8 Years Ago Today

Eight years ago today the last installment of my "Million Dollar Family" arrived. He arrived at about 1:30 a.m. and weighed in at a hefty 11 pounds 2 ounces.

Happy Birthday Brant!

Golden Compass

I haven't been too good at keeping up with my monthly book reviews from my book club.

I just finished reading "The Golden Compass". I was glad this book was chosen since I had read a lot about it but hadn't read it yet. As a fantasy book, it was an okay read. It left me with little desire to read books 2 & 3. The way it ended left me believing that only two of the characters will move on to the next book. Following the characters you've come to love is what makes fantasy series so appealing. So, believing that I've got to leave most of them behind (especially the armored bears) made me not get excited to keep reading the next books.

All the controversy around the book is the anti-Christian content. It was hard until the very end to discern who were the good guys and who were the bad guys.
Even now that the bad guys are labelled "the Church", it is hard for me to make the direct tie to the Church as we know it now. I'm told the connection becomes more clear in the later books. It seems like book one may be a set up for the later books, but not having read them, I can't really say.

So, over all, I'm not all that excited about The Golden Compass.

Stay tuned for next month's book which I got to choose: The Year of Living Biblically.

What's so special about this sentence?

Here is your literary test for the day...

What is so special about this sentence?

"The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog."

My guess is Heidi gets it first.

Summer Vacation!

Well, our summer vacation plans have been made. We will be spending time in Birch Bay, WA with Stacey's family which will be a lot of fun!

But we decided to have a little bit of fun getting there as well. Instead of cramming onto the cattle car they call an airplane, we have purchased seats on the train. We will be on a 46 hour ride over the Empire Builder. I've put a map here for you to see the route we will take. We will have a family sleeper that holds 4 and will eat like kings and queens (or princes and princesses) all along the way.

We are really looking forward to not only being in WA, but getting there as well!

Man's Best Friend

Who says that a dog is a man's best friend? My brother Dan was "reunited" this Thanksgiving with his long lost rubber chicken. What a happy "reunion" it was! Dan, if you visit here, I'm sure the readers would love to hear the 20 year saga that you have lived through.

Rather than take his chicken to Singapore, he left it for Brant take loving care of. Bad idea. The picture below shows where this poor chicken rode all the way home that night (along with Jessie posing beautifully in the background). We enjoyed watching people start laughing as they pulled up next to us!

Cool Satelite Photo

For those of you who love the great lakes and find weather fascinating, Bill's Blog has a cool picture of the ice forming over Lake Michigan. You can click on the picture to enlarge it and then find various lakes and markers that are visible (including the 40 mile path a tornado took through Wisconsin last summer). Bill's Blog says...

"This is a picture from Weds. PM. Find the white line that marks the damage path of the June tornado that was on the ground for 40 miles NW of Green Bay Wisconsin. Note the open lakes: Lake Geneva and Green Lake (which is a very deep lake and slow to freeze-up) in Wisconsin, Muskegon Lake, Gun Lake, Gull Lake, - even Reeds Lake in East Grand Rapids shows up and Fremont Lake looks to still be open water. Ice is forming in Green Bay, and ice covers the big, but shallow Lake Winnebago. Also check out the shadows of the clouds."

Check it out at Bill's Blog!

Funny Chinese Signs (6)

And you thought shopping on Black Friday was hazardous to your health! Here at Wal*Mart in China they have posted a warning sign about customers. I just wonder how dangerous a woman with a shopping cart can be?! Would they rather not have any customers ahead?

Funny Chinese Signs (5)

Sorry for the delay between posts! This little thing called Advent has gotten in the way.

Anyway, one more sign that was catchy enough for me to take a picture while in China.

The first warning says "Caution Drop Down". The only drop was a crack in the sidewalk and a series of steps. After looking at the picture I glanced around for a 1,000 cliff somewhere, but just couldn't seem to locate it.

The second warning is my favorite. It says, "Don,t be a meadow stomper Stay on trails". Besides the very creative use of the comma, I love the word "meadow stomper". Ever since seeing this sign, if my kids wander off the sidewalk or the path I accuse them of being meadow stompers.

Stunningly, they got the third warning completely correct!

Funny Chinese Signs (Part 4)

Coming down the tram that took us up the Great Wall, this sign was there to welcome us back. I think I'll start using this greeting in my daily life.

(By the way, our friends rode in the tram that President Bill Clinton rode in when he visited China and the Great Wall.)

Funny Chinese Signs (Part 3)

While in Changchun we visited the Palace of the Manchurian State which was set up when Japan invaded China and took over Manchuria. (If you ever saw the movie "The Last Emperor" you know the story of Puyi who was the the last emperor of China and was set up as the puppet emperor of Manchuria.) In one room they displayed the pictures of many of the Japanese and traitors who ruled Manchuria during that time. This sign is the forward to that room.

I especially like the hyphenation that creates "Ted the Puppet Manchurian State". You can also see just a tiny bit of their bias at the end as they "display some officials of the puppet Manchurian regime and their ugly looks." I sense that all is not forgiven there!

Funny Chinese Signs (part 2)

This is my favorite sign of them all. It was at the bottom of the Great Wall. It is worth clicking on so you can read it.

My favorite parts...

1. You can't carve arbitrarily on the wall, but I guess if you have a distinct plan for your carving you are welcome to do it.

3. I love the "laugh and frolic part". People certainly obeyed well...I didn't see any frolicking while I was on the Great Wall.

5. I like the transition to the past tense and the use of the word "leaded".

* Notice that on the introductory paragraph they get the apostrophe in "others'" correct while many people who know English get this wrong. I've got to give credit where credit is due!

It just kind of makes me wonder...was there not one person available who knew English enough to do a basic job of editing?

Favorite Chinese Signs (part 1)

I thought I'd share a few of our favorite signs from China. I liked this one on a road at the university where my friend teaches. The top circle obviously designates the speed limit as 20 mph. The bottom circle communicates "no taxis". The third circle certainly looks like tuba players are prohibited from entering the campus. I don't know why such aversion to tuba players! (Okay, maybe it means "no honking your horn", but my tuba player interpretation is much more interesting.)

It is the second circle from the top that I find interesting. What exactly does that mean? No nothing? No breathing the air? Is it a prohibition against Nihilism on this college campus? Hmmmm....

Spamalot

Last Friday night tickets went on sale for the spring showing of the Broadway show "Spamalot" that is coming to DeVos hall. Knowing my secret admiration of Monty Python's "Search for the Holy Grail", Stacey sent me to purchase tickets for us. Tickets could only be purchased at the Grandville D&W starting at 5:00. So at 5:30 I figured I could walk in and get my tickets. Boy was I wrong! The place was a zoo. I waited in line for an hour and all of the really good seats were gone already. Who would have figured that so many people would be that interested in Spamalot!

Luckily, they provided entertainment during my wait -- people dressed in "Holy Grail" gear acting Pythonish and challenging us with trivia (they started avoiding me since I knew all the answers!). They also gave out free prizes. I don't know what I like better, my $10 gift card to the movie theater or this cool collector's edition can of spam. For all of you who wish you were collectors of spam, I took pictures of the can for you to enjoy the Monty Python humor.

My Next Job

I've decided that my next job is going to be as a terracotta warrior. These guys in Beijing were just great to hang out with. Their job was really easy. They just stood guard at the base of the ancient drum tower in the center of Beijing. If anyone tried to get in without authorization, they...well, they just watched them go by. Not a bad gig. Very little pressure. The hours were pretty bad (7 days a week, 24 hours a day) and losing an arm over time is one downside to the job that I wouldn't really like. And these guys needed to learn to loosen up a bit and enjoy life more. I think I could be a good influence on them.

Brant hung out with us too and tried his hand at the job and really seemed to enjoy it. When they told him he smiled too much he quit.

Erin preferred the job of playing these HUGE replicas of the ancient drums they used to play. There were probably two dozen of them that ringed the top of this tower. We wanted to get her permission to actually play them, but we couldn't.

Trip to the Mall

Today was a big day at the Meyer home. We made a family trip to the mall to get our daughter's ears pierced. I took a picture just to prove it!

While at the mall, we also witnessed a serious brawl between two cell-phone kiosk workers (and they even worked for the same service!). Between the brawl, long lines, huge numbers of people and less than helpful employees, Stacey and I both asked each other why we come to the mall. I guess one trip a life-time to get my daughter's ears pierced is a good enough reason!

Images of Earth

Who says God isn't an artist! Take a look at some of these satellite pictures of earth. They are pretty amazing! I especially liked the image of these retreating glaciers (#3 shown here). Click here to see all 11 pictures and vote for your favorite!

Prayers for my Brother

For those of you who don't check out my sister-in-law's blog linked here to the right ("mostly poetry"), please do so that you can pray for my brother Dave. He had a stroke yesterday and lost feeling and movement in his whole left side. He has regained a little bit, but please pray with us if you are willing that he will keep getting more and more movement back!

Thanks!

Gas Prices Around the World

Just to make you feel better when you fill up at the gas pump, here are gas prices around the world. Now you can smile as you drive away from the gas station! (Unless, of course, you live in the Middle East!)

Boo!

We missed the church pumpkin carving night last week while we were in Washington, but that didn't stop us from carving our pumpkin's last night before trick-or-treating tonight. Erin carved a small pumpkin and was very creative with the seeds. Brant followed a football theme this year and had his pumpkin helmet match the Chicago Bears uniform he dressed up in. Believe me, that was a scary costume!

Sidney Postma

Stacey's grandfather passed away yesterday (on her birthday). We will be spending a good chunk of this week with the family celebrating his life...and there is a lot to celebrate! If you didn't have the chance to know Sidney Postma, here is a link to his obituary so that you can at least have a brief window into his life. It isn't nearly big enough to encompass his life in the Netherlands during World War II, his immigration experiences, his farming, his care for his wife through her Alzheimer's and his deep love for Jesus.


http://obit.gilliesfuneralhome.com/obitdisplay.html?id=469194&listing=Current

The Cousins

Last night we gathered for Stacey's birthday party. We missed the California cousins! In order to include them in the cousin festivities I post the following pictures. With the five Michigan cousins gathered together I'd give them a category and they had three seconds to pose before I took the picture. The following pictures are the results. Enjoy!

Parade Queen:

Body Builder:

Fairy:

Grandpas or Grandmas:

Rocket Scientist:

Hillbilly:

Brant:

Tiger Stadium Tribute

For those of you who aren't aware, they are currently in the process of tearing a part Tiger Stadium and selling the pieces off. After about 7 years of standing empty and exposed to the elements, it is now designated for destruction. They allowed a few photographers in before the destruction started. There are some fascinating pictures here. It is really interesting to see how nature begins to reclaim its own turf (vines covering the seats, small trees growing in walkways). You can also see the "The Tiger Chainsaw Massacre" as they chop up the seats to be sold. Click on the link below and enjoy some final pictures of a classic stadium. Which one is your favorite?

http://flickr.com/photos/tags/tigers9282007/interesting/

Evan Almighty

The four of us went to the Dove Family Film Festival movie for the week. It was "Evan Almighty". What a great movie! All four of us thoroughly enjoyed it from youngest to oldest. And it set the biblical story of Noah in a modern day context in a wonderful way. I would highly recommend this movie for everyone. It will get you thinking about what God may be asking you to do and how he might be answering your prayers in ways you aren't noticing.

Easiest Pet

When Brant caught a grasshopper two months ago and stuck it in his little bug cage I felt bad for the poor little fella. I knew it was just a matter of days until it was a goner. Two months later, as fall now is setting in, I convinced Brant that it was time to let his pet go. For two months he faithfully put grass and water in the cage and kept his pet alive. I was very impressed! In honor of that accomplishment I give you pictures of his grasshopper's moment of freedom.






























Strange thing was, it hung around in the same place for a couple of days after being set free. I wonder if it forgot how to hop!

Up North

I just got back from at Men's Retreat two hours north of here. We had the chance to do some fun stuff as well as be challenged to be men of God. Since a lot of the fun things were in the water, we were thankful that this just happened to be one of the warmest October weekends we have ever had around here. Each day was in the mid-80s! Here are some pictures from the weekend (along with a picture of the beautiful fall colors -- this is the best time to be living in Michigan!).

Latest Book Review

My book club finished reading Dracula for our last meeting. We had read Frankenstein a couple years earlier and only thought it appropriate to read Dracula as well.

It got high grades for being written long ago in a very unique perspective. It is written as entries from the journals of the characters involved. Surprisingly, there were very few "horror" scenes at all. In fact, almost none. It certainly was unlike any of the modern day depictions of Dracula on the big screen. If you made a movie of the book as it is written it would be a flop for certain. But as it is, it is an entertaining book.

If you had to choose between the two, I'd still choose Frankenstein. I believe it has more action to it, is written in an easier style and carries with it more profound insights.

I'm eager to report on this month's book: Thunderstruck. We have already read Devil in the White City by Larson. If you haven't read that and like a great murder mystery you've got to read it. The wonderful thing about it (the book, not the murders), is that it historical. It is the story of the murders that occurred during the World's Fair in Chicago in the early 20th century. It is a fascinating book. I'll let you know if his latest book rivals that one.

Diet Mentos

I've always heard that Mentos and Diet Coke don't get along real well. "Drop a pack of Mentos into a 2-liter of Diet Coke and it will shoot 30 feet into the air" is what I've heard. Well, last Saturday we went across the street and tried it ourselves. We dropped 6 Mentos into the 2-liter bottle. Just in case you were wondering...the picture below shows the results...not quite 30 feet, but pretty impressive all the same. I guess the 30 feet comes when you attach a smaller spout at the top of the bottle.

If you were interested in seeing the experiment in action you can watch the short video below. (At least I hope you can since this is my first attempt at a video on my blog! Let me know if 49 seconds is too long to load.)

Who ever said that science wasn't fun?!

Interesting Quote...

I found this interesting quote while reaching into the depths of history trivia. I'm sure that one of you will be able to identify who said it. The history behind it is even more interesting. Can you identify who said it and who Peter Deunov is?

"The whole world bows down before me. I bow down before the master Peter Deunov."

Ahoy There!

Don't miss the opportunity today to "ahoy" some of your "mates" at work or school or home. Today is "Talk Like a Pirate Day". If you need some help knowing how to talk like a pirate, this link will get you some pirate lingo. Have fun!

Saturday in the Park

After counting down for many months, Saturday morning found me in Detroit...more specifically: Comerica Park. It was a gorgeous, sunny Saturday that started very early. We left our home a little after 5:30 a.m. and met up our our friends who chauffeured us to Detroit (in a purple mini-van named "The Barney-Mobile" instead of a limousine). By 8:30 we were in the park.

All morning those who came with me were able to wander the park and check it out, relax in the sun, or cheer on their favorite player! I started out my morning by stashing my stuff in the dugout where all my Tiger buddies keep their stuff. Then it was out to left field for some catch. After a while they opened the batting cage down below the visitor's dugout. After watching a few pitches from "robo-pitcher" come flying in way too fast, I decided that I didn't need my ego damaged before facing live pitching and I passed on that.

So, I headed out to take on Dave Rozema. I invited him to pitch underhand if he wished. He wouldn't do that, but he did pitch nice and easy for me. I was able to get a few decent hits. I got ahold of one and got it over the people's heads in left-center field a little ways in front of the warning track. That felt good. (I should make sure that you know that I was using an aluminum bat.)

After hitting I joined the crowd in the outfield catching the fly balls. I spent a little time playing catch with Brant (him in the stands and me on the field). And I went exploring. I walked under the right field seats where the grounds crew works. I found the bullpen door unlatched and checked out the bullpens in left field. And I spent some time just basking in the sunlight in center field!

When we were done around noon, Dave Rozema gave autographs. I couldn't get Brant on the field (although earlier I had "snuck" Brant and Erin into the dugout for a picture) so we took his Tiger shirt off his back and brought it down to be signed along with my cap.

It was really cool to be out on the field where the Tigers play. It was an awesome gift from some great friends! Thanks so much! (Here is a link to Karen's blog that has more pictures:

http://karenlepine.blogspot.com/)