The Swallow's Nest

2006 Summer Contest Series: Week 5

We're halfway through the Summer Contest Series and many of you are in a race to get your hands on a US$50 gift certificate.  Congratulations to last week's winners.  Keep it up.  The winner will be announced September 10th and there is lots of time to overcome the first place contestant who's guessed correct all four weeks.  Will she falter this week?

In fact, it's possible that if you haven't participated in the contest until now you could still win. So, if you know what kind of airplane this is on your left, click E-Mail Me and give me the name.  By name I mean type, as in make and model number (e.g. Airbus 330, Boeing 737).  This week is tough.  Good luck!

Last week's picture was of a gorgeous female Boston Terrier.  This is my all-time favorite breed of dog and seeing this one's face makes me want to reach through the screen and pick her up.  When I was about seven my Dad received a call from his brother in Canada asking if we'd want a Boston Terrier (aka Boston Bull) of our own.  We'd visited my uncle's family on vacation the summer before and fallen in love with his dog, Pug.  Amazingly my Dad said yes (he was one of those Dads that vowed "never, ever" to have a dog). 

All four of us piled into the car and drove through the night to Ottawa to meet our new sister.  Brindle (she was a rare brown and white Boston Terrier) had been left on my relative's doorstep by someone who knew we'd take good care of her.  I can still see her stretched out, lounging in the backseat between my brother and me on the drive back to Boston.  Over the years she became a big part of our family.  We will never forget her.

I was with her a couple of nights before we had her put to sleep.  She curled up at the bottom of my bed (under the blankets) for the last time.  I won't forget how foolish I must have looked and sounded as I sang a prayer for her with tears streaming down my face.  Brindle brought us joy and laughter, comfort in pain, and energy when we were tired.  In those moments I could relate to people who have their pet stuffed or pay for expensive funerals (we did neither).  Life will never be the same without Brindle.

Why don't we just get another one?  Well, my parents should.  Ling and I would love to have one in Hong Kong, and everytime we see one on the street my heart jumps, but our apartment is not conducive to having a dog, especially when we travel.  But a part of the reason is no doubt this: which Boston Terrier could ever replace our Brindle?

Should you happen to be pup shopping I highly recommend this cute-if-not-ugly, short haired, highly intelligent, mild mannered, fun loving, committed to you in good times and bad brand: a Boston Terrier.

Another Look

Have you been biking around city streets this summer?  If so, watch out!  I hope what happened to our friend in this week's best video (see next post) doesn't happen to you.  Of course, if you do get hit I hope it does happen to you!  Take a look and you'll see what I mean.

Good reads of the week:

With war raging in the Middle East it's easy to forget about other world tragedies, like the ones that rage on in Africa.  Alan Cowell remembers that continent in this article. Meanwhile, Craig Smith addresses the advance of Islam by looking at the life of a Catholic bishop in increasingly Muslim Algeria. Switching continents again Jim Yardely will surprise you with what he finds in China's Qinghai province.  Finally, this article by Jane Perlez reminds us that our very best is needed, especially when doing charity work!

This week's best blogs were this one and this one (How Many of Us Are There?).  The first gives hope that Christians can actually discuss matters passionately and still love one another in the process.  The second takes an inside look at Scot McKnight, the best blogger on-line (in my view), and how he produces superb, consistent, rich-in-content blogs three times a day!

Finally, the quote of the week comes from the lips of Richard Li, a Hong Kong tycoon: "I don't think I've been doing a particularly good job."  At least he admits it!

Video of the Week

This guy gets hit by a car running a red light, lands on his feet and walks around yelling. He must be in shock. Amazing that he survived!

Friday Was T.V. Night

It's Friday night so the Swallow's are in the nest preparing for our usual activity: watching NYPD Blue.  Ling usually gets warmed up by catching CSI on tape and then we hit the couch together at 10pm to follow the action of Sipowicz, Clark and the rest of the 15th squad.  We do this every Friday night, and this reminds me of a tradition we kept in my house growing up.  Friday was t.v. night.

Here (in no particular order) are six of the best shows we used to watch growing up in the 80's:

Diff'rent Strokes

Webster

Mr. Belvedere

Growing Pains

Dukes of Hazzard

Macgyver

Now I am full of nostalgia.  I miss those shows and I miss those days.

Cashin' In 2

"I fell in to a burning ring of fire..." June Carter was writing and then singing those words while Johnny Cash was still trying to "walk the line" with his first wife, Vivian Liberto.  One of the many complexities to J.R. Cash is the conflicting feelings he had for the two loves of his life.  Rarely is Vivian considered when folks nostalgically look back on the life of Cash.  We remember June and John or Reese and Joaquin (who played them in Walk the Line).  But John did have a wife he loved and shared happiness with before a drug, alcohol, and touring addiction ruined their relationship.

How do we square John's choices, particularly as a Christian man, with his abandonement of Vivian for June?  Do we think it's a requirement for most men to remain faithful to their wives even when feelings emerge for another woman, but fine for Johnny to have fallen for June Carter just because, well, he's Johnny?  The answer is no, and the Man in Black certainly had to come to terms with his own decisions before God and his family.  But there is no denying that he did address his mistreatment of Vivian.  That and the magnetic love John and June had for one another is reflected in the second CD I'm featuring this week.

Duets features 16 tunes J&J sang together spanning their long career and marriage.  You won't find a song on the CD that disappoints, but pay particular attention with joy to Oh What A Good Thing We Had.  This is a real toe tapper and next to the Little Willie's Roly Poly one of the best instrumentals I've ever heard.  Light and fun we can picture the two love birds dancing around the stage like no one was in the room except the two of 'em. 

Long Legged Guitar Pickin' Man will remind you that problems with your love can be worked out, It Aint Me Babe is the perfect number the next time you need to break-up with someone but can't come up with the right words, and Darlin Companion is the essential anniversary song.  Ultimately this album is about love and the two singers knew how to love.  Couples like the Cash's are rare.  They have always been.  To love your lover to the depths of the other's soul, to literally not be able to live without the other, to become the other.  This is their story.

John was far from perfect.  Remember, that's why I love him.  That's why June loved him.  Like all of us, he made many poor choices and introduced hurt to many people's lives, but he lived because of redemption (see my previous post) and his earthly redeemer, for the most part, was the beautiful June Carter Cash.  Truly, she was a darling companion.  June died May 15th, 2003 and John went to join her just four months later September 12th, 2003. 

Tuesday: Johnny and Jesus

Cashin' In

Red Auerbach, basketball hall of famer and president of the Boston Celtics once said: "Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."  If that's the case no singer-songwriter scrubbed many a soul cleaner than ole Johnny Cash.  Born February 26, 1932 J.R. Cash grew up to be the single greatest country, gospel, and rock music singer the world has yet to know. While more of the world may know who Johnny is as a result of the recent film Walk the Line, named after his song by the same title, this week the Swallow's Nest introduces you to four "must have" albums of his.  (See Summer Songs on the right sidebar.)

"Hello.  I'm Johnny Cash."  Those four words graced the lips early in almost every concert the Man in Black ever gave and that was the case in 1969 when Johnny visited San Quentin prison (one of many prison visits) and treated the incarcerated to a few hours of freedom.  This recording is one of my top five that Cash ever produced.  It captures Johnny's relational love for prisoners, trains, and the gospel.  He could understand to the depths of his soul all three, and that comes out in this classic. 

Take for example the third song he sang that night.  Wreck of the Old '97 must have nearly ripped the skin off his fingers as they wisked across those guitar strings.   I can't help but to smile my way through this number as Cash sings, plays and blurts out whistle noises as we picture the Old '97 tearing up the track with Steve barely holdin' on at the helm.

Well they gave him his orders at Monroe, Virginia,
Said: "Steve, you're way behind time,
"This is not 38, this is Ol' 97,
"Put her into Spencer on time."

Then he turned around and said to his black, greasy fireman,
"Shovel on a little more coal.
"And when we cross that White Oak mountain,
"Watch Ol' '97 roll."

And then a telegram come from Washington station,
This is how it read:
"Oh that brave engineer that run ol 97,
"Is lyin in old Danville dead."

'Cos he was going down a grade making 90 miles an hour,
The whistle broke into a scream.
He was found in the wreck with his hand on the throttle,
Scalded to death by the steam.

One more time!

Oh, now all you ladies you'd better take a warning,
From this time on and learn.
Never speak hard words to your true-lovin' husband.
He may leave you and never return.
Poor Boy.

For the hootin' and hollerin' prisoners Johnny went flat out doing "what you want me to do and what I want to do" including all time greats I Walk the Line and Ring of Fire.  Then with San Quentin, a score written the day before the show, the Man speaks from the heart for every jailbird in the slammer when he says:

San Quentin, you've been livin' hell to me
You've hosted me since nineteen sixty three
I've seen 'em come and go and I've seen them die
And long ago I stopped askin' why

San Quentin, what good do you think you do?
Do you think I'll be different when you're through?
You bent my heart and mind and you may my soul,
And your stone walls turn my blood a little cold.

To finish the album Cash turns preacher and leaves the hopeless with the hope he held onto from the early days of his young life through 1969 and beyond.  He sings of he and his family, including his older brother Jack who was killed tragically when he and John were kids, sitting around God's throne in Heaven.  Naturally, they are singing!

I remember when I was a lad,

times were hard and things were bad.
But there's a silver lining behind every cloud.
Just poor people, that's all we were.
Trying to make a living out of black land dirt.
We'd get together in a family circle singing loud.

Daddy sang bass,
Mama sang tenor.
Me and little brother would join right in there.
Singing seems to help a troubled soul.
One of these days and it won't be long.
I'll rejoin them in a song.
I'm gonna join the family circle at the Throne.
No, the circle won't be broken.
By and by, Lord, by and by.

Daddy sang bass,
Mama sang tenor.
Me and little brother would join right in there.
In the sky, Lord, in the sky.

Now I remember after work,
Mama would call in all of us.
You could hear us singing for a country mile.
Now little brother has done gone on.
But, I'll rejoin him in a song.
We'll be together again up yonder in a little while.

Daddy sang bass,
Mama sang tenor.
Me and little brother would join right in there.
Cause singing seems to help a troubled soul.
One of these days and it won't be long,
I'll rejoin them in a song.
I'm gonna join the family circle at the Throne.
Oh, no the circle won't be broken.
By and by, Lord, by and by.

Daddy sang bass,
Mama sang tenor.
Me and little brother would join right in there.
In the sky, Lord, in the sky.
In the sky, Lord, in the sky.

Indeed, my dear friend!  And soon we who know the King of that Throne shall join the circle too.  May it be unbroken and may the prisoners be set free! Tomorrow we look at Johnny and his darling companion.

2 Years Ago Today

My beautiful wife Ling and I celebrated our wedding at the Estates of Sunnybrook in Toronto, Canada two years ago today, July 25th.  What a gorgeous day we had in every way imaginable.  To celebrate the auspicious occasion we have a fun weekend getaway planned for this Saturday and Sunday.  Tonight we will celebrate with an exchange of gifts!!

Happy Anniversay, baby!

2006 Summer Contest Series: Week 4

Week 4 of the Swallow's Nest Summer Contest Series swings into action today.  If you know the breed of dog to your left, click E-Mail Me and tell me.  You'll be battling the competition for a US$50 gift certificate to be awarded to the person who guesses right the most times in the ten week contest.  Last week we had several winners, but it's not too late to get into the game and pile up some wins before September rolls around. 

And now for the story behind last week's photo...

Erma Bombeck once said, "If a man watches three football games in a row, he should be declared legally dead."  Erma, if that were the case I would have been dead long ago!  There is no sport that will ever arouse as much passion from me as (American - I have to specify for international readers) Football.   And the central symbol of this game is, of course, the football itself.  The pigskin (click here to find out why they're called pigskins) pictured is one full of character.  You can tell that baby has been thrown, caught, squeezed, and dropped thousands of times.

I became a fan of the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL) in the fall of 1981 when I was 8 years old and my Dad and Uncle Bill took me to see a game at the old Sullivan Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts.  It's a memory I will always have with me.  If I close my eyes I can still see the old Pats symbol (pictured), red, white, and blue flags waving, cars at the tailgate party, the click of the turnstile after handing our tickets to the agent, and then once inside the stadium, the feel of sitting on backless benches for three-plus hours as leaves flew off the trees and our team beat the Houston Oilers.

Before moving to Hong Kong I took advantage of the season tickets my cousin's family owns and drove to Foxboro eight times for regular season home games between September and January and then all the home playoff games.  There's nothing like it.  The fall in New England is beautiful and plenty of footballs fly through the crisp air and then the chilly winter in sometimes downright blizzard conditions, and they can make a man (and plenty of women might I add) scream, cheer, drop their beer, and yes even take your breath away.  Like Bombeck suggested, I know I've even been close to death on more than one occasion.  That's just the way it goes, all the ups and downs, of cheering on the greatest team on earth: the World Champion New England Patriots!

Doubt my passion?  Watch this space in just two months!

Oh Yeah!  Opening kickoff of the '06 season is September 10th.

Another Look

Summer means swimming.  We had fun at the pool every morning this week, but we weren't careless enough to try what the young man in this week's best video did (see next post below).  Ohhh!! 

Good reads of the week:

"I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream!" is a chant regularly heard this time of the year, except by certain people, writes Colson Whitehead in I Scream [log-in required] from the New York Times Magazine. 

My experience is a little different than Colson's.  I adore ice cream, but rarely eat it anymore (you can trust me) and the reason for that is spelled out in one of my summer read recommendations for this week.  All of this week's recommendations focus on health, but none has had a greater impact on my dietary choices than Younger Next Year.  Originally written for men (there is a new edition available for women) entering retirement authors Chris Crowley (a lawyer) and Henry Lodge (a doctor) write hilariously and straightforwardly about getting and keeping fit.  The whole book can be summarized by these 7 rules:

1. Exercise six days a week for the rest of your life.

2. Do aerobic exercise four days a week for the rest of your life.

3. Do serious strength training, with weights, two days a week for the rest of your life.

4. Spend less than you make.

5. Quit eating crap!

6. Care.

7. Connect and commit.

It's that fifth rule that took my ice cream away but miraculously replaced it with greater energy, a slightly less flabby frame (there is still plenty of gut hanging at the edges), and greater self-confidence (I may not die tomorrow).  I don't think I'll ever go as far with ice cream as Colson did, but his article and this book make for good summer reading.

Blogland brought us three valuable links from Mike's site regarding the state of world tragedies.  10 Stories the World Should Hear More About tops the list, but there are others here.  We need to remember these people and regions and continue to do what we can to help.

Finally, the quote of the week comes from Hashim a survivor of the genocide in Darfur now living in the United States as he reflected on his life while so many of his family and friends died: "I am alive and breathing, but I am like a dead man who walks.  The rest of my life will be nothing but sorrow."  (As quoted in Nicholas Kristof's New York Times opinion piece The Fugitive's Tale [log-in required].)

Video of the Week

Ouch! Not good.