Tax Day

I love Jon Stewart.

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Tempest in a Tea Party
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“Taxed Enough Already.” Protesting high taxes and government’s wasteful spending.

Okay, part two first: as Jon Stewart notes, protesting wasteful spending by buying lots and lots and lots of tea bags—and I may be going out on a limb here, but I doubt they’re going to use those afterwards—doesn’t spell anything as much as it does irony.

Second, protesting high taxes against a President who offers a tax decrease for 95% of the population is like biting the hand that just fed you some good food.

Anyway, in other news … the Seattle Mariners stand at 7-2 and are off to their best start since 2001. I’ve been loathe to mention this in case I jinx their run of six straight wins—my superstition is linked only to sports; and if they lose tonight, don’t expect me to blog about them again for awhile. But it’s SO good to have Ichiro and Griffey back.

[Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images]

And Arsenal beat Villareal comfortably last night to sweep to sweep into the Champions League semi-final, where they’ll face Man U on April 29th (at Old Trafford) and May 5th (at the Emirates). It ought to be a cracking encounter! Meanwhile, enjoy highlights of last night.

Arsenal Vs. Villarreal at FootyTube.com

Have you heard?

“Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery?” they said. “He is not here, but raised up.”

Every person dies.

Only one has been raised from the dead.

What a weekend.

[From The Passion of the Christ. Graphic content. All images belong to MGM and Icon.]

A little splash of music

With Lifesize

From the Bull & Gate, March 2006:
“Undone”

“Her”

Solo

From Coffee by the Books, December 2006:
“Whispers and Wind”

From Coffee by the Books, February 2007:
“For a Rainy Day (Laura’s Song)”

From Coffee by the Books, November 2008:
“Winter is Over”

“All I Want is You” (U2 cover)

The Morning After

[Frank Bramley. A Hopeless Dawn. 1888. Oil on canvas.]

Daybreak brings cold, harsh sunlight. It’s the day after …

And he’s dead. The rabbi, the teacher, the prophet, the messiah. Dead as dead can be.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. This wasn’t the glorious end we’d all imagined for the Chosen One. A walk of shame up to a hill of death instead of a procession of victory through the streets of the city. A cross instead of a throne. Jeering instead of cheering. Baying for blood instead of celebrating the grace and goodness of God.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. My hope, my heart, feel like they’ve been ripped from my chest, torn into a million pieces and stomped into the gravel. Repeatedly.

The air seems somehow less oxygenated, and every breath is a gasp for life, for hope, for light, for anything to keep me going.

But there is nothing. Jesus is dead, and there is no hope.

Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the shades rise up to praise you? Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in hell? Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness? (Ps. 88:10-12).

Good Friday

How could anything so tragic be good?

[From Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, 2004.]

And the account from Matthew’s Gospel (27:27-54):

Matt. 27:27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. 31 After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

Matt. 27:32 As they went out, they came upon a man from Cyrene named Simon; they compelled this man to carry his cross. 33 And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), 34 they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. 35 And when they had crucified him, they divided his clothes among themselves by casting lots; 36 then they sat down there and kept watch over him. 37 Over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”

Matt. 27:38 Then two bandits were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” 41 In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying, 42 “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants to; for he said, ‘I am God’s Son.’” 44 The bandits who were crucified with him also taunted him in the same way.

Matt. 27:45 From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 46 And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 47 When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “This man is calling for Elijah.” 48 At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. 49 But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” 50 Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. 51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. 53 After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many. 54 Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”

Maundy Thursday post-op

Today I had my three week post-op appointment with my surgeon; the next time I see him will be in a month. Everything’s pretty much going according to schedule (or perhaps even ahead); I’m on soft foods for another month, since my jaw is held together by three screws on each side (not one as previously reported) … and little screws at that. In the last week of ‘eating’, I’ve put back on 2lb of the 7lb that I lost the previous two weeks.

As you can see above from the pre-op and post-op cephalometric x-rays, there’s a slight but noticeable difference. (And of course, you can see the little screws.)

In non-surgery news, life is as busy as I expected it to be, and I haven’t yet settled into a routine in terms of when I’m gonna get everything done. But hopefully this Easter weekend, as well as commemorating the momentous events of two thousand years ago, I’ll be able to collect my thoughts in preparation for the remaining eight weeks of the quarter, which’ll undoubtedly be full pelt (apart from the week I’m in DC/MA).

Finally, as I mentioned in the title, today is Maundy Thursday, or the day we remember the Last Supper. Here’s the account from Luke’s Gospel (22:14-27):

Luke 22:14 When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. 15 He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; 18 for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. 21 But see, the one who betrays me is with me, and his hand is on the table. 22 For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that one by whom he is betrayed!” 23 Then they began to ask one another, which one of them it could be who would do this.

Luke 22:24 A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25 But he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 26 But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. 27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

[Nicolas Poussin. The Last Supper. 1640s. Oil on canvas. The Trustees of Rutland Trust, Belvoir Castle, Grantham, UK.]

Happy Maundy Thursday!

More on the Wilkins ice-shelf

From the BBC: