A funeral chant for the recently departed of Blogoslavia

A month or two ago Justin Martyr retired his blog. And now James Nee of Neepeople.com has ended his 3 year plus run, (I think there may be a few others as well, but less familiar with the other Orthodox or Orth friendly blogs). We salute our recently departed saints, and wish them well in the online afterlife. May there blessings and prayers be with us all Ameen! :)


(I've actually considered doing something similar. But decided to keep the Blog for personal life update things. I may have more of a regular web site in the future. With more polished essays but less updates. But I'm pretty much riding my internet savvy friends coatails on their projects so we will see.....)

Some Honeymoon sights I'm thinking about

http://www.solvangca.com/


(more to come...)

Our Engagement (western)

I got engaged tonight. We had dinner at this place, "The Brookdale lodge"

The Brookdale lodge
"The original Lodge was built in 1890 by Horrace Cotton at a lumber mill site in the Santa Cruz Mountains. In the early 1920s, Dr. F.K. Camp added the dining room with the natural trout-stocked mountain brook running right through it. Trees, ferns and other foliage continue to grow under the large atrium skylight. The round window was lit at night to look like moonlight through the trees. Horseshoes from the old mill were welded into lanterns. A wishing well near the entrance collected coins for Crippled Children. The stream was lit at night with underwater lights. Bird cages are also visible in many postcards.
Famous bands and singers of the Swing Era performed here. Movie stars and diplomats visited often. The fireplace, dance floor, bandstand and more tables were to the left of the brook. The founder and original owner didn't allow alcohol on the premises. The advertising slogans included: "In All the World, Nothing Like It" and "In the heart of Big Tree Country... Come linger with us and listen to the brook singing merrily through our dining room. Known all over the world."
In the 1940s, the Lodge fell into disrepair after the founder died and there were rumors of Mob involvement, secret passageways, hidden rooms and bodies buried beneath the floor. The niece of Dr. Camp drowned in the dining room creek and sightings of her ghost became part of Brookdale's legend. In the 1950s, a fire destroyed the Dining Hall and it was remodeled in more of a Hansel & Gretel theme. During this time, much of the campground was paved for a massive parking lot. A more sensitive restoration took place in the early 1990s."




http://www.brookdalelodge.com/


We however are due to have our formal Coptic engagement ceremony, which I think will happen in six weeks (When my uncle Hans comes over from Germany to visit us).

So I have been studying up on this web site, "My Big Fat Coptic Wedding", which shows not only wedding photos etc. but the engagement service as well.

http://www.ourbigfatcopticwedding.com/


But anyway see Gina's blog for photos which I'm sure will be posted in the next day or two after she recovers from surgery.
http://erud-awakening.blogspot.com/

Desert Prayer With Egyptian Roots

(found this article online it mentions the monastary near Barstow and looks interesting so thought I would link).

"Life at North America's only Coptic Orthodox monastery is rigorous and strictly for worship. It draws those who seek a deeper insight into Christianity...."

http://freecopts.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=194&Itemid=42

The Joy of Netflicks like companies

recently I joined Blockbusters netflicks copycat program, as a movie source for Gina nights. I really like it, you save so much more money than by renting movies from the local vid store (easily 3-6 times what regular rental fees are, depending on how fast you mail back the movies you watch, and post office logistics), and of course you save some time as well.

When it comes to service provided, I don't know if Block buster is really that much better than netflicks original program. There are some cult TV shows I like (i.e. "Strangers with Candy", that are hard to rent, but most programs and movies I've look for have been readily available. So Netflicks may be a little better on availability based on hearsay. There are a few things that Blockbuster did do that sealed the deal for me...

1) give a free 1st month's members (which I've really taken advantage of so far) and

2) made it extremely, extremely easy to get signed up for the program

and even bigger.....

3) issue every member 1 free movie rental coupon every week. (Where you basically printout from the web site a coupon with a scan bar code and take it down to your local block buster and check out a movie for free).

So far Gina and I have just started the fourth season of Babylon 5, watched a disk from the British sitcom DVD series "The Office", and last week watched one of my favorite war movies (a movie which is unique but a bit on the uncommon, hard to find side) "The Beast".

review of "The Beast"

http://acrentropy.blogspot.com/2004/11/review-beast-1988.html