RANDOM PICTURES

RESPONSE FROM JEFF ROORBACH- CONTRITE ENOUGH?

Lords of Shen lend me your ears! The Greatest Dorm on Earth (also known as Shenawana Hall) has certainly not degenerated into a Lord of the Flies scenario, (or the heretical statement of “going South” yuck!) unless of course you are speaking about our wars against South, not Rothenbuhler (ick!). It is with great pride that I wish to report to you, the forerunners from our Great Dorm, that Shen has not only waged victorious battles against the residents of South, but will continue to battle members of South Hall wherever and whenever we find them! The article that I wrote was indeed part creative and part fact but the sacred traditions of our dorm (the man pile, the IBC, and indeed the noise) will never disappear! Lords of Shen please return anytime and guide us (and our RA’s and RD) in the sacred rites and traditions of our dorm! Long live SHEN! In the second year of the reign of Kliner the First,

Jeff Roorbach

Bisso Na Bisso -Tata N'Zambe

This nis the most spiritual and Christian of the songs on Bisso Na Bisso's album "Les Racines," which i bought while I was in quebec. It is an awesome album- one of only three or four that I have ever bought.

Bisso Na Bisso - Bisso Na Bisso

This is in my top ten songs of all time. I first became aquainted with Bisso Na Bisso during the summer when I was studying French in Quebec City.

LEND ME YOUR EARS SHEN LORDS!

I just read the following in the Houghton Milieu, and it is with disgust that I bring it to your attention. They have a piece called "A day in the Life of Houghton College," and our very own Shenawana Hall was featured in the 11:00 pm slot with a brief article entitled Quiet Hours. Has Shenawana degenerated into a Lord of the Flies like scenario. Don't make me come back there Shenawana and drop some law and order on you. ...and I don't know how I feel about this man-pile business and RA's looking the other way "approvingly" at quiet hour violations. What kind of show are they runnin' up there anyway. This was not the Shenawana I remember. Don't go South on me guys! "Quiet Hours means nothing in this dorm." Disgusted.

by Jeffrey D. Roorbach ’09
Shenawana has been pretty calm until now, but guys are coming back from dates, Big Al’s, or the movie (Mission Impossible III) and they’re wound up. Never mind that it’s 11:05; “quiet hours” means nothing in this dorm. I hear the cacophony beginning to rise and walk to the doorway of my room to see what’s going on.
“Man pile!!” someone screams, and guys come running to jump on the growing mound. At the bottom, someone grunts under the intense weight. Two soccer players have an impromptu game going in the hallway. The sounds of Halo, light sabers and movies blare from various rooms. The RA on duty walks around, sees nothing too violent, and nods approvingly of the mayhem. From the lounge come shouts of joy from guys watching a soccer game on TV as their team has just scored. Next door an IBC root beer chugging/belching contest is underway. “We’ll be down in ten minutes!” another guy yells out the bathroom window to friends waiting on the lawn.
If you’re bored in this dorm, it’s your fault.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Every once in a while some famous or important national figure dies and we don't here about anything else in the news for at least week. Sometimes it is the person's life and achievements that brings about the gushy media frenzy (Gerald Ford) and sometimes it is the manner in which they died (Sharon Tate). So for today's question of the day- who will be the next one to go? I personally think the next time we don't even hear about Iraq for a week is when they bag sasquatch, but I think the next significant national figure to die will be none other than Dick Cheney. It saddens me to think about it, but the day must come and I think that ticker is running on sheer momentum. I'm afraid that after 2008 he'll tag out. The burden of this country and all of its weighty concerns are more than that fragile frame can bear. I'll tune in though when it happen. That is the form that my grief will take- a 24 hour news coma.

IT'S A BOY!

I'M READING KON-TIKI BY THOR HEYERDAHL

...and it is making me hungry for an adventure! It is a really good book.

Return Of The Mack - Mark Morrison

It's very strange, but for some reason this song transports me back to Houghton, and reminds me of the real Michael Jordan... not the basketball player. I don't know why it reminds me of Michael Jordan... it just does.

PM Dawn - Set Adrift On Memory Bliss

Trading blow for blow with the Rocket Surgeon.

Clarence Carter - Patches

Just undeniable! What a song!

Ashley Gearing - Ode To Billy Joe

I wish I could find this song performed by the original artist, but this will have to do. I really don't know why this song isn't more famous. It deserves to be.

PRIDE IS EXPENSIVE
AMBITION A THIEF

TATES...THE NEXT GENERATION

PATCHES (The saddest song I've ever heard.)

I was born and raised down in Alabama
On a farm way back up in the woods
I was so ragged the folks used call me patches
Papa used to teas me about it
But deep down inside
He was hurt because he done all he could do
My papa was a great old man
I can see him with a shovel in his hand digging
Education he never had
But he did wonders when the time got bad
A little money from the crops he raised
Helped pay the bills we made
For months he'd been sick and down in the dumps
When he tried to get up life would kick him back down
One day papa called me to his dyin bed
Put his hands on my shoulders And in tears he said
He said Patches, I'm depending on you son
To pull the family through My son, it's all left up to you
Two days later papa passed away
I became a man that day
So I told mama I was gonna quit school
But she said that was daddys strictest rule
So every morning before I went to school
I fed the chickens and I chopped wood too
Sometimes I felt that I couldn't go on
I wanted to leave and run away from home
But I would remember what my daddy said
With tears in his eyes on his dyin bed
He said, "Patches, I'm depending on you son
To pull the family through. My son its all left up to you
Then one day a strong rain came
And washed all the crops away
And at the age of thirteen I thought I was carrying
The weight of the whole world on my shoulders
And you know, mama knew what I was going through, Cause
Everyday I had to work the fields
Cause that's the only way we got our meals
You see, I was the oldest of a family
And everybody else depended on me
Every night I heard my mama pray
Lord, give him the strength to face another day
Though years have passed and all the kids have grown
The Angels took mama to a brand new home
But, No people,I never quit
My daddy's voice still rings through the fields
Sayin, "Patches, I'm depending on you son
To pull the family through My son, it's all left up to you
Patches, I'm depending on you son

MEET YOUR SPOUSE- THIS OR THAT

Hospital

or

Courthouse

"Princess on the steeple and all the pretty people
They're drinkin', thinkin' that they got it made
Exchanging all kinds of precious gifts and things
But you'd better lift your diamond ring, you'd better pawn it babe
You used to be so amused
At Napoleon in rags and the language that he used
Go to him now, he calls you, you can't refuse
When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose
You're invisible now, you got no secrets to conceal.
How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?"

Bob Dylan

Jay & The Americans - Come A Little Bit Closer

This may be my favorite secular song of all time. If not my favorite, than it is definately way up there.

MEET YOUR SPOUSE- THIS OR THAT

Star Trek Convention

or

Hobby Store

GI Brandy

WHAT?!?!? I love GI Joe and I love Brandy by Looking Glass. What a perfect marriage of the two.

Yesterday Sarah was cleaning our bedroom and came upon this letter, which I had written to her in the spring before our wedding. I reread it and thought I should post it here for your enjoyment. In the letter I am rather frank in discussing how much I am looking forward to getting married and having sex, which may offend (gross out) some, but in all it is an interesting window into a very different time in our lives. We were engaged, and I was working as a police officer in St Albans. Sarah had just finished a year at Houghton and was traveling with friends down to South Carolina. The letter, which begins on 4/4 and ends in early may, was written in the months immediately prior to our wedding on 6/16.

Dearest,

4/4/01

It’s 10:30 here. I got up about an hour ago and ate some pancakes. Pancakes can be surprisingly filling. I feel full.
It suddenly occurs to me that you won’t get this until after you get back from your East Coast odyssey. I don’t know whether or not to continue with this or not. After all, I’ll see you in the interim (hopefully).
All the talk on the news is centered on China’s seizure of our spy plane and its 24 crew members. I don’t have much pity for the crew as they are probably being fed Chinese food, and I like Chinese food. I’m just afraid that if Bush doesn’t handle this crisis very carefully he could disrupt the flow of Chinese food. I mean, what would we do if China decided to stop shipping Chinese food to America? Here in St Albans people are lined up outside the royal dynasty, China Wok, and Happy Buffet clamoring for Chinese food before ties are severed. I hope that day never comes.

-I’ll write more later-

4/8/01

I imagine you must be in So. Carolina by now. I’m not sure why I am writing this letter. I guess I just miss you. I hope I get to see you this weekend. I understand if it doesn’t work out though. It’s starting to get warmer up here, which makes me happy.

4/30/01

I’m at my parent’s house. In roughly a month and a half they will be your parents as well. I came down last night after working the parade. I had heard on the weather channel that there was going to be a nice south wind today and there was. I took advantage of the wind by going canoeing. It was beautiful out there.
I have to go back to St Albans tonight though as I have work first thing in the morning. Right now I’m doing laundry. I like Spring out here by the lake as it smells good. You can smell the lake, cedar, and of course “last year’s grass pungent underfoot.” Somebody has been out working on that house on the road behind the lake house. They cut away the bushes and trees on one side so vehicles can get in there, and a hole has been covered in the roof. I wonder if somebody has designs of fixing it up this summer. Maybe on our honeymoon we can find the owner. If we can find him/her we’ll invite him/her over for dinner and poker. Then we’ll get him/her liquored up and hopefully we can win the house in a game of poker. Either that or I’ll wrestle ‘em for it.

5/3/01

I’m sitting in Taylor Park right in the middle of St Albans. I left the apartment to throw out the trash, but it was so nice out that I just kept walking. I walked all over in my sandals, grey shorts and Atari t-shirt before stopping here.
It’s beautiful here right now. Typical morning traffic is winding down main street and everybody is out on their porches or lollygagging outside enjoying the novelty of the warmth and sunshine after the long winter. Yesterday it got up to 96 degrees which is a May record for the State of Vermont. Today it is supposed to be in the mid 80’s. I think it is kind of funny how many people I see with sweaters tied around their waists or with jackets under their arm. It’s like they thing springtime is some cruel hoax, and jack Frost is probably riding the next wind. I think it’ll be warm for awhile though. Thank goodness!
Two days till Mother’s Day. I’m gonna wish you a happy Mother’s day. Although you aren’t a mother yet you will be. You will be the mother of my children. Isn’t that amazing! I can’t wait to be married! I can wait for the wedding, but I’m truly excited about the marriage. I wish you were here right now. We could play chess or something in the park then we would go home and have SEX! Then we’d have lunch, and have sex again. Then I would shower and go into work. Domestic Bliss!
I’m gonna call a travel agent tomorrow about some tickets. I wonder if some day we won’t be so poor. I kind of think of money and finances as a game, and like most games I don’t enjoy it as much if I am losing.
Everything is greening up nicely here in St Albans, and I think that by the next time you see it it’ll be nice and leafy
Well my sweet, I’m gonna wrap this letter up and mail it out. I love you. Apparently there was a $50- limit on my long distance so I won’t have long distance until after I pay this bill. I love you and I’ll call you when I can.

Love, Josh

Thanks John!

I am the reigning champion of the Idyllwild Disc Golf Association. For Christmas my brother John sent me two mid-range discs and a hand drawn outline of a nine-hole disc golf course here on the campground. Lisa Richard and I took it upon ourselves to test the course, and we had a jim-dandy time doing this "research"... oh yes, it's camp related and thus research. It was work...not fun.
Of course, I dominated beating Lisa 43 to 72 (let us gloss over the fact that 28 would have been par for the course. I think I could lower my score even further by using a regular frisbee as well as the mid-range disc that john sent me). The Mid-range disc was too heavy and didn't go very far, but it was awesome in mid-range (of course).
Based on our "research," Lisa and I are in agreement that a formalized Disc golf course will coming to Camp Maranatha sometime in the near future. I will pass on my recommendation to the board that we move forward on this plan with all due dispatch.

BOWDEN: "Daddy, Daddy Lucy has pagetti in her hair.

ME: Oh, I see that.

Bowden: Take it out Daddy.

ME: No, lets leave it.

BOWDEN: Oh yeah, good idea! Dath so funny!

Lucy's angry look.

WE MET AT CAMP

MEET YOUR SPOUSE- THIS OR THAT

LAUNDROMAT

OR

ZOO ?

Second Quarter of Super Bowl XXII

...simply known as the quarter.

Darrell Green

I wish #28 would come out of retirement. Watching this video just transports me back to the glory days, and when he comes out of nowhere at a full sprint to take Dorsett down it makes me want to cry a little.

The Play

Here's to happier days.

Riggo

GET OFF ME!

Snow on Highway 243

This past Wednesday we had three groups coming up to the camp from the Cerritos area. Due to unfortunate timing all three groups started up the mountain during a freak Snow Storm and got stuck about five miles from camp. I spent the better part of the evening driving back and forth in our Explorer (which has four wheel drive) to rescue the campers and their gear. Nobody out here has winter tires and the road crews don't respond with as much vigor and experience. Plus the motorists aren't snow savvy. In all we got about 4-6 inches in an hour.The storm lacked the endurance of one from the northeast, but it was a pretty furious hour.

LONG DECEMBER

Tonight's game against the NY Giants marks the last Redskins game of 2006. Ughhh! Just a nauseating season! I am glad though that the Giant's playoff hopes are riding on this game. I'm glad there is some reason to be passionate about it. The skinz have a chance to play the spoiler... after all misery loves company. Here's to hoping that 2007 will pan out differently, and that I will enjoy Rotel and chips well into 2008.

"It's been a long December
And there's reason to believe
That maybe this year
Will be better than the last."
Counting Crows

GET EM SKINZ!

REV UP THAT DIESEL!

NEW RECURRING FEATURE

This will be a recurring post on the Wing and Wave. You will be presented with two locations or establishments and you have to choose which one you would select to find your future spouse at- as though you can only select your spouse from the folks who visit that location.

Todays options are:

Barnes & Noble

or

The Public Library

A WALK IN THE SNOW

It snowed yesterday, and today I went for a walk on Camp Maranatha's new nature trail, which meanders from the A-frame past Dead Man's Cave and then down to Bear Creek. We plan to extend it up onto the western ridge beyond the gully this summer.

I love the snow and cold temperatures. It reminds me of the 802. Sarah dislikes these things for the same reason.

A full moon shines
Through shivering pines
Casting a steady glow
On me as I talk
With her and walk
Through shadow-dappled snow.

The woods at night
Are black and white,
And strangely silent as though
They're not quite sure
Of me and her-
Are we friend or are we foe?

Everclear: Everything to Everyone

Oh, I love this song!

...FROM JARUDET'S TESTIMONY

They were powerful words and spoken well
Properly weighted as they fell
Through funnel ears and down the spout
Flowing, crashing, swirling about-
Stirring up the sediment sin
Layered deep over the years within
And, oh, that rising flood of grace
Overflowed as tears upon my face
And through the sobs He heard me say
Please, oh Lord, wash these sins away!

THIS MORNING...

This morning as I was pan frying some sausages for breakfast Bowden came running in and proudly announced "Daddy...Daddy...I dressed myself... all by myself." I glanced down and observed that he was wearing a pair of swimming trunks and nothing else. I glanced out the window at the snow on the ground, and then back atBowden. "Good job Bowden... give me five!" Then I picked him up and asked "So, what are you gonna do today?" and he answered "Collect my dreams."

Jack Benny

When we were boys my Dad would buy us tapes of old time radio programs. Jack Benny was always my favorite.

Jack Benny

SoCal Trip

Why did he have to swear? Ruined the whole thing.

I'M BACK

I thought I should post something for my adoring public (shades of Job coming through?), but I have been a little busy, and will continue to be for some time. So posts may be a little few and far between.

I had a pretty sweet vacation back east. Seeing the Liberty bell and Independence hall was nearly a religious experience for me, and of course being back in the 802 was outstanding ass well. I will make no effort to exhaustively document my travels here on this blog. That strikes me as a lot of hard work and also boring for you- my adoring public.

I DO HAVE A QUESTION THOUGH-

In the game "Settlers of Catan", when playing with the expansion pack, is it ever possible for a player to win the game in advance of his/her turn during the "special build" portion of the game or must he/she wait for her turn to declare victory even if he/she has accumulated the necessary number of points during the aforementined "special build"?

I will be sending this query to the makers of the game and will keep you posted with regards to their response.

The Road Not Taken

This struck me as so funny. I can't really explain why though.

Wonder Woman intro

When did TV stop being this cool? I wanna know.

CHiPs intro

So cool!

YEP

I prefer the taste of H2O from a rusty seldom-used water fountain to regular water.

Those who surround themselves with like minded friends are not skilled communicators.

A pebble in your shoe is like a suspicion in your mind. You gotta shake it out into the open.

I'M GOING AWAY FOR A WHILE

Early tomorrow the family and I are driving up to the valley for Thanksgiving. Then the next day we fly to Vermont for a couple of days before driving to Philadelphia on Monday for the CCCA conference. We will be in Philadelphia for 3 nights and then we'll make our return to Vermont where we will stay until the 12th.

If I have access to a computer I may try to make a post, but this could be the last post until the 13th.

Don't cry!

Houghton Wars 2 Trailer

Unsolved Mysteries- Bigfoot

My guess is that sometime in the next ten years Sasquatch will be discovered. No doubt by someone who is man enough to shoot it... like me.

SHEN OR SOUTH? & EAST OR LAMBEIN?

American Idol's Simon and the iconic Paula Abdul

QUE$TION OF THE DAY

If you could only use one denomination of U.S. currency for the rest of your life, and every purchase had to be made with that denomination of currency (no checks, bank cards, etc...), which denomination would you choose?

You could always redeposit any change back into the bank, but you couldn't use it to make a purchase.

PUT ME IN COACH

I have always thought that if an airline wanted to promote itself by improving their coach section they should have a commercial where a baseball team travels on their airline and in a montage format they sing that song;

"Put me in coach
I'm ready to play
Today
Look at me
I can be
Centerfield"

They would have to change the last lines to be more airplane relevant. As they sang they would be stowing muddied cleats and large duffel bags under the seats in front of them, stretching their legs, playing catch in the spacious aisles, you know... stuff like that.

Maybe it would go something like this:

Put me in coach
Take me away
Today
Look at me
I can be
Something something...

You get the idea. Job, maybe as your last hurrah at Continental you can send this idea up the corporate ladder.

PANIC... AS DEFINED FOR ME AT THE VT POLICE ACADEMY

Panic is a sudden and/or overwhelming terror that destroys a person's capacity for self-help.

The Academy forced us to memorize the definitions to lots of words and terms like that, which we were expected to recite verbatim at any given time. The punishment for not knowing the right definition was prolonged physical exercise, or as they called it- remedial training.

That is why I will always know that "attention to detail" means "the close and careful processing of information obtained verbally or visually."

WE ARE PREGNANT AGAIN!

" Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them." Psalm 139:16

MY MOM, JANET TATE, AS A WEE LITTLE ONE

MY LITTLE GIRL

My pretty little
Itty little
Bitty little
Girl.

I love my little spoon!

FOUND MONEY JAR

Since sarah and I moved to California we have been saving every single piece of money that we find in a big pickle jar. It has become second nature to walk through parking lots with our eyes on the ground, and our fingers involuntarily snake in and out of coin returns as we pass. (Money we find in our own house doesn't count... obviously.)

Yesterday I added it all up and found that we had $198.70. Just $1.30 away from the two-hundred dollar mark. That's a whole lot of pennies and bending over.

Congratulations to Heath Shuler!

I would like to reach across the aisle and congratulate a conservative pro-life democrat, Heath Shuler, on his election to the congress. Really it is just good to see a Redskin win. I wish you could have pulled out a victory like this back in the day.

Idiot Boyfriend Music Video

I know I've been a little youtube crazy recently. Forgive me this indulgence.

Shaka Zulu

This is possibly the greatest 2 minutes ever of television. Shaka Zulu, as portrayed in this mini-series, is kind of what i think it would be like if Terrell Owens was allowed to rule a people. I love me some me!

Zebda - Tomber la chemise

MY HIGH SCHOOL ID

This is a picture of a desperate caged animal.

Grandpa McCuen's Operator License

SHEN OR SOUTH?

Liberal gadfly, rabble-rouser, and film maker- Michael Moore.

MY END-OF-SUMMER STAFF LETTER- 2006

Dear Summer Staff 2006,

Something that has always fascinated me are the lives of the early explorers. Down through the years I have bought and read numerous books that describe the life and adventures of explorers like Leif Ericsson, Samuel De Champlain, Davy Crockett, Daniel Boone, Captain Cook, Columbus, Lewis & Clark, etc… Those guys fascinate me. I like to think about those fragile men facing nature’s worst and uncertain treatment at the hands of natives. I am also captivated by descriptions of the untouched lands they found, the adventures they had, the sacrifices they endured, and the way that they helped shape the world as we know it. As a boy, I used to fantasize and daydream about what it would have been like to accompany them on their adventures, and it wasn’t until relatively recently that I realized I was standing on the cusp of an adventure myself.
It sounds trite to say, but our walk with Christ is intended to be a fun and exciting adventure. IT REALLY IS! As I grew up, I didn’t think of my faith as an exciting thing. I had it too wrapped up in obligatory church attendance and what I perceived as boring patterns established by my parents. What seemed exciting to me was not pleasing to God, and so, in my heart of hearts, I fostered a secret resentment of God and the restraints that he put on me. He delivered me from that false understanding of things, and has given me an excitement that can only come from pulling anchor in the old world of who you were and what you were doing and setting sail for the new world of who God wants you to be and what he wants you to do.
There is nothing more exciting this side of eternity than the Lord’s will for our lives. It is like the fuzzy outlines of an undiscovered continent barely visible on the wave- tossed horizon. I tingle with excitement at the thought of my boots marring the surface of that virgin shore. I think of all the interesting people I will meet, the gifts I will discover, the adventures I will have, the untouched territory that I will claim for Christ, and I grow more and more excited.
Yet still, it is natural to be a little frightened by the prospect too. Just like with those early explorers there will be hardship and resistance. We are still fragile men and women facing the worst that man and nature can throw at us, but we find both confidence and joy when we find ourselves in that trench with Christ. In John 16:33 Christ says, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
So be excited, and don’t ever let Sunday Morning become the sum total of your walk because that is really just admiring and celebrating explorers without becoming one yourself. So, remember now your creator in the days of your youth (Ecclesiastes 12:1) and get excited! Live with an eternal perspective. Pursue the adventure of the Lord’s will. Revel in it! I pray that God would give you an irresistible bursting desire to follow Him, an excitement about the same, and that he would open your eyes to the exciting places, people and times around you.

HUTELA AMADUNDAR!

Your Brother in Christ, Josh Tate