor/quality especially, but also the packaging. I actually tried to get some for my girl friend for Valentines, but found it was nearly impossible to get (unless you knew specifically of a food distributor that carried it).


http://www.italosuisse.com/


Anyway when thinking about product graphic design, and so on. This product has been one that has provided us with a lot of inspiration. Unfortately, we haven't been able to use any of it's stylistic elements. But going to trade shows, always gives you ideas on how to do things better...

Doin some read up on the Food Show since that's around the corner. And found this interesting tid bit for Gina, and other interested folks.
http://www.specialtyfood.com/do/fancyFoodShow/ShowFacts


"Show Facts
Recent Fancy Food Shows have attracted from 19,000 to 32,000 attendees from specialty food, wine, gift and department stores, supermarkets, restaurants, mail-order and other related businesses. These attendees come to see more than a thousand exhibitors from around the world, presenting more than 80,000 specialty foods to discover and sample. Business booms at these trade-only shows, in a unique decision-maker to decision-maker environment. An impressive 87% of all attendees either authorize or recommend purchasing decisions. Who attends NASFT Fancy Food Shows:NASFT Fancy Food Shows are known for the quality of their attendees. An impressive 87% of attendees either authorize or recommend purchasing decisions! Show attendees by title include:
34% Owner/CEO/President
13% VP/GM/Director
14% Sales/Marketing
11% Buyer/Purchasing Manager
9% Department Manager
5% Chef
14% Other Look who came to last year's Winter Fancy Food Show:
3,922 specialty food retailers
1,741 chefs, restaurateurs and hoteliers
220 bakers
640 deli owners
1,009 gift store buyers
632 caterers
375 candy store buyers
690 supermarket buyers What's at the Show:
More than 800 domestic exhibitors from around the country. In one place at one time, you can discover new lines and items to add new distinction and appeal to your establishment. Most exhibitors are entrepreneurs who developed the recipe and started the company, so you can learn about the products and do business with decision-makers. And at this Winter Show, you'll find many local West Coast exhibitors with regional or ethnic products.
International Pavilions presenting exotic new specialty foods from all over the world.
A wealth of Special Events. Previous events included an Olive Oil Tasting and Mill Tour, and a Specialty Food Store Tour of San Francisco.
Focused Exhibits® offer you a targeted area where you can find products that appeal to a certain segment of trade. Check out exciting products in the following Focused Exhibit categories: What's New?, Gift Avenue, Natural and Organic Foods, Foodservice Spoken Here and NEW Asian Foods.
Focused Tastings® offer you a chance to taste and compare products in three hot categories: Chili Pepper Products, Chocolate and Non-Alcoholic Beverages.
Seminars and Workshops. The NASFT will present 17 seminars, workshops and special events at the Winter Fancy Food Show."

I got this from my dad in an email.


Overwhelming, but AWESOME
Moses and the people were in the desert, and what was he going to do
with them? They had to be fed, and feeding 2 or 3 million people requires a lot of food. According to the Quartermaster General in the Army, it is reported that
Moses would have to have had 1500 tons of food each day.

Do you know that to bring that much food each day, two freight trains,
each at least a mile long, would be required?! Besides you must remember, they were out in the desert, so they would
have to have firewood to use in cooking the food.

This would take 4000 tons of wood and a few more freight trains,
each a mile long, just for one day. And just think, they were forty years in transit. And Oh yes! They would have to have water.

If they only had enough to drink and wash a few dishes,
it would take 11,000,000 gallons each day and a freight train
with tank cars, 1800 miles long, just to bring water! And then another thing! They had to get across the Red Sea at night. Now, if they went on a
narrow path, double file, the line would be 800 miles long and would
require 35 days and nights to get through.

So there had to be a space in the Red Sea, 3 miles wide, so that they
could walk 5000 abreast to get over in one night. But then, there is another problem...each time they camped at the
end of the day, a campground two-thirds the size of the state of Rhode
Island was required, or a total of 750 square miles long...think of it!
This much space for camping. Do you think Moses figured all this out before he left Egypt? I think not!
You see, Moses believed in God. God took care of these things for him. Now do you think God has any problem taking care of all your needs?
Of course not!

So when the road you're traveling on seems difficult at best,
just remember to pray, and God will do the rest. His love is always with you,
His promises are true,
And when we give Him all our cares,
You know He will see us through. Our God is an Awesome God!!

I was going through my old links and ran acrossed something I hadn't noticed before. It stands out because of all those old discussions whereby Christianity is always equated with Pacifism.



Saint Maurice and the Theban Legion
Saint Maurice was the captain of the Theban Legion, a unit in the Roman army that had been recruited from Upper Egypt and consisted entirely of Christians. Although loyal to the Empire (ruled over by Maximinus Daia and Diocletian), they still remembered the words of Jesus to render to Caesar the things of Caesar, and to God the things of God. During the Bagaude, an uprising of the Gauls, Maximinus marched against them with the Theban Legion as a part of his army. The revolt was quelled, and upon their return to Aguanum (now Saint-Moritz or Saint Maurice en Valais) in Switzerland, Maximinus gave the order that the whole army should give sacrifices to the Roman gods in thanks for the success of their campaign. As part of the celebration, Maximinus ordered the execution of a number of Christian prisoners. The Theban Legion refused to comply with the order and withdrew from the rites, even going so far as to camp away from the rest of the army so as not to be drawn into what they saw as horrifyingly against their beliefs.
Maximinus repeatedly ordered the Theban Legion to comply with his orders, and when they continued to refuse, he ordered the unit "decimated," a practice in which every tenth man was put to death. The Legion was not shaken at all, despite threats of a second decimation, which was performed. Maximinus told those remaining that they would all be killed, but their captain, Maurice, inspired them with the example of the soldiers already martyred, and told them that they were all assured of a place in Heaven for holding fast to their faith. Every last man was beheaded by other soldiers, without resistance. Maximinus even went so far as to carry the executions out against every member of the Theban Legion stationed elsewhere in the Empire from Gaul down to Rome itself.
A number of miracles are attributed to these holy soldiers. In Zurich, it is said that the beheaded Saints Felix, Regula, and Exuperantius rose up, and carrying their heads in their hands, walked to the top of a hill, knelt down and prayed, and finally lay down in final death. On this spot, a great cathedral was built and the image of the three saints carrying their heads appears on the coat of arms of Zurich today.
Saint Maurice is one of the most popular saints in western Europe. There are over 650 sacred places bearing his name in France alone. Over seventy towns bear his name. In the Middle Ages, Saint Maurice was the patron saint of a number of the dynasties of Europe and later of the Holy Roman emperors, many of whom were anointed before the Altar of Saint Maurice at Saint Peter's Cathedral in Rome. King Sigismund of Burgundy donated land for a monastery in his honor in 515. Henry I (919-936) ceded the Swiss province of Aargua in exchange for the Lance of the Saints; and the sacred relic, the Sword of Saint Maurice, was last used in the coronation of Emperor Charles of Austria as king of Hungary in 1916. Saint Maurice's feast day is September 22.

Excerpts from "The Orthodox Prayer Life", Matthew the Poor


"As for the menace of nuclear weapons and their threat to destroy the world, we have no path to peace, security, or hope except through people of prayer. By means of the divine power stored like treasure within them, these people can create within us a transcendent vision of a world that evil cannot overcome.We have thus no choice but to enter the inner room of prayer, not to isolate ourselves from the perishing world, thus escaping destruction and saving ourselves, but to attack the destruction that is in the world and redeem it. For when we die to ourselves and to the world, the world lives and is renewed. Through bended knees not only can souls be changed, but also the fate of the whole world.The soul that bears its cross is never attracted alone to Christ; without realizing, it attracts many after it: "Draw me in your footsteps, we will run after thee" (song 1:4) The human soul is by no means isolated from other souls. The arrival of any soul at the kingdom of God is a gain for the world in a mystical way. A trodden way is easy to walk along; and people of prayer are firm landmarks that shine along the way for ever more."


Excerpts on the net


http://www.theooze.com/forums/discussions.cfm?forumid=10&topicid=180359&kw=orthodox%20prayer%20life


http://www.saint-mary.net/servants/geninfo/Matthew%20the%20Poor%20-%20Fasting%20-%20Gethsemane.pdf#search=

233 year deadline for Jews awaiting the messiah.

I stumbled on this while doing some research on prayer, and reading various Jewish web sites in regards to Jewish practices.


"We also must pray to God to hasten the coming of the Messiah. The Talmud says that one of the first questions a Jew is asked on Judgment Day is: "Did you yearn for the arrival of the Messiah?" Praying for such an event increases our sensitivity to what we currently lack, and demonstrates our sincere desire for the Messiah to arrive.
The Messiah can come any moment. Every generation has a special anointed Messiah waiting, for as stated, the Messiah is alive and present in every generation, "He is ready to be revealed at a moment's notice" (Sanhedrin 98a).
According to the Talmud (Sanhedrin 97a), history will last only 6,000 years from the time of creation. The Messiah must come prior to the 6,000-years, and bring us to the next higher spiritual reality millennium. In the year of 5761 (year 2000) leaving us only 239 years until the deadline of the coming of the Messiah."

Prayer Chosen over heresy

Prayer will be the opening topic for Ipod. I had been considering a number of topics. My best friend was pushing hard for "Early Church Heresies". Because he knows I love to talk about, especially when talking about current doctrinal controversies. The heresy thing, while cool I think is a bit limmiting. I don't like the idea of doing something nearly all for entertainment sake. (His reasoning was based mostly on the intrigue and mass appeal). Besides there is a Coptic rule of iconography that I think applies. It states that if evil is to be depicted in an icon it must be seen "only in profile". So in other words, the devil and other evil figures don't get a full "face shot", only Jesus and the various saints. Why? Because it is considered that evil isn't something that you should spend a lot of time meditating on. Like that verse from the Bible says.

Philippians 4:8[ Meditate on These Things ] Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

So anyway I decide to not do heresy, mostly that I didn't want to start things out "on a bad foot" (of negativity). But what was thinking of a few different topics. The two topics that were considered A) "Spiritual Renewal in the Eastern Christian Tradition" and B) "The Faith Once Delivered to the Saints (Apostolic/ Holy Tradition).

Both were very attractive. Topic A) because I think it's edifying (but also what people really are asking about B) is good because this really is the foundation of most Apologetics arguments (especially the ones that I have gotten into with Protestants the last 3 plus years).

Anyway I chose prayer after recalling that one saying from a saint, that said "That all great theolgian are men of prayer. And everyman who prays is a theologian". There was also a good book written by a Coptic priest/monk on the subject, so that was another factor. And I will talk about that tomorrow....

Hello Ipod, Goodbye ooze!


My close friend Stan has been encouraging me to join him in one of these video ipod ministeries. Where you basically do teaching series and broad cast them over the internet or even local cabel tv. I said I would be interested... But admittedly I wasn't in a hurry (When you leave Protestantism. You also leave certain things like notions of "building your ministry", and the hurry to some get your name out there. To get speaking engagements, sell books, tapes and what not.


I did however believe this was the next step. But I was also a little leery (because with this sort of thing there can be a kind of peer pressure to do the party line and only say things that "play well" with the target audience which would be largely Protestant. And say only things that they can accept or agree with. And in affect be become coopted by the process in which you basically become a defacto Protestant. (Which is something I've seen before in a few different situations).


Anyway I explained that last point to Stan a week or two ago. And he told me that he was interested in hearing about things like the Alexandian perspective on different issues. And that it would further is only understanding on various subjects. And that I would basically be free to myself. So that was very encouraging. This defitely will give me something good to talk to my father of confession about. Something more enjoyable then what we usually talk about.


Anyway rather the being on the ooze, I am going to shift my attention to this project. In the last year or so, the ooze has lost its luster. And at times it can even seem like a waste of time, or counter productive. So I'm defitely looking to start a new chapter, when it comes to ministry. So I think this New Year will bring with it some new mile stones.