January Justice by Athol Dickson

Mar5

Mr. Dickson, one of my favorite Christian authors, has this new entry in the genre of detective thriller with a complicated hero in a sticky situation. And thereâ€™s no explicit sex, bad language or nastily descriptive violence.

Malcolm, recently released from the mental hospital, recently widowed after the murder of his rich-but-secret wife, and recently unemployed as a result of both events, is trying to pick up the pieces of his life and his job as chauffeur and bodyguard to Hollywood’s celebrities. Then, he gets mixed up in Guatemalan politics and possible terrorism and ghosts from his past come back to haunt him, and it all gets messy and violent and confusing, especially with the drug flashbacks and the females with secrets.

I’m really looking forward to reading the books in this series and finding out more about the tough guy with a good heart, Malcolm Cutter. As a character he reminds me of Michael Westen from the TV series Burn Notice. Westen and Cutter both are rugged, resilient guys, ex-military, with a past that gets in the way of the present. Both men are unsentimental, but they have plenty of ability to love and be loved and a gift for friendship that shows in their interactions with old buddies who become allies. Westen and Cutter have both been cut off from their respective military or para-military professions. Westen is a burned spy; Malcolm Cutter is a court-martialed ex-marine.

However, unlike Michael Westen, who never as far as I know once mentions or thinks about a connection to God or a spiritual dimension to life, Malcolm Cutter needs a spiritual connection to God, something to help him understand what’s real and trustworthy and stable in his life. Malcolm has a friend, Bud Tanner, a chaplain from his old Marine unit, who tells him to cling to something when “the threat of madness” comes to torment Cutter:

“It was Bud who showed me where it says in the Good Book to think about true things. Noble things. Whatever is right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy. It was Bud who helped me see that such things were always there, even when I could not think of them. They had not died with Haley, and they had never stopped existing, even when I was lost within the chaos in my skull. And because they were always there, because they were external to me and did not rely on me in any for their existence, I could hold on to them, or the idea of them, and in doing that, regain some sense of stability.”

This passage is about as “religious” as the book gets, but it’s enough. Malcolm Cutter has been forced to become aware of his own helplessness and dependency. We think of ourselves as competent, sane people, in control of our own minds and bodies. But really we are only one step away from total vulnerability, insanity, and lostness. And we need a reference point outside ourselves. We need a saviour.

“Without God man has no reference point to define himself. 20th century philosophy manifests the chaos of man seeking to understand himself as a creature with dignity while having no reference point for that dignity.” ~R. C. Sproul

The second and third novels in The Malcolm Cutter Memoirs series, Free Fall in February, and A March Murder, are coming out in 2013.

January Justice: First Look, the first few paragraphs of the novel.

The Longest Night by Laurel Snyder

Mar4

The Longest Night, subtitled A Passover Story, is a picture book version of the Biblical history of the exodus from Egypt. The story is told in rhyme from the point of view of a Jewish slave child who “built someone else a home” but “never tried to play,” wondering as she looked up into the sky after a long day of work “if the air tasted fresh and sweet up there.”

“Then at once, the world was changed!
Life unraveled, rearranged.”

The story continues as the narrator tells us of the Biblical plagues from her childlike vantage point: water turning to blood, frogs and fleas, wolves(?), sickness among the herds of animals, hail and locusts. Not once does the child who is telling the story mention Moses or Aaron or God. In one line she does say, “I sat, too, and said a prayer.” Then, the longest night comes, and the saddest sound, the death of the firstborn, never spelled out in words in this story, but implied in the “cries like knives that split the dark.”

As in the Book of Esther in the Bible, God is never named or invoked (except in that brief reference to prayer) or, for that matter, held responsible for the calamities that come or the freedom that ensues. Perhaps this opacity and near-absence of any over-arching meaning reflects how the events would have played out in the mind of a child, but I tend to think that Hebrew parents would have told their children why all these plagues were coming and reminded them of God’s promises and eventually told them whom to thank for their deliverance.

It’s a beautiful book. The illustrations by Catia Chien are colorful and childlike, but with a heaviness and gloom that extends throughout the book until the final pages break out in song and smiles and pink glowing light in the pictures. Jewish and Christian families should enjoy this simple story, despite the questions left unanswered in the text, and use it as a springboard for further conversation about the meaning of the Exodus, the Passover story, and the freedom that God provides us in Christ.

Sometimes God works everyday miracles or even huge inexplicable wonders in our own lives, but we fail to see His hand at work until someone points to Him. Before or after reading this book with a child, someone needs to point.

Sunday Salon: Books Read in February, 2013

Mar3

Children’s and Young Adult Fiction:
The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. My fellow Cybils judges in the Middle Grade Science Fiction and Fantasy category told me to read this novel because they found similarities between it and one of the nominated books for this past year, Jennifer A. Nielsen’s The False Prince, the book that ended up winning the Cybil Award in that category. I liked The Thief, but maybe my expectations were too high because I didn’t love it.

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman. This one is classified “YA” and won the Cybil Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy. There’s a romance involved, and dragons, and war, and peace. Reviewed at the blog Things Mean a Lot.

Adult Fiction:
Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan. Spy fiction/romance with all the twists and turns that would be expected in both.

January Justice by Athol Dickson. Mr. Dickson, one of my favorite Christian authors, enters the genre of detective thriller with a complicated hero in a sticky situation. And there’s no explicit sex, bad language or nastily described violence.

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. This novel from a Nigerian/American author is classified as young adult fiction in my library, probably because the narrator is fifteen years old, but I think it will resonate with adults of all ages, and with readers around the world because the themes–abusive relationships, religious legalism, freedom, and the source of joy–are all universal themes.

The Litigators by John Grisham. Typical Grisham: seedy street lawyers versus equally dubious big corporation lawyers in a fight for the little guy. The novel was unchallenging, fun to read, and relaxing–just what I needed at the time.

A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson. Lots of crude language made this otherwise complex story with engaging characters not as engaging as it could have been. Three generations of women try to break a family curse of sexual immorality and teen pregnancy.

Nonfiction:
Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a Desert Nomad by Waris Dirie and Cathleen Miller. Crude language and sexual misbehavior mar this otherwise inspiring memoir of a top model who began her life as the daughter of nomads in the Somali desert. The book probably began as an expose of the horrors of FGM (female genital mutilation), and it works best as a story showing the evils of that hidden practice and the courage of Waris Darie in standing against her culture in opposing it.

Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics by Ross Douthat. New York Times columnist Ross Douthat has written a useful, compact history of the progression of Christian thought and heresy in the United States in the twentieth century and into our current century.

Ideas for Homeschool Co-op Classes

Mar2

Some of these ideas come from a good friend at our homeschool co-op. Don’t they all sound like fun?

ABC Storytime, courtesy of Mother Reader. Preschool or early elementary.

Butterflies: Insects of Beauty by Heather E. Langston. Kindergarten or early elementary.

Bats and Spiders. Incorporates a study of Stellaluna by Jannell Cannon and of Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White into a scientific study of bats and spiders as creatures that God created. For kindergarten or early elementary.

Journey North Mystery Class. Upper elementary or middle school students.
Journey North Mystery Class overview.

Rubik’s Cube Teaches Math. Upper elementary or middle school students.

Introduction to Shakespeare. All ages, but especially upper elementary, middle school, and high school.

Advanced Reading Survey. High school. Students could keep a notebook and discuss their reading each week.

Civil War. Study the Civil War through interactive simulation and discussion. Role-play Union or Confederate life in camp or on the homefront through such things as hearing telegraph dispatches, dramatizing soldier interview, reenacting Pickettâ€™s charge, etc.

Modern American History Mini Simulations Through role-playing, students re-create key points in early 20th century U.S. history including a doughboy boot camp, depression era soup kitchen, Ford assembly line, and early radio shows.

Stock Market Simulation. Learn the fundamentals of the stock market, key terms, and how to read stock market data. Work in teams to decide criteria for selecting a company (or companies) to invest in, and then track and analyze the performance through the semester. See which team makes the â€œbestâ€ selections.

Lord of the Rings. Students read (or listen to audio) two books a semester (starting with The Hobbit), discuss them using primarily Progeny Press materials as a guide, complete light-hearted group activities, and hold a fun â€œmovie watching eventâ€ at the conclusion of each book. For those desiring writing opportunities, one optional writing assignment is completed each semester (literary analysis â€“ fall, literary research paper â€“ spring). Brief â€œminiâ€ lessons on building skills for these papers are covered each week, with periodic due dates towards completing the paper – including peer review opportunities.

Discover Houston. Learn about how Houston works and explore some of its less obvious locations. Students study and discuss the history, major sites, city government, city layout, major industries, transportation systems, etc. of Houston. Approximately monthly optional â€œmeaningfulâ€ field trips are offered such as Metro/light rail trip to down town, tunnel exploration, medical center overview tour, Convention Center â€œbehind the scenesâ€ visit , short jury trial observation, historical district walking tour, etc. Field trips help students develop â€œlife skillsâ€ as well as learn about various careers.

Travel Through Australia. Learn about the fascinating island continent of Australia and develop travel planning skills at the same time! Students work together to plan a dream trip to Australia by using travel guides and websites to plan and research all aspects of a special vacation: budget, flights, car rental, hotel selection, sites to see, food, passports, etc. Also consider careers in the travel industry and hopefully have a few guest speakers such as a travel agent, pilot, etc.

Boy Scout Merit Badge books are great sources and always have group and hands-on learning as well as technical â€œmeatyâ€ info. A teacher could just work their way straight down the requirements in the merit badge book. Here are good ideas of guide books available that could interest boys and girls:
– Architecture
– Chess
– Drafting
– Electronics
– Geocaching
– Insect Study
– Orienteering
– Radio
– Reptile & Amphibian Study
– Space Exploration

Saturday Review of Books: March 2, 2013

Mar1

â€œA great book should leave you with many experiences and slightly exhausted at the end. You should live several lives while reading it.â€ ~William Styron

Welcome to the Saturday Review of Books at Semicolon. Hereâ€™s how it usually works. Find a book review on your blog posted sometime during the previous week. The review doesnâ€™t have to be a formal sort of thing. You can link to your thoughts on a particular book, a few ideas inspired by reading the book, your evaluation, quotations, whatever.

Then on Friday night/Saturday, you post a link here at Semicolon in Mr. Linky to the specific post where youâ€™ve written your book review. Donâ€™t link to your main blog page because this kind of link makes it hard to find the book review, especially when people drop in later after youâ€™ve added new content to your blog. In parentheses after your name, add the title of the book youâ€™re reviewing. This addition will help people to find the reviews theyâ€™re most interested in reading.

After linking to your own reviews, you can spend as long as you want reading the reviews of other bloggers for the week and adding to your wishlist of books to read. That’s how my own TBR list has become completely unmanageable and the reason I can’t join any reading challenges. I have my own personal challenge that never ends.

1. Amy @ Hope Is the Word (My Family for the War)
2. Barbara H. (On the Banks if Plum Creek)
3. Becky (Romans 1-8, J. Vernon McGee)
4. Becky (Romans 9-16, J. Vernon McGee)
5. Becky (Convert)
6. Becky (Cranford)
7. Becky (The Center of Everything)
8. Becky (A Tangle of Knots)
9. Becky (The Story Girl
10. JoAnne @ The Fairytale Nerd (Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi)
11. JoAnne @ The Fairytale Nerd (The Eternity Cure (ARC) by Julie Kagawa)
12. JoAnne @ The Fairytale Nerd (Slammed by Colleen Hoover)
13. SuziQoregon @Whimpulsive (Crashed)
14. Beth@Weavings (Together: Growing Appetites for God)
15. Seth@Collateral Bloggage (Impulse)
16. Joseph R. @ Zombie Parents Guide (Christianity and Crisis of Cultures)
17. Hope (Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins)
18. Hope (Books Read in February)

19. Janet (The Myth of a Christian Nation)
20. Janet (Myth of a Christian Nation excerpt)
21. Thoughts of Joy (Astray)
22. Thoughts of Joy (The Art and Science of Teaching)
23. DebD (Cloud Atlas)
24. a barmy bookworm (Missing Lives)
25. Susan (What I’ve been reading lately)
26. Beckie @ ByTheBook (Chateau of Echoes)
27. Beckie @ ByTheBook (Chasing Jupiter)
28. Beckie @ ByTheBook (Fear, Faith and A Fistful of Chocolate)
29. Beckie @ ByTheBook (Firefly Island)
30. Colleen@ Books in the City (A Week in Winter)
31. Colleen@ Books in the City (The Secret of Nightingale Palace)
32. Amy @ Hope Is the Word (books reviewed in February)
33. Thoughts of Joy (The Cold Dish)
34. Lazygal (The Silver Dream)
35. Lazygal (The Astor Orphan)
36. Lazygal (Benediction)

37. Lazygal (Fearless)
38. Lazygal (The Burgess Boys)
39. Kaz @ Books Anonymous (Apple Bough)
40. Melinda @ Wholesome Womanhood (The Scarlet Letter)
41. Cindy(Ordo-Amoris) The Power of Habit
42. DHM, Five mysteries
43. Becky (Revelation, Chapters 1-5)
44. Carol in Oregon (Nightstand Entry)
45. Thalia @ Muses and Graces (The Princess Bride)
46. CREATE WITH JOY – Pukka’s Promise (Review & Giveaway)
47. CREATE WITH JOY – Nurturing The Soul Of Your Family
48. Brenda (The Runaway King)
49. Karen and Gerard
50. Karen and Gerard (Predator)
51. Yvann @ Reading With Tea (Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress)
52. Yvann @ Reading With Tea (Hangman’s Holiday)
53. Anna @ Diary of an Eccentric (Acadian Waltz)
54. Anna @ Diary of an Eccentric (All Hallow’s Eve)

K-Dramas Recommended

Feb25

The following K-Dramas (Korean TV drama) have been recommended lately in various blog posts that I have seen. I’m making a list here for future reference. Why is the latest TV-watching fad (other than Downton Abbey) seemingly coming out of tiny Korea?

Queen in Hyuns Man aka Queen and I, recommended at Christ and Pop Culture. Time travel romance. Also recommended at With an Accent. I started watching this one, and so far it’s cute, but a little confusing.

King 2 Hearts, recommended at The Common Room.

Full House, with actors Song Hye-kyo, Rain, Han Eun-jeong and Kim Sung-soo, recommended at The Common Room. Romantic comedy.

City Hunter, recommended at The Common Room. Also recommended at Christ and Pop Culture. Crime/revenge story.

Jumong, recommended at The Common Room. Historical drama.

Secret Garden, recommended at The Common Room. Body-swapping romantic comedy.

Rooftop Prince, recommended at Something Out of the Ordinary.

Faith/The Great Doctor, recommended at The Common Room. Time travel historical drama.

Hello Miss, recommended at The Common Room.

Golden Bride, recommended in a comment by Harmonyl at The Common Room post on K-drama.

Tree With Deep Roots, recommended in a comment by Harmonyl at The Common Room post on K-drama. Combination mystery thriller, action, romance, and historical.

Heartstrings, recommended at The Common Room.

Don’t Ask Me About the Past, recommended at The Common Room

Apparently, you can watch these on Hulu or sometimes on Netflix, and lots of people are enjoying them. The Headmistress at The Common Room says she’s addicted. I don’t have room in my life for any new addictions, but around the first of the year I may check one of these series/movies out.

Any other suggestions?

Bad Religion by Ross Douthat

Feb24

Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics by Ross Douthat.

New York Times columnist Ross Douthat has written a useful, compact history of the progression of Christian thought and heresy from the rise of modernism in the 1920’s (and again in the 1960’s)to the post-WW II revival of Christian neo-orthodoxy to the dissolution of church-going, especially in the mainline Protestant churches, in the 1960’s and 70’s, to the rise of evangelicalism to the present day lapse into mostly-heresy. Of course, these are trends not absolute descriptions of every Christian or every denomination.

I say it’s useful even though Douthat paints with a broad brush, and he admits that “a different set of emphases and shadings could yield a very different portrait of American Christianity at midcentury.” This caveat extends to the entire book. Douthat makes statements such as “the message of Christianity itself seemed to have suddenly lost its credibility” (in the 1970’s) or we are a nation “where gurus and therapists have filled the roles once occupied by spouses and friends.” I read these sorts of categorical statements, and at first I agree, but then I think of all sorts of exceptions and conditions and stipulations.

Maybe this book is the sort of nonfiction polemic which is best reviewed by my giving you a chapter-by-chapter summary of the major theses of Douthat’s argument, and then you can judge for yourself whether or not the book would be useful for you to read.

Part 1 of the book is history, a brief overview of the fluctuations in faith and practice of orthodox Christianity in the twentieth century and the twenty-first.

Chapter One: The Lost World. This chapter begins with the conversion to Catholicism of poet W.H. Auden and continues with Reinhold Niebuhr, Billy Graham, Archbishop Fulton Sheen, and Martin Luther King, Jr. as emblematic of the post-war return to Christianity and neoorthodoxy. Christian churches had the potential to become “the salt of the earth, a light to the nations, and a place where even modern man could find a home.”

Chapter Two: The Locust Years. The 1960’s and 70’s brought continued growth for conservative churches but but a crisis for mainline Protestant chuches and for Catholic parishes in the United States. “The culture of mainline Protestantism simply disintegrated,” and Catholics lost in terms of mass attendance, priestly and other vocations, and participation in almost every aspect of parish life. Douthat argues that political polarization, the sexual revolution, globalization and resulting religious universalism, and America’s ever-growing wealth combined to cause the decline in the credibility and eventually practice of the traditional, orthodox Christian message.

Chapter Three: Accomodation. Many churches and denominations responded to the challenges of the 60’s and 70 with an accomodationist message: “seek to forge a new Christianity more consonant with the spirit of the age, one better adapted to the trends that were undercutting orthodoxy.” The accomodationists, Catholic and Protestant, lost members, but didn’t simply disappear.

Chapter Four: Resistance. Other churches chose a different path: resistance to forces of modernism, sexual and materialistic hedonism, and moral relativism. Eventually, Catholics and Evangelicals found themselves as co-belligerents in resisting the “spirit of the age” and defending traditional Christian beliefs. As Evangelicalism grew, evangelicals re-engaged in politics and public life; Catholics moved away from adapting to the secular culture to the “tireless proselytization” and “moral arguments” of Pope John Paul II. However, the resistance wasn’t enough to stem the tide of heresy.

So, Part 2 of the book is entitled The Age of Heresy.

Chapter Five: Lost in the Gospels. Liberal, Dan Brown/Bart Ehrman/Eileen Pagels pseudo-Christian pseudo-scholarship encourages Americans to invent their own religion in which “no account of Christian origins is more authoritative than any other, ‘cafeteria’ Christianity is more intellectually serious than the orthodox attempt to grapple with the entire New Testament buffet, and the only Jesus who really matters is the one you invent for yourself.”

Chapter Six: Pray and Grow Rich. Joel Osteen, Kenneth Hagin, and others preach a Jesus who may not say crudely “name it and claim it” but who still “seems less like a savior than like a college buddy with really good stock tips, which are more or less guaranteed to pay off for any Christian bold enough to act on them.” I think Mr. Douthat goes a little off-course when he associates financial counselors like Larry Burkett and pastors such as Rick Warren, who Douthat admits have criticized the prosperity teaching of the Word-Faith movement, with that same heretical theology. It’s always tempting to tie everything into your thesis and make the chapter balance.

Chapter Seven: The God Within. “The message of Eat, Pray, Love (by Elizabeth Gilbert) is the same gospel preached by a cavalcade of contemporary gurus, teachers, and would-be holy men and women: Deepak Chopra and Eckhart Tolle, Paulo Coelho and James Redfield, Neale Donald Walsch and Marianne Williamson. It’s the insight offered by just about every spiritual authority ever given a platform in Oprah Winfrey’s media empire.” God exists, if He exists, inside our own hearts and minds and souls, a subset of Me.

Chapter Eight: The City on a Hill. Of course, it’s not just the New-Age liberals who have succumbed to heresy or to heretical tendencies. “A version of (American) exceptionalism is entirely compatible with Christian orthodoxy. . . Christianity makes room for particular loves and loyalties, but not for myths of national innocence or fantasies about building the kingdom of heaven on earth.” When Christians begin to go along with the slogan “my country, right or wrong” or worse, believe that America can do no wrong, they are in danger of placing a kingdom of this world before the kingdom of our Lord.

The final, brief section of Mr. Douthat’s book is a conclusion called The Recovery of Christianity. He suggests some possible sources and models for renewal: the emerging church movement, the neo-monastic movement, church growth in the countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and societal and financial catastrophe that may vindicate and make relevant again the Christian message.

I have serious doubts that any of those four events and movements will be the catalyst that God uses for revival. However, as Mr Douthat writes, “the kind of faith that should animate such a (Christian) renaissance can be lived out Christian by Christian, congregation by congregation, day by day, without regard to whether it succeeds in changing the American way of religion as a whole.” God is responsible for revival; I am responsible to live an obedient life before Him daily.

I’ve given a broad overview of a book that has much specific food for thought, challenging, even convicting, words of warning, and a few practical ideas about “how we then should live.” Recommended for all Christians, especially those who are involved in and thinking about political and cultural engagement.

Saturday Review of Books: February 23, 2013

Feb22

â€œI know every book of mine by its smell, and I have but to put my nose between the pages to be reminded of all sorts of things.â€ ~George Robert Gissing

1. Beth@Weavings (Winter Holiday)
2. Beth@Weavings (Six Ways to Keep the “Good” In Your Boy)
3. Melinda @ Wholesome Womanhood (Verbal Judo)
4. Thoughts of Joy (Burning Bright)
5. Thoughts of Joy (Touch & Go)
6. Mental multivitamin (The Catcher in the Rye)
7. Shonya@Learning (The Red Pony)
8. the Ink Slinger (A Confederacy of Dunces)
9. Carol in Oregon (Reading through Shakespeare)
10. Carol in Oregon (Part 4 Les Mis Quotes)
11. Winsome Reviews (Dante’s Daughter)
12. Hope (The Linnet’s Tale: A Mouse Tale for Grownups)
13. Becky (Desiring God)
14. Becky (Love’s Enduring Promise)
15. Becky (One Perfect Life)
16. Becky (John Calvin and His Passion for the Majesty of God)
17. Becky (Leavenworth Case)
18. Becky (Regency Buck)

19. Becky (Unpleasantness at Bellona Club)
20. Becky (Unnatural Death)
21. Becky (Elsie Dinsmore)
22. Becky (Mary Barton)
23. Amy @ Hope Is the Word (Desperate)
24. Amy @ Hope Is the Word (Distant Hours)
25. Amy @ Hope Is the Word (39 books I have loved)
26. Annie @ Learn at Every Turn (Capture the Flag)
27. JoAnne @ The Fairytale Nerd (Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi)
28. JoAnne @ The Fairytale Nerd (When In Paris by Beverly Kendall)
29. Seth@Collateral Bloggage (So You Created a Wormhole)
30. Seth@Collateral Bloggage (Books I’m Looking Forward To)
31. Barbara H (The Scarlet Letter)
32. Janet (A Little House Traveler)
33. Glynn (Pity the Beautiful: Poems)
34. Glynn (The Apostle: A Life of Paul)
35. Sarah Reads (The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb)
36. Yvann @ Reading With Tea (The Last Good Man)

37. Yvann @ Reading With Tea (Lavender Lies)
38. Susan @ Reading World (Gillespie and I)
39. Joseph R. @ Zombie Parents Guide (Vicar of Great Snoring)
40. Girl Detective (John Henry Days)
41. a barmy bookworm (The Scarlet Letter)
42. GretchenJoanna (Blue Chameleon)
43. Lazygal (Margaret from Maine)
44. Lazygal (Going Clear)
45. Lazygal (City of Devi)
46. Lazygal (Farewell, Dorothy Parker)
47. Lazygal (Unlearning Liberty)
48. Lazygal (The Stonecutter)
49. HG, The Family Conspiracy, Australian children’s book
50. Brenda (On The Day I Died: Stories from the Grave)
51. Brenda (The Books of Elsewhere: The Strangers)
52. Splintered (Faith @ StudentSpyglass)
53. Anna @ Diary of an Eccentric (The Klipfish Code)
54. Anna @ Diary of an Eccentric (The Secret of the Nightingale Palace)

Celebrating Purim

Feb21

The Jewish holiday of Purim begins at sundown on Saturday, February 23rd. Purim is the commemoration of the deliverance of the Jewish people from genocide at the hand of a Persian official named Haman. The Jewish girl Esther was used by God to effect this deliverance, as chronicled in the Book of Esther in the Bible.

The photo pictures a sample of the Jewish treat hamentashen which is traditionally served on Purim.

Here are few links to posts here at Semicolon and elsewhere about celebrating the story of Esther and God’s Purim deliverance of His people:

Esther by Chuck Swindoll. Some thoughts from me, not only on Mr. Swindoll’s book but also on Christian fiction and God’s calling for people in key places.

Soundtrack for the book of Esther. A few songs that I think embody the themes of the book.

Esther, Illustrated.

Purim: Celebrating Our Deliverance.

Annie’s Feast of Purim Page.

55 TV Series Worth Checking Out

Feb21

Maybe you don’t want to watch every episode of all of these. I certainly haven’t. But they are all worth an hour or a half hour of your time to check them out. You might end up laughing, or crying, your way through the entire series.

Agatha Christie’s Poirot. I love Dame Agatha’s novels and stories, and I love David Suchet as Poirot.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents. If you like The Twilight Zone or if you’ve been captivated by Rear Window or Vertigo, you’ll also enjoy Hitchcock’s TV series. Spooky and riveting.

Alias Smith and Jones. A Western comedy/drama about a couple of outlaws who want to earn their pardon by going straight. Unfortunately, the odds are not in their favor. I used to love this show when I was a young teenager.

The Andy Griffith Show. Andy Griffith stars as Sheriff Andy Taylor, and Don Knots plays his hapless deputy, Barney Fife. Good clean fun in Mayberry, North Carolina.

Anne of Green Gables. Megan Follows and Colleen Dewhurst and especially Richard Farnsworth as Matthew make this classic story come to life.

Band of Brothers. This Steven Spielberg-Tom Hanks production tells the true story of Easy Company (E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division) from D-Day to the end of the war in Europe.

Baseball by Ken Burns. Mr Burns is just a good historian and filmmaker. I don’t even like basebal or sports in general, and yet I still found this series entertaining and educational.

Bleak House. BBC mini-series by Andrew Davies based on the novel by Charles Dickens.

Burn Notice. My most recent TV show. I watched all the way through five seasons. There are lots of explosions and shooting and general mayhem, but underneath all the fancy fireworks this spy show has heart as it depicts the relationships between old friends and between a mother and son. Nick Rynerson on the fairytale-esque moral universe of Burn Notice.

Brideshead Revisited. 1981 British TV serial based on Evelyn Waugh’s novel. This mini-series is much better than the 2008 movie in my opinion.

Cadfael. A medieval detective, monk, herbalist, and gardener played by Derek Jacobi. I like almost anything Mr. Jacobi plays in.

Christy. The book is better, but actress Kellie Martin made a beautiful Christy, and Tyne Daly was convincing as Miss Alice. Based on the book by Catherine Marshall.

The Civil War by Ken Burns. Absolutely mesmerizing documentary history of America’s defining war.

The Cosby Show. Bill Cosby is so funny, and the supporting cast of this justly popular comedy was the perfect TV family.

Cranford. Based on Mrs. Gaskell’s series of stories about the spinsters who live in the small town of Cranford, this series stars Dame Judy Dench and Eileen Atkins as the Smith sisters.

The Dick Van Dyke Show. Another funny guy, and another great TV family. My urchins have enjoyed this show a lot.

Doc Martin A British surgeon with impaired social skills develops a fear of blood and becomes a family practice doctor in a small town.

Downton Abbey. The first season of this British period drama began in 1912 with the sinking of the Titanic and ended with the outbreak of World War I, and it was a great ride. I laughed, I cried. The second season, which takes places during World War I, was just as good, if not better. I’m really ~~looking forward to~~ enjoying the third season this year. (Addendum 2/18/2013: The last episode of the third season was too, too much.)

Friday Night Lights. Here’s my final opinion about this series. Overall, I thought it was well worth the time.

Gillgan’s Island. Sitcom about “a fateful trip” in which five passengers, the first mate and the skipper of small boat are marooned on a desert island, featuring Bob Denver as Gilligan. Here’s the theme song intro that gives the basic premise.

Green Acres. A parody of a parody of a parody of country life, Green Acres is the place to be. Not to be taken seriously ever.

Hogan’s Heroes. A sitcom set in a Nazi prisoner of war camp? It sounds a little non-PC nowadays, but back in the late 60’s it was ridiculously farcical. American Colonel Hogan would routinely manipulate the incompetent Commander Klink and get Sergeant Schultz to look the other way while Hogan’s men conducted secret spy and underground missions. The signature line is from Sergeant Schultz, one of the camp guards who ignores the hijinks going on the prisoners’ barracks: “I see nothink. I hear nothink. I know nothink.”

How It’s Made. A documentary showing how common, everyday items are manufactured. Z-baby enjoys this show.

I, Claudius. 1976 British mini-series based on the novel by Robert Graves, starring Derek Jacobi as Claudius the accidental and seemingly mad emperor of Rome.

I Love Lucy. Classic television. Classic comedy.

The Jack Benny Show. Also classic. My grandmother and I used to watch Jack Benny together on Friday nights when I spent the night at her house. Good memories.

Jane Eyre. Based on the book by Charlotte Bronte, this 1983 BBC production starred Timothy Dalton as Mr. Rochester, and it was quite well done and true to the book.

John Adams. Based on the biography by David McCullough.

Larkrise to Candleford. Inhabitants of small English village in the late 1800’s are seen through the eyes of the postmistress and her assistant.

Little House on the Prairie. The earliest episodes and seasons of this long-running dramatic series based on the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder are the best, but it’s mostly worth watching.

LOST. The best TV drama series ever. Start at the beginning and go until you hit the ending. Be somewhat disappointed, either that it’s over or that it ends the way it does. Love it anyway.

Magic School Bus. Science and magical fun for kids.

M*A*S*H* Vietnam-era sensibilities hilariously transported to the Korean War.

Mission Impossible. This spies and gadgets series premiered on September 17, 1966, and it went through eight seasons. “Your mission, should you decide to accept it” and “this recording will self-destruct in five seconds” quickly became popular catch-phrases, and the movies with Tom Cruise are only more enjoyable after you’ve seen some of the original.

Monk. A detective with OCD. What will they think of next?

Mork and Mindy. Robin Williams plays alien space creature Mork from the planet Ork. This silly TV show about a girl who befriends a space alien was where Robin Williams got his start in acting. “Nanoo, nanoo!”

Mythbusters. Two Hollywood special effects experts attempt to debunk urban legends by directly testing them.

North and South. Based on the novel by Mrs. Gaskell, nothing to do with the American Civil War, and featuring the same actor who plays Mr. Bates on Downton Abbey, the talented Brendan Coyle.

Numb3ers. A detective with obsessive-compulsive, amazing genius math skills.

Once Upon a Time. This is a new show (two seasons so far) from the producers of LOST, and our family enjoyed the first season very much. Itâ€™s about fairytale characters trapped in our world by an evil curse. The characters have no memory of who they really are, and itâ€™s up to Snow Whiteâ€™s and Prince Charmingâ€™s daughter, Emma, to free them from the curse.

Perry Mason. Raymond Burr is the suave, intelligent defense lawyer who almost never loses a case.

Pride and Prejudice. Starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth. Yes, I too love Colin Firth’s Mr. Darcy.

Psych. A detective who claims to to have psychic abilities, but actually has hyperactive intelligence and lots of boy-charm.

Reading Rainbow. LeVar Burton and books. This kids’ series is fun for adults, too, and it features books, book, and more books! Yeah for books!

The Red Skelton Hour. If you can’t watch the whole show, watch a little Red Skelton on youtube. Such a great clown.

The Rockford Files. James Garner as Jim Rockford, an ex-con, seedy detective with lots of heart and not much money. Lots of car chases, beautiful femmes fatales, and mob violence set on/near the beach in sunny California.

Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends It’s the only animated series on this list because it’s the only one I would care to revisit. I mean who could resist “Fractured Fairy Tales” and “Peabody’s Improbable Adventures” and “Dudley Doright”, not mention the stars of the show, Bullwinkle Moose and Rocky the Flying Squirrel? Intelligent and hilarious cartoons.

Roots. Alex Haley researched his ancestry and what he couldn’t find out, he made up (and probably plagiarized.) It’s still good TV/historical fiction.

Route 66. Martin Milner and George Maharis drive their Corvette down Route 66, looking for adventure.

The Six Wives of Henry VIII. This series of six episodes about the infamous Henry and his serial wives was one of my favorites when I was a young, impressionable girl. I learned a lot about British history, and I learned never to marry a king.

Star Trek. The original series created by Gene Roddenberry with Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and all the other iconic characters. Free full-length Star Trek episodes at CBS.com. Also available for free with Amazon Prime.

The Twilight Zone. These episodes of quiet nightmare and horror are mostly memorable and iconic.

The Waltons. A 1970’s family drama set during the Great Depression. It features a large, country family who share the values of hard work and family support to get them through hard times. Richard Thomas stars as John-Boy Walton, narrator of the story and the oldest son of the Walton clan.

Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years, 1929-1939. This series takes place before Churchill became Prime Minister of Britain during WW II, and it shows what made him the man he was. Actor Robert Hardy IS Winston Churchill in the realm of my imagination.

White Collar. I’m enjoying this series now. It’s about a con man and an FBI agent who become unlikely, sometimes uneasy, allies and friends.