ivman's blague

If I were to lead off this blog post telling you that Art Clokey had passed away, you might be wondering, "Yeah, ... um ... Art Who?!" That name is not well known to most of us. If I said that the creator of Gumby, Pokey, Davey and Goliath had passed away, most of you, recognizing those names, would still be hard pressed to pull the name Art Clokey out of thin air.

Well, anyway, Art Clokey, creator of Gumby, Pokey, Davey and Goliath, passed away on January 8, 2010. He and his wife Ruth were pioneers in making stop motion clay animation popular. Clay animated films, now better known as claymation, were produced in the United States as early as 1908, but the work of the Clokeys beginning in about 1955 helped popularize the medium.

I'm by no means an expert on Clokey or claymation, but I do like Gumby and have more recently enjoyed Wallace and Gromit, by Nick Park of Aardman Animations, not by Clokey. You can check out the articles on Wikipedia about Art Clokey and claymation if you'd like to learn more.

So why Semper Gumby!?

Becka and I have taught two summers in China. After the first summer there we learned and adopted the motto Semper Gumby! (= Always flexible!) If you've had a Gumby, you know about Gumby's flexibility. Americans teaching in China must learn to be flexible because anything and everything can change drastically, and at the drop of a hat. Here's our experience with that.
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I had asked prayer in my post yesterday morning for Dr. Frank Garlock and Mrs. Sarah Bennett specifically. The families of each received word yesterday afternoon that they have been found and are doing fine. There are certainly many more needs there that need our prayers and our financial assistance. If you would like to give something that you are sure will go to meet the real needs of real people, there's a link on Bibles International's site giving a way you can help. The people at Bibles International are fine folks and I'm sure they will target your gifts to those they can best help.

Just last week I had run across a picture online of how the earthquake epicenters are where the tectonic plates are located and pondered several regions. Here's a smaller version of the picture. You can click on it to see an enlarged version.

One thing I noticed last week was that there's a huge band going through the Caribbean, right where Haiti sits. When I heard about the earthquake, my thoughts went back to the map I had just seen. My heart goes out to the people in Haiti who are going through this. If you know of other specific needs, please add them to the comments to this post so that we can join you in praying for them.

school update...

The semester is off to a good start ... at the point of this posting, two classes down this morning, two to go this afternoon, and I will have met all my students for this semester.

quotation...

"Vision without action is a day dream; action without vision is a nightmare." - Johannes Mutzke

=^..^= =^..^=
Rob

Most people want to serve God, but only in an advisory capacity.

Filling out forms ranks right up there on the list of things people hate to do. Accident insurance claim forms can be frustrating because they ask for a brief statement about how the accident happened. Attempting brevity can lead to some curiously-phrased explanations.

We were relieved not to hear of any serious accidents involving our students or faculty returning from Christmas break. Thanks to all who prayed for their safety.

Now, on to the humorous statements from actual accident reports....

The other car collided with mine without giving warning of its intentions.

As I approached the intersection, a stop sign suddenly appeared in a place where no stop sign had ever appeared before. I was unable to stop in time to avoid the accident.

A truck backed through my windshield into my wife's face.

A pedestrian hit me and went under my car.
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Have you ever been stranded? You read or hear stories about people who are stranded in all sorts of situations — along a highway, in the woods, on a mountain, in a boat, in the snow, on an island, and many other scenarios. Just recently on the news there was a story of young boy who spent a night in the woods after getting lost while skiing. Once found, he was facing losing several toes from frostbite. Being stranded has been romanticized in literature and on film, but the difficulties, fear, loneliness, and necessities of life would quickly crowd out any dreamy notions.

One time in France we shared a train compartment with an American man and his child. While in Italy the father had been pickpocketed and lost all his money, their tickets, and any form of identification. He didn't speak the language and had to try to rebuild his identity and to come up with enough money to obtain food and lodging and to get themselves back to the USA. He said that beyond the frustrations of his situation was the terror of being stranded and feeling utterly helpless. We shared his horror as he recounted their experience, and I was able to share with him what would have been our Confidence in such a situation.

Today I'm posting three fictitious stories about people stranded on islands and what happened to them.
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Do you remember a milkman bringing milk in glass bottles to your home? Milkmen were still doing that during my childhood in Fostoria, Ohio, the town where my wife and I grew up. My parents did not get our milk through the milkman, but my wife's parents did. She has vivid memories of going out to pet his horse and of the cardboard tops being pushed off milk bottles that had frozen on the doorstep.

Something I do remember was having a milk break during the morning in early elementary school. The milk came in little glass bottles and cost us two or three cents a day.

Here's a picture of such a milkman's cart of that era:

What I'm posting today is supposed to be notes left for milkmen in England, where milk is still being delivered to homes. I did some checking online to see if milkmen still deliver milk in England. Here is an excerpt of what I found at icons.org/uk

The early morning chink-chink of the milkman or woman and the hum of the electric float is declining in 21st-century England though – despite efforts to extend the range of products on offer to include eggs, bread, juice and more. Despite rumours to the contrary, there is no threat to UK milk deliveries from the European Union, but there might just be one from lack of domestic interest.

Notes left for milkmen in England

"Milkman please close the gate behind you because the birds keep pecking the tops off the milk."

"Dear Milkman, I've just had a baby, please leave another one."

"Please leave an extra pint of paralysed milk."
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