Monday, September 30, 2013

Caption contest for October 4!

CAPTION CONTEST, Week 40The Amazing Race is back! So… why am I in it? Who is my partner? WHERE is my partner? What am I pointing at? What is wrong with me that I spend so much time doctoring these pictures?  You provide the caption -- comment below! The same pic will show here and on Facebook. I'll repost the pic with my favorite caption on Friday. (As always, no prizes, other than the glory/infamy of being chosen.)

Friday, September 27, 2013

Week 39 winner!

Wow, lots of funny this week, including a few groaners about my “missing the point,” but this is your winning caption – congratulations first-time winner Matt McBrayer!!

This week’s Honorable Mentions: David Wilmoth: “Seurat's famous ‘Sunday Afternoon Disturbed by Brad and his 80's Playlist’”; Chase Gooding: “As Brad rewound his latest learning track, the adverse effects rippled throughout history.”; Jared Holt: “Rule Six of the Barbershop Harmony Society Code of Ethics, ‘We shall refrain from forcing our songs upon unsympathetic ears,’ had no bearing on Brad.”; and StupidGuest Trickshhsrat: "Brad, lacking tophat, monocle, and handlebar mustache, or even any part of the trifecta, realizes that he doesn't quite fit in.” 

Thanks to all who entered! New picture coming Monday! 

Monday, September 23, 2013

Caption contest for Sept. 27!

CAPTION CONTEST, Week 39 -- Hey, I'm in a painting this week! How would YOU caption this picture? Comment below! The same pic will show here and on Facebook. I'll repost the pic with my favorite caption on Friday. (As always, no prizes, other than the glory/infamy of being chosen.)

Friday, September 20, 2013

Week 38 winner!


Annnnnd… Scott Collier takes the prize this week! (Nope, still no prize.) Although I have to say, I wasn’t sure if his words were meant to be an official caption entry, or if he personally was saying this to me. Either way, congratulations, Scott!

This week’s Honorable Mentions: Stupid Guest TricksZazu: "You can't win by default by barring the other contestants with a restraining order!"; CS-Gail Randall: “Brad, usually the 'Hokey-Pokey" isn't considered a dance style. Nice try, though!”; Alan AJ Irby: “The new breakout show from the creators of Dancing With The Stars and Breaking Bad: Dancing Bad.”; and Larry Lozuk: “Hey - didn't you used to be Jennifer Gray before you got that nose job?” 

Thanks to all who entered! New picture coming Monday! 

Monday, September 16, 2013

Caption contest for Sept. 20!

CAPTION CONTEST, Week 38 -- So, Dancing With The Stars' new season starts tonight... How would YOU caption this picture? Comment below! The same pic will show here and on Facebook. I'll repost the pic with my favorite caption on Friday. (As always, no prizes, other than the glory/infamy of being chosen.)

Friday, September 13, 2013

Week 37 winner!

Another first-time winner this week, a wonderful friend from our years in Beaumont: Christy Davis! Congratulations, Christy!
 
It’s an all StupidGuestTricks.com Honorable Mention crew this week! Big Wallaby: "Glinda was sick, so the union had sent Brad, the Good Wombat of the Northeast Quadrant of the Northwest Quadrant of the Northeast Quadrant of the Southwest Quadrant of the Southwest Quadrant of Section 17 of Township 7 North, Range 1 West of Oz."; Zazu: “I'm from the Immigration and Inter-Dimensional Transfer Administration of Oz. May I please see your green card?”; hobie16: “Where am I? Who are you? Isn't this the sequel to ‘Bubble Boy’?”; and hhsrat: “Do you have a permit for your concealed canine?” 

Thanks to all who entered! New picture coming Monday! 

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Thoughts on Les Misérables


No, not the movie(s) or the musical; the book. In the past few years I’ve been taking advantage of the many free, classic books available for Kindle, and Les Misérables is my latest conquest. It’s taken me several months, during which time I took breaks and read other wonderful novels, but I’ve finally finished this epic and moving story.

Actually, to call Les Misérables “epic” is an understatement. In addition to the decades-spanning story, which on the screen takes hours to tell even in abbreviated form,
the book takes no shortcuts in setting up each location, each theme, each character. For example, the Bishop of Digne, who has a pivotal but brief scene early in the movie adaptations, is the primary figure in the first ten percent of the book, long before Jean Valjean appears. There are multiple chapters on the Battle of Waterloo – which does not figure in the main storyline, but helps to establish the backstory of a few characters. Before Jean Valjean hides in a convent, we are treated to a lengthy discourse on the history and philosophy of French nunneries. Before he carries Marius through the sewers of Paris, there are whole chapters on the history and, yes, even the philosophy behind those sewers.

And yet it is almost all fascinating reading. (By contrast, Moby Dick’s many retreats into the history of whaling left me snoozing.) We share the trials and triumphs of each character, from the mundane events of everyday life to the upheavals of the times in which they lived. Still, it becomes clear that none of the multiplicity of characters, from the saintly but human Bishop or the villainous Thenardier, nor even the “main” character of Valjean, is the true subject of the story. Les Misérables is a story of Providence, of the hand of God in each life’s events – from the ordinary to the dramatic.

As a follower of Jesus, I was particularly drawn to the interplay between Inspector Javert and Jean Valjean, as it is a pure conflict between Law and Grace. Valjean, a criminal who broke parole, is in the eyes of the law deserving of being returned to prison labor in the galleys, and Javert cannot see him otherwise. Yet Valjean broke his parole by starting a new life – by leaving his criminal past behind him and turning to good. The hand of Providence, first extended to him by the Bishop of Digne, has by grace provided for him a redeemed life, even though the law demands his punishment.

There is an early footnote concerning Valjean’s family history, almost a throwaway “factoid,” but it made the novel an order of magnitude more powerful to me. The footnote explains that Jean Valjean was named for his father, and “Valjean” was likely not a family name. Instead, it probably began as a nickname – the father’s name was Jean, and “Valjean” was a shortened form of “voilà Jean” – here’s Jean.” And “Jean” – John – is as common a name in France as here. 

So Jean Valjean, the man enslaved by his sin, but then redeemed by Providence and set free to live a better life, is “John – here’s John.” He’s everyman. He’s you and me. Les Misérables is a story of God and us.