[5723] in Central_America
New quotes for Wed Jan 4
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Central America)
Wed Jan 4 04:08:36 1995
Date: Wed, 4 Jan 1995 04:08:07 -0500
From: Central America <root@charon.MIT.EDU>
To: ca-mtg@charon.MIT.EDU
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eichin (Mark W. Eichin):
toys:
I got an N-scale model train set for Christmas (just an engine and
loop of track, but it's a good start.) I haven't had a train set of
my own in *years*. I'm *happy* :-)
work:
Staying more on track -- and finding that I still have time for
the sillier hacking I do. (For example, I've now got emacs lisp
code for DES that encrypts over 42 bytes per second on a 486/25
and it has actually helped me debug some kerberos-related code!)
(... and now I'm up to 165bps on that code... :-)
play:
Getting the train set up on the net. (If you know of any model
railroad pages, please email me the url...)
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glickman (Todd Glickman):
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mwhitson (Michael Whitson):
So I went to Royal East for dinner on christmas day. Got one of the
most depressing fortunes of my life:
"There is a true and sincere friendship between you both."
============================================================
My current theme song - Ghost of a Chance
Like a million little doorways
All the choices we made
All the stages we passed through
All the roles we played
For so many different directions
Our separate paths might have turned
With every door that we opened
Every bridge that we burned
Chorus:
Somehow we find each other
Through all that masquerade
Somehow we found each other
And somehow we have stayed
In a state of grace
I don't believe in destiny
Or the guiding hand of fate
I don't believe in forever
Or love as a mystical state
I don't believe in the stars or the planets
Or angels watching from above
But I believe there's a ghost of a chance
I can find someone to love
And make it last
Like a million little crossroads
Through the backstreets of youth
Each time we turn a new corner
A tiny moment of truth
For so many different connections
Our separate paths might have made
With every door that we opened
Every game we played
Chorus
-Rush
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rlcarr (Rich Carreiro):
And Joseph went up from Galilee to Bethlehem with Mary, his
espoused wife, who was great with child. And she brought
forth a Son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid
Him in a manger because there was no room for them in the
inn. And the angel of the Lord spoke to the shepherds and
said, "I bring you tidings of great job, for unto you is
born this day a Savior, which is Christ the Lord."
"There's a problem with the angel," said a Pharisee who
happened to be strolling by. As he explained to Joseph,
"Angels are widely regarded as religious symbols, and the
stable is on public property where such symbols are not
allowed to land, or even hover."
"And I have to tell you, this whole thing looks to me very
much like a Nativity scene," he said sadly. "That's a
no-no, too." Joseph had a bright idea. "What if I put a
couple of reindeer over there near the ox?" he said, eager
to avoid sectarian strife.
"That would definitely help," said the Pharisee, who knew as
well as anyone that whenever a savior appeared, judges
usually liked to be on the safe side and surround it with
deer or woodland creatures of some sort. "Just to clinch
it, throw in a candy cane and a couple of elves and snowmen,
too," he said. "No court can resist that."
Mary asked, "What does my Son's birth have to do with
snowmen?"
"Snowpersons," cried a young woman, changing the subject
before it veered dangerously toward religion. Off to the
side of the crowd, a Philistine was painting the Nativity
scene. Mary complained that she and Joseph looked too
tattered and worn in the picture. "Artistic license," he
said. "I've got to show the plight of the haggard homeless
in a greedy, uncaring society in winter," he quipped.
"We're not haggard or homeless. The inn was just full,"
said Mary. "Whatever," said the painter.
Rum pa pum pum.
Two women began to argue nearby. One said she objected to
Jesus' birth "because it privileged motherhood." The other
scoffed at virgin births, but said that if they encouraged
more attention to diversity in family forms and the rights
of single mothers, well, then, she was all for them. "I'm
not a single mother," Mary started to say, but she was cut
off by a third woman who insisted that swaddling clothes are
a form of child abuse, since they restrict the natural
movement of babies.
With the arrival of 10 child advocates, all trained to spot
infant abuse and manger rash, Mary and Joseph were pushed to
the edge of the crowd, where arguments were breaking out
over how many reindeer (or what mix of reindeer and seasonal
sprites) had to be installed to compensate for the infant's
unfortunate religious character.
An older man bustled up, bowling over two merchants, who had
been busy debating whether an elf is the same as a fairy and
whether the elf/fairy should be shaking hands with Jesus in
the crib or merely standing to the side, jumping around like
a sports mascot.
"I'd hold off on the reindeer," the man said, explaining
that the use of ass and oxen as picturesque backdrops for
Nativity scenes carries the subliminal message of human
dominance. He passed out two leaflets, one denouncing
manger births as invasions of animal space, the other
arguing that stables are "penned environments" where animals
are incarcerated against their will.
Signs declaring "Free the Bethlehem 2" began to appear,
referring to the obviously exploited ass and ox. Someone
said the halo on Jesus' head was elitist. Mary was
exasperated. "And what about you, old mother?" she said
sharply to an elderly woman. "Are you here to attack the
shepherds as prison guards for excluded species, may to
complain that singing in Latin identifies us with our Roman
oppressors, or just to say that I should have skipped
patriarchal religiosity and joined some dumb new-age goddess
religion?"
"None of the above," said the woman, "I just wanted to tell
you that the Magi are here." Sure enough, the three wise
men rode up. The crowd gasped, "They're all male!" And
"Not very multicultural!" "Balthasar here is black," said
one of the Magi. "Yes, but how many of you are gay or
disabled?" someone shouted. A committee was quickly formed
to find an impoverished, lesbian wise-person among the
population of Bethlehem.
A calm voice said, "Be of good cheer, Mary, you have done
well and your Son will change the world." At last, a sane
person, Mary thought. She turned to see a radiant and
confident female face. The woman spoke again, "There is one
thing, though. Religious holidays are important, but can't
we learn to celebrate them in ways that unite, not divide?
For instance instead of all this business about 'Gloria in
excelsis Deo,' why not just 'Season's Greetings'?"
Mary said, "You mean my Son has entered human history to
deliver the message, 'Hello, it's winter'?" "That's harsh,
Mary," said the woman. "Remember, your Son could make it
big in midwinter festivals, if he doesn't push the religion
thing too far. Centuries from now, in nations yet unborn,
people will give each other pricey presents and have big
office parties on His birthday. That's not chopped liver."
"Let me get back to you," Mary said.
Attributed to John Leo, US News & World Report
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theodric (Theodric Young):
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yeeehaa (Lee D Rockford):
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--- End of Central America ---
