Randy Greenwald

1954 was a very good year.

I’ve enjoyed a vintage from that year for over thirty years now, and hope to continue to do so for many years to come.

My particular variety was derived from well established vines whose roots go deep into the thumb of Michigan. The Vine Dresser himself tended all that which has gone into this bottle to make its splendid qualities perfectly paired with the coarse dark beer brewed two years later and 400 miles south.

All praise to the Vine Dresser!

Happy Birthday, Barb.

This from John Stott’s dated, but excellent book on preaching, published in the US as Between Two Worlds:

“Word and worship belong indissolubly to each other. All worship is an intelligent and loving response to the revelation of God, because it is the adoration of his Name. Therefore acceptable worship is impossible without preaching. For preaching is making known the Name of the Lord, and worship is praising the Name of the Lord made known. Far from being an alien intrusion into worship, the reading and preaching of the Word are actually indispensable to it. The two cannot be divorced. Indeed, it is their unnatural divorce which accounts for the low level of so much contemporary worship. Our worship is poor because our knowledge of God is poor, and our knowledge of God is poor because our preaching is poor. But when the Word of God is expounded in its fulness, and the congregation begin to glimpse the glory of the living God, they bow down in solemn awe and joyful wonder before his throne. It is preaching which accomplishes this, the proclamation of the Word of God in the power of the Sprit of God. That is why preaching is unique and irreplaceable.” (pages 82-83)

A few months ago, I picked up a book called Culture Making by Andy Crouch. I did so upon the recommendation of a man in our church.

I’ve had a hard time getting into the book. The first chapter or two is aimed at defining culture, and was rather heavy going. So, I had not made much progress until last week when getting through the first chapter or two I’ve now found the book to be not only intriguing but a very, very important assessment of how Christians might best be engaged in the world. It’s a book I think I might need to read twice.

So last Thursday, I met for coffee the man who initially recommended the book to me, only to find out that he has not actually read it! And, it seems, that the one who recommended it to him had not at the time of the recommendation read it either.

Well that is just curious to me.

I’ll try to avoid any further recommendation of the book until I’ve read it. Then, if worthy, I’ll need to work back up the chain of recommendations to get those guys to read it.

At first I looked for a theater that would not MAKE me watch Up in 3D. Then I tried to talk my son out of going to see it, being galled by having to pay an extra $3/ticket for the 3D privilege. When I put on the 3D glasses, I was irritated. I already wear glasses which made this second set rather uncomfortable. I was unhappy in at least three dimensions before the movie ever started.

But I trust Pixar. They are always about telling a story. I had been reassured by this CNN report on the film’s opening in Cannes.

“We really tried to use depth in the same we use color and cinematography, and that is to further the emotion of the scene,” said [Up’s director Pete] Docter of the philosophy behind the team’s use of 3D in “Up.”

Docter and [co-director Bob] Petersen steer clear of using 3D to create wow factor with the visual gags the format can provide. [Pixar head John] Lasseter agrees that 3D should be used as an aid to storytelling and not just for cheap visual thrills.

The actual film, I think, would have been just as good in 2D. I am not persuaded that this is as big a step forward as the addition of sound, as some have said.

It seems like Rober Ebert agrees:

The movie will be shown in 3-D in some theaters, about which I will say nothing, except to advise you to save the extra money and see it in 2-D.

I confess that by the end of the film, I had forgotten the glasses. It worked. I am just not sure a lot was gained. What I am sure of is that we will see a lot more of this.

“According to Lasseter, who is also chief creative officer at Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar’s tenth film also marks a major shift for both studios. “All of our films from now on will be made in 3D both at Pixar and at the Disney Animation Studios as well,” he said.

[An unmentioned advantage of the 3D experience is that we all get to look like Joe Maddon for two hours.]

Call me incurably sentimental. Tell me I’m just hyper-sensitized because my wife’s been gone for two weeks. Tell me I’m just a wimp. Go ahead. Just don’t tell my eight-year old whom I took to see Up tonight that I was sitting next to him sobbing because of an animated movie. He doesn’t know it, so we’ll just keep that as our little secret.

But if you want to know what I’m talking about, go see the thing. The first fifteen minutes or so are some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. The NY Times review nails this film in saying that after that beautiful opening (“…this is filmmaking at its purest.”), there is a drop off. It becomes for a while a cartoon action flick. A beautifully executed cartoon action flick, mind you. The PG rating is given for what is called ‘mild peril’. Mild peril? It is silly enough to get worked up over a regular movie, knowing that all the characters are actors who are in no real danger. But there I was worried about CARTOON characters. Mild peril? I thought my heart would stop.

What the Times does not get is that the film’s end lifts it up from action movie mediocrity, reconnects with the opening sequence, and restores the wonder.

See it. In the dark. And pretend your eyes itch when you wipe them. No one will know.

Or at least make sure the one you love is not out of town when you watch it.

Being a single parent for a while (my wife returns from being with my daughter next week) and having to make up time after having been gone myself last week has seriously cut into blogging time.

However, this article captured my attention and I thought others might find it interesting.

My brothers (I have two) and I share very little in common other than a father who was a builder, a man who worked with his hands. At least that is what I thought. It turns out that all three of us have built shops in our garages and have, at least at times, built things out of wood for others. There is an impulse in our blood.

Or is that impulse in our nature as beings created in the image of God, an impulse which the modern world suppresses?

This past, Monday evening, not having anything to do to help our daughter and her labor, my three sons and one daughter-in-law scurried off to attend a game of the Chattanooga Lookouts who that night were playing a home game against the visiting Tennessee Smokies. Both are teams in the Southern League, the Smokies being the AA affiliate of the LA Dodgers and the Lookouts of the Chicago Cubs.

What a blast. We sat close enough that we could hear the conversation on the field, and add to it. Even my eight year old was learning how to yell.

The gal who sold us the ticket told us that the manager of the Smokies was Ryne Sandberg. Sandberg was the standout second baseman of the Chicago Cubs. He is apparently extremely gracious and patiently signs autographs before each game. We stood in line, but he had to quit signing before he got to us.

In minor league ball, you are watching men who play the game because they love the game. They make little money and they have awful schedules. But they love what they are doing. They are following their dreams, no matter how unrealistic for most of them those dreams are.

By all accounts, other than the Lookouts’ catcher throwing Colin a game ball, a high point of the night was the “3 and 1/2 inning stretch”. If you know baseball, you know that it is something steeped in its many traditions. One of those is the “seventh inning stretch”. In the middle of the seventh inning in ball parks everywhere every fan in attendance stands, stretches, and joins in singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”

But here they have the “3 and 1/2 inning stretch”. After 3 and 1/2 innings, we were ordered to stand. We sang “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” but half way through, the song stopped and we were ordered to sit back down. We could only sing half, because it was only the 3 and 1/2 inning stretch!

What a hoot. What a great time.

Even without Sandberg’s autograph.

Readers of this blog who do not know me personally are having to endure an avalanche of family news for which they have no personal connection. Sorry about that, but thanks for granting me leave to be grandfatherly for a few days.

Here is another picture of Isai.

I post it not because his appearance has changed any, though there are less tubes, but because we would like of those who pray to keep praying. He is still working to catch on to this whole breathing thing. He’s having to be reminded that breathing is something one should ordinarily do continually. Twice he has stopped and had to be reminded that such is not conducive to good health. Consequently, he will be kept in the NICU until at least Monday. Pray that there are no more ‘breathless’ incidents.

Some have wondered about the name, as if it were rare. It is only rare to those of us who do not spend much time around the Hispanic community.

The Social Security Administration keeps a fascinating web site which lists the frequency of baby names given in the US for any year. So, for example, for babies born in 2008, Jacob was the most popular name for boys. In 1916 it was John. So, to show the relative popularity of names for Barb and I, our children and grandchildren, I will list them below with the name rank for the year of birth. You will see that Isai is by far not the rarest name in our family! (an ‘x’ indicates that the name was not in the top 1000 names for that year.)

Barbara – 7
Randall – 54
Adria – 904
Gamaliel – x
Seth – 95
Amy – 22
Matthew – 3
Alissa – 321
Hannah – 42
Jerusha – x
Colin – 117
Isaiah – 45
Isai – 734 (in 2008; 2009 stats not yet tabulated)

Isai is a more popular name than that of his father, his mother, and his aunt!

This was taken from Adria’s camera, which was in the delivery room. I’ve still not been introduced.

At 7:30 this morning, by the grace of God, a boy, Isai Jose Bautista was born via C-section, to Gamaliel and Adria Bautista. The baby’s father and the baby’s grandmother, my wife, were able to be in the room for the delivery.

Isai did not breath immediately on his own, but is doing so now quite well we understand. But because of this, he is in the NICU and has yet to meet his maternal grandfather.

Both Barb and I have very large heads, our children have large heads, and it seems, so do our grandchildren. However, Isai is not heavy. He was born at 7 pounds 2 ounces, and is a long 21.75 inches.

Perhaps an explanation of the name is in order. Here is how I understand it:

Isai (pronounced ee-say-ee) – Spanish for Jesse

Jose – Spanish for Randy

🙂

Pictures will come when we have them.