A Word About the Olympics

First, the opening ceremonies were the best that have ever been.  Bar none.  China should be awfully proud.

Second, the best sports to watch are gymnastics, swimming, and platform diving.  The rest are dull and boring and hardly worth any effort.

Third, if I were an Olympic athlete I would be a gymnast- if I could be a gymnast, in fact, I would.

Fourth, if the following bibliobloggers were in the Olympics, here are the sports they would participate in:

Antonio Lombatti: dresage (I don’t think that’s the right spelling but it’s the horse riding thing)
Bishop Wrong: Ping Pong
Chris Brady: Synchronized Swimming
Chris Tilling: heavens— I guess towel boy or water boy or something non essential
Darrell Pursiful: Swimming
Doug Chaplin: He’s British, he would be swimming
Drew Tatusko: Gymnastics
Esteban Vazquez: See Chris Tilling above
James Crossley: Greco-Roman Wrestling (in a cage match)
James Spinti- Cycling (naturally)
John Hobbins: Cross Country Skiing – (Oh what’s that you say, wrong time of year?)
Mark Goodacre: Swimming (he’s British too)
Robert Cargill: Dresage (see above)
Scott Bailey: Hockey (Oh what’s that you say, wrong time of year?)
Tim Bulkeley: Volleyball

David Ker: Dancing (in one of those groups with batons and banners and streamers and the like)

Whatever your sport- enjoy the games!

Two Kinds of Poor

The 1520 ‘Alms Statute‘ of Zurich describes two kinds of poor people.  The first, who were to be left to suffer the misery of poverty and refused state aid were “those men and women, young and old. who squander or have squandered their belongings dissolutely, excessively, and presumptuously, be it on expensive, superfluous, or presumtuous clothing, which is not appropriate to them, or on costly, superfluous food and drink, of which they have no need, or on gambling or other brazen and unnecessary things.”

The second were those ‘many pious, honorable people, who were of good birth and who have not wastefully or presumptuously depleted or squandered their belongings and who have truly sought in all manner all their lives, with God and honor, with their labor to employ their time honorably and to nourish themselves and their own.”   And they were to be helped by the state because they ‘were not poor through wastefulness or extravagence.’

Zwingli was, naturally, behind the theological materials the city council made use of in reaching their decision.

[See the tremendous 'Always Among Us' by Lee Palmer Wandel for more on the subject of poverty in Zurich during Zwingli's tenure].

3000 Words

These photos were taken by me this morning next to the Church on the road running between the building and the parking lot.  3000 words worth…  So I’ll let them speak for themselves.

Tel Kabri

Via Eric Cline

The co-directors of the Kabri Archaeological Project (KAP), Assaf Yasur-Landau and Eric H. Cline, would like to announce that a pdf of the preliminary results from the 2008 excavation season at Tel Kabri is now available at: http://digkabri.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/report-on-the-results-of-the-2008-excavation-season-at-tel-kabri1.pdf.  If the direct link does not work for some reason, go to http://digkabri.wordpress.com/ and click on the link there to download the pdf.  Links to the results of previous seasons (2005, 2006, and 2007) are also listed at http://digkabri.wordpress.com/

KAP Publications which have already appeared are:

E.H. Cline and A. Yasur-Landau, “Poetry in Motion: Canaanite Rulership and Aegean Narrative at Kabri,” in EPOS: Reconsidering Greek Epic and Aegean Bronze Age Archaeology: 157-165, S.P. Morris and R. Laffineur, eds. Aegaeum 28. Liège: Université de Liège. 2007.

A. Yasur-Landau, E.H. Cline, and G.A. Pierce, “Middle Bronze Age Settlement Patterns in the Western Galilee, Israel,” Journal of Field Archaeology 33/1 (2008 ) 59-83.

Tisha B’Av

The observance of Tisha B’Av begins at sundown today.

Tisha B’Av, the Fast of the Ninth of Av, is a day of mourning to commemorate the many tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people, many of which coincidentally have occurred on the ninth of Av. … Tisha B’Av primarily commemorates the destruction of the first and second Temples, both of which were destroyed on the ninth of Av (the first by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E.; the second by the Romans in 70 C.E.). … The restrictions on Tisha B’Av are similar to those on Yom Kippur: to refrain from eating and drinking (even water); washing, bathing, shaving or wearing cosmetics; wearing leather shoes; engaging in sexual relations; and studying Torah. Work in the ordinary sense of the word [rather than the Shabbat sense] is also restricted. People who are ill need not fast on this day. Many of the traditional mourning practices are observed: people refrain from smiles, laughter and idle conversation, and sit on low stools. In synagogue, the book of Lamentations is read and mourning prayers are recited. The ark (cabinet where the Torah is kept) is draped in black.

To our Jewish readers- we hope you experience a reflective and memorable observance.