The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything

LARRY'S SILLY SONGS listen here

Narrator: "Joining Larry are Pa Grape and Mr. Lunt, who together make up the infamous gang of scalliwags, the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything!"

Larry, Pa, Mr. Lunt: "We are the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything! We just stay home and lie around. And if you ask us to do anything, we'll just tell you ..."
Larry: "We don't do anything!"

Pa: "Well, I've never been Greenland and I've never been to Denver, and I've never buried treasure in St. Louis or St. Paul, and I've never been to Moscow and I've never been to Tampa, and I've never been to Boston in the fall."

All: "'Cuz we're the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything! We just stay home and lie around. And if you ask us to do anything, we'll just tell you ..."

Mr. Lunt: "We don't do anything. And I never hoist the mainstay and I never swab the poop deck, and I never veer to starboard 'cuz I never sail at all, and I've never walked the gang plank and I've never owned a parrot, and I've never been to Boston in the fall."

All: "'Cuz we're the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything! We just stay at home and lie around. And if you ask us to do anything, we'll just tell you ... We don't do anything!"

Larry: "Well, I've never plucked a rooster and I'm not too good at ping-pong, and I've never thrown my mashed potatoes up against the wall, and I've never kissed a chipmunk and I've never gotten head lice, and I've never been to Boston in the fall!"

Pa: "Huh? What are you talking about? What's a rooster and mashed potatoes have to do with being a pirate??"
Mr. Lunt: "Hey, that's right! We're supposed to sing about pirate-y things!"
Larry: "Oh ..."
Pa: "And who ever kissed a chipmunk? That's just nonsense! Why even bring it up? Am I right? What do you think?"
Mr. Lunt: "I think you look like Cap'n Crunch!"
Pa: "Huh? No I don't!"
Mr. Lunt: "Do too."
Pa: "Do not!"
Mr. Lunt: "You're making me hungry."
Pa: "That's it, you're walkin' the plank!"
Mr. Lunt: "Says who?"
Pa: "Says the captain, that's who!"
Mr. Lunt: "Oh, yeah? Aye aye, Cap'n Crunch!"

Larry: "And I've never licked a spark plug and I've never sniffed a stink bug, and I've never painted daisies on a big red rubber ball, and I've never bathed in yogurt and I don't look good in leggings ..."
Pa: "You just don't get it!"
All: "And we've never been to Boston in the fall!"

Pa: "Pass the chips! Who's got the remote control?"
Larry: "Here it is!"
Mr. Lunt: "Time for Geraldo!"
Pa: "It's definitely time for Wapner."
Mr. Lunt: "Oh, I don't like this show ..."
Larry: "Hey, look! I found a quarter!"

Words and Music by Mike Nawrocki.©1997 Big Idea Productions, Inc.

Valley of Decision

בְּעֵמֶק הֶחָרוּץ
be.e.mek he.kha.ruts

What a few months, these! Rosh Hashanah has just passed, and Yom Kippur is coming this weekend. Its been a brisk year since the last Yom Kippur. Time, space, tension all seem scrambled-tangled up. So here I am. Not quite at the threshold of a normal year, but at the Threshold of a New Year, nonetheless. The High Holy Days of HaShem.

This time this year, I now stand at the valley of decision. My valley. Big questions, feeling the gravity of things. No excuses of time and duty to shade me from the harshness of a quarter century. More to come, inevitable, inescapable, no longer inculpable. It comes down to motive, support, love, time and money.

I now stand at the edge of a sliver of opportunity having both time and some money- how often is that? What to do now? What to do next? Why do? I do? You do. I go. Where? There. Eh? Mea Culpa.

So I look at schools; I do my part.
Answer my call the way I know how.
Fearing the promise, balking at the contrived.
Knowing His faithfulness to lead and provide.

The Christ-life and the Light of Life
To shine in me, to walk with Him.
Easy to profess, hard to live out.
Shout, cry and groan in doubt.

In the meantime, I'm looking at Ulan Bataar, Hovsgol Nuur, Morin Huur, of lovely, friendly people by the name of Bataa, Badnaa and Boogii. Irkutsk and Orkhon, train schedules and petty bureacracy, late fall and advancing winter. Minya panimayoo gavaritch par-Russki! Isvinityeh? Nyet nyet, eta skolka stoit? Da, Slava Bogh!

Shall I go or shall I stay,
and if go, for how long and what shall I say?
Vanity, and a chasing of the wind?
God, grant me with the wisdom to pray!

How do we know the purpose of God, and how do we follow it? Quite definitely, the best place you ever want to be in your life, is to be in the Middle of the Good and Perfect will of God. That's theoretical- how do we put that into practice? It seems to me, from my experience and what I understand of the Goodness of God, taking into consideration the limitations of imperfect man, finding the will of God in our lives and living there seems not to be an end in itself(its not supposed to be), but a process.

Its just like Ye Ol' powerful reiterative method in Calculus- the Newton-Raphson Method. You are given a [usually non-linear, convergent] function, and you try to find its solutions. Using the N-R method, you basically reiterate- a rough solution is obtained, which you plug in for a second round. That rough solution isn't the final solution, but it certainly is a good indicator of where that perfect answer lies. When you plug that rough solution in, you get a more refined answer, which nevertheless still falls short of the perfect solution. And you do this a few more times. Depending on your function (hopefully convergent!) and your starting bid (not absurbly off), you will find that with each iteration, you get closer and closer to the perfect answer. Of course, in an imperfect (albeit mathematical world), we'll never ever quite get there. But close enough. The assurance, however, is we will definitely get closer. Blame it on asymptotes, ground toads, lymph nodes and tree frogs.

Likewise, finding the good and perfect will of God in our lives is a process- an iterative one, which goes on all the days of our lives until we are free of this fallen body. (I'm no gnostic!) I think the relief in this is that that's the whole point- to work through that process of reiteration (neither am I Buddhist!). Sure, to arrive at that goal is one thing, but the process points to our obedience and humility to the Author and Perfector of our faith. That, right now, seems to be the whole point.

He puts markers in our lives- milestones, roadblocks, signposts... those sort of things.

We don't get to Oz on an 28hr direct non-stop flight.
No. We don't get straight there.
We sip and taste of His goodness.
We walk and weather,
Sit and gather.
Cast our nets wide, and
Be obedient to obey when
He says to cast our nets on the right side.

That's the story for me right now anyway. Cast my bread on many waters, spreading my net wide, trying to be obedient to walk that seemingly dead-end path, that everyone thinks is a lemon. What will it take for me to walk my days, preserving my heart and nourishing my soul?

We are led into the valley of decision. What will we make of Christ? How do we approach his Throne of Grace? Will we look into His face because we've been longing and loving to all our lives, or will we slink away in shame and fear? How will you meet the Creator and Writer of the poem of our lives- a holy letter, written by the blood of the Author to be living sacrifices on the altar of faith, hope and love!

Kelong!

This last weekend was marked by a delightful little getaway. A jamboree away in a wee little hut out in the sea. I shall attempt to summarize the experience with a little photo essay. More here!



was it that bad?


Hello Kelong!


the business of the day!


sunset


stairs to heaven


man on e moon


something worth waking up for!


a red dawn!


splash of clouds


see... the birds can fly higher than the sun!


drink it in!


fiery ripples


sunrise is a spectator sport


Pensive farewell

Danza del Pepino - Dance of the Cucumber

Silly Songs with Larry: The part of the show where Larry comes out and sings a silly song!
(listen along!)

Narrator: "Larry will be performing the traditional Argentinian ballad, 'The Dance of the Cucumber,' in it's original Spanish. Bob the Tomato will translate."

Larry: "Miren al pepino"
Bob: "Watch the cucumber"

Larry: "miren como se mueve"
Bob: "see how he moves"

Larry: "como un leon"
Bob: "like a lion"

Larry: "tras un raton."
Bob: "chasing a mouse."

Larry: "Miren al pepino"
Bob: "Watch the cucumber"

Larry: "sus suaves movimientos"
Bob: "Oh, how smooth his motion"

Larry: "tal como mantequilla"
Bob: "like butter"

Larry: "en un chango pelon."
Bob: "on a ... bald monkey."

Larry: "Miren al pepino"
Bob: "Look at the cucumber"

Larry: "los vegetales"
Bob: "all the vegetables"

Larry: "envidian a su amigo"
Bob: "envy their friend"

Larry: "como el quieren bailar"
Bob: "wishing to dance as he"

Larry: "Pepino bailarin, pepino bailarin, pepino bailarin"
Bob: "Dancing cucumber, dancing cucumber, dancing cucumber"

Larry: "Baila, baila, ya!"
Bob: "Dance, dance, yeah!"

Larry: "Miren al tomate"
Bob: "Look at the tomato"

Larry: "¿no es triste?"
Bob: "Isn't it sad?"

Larry: "El no puede bailar."
Bob: "He can't dance."

Larry: "¡Pobre tomate!"
Bob: "Poor tomato!"

Larry: "El desería poder bailar"
Bob: "He wishes he could dance"

Larry: "Como el pepino"
Bob: "like the cucumber"

Larry: "libre y suavemente."
Bob: "free and smooth."

Larry: "Pero el no puede danzar."
Bob: "But he can't ... Okay! Stop the music! What do ya mean I can't dance? I can dance! What about Uncle Louie's polka party? Didn't you see me dancing at Uncle Louie's polka party?"

Larry: "No comprendo."
Bob: "No comprendo? I'll show you 'No comprendo'!"

Junior: "Mom! Dad! Look over here! Get a picture of me next to the cucumber in authentic Argentinian garb!"
Dad: "Okay, Junior. But we'd better hurry - I think the dwarves have your mother confused with someone else! Say 'Peas!'"
All: "Peas!"

Larry: "Escuchen al pepino"
Bob: "Listen to the cucumber"

Larry: "oigan su voz fuerte"
Bob: "hear his strong voice"

Larry: "como un leon"
Bob: "like a lion"

Larry: "listo a devorar."
Bob: "about to eat."

Larry: "Escuchen al pepino"
Bob: "Listen to the cucumber"

Larry: "que dulce es su canto"
Bob: "oh how sweet his voice"

Larry: "la voz de su garganta parece un trinar."
Bob: "the breath from his throat is like a chorus of little birdies."

Larry: "Escuchen al pepino"
Bob: "Listen to the cucumber"

Larry: "los vegetales"
Bob: "all the vegetables"

Larry: "envidian a su amigo"
Bob: "envy their friend"

Larry: "como el quieren cantar."
Bob: "wishing to sing as he."

Larry: "Pepino cantador, pepino cantador, pepino cantador"
Bob: "Singing cucumber, singing cucumber, singing cucumber"

Larry: "canta, canta, ya!"
Bob: "sing, sing, yeah!"

Larry: "Escuchen al tomate"
Bob: "Listen to the tomato"

Larry: "¿No es triste?"
Bob: "Isn't it sad?"

Larry: "El no puede cantar."
Bob: "He can't sing."

Larry: "Pobre tomate."
Bob: "Poor tomato."

Larry: "El desería poder cantar"
Bob: "He wishes he could sing"

Larry: "fuerte y dulce como el pepino"
Bob: "strong and sweet like the cucumber"

Larry: "Pero no puede ..."
Bob: "But he can't ..."

Larry: "¡Ni siquiera da un silbido!"
Bob: "Can't even ... whistle! All right! That's it Senor! Come over here and let me sing YOU a song!"
Larry: "Adios, amigos!"

Narrator: "This has been Silly Songs With Larry. Tune in next time to hear Larry sing ..."

Larry: "Bob is really angry! I hope he doesn't catch me! It's so hard to run with this sombrero on my head!"

Words and Music by Mike Nawrocki.©1995 Big Idea Productions, Inc.