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Breaking the silence: an update from the author

Avatar by Dr Ransom at 06:40 PM ET , Monday, Jul 20, 2009

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Categories: General, Media: Books



Whew. It’s been a busy two months since I last posted anything to this site. Lord willing, such long delays in offering anything new here are now over.

But unfortunately, a few things are still limiting my schedule:

1) Some months ago, a bug got into my site (perhaps from a flawed or old Wordpress installation) and inserted that obnoxious random-word trash into several of my pages. My theory is that this still preventing me from accessing any of my site, or even personal email accounts, from my previous commonly used internet source. Further research and repairs may be necessary …

2) I got married on May 30, and suddenly writing blogs and such seems lower-priority. Evidently that hasn’t stopped me from several interactions about Deep Doctrinal Magic on NarniaWeb, though (such as this one, posted very early Sunday morning). And recently I even posted a Speculative Faith column about Christian fiction’s bizarre obsessions with two seemingly opposite genres: Strange story spectrum — from barn-raisers to bloodsuckers.

So surely I can recover even time to post small items on this site — and longer columns on occasion.

3) For the past several months, I’ve been working at least one, sometimes two (it’s complicated) part-time jobs, in addition to my full-time employment as a reporter/photographer with a small community weekly newspaper. This additional work is often fun, but even better, profitable, and it takes more time.

4) Finally I’ve re-begun novel writing, on a work in progress I haven’t much discussed here. Sometime a site revision — or even a completely new site — will pay more attention to that project. …



The Chestertonian Perspective

Avatar by Roccondil at 04:23 PM ET , Friday, May 16, 2008

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Categories: General, Deep Doctrine Magic: Biblical Theology, Catholicism



Originally posted by me at Faith and Philosophy:

One of my favorite writers (if you haven't guessed already) is G. K. Chesterton, the great British apologist, theologian, novelist, and philosopher who was writing from about 1900 until his death in 1936. He is chiefly known for his apologetic works such as Orthodoxy or The Everlasting Man as well as for his short stories but really he wrote more than that: he wrote from a perspective that looked at the world upside-down . . . or is it we who look at the world upside-down? I think it's because of this “uncommon sense for the world's common nonsense” that I have begun to describe myself as a Chestertonian.

It is a paradox worthy of Chesterton himself (“the prince of paradox”) that I describe my views this way. Chesterton would probably have found it amusing that I, whose theology is decidedly Calvinistic (though I prefer the term “Reformed”), would be such an admirer of this Roman Catholic apologist (though, I would argue, I am just as “catholic” in the apostolic sense).....

Read the rest of the article here.




An Introduction

Avatar by Roccondil at 11:12 PM ET , Wednesday, Mar 26, 2008

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Categories: General



Greetings, salutations, and howdy!

So you may be wondering, “who is this fellow and why is he posting on Dr. Ransom's site?” Well, that's somewhat easy. I'm Roccondil and Dr. Ransom invited me to join Faithfusion as the second blogger.

So a bit of background on me: I'm a normal homeschooled high school senior who is preparing to enter college and has a keen interest in philosophy, theology, literature, politics, history, and a lot of related stuff. In addition, I have a blog that I update pretty regularly at Faith and Philosophy.

So, a few things about what I believe and what I bring to the site. My theology is Reformed (like Dr. Ransom's), I attend a PCA church, and I have begun to describe myself as an “Apostolic Catholic” meaning one who has a vision of the Church as the body of Christ which transcends denominational and cultural lines. Politically, well . . . ok let's face it, I'm weird. I'm mostly conservative, but have enough maverick in me that I avoid the term. Maybe I just prove what G. K. Chesterton meant when he said: He is a shallow critic who cannot see an eternal rebel in the heart of a conservative.

Like Dr. Ransom, I have a deep love of speculative fiction and a keen interest in the works of C. S. Lewis as well as G. K. Chesterton, to whom Lewis gave partial credit for his own conversion.

In short, my positions and personality will become clear in time.

I will leave you (for now) with this word from the Apostle Paul, which has become my life's verse: Romans 12:2 (English Standard Version) Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

~Roccondil



Coming soon: EpicFiction.net

Avatar by Dr Ransom at 03:21 PM ET , Saturday, Oct 06, 2007

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Categories: General, Storytelling



It has been far too long since I've had anything to say for FaithFusion.

Mind you, I've certainly been busy in other areas, and writing for other cyber-venues as well: including my recent column on Speculative Faith, Resistance to Christian sci-fi and fantasy is futile, as well as a new, more-personal blog site for my church small group.

At the same time, though, I don't wish to neglect my own web-presence. And, within a few weeks, it will be undergoing a few changes.

Chiefmost among those is the formation of a new site entirely: EpicFiction.net is on its way. This site will contain greater emphasis on my novel-authoring efforts and the current scene, or non-scene, of God-glorifying, Biblical truth-imbued, works of “epic” storytelling, be it science fiction, fantasy, or even better, in-between hyrbid genres — the best kind, I contend.

Going beyond the sphere . . . wide-screening the mind . . . the soundtrack of the universe . . .

Epic fiction.


Here's hoping I'll have its webscape and content completed soon.



New web line

Avatar by Dr Ransom at 10:46 AM ET , Saturday, Jul 22, 2006

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Categories: General



Unregistered comments now welcome — I had implemented required registration on March 15 to ward off evil spammers. Those should no longer be a problem.



Signature style

Avatar by Dr Ransom at 12:56 PM ET , Wednesday, May 03, 2006

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Categories: General, Local News



Just changed my “signature image” on the NarniaWeb.com forum ... my sister actually conceived the idea and gave me the background picture.





Upgrade

Avatar by Dr Ransom at 01:52 AM ET , Saturday, Mar 04, 2006

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Categories: General, Science: Web-slinging



RSS 2.0 and Atom feeds now available.



Notification

Avatar by Dr Ransom at 05:22 PM ET , Friday, Feb 24, 2006

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Categories: General, Science: Web-slinging



Renovation and soft re-launch complete.

Watch for RSS and/or Atom feed(s) in coming days.



Elmo wants to kill you

Avatar by Dr Ransom at 10:47 AM ET , Friday, Jan 27, 2006

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Categories: General



This Florida local news station, among a few others in America, has the story:

An interactive book featuring the Elmo character from Sesame Street is creating quite a stir.

The book is titled “Potty Time With Elmo.”

Some parents say that after pushing a button, you can hear an unpleasant recording that asks, “Uh oh, who wants to die?”


What does the voice sound like? Was this book made in China?

Something like this has happened before (“When Good Toys Go Bad” heading).

It's supposed to be saying “Uh oh, who has to go?”

The publisher that released “Potty Time With Elmo”, Publications International, says it has had several complaints concerning the book and released this statement:

The track was recorded as “Uh oh, who has to go?” and due to compression of the digital audio file, some consumers hear a different phrase. We are absolutely certain that the audio file was not tampered with. If one listens very carefully, it does indeed say, “Uh oh, who has to go?”

It's not known how many defective books are out there.


They are coming: hordes of Community Chinese soldiers, storming across the continental U.S., in little red furry suits. And then they will tickle us.



Revamping

Avatar by Dr Ransom at 07:22 PM ET , Thursday, Jan 05, 2006

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Categories: General



A few attempted plugins were all that was necessary to bring down, temporarily, my new-item-posting capabilities.

In the meantime, I stayed busy writing anyway. So stand by for a complete feast of still-hot news items and column. Would you like catch-up with that?



Not your typical homeschoolers

Avatar by Dr Ransom at 10:23 AM ET , Monday, Oct 24, 2005

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Categories: General



Just wait — if this coverage keeps up and becomes much more skewed, the government education lobby will be blaming all homeschoolers soon:

Young singers spread racist hate
Thirteen-year-old twins Lamb and Lynx Gaede have one album out, another on the way, a music video, and lots of fans.

[. . .]

Known as “Prussian Blue” — a nod to their German heritage and bright blue eyes — the girls from Bakersfield, Calif., have been performing songs about white nationalism before all-white crowds since they were nine.

“We're proud of being white, we want to keep being white,” said Lynx. “We want our people to stay white ... we don't want to just be, you know, a big muddle. We just want to preserve our race.”

Lynx and Lamb have been nurtured on racist beliefs since birth by their mother April. “They need to have the background to understand why certain things are happening,” said April, a stay-at-home mom who no longer lives with the twins' father. “I'm going to give them, give them my opinion just like any, any parent would.”

April home-schools the girls, teaching them her own unique perspective on everything from current to historical events.

ABC deserves compliments for not portraying this as a typical homeschooling family. Many homeschoolers are Goths, to be sure, but not racist.



More 'Boundless' wisdom

Avatar by Dr Ransom at 10:27 AM ET , Friday, Oct 14, 2005

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Categories: General



Very few people write like this any more:

The End of Courtship: Part 1 of 3
by Leon R. Kass

Today, there are no socially prescribed forms of conduct that help guide young men and women in the direction of matrimony.... People still get married — though later, less frequently, more hesitantly, and, by and large, less successfully. For the great majority, the way to the altar is uncharted territory: It's every couple on its own bottom, without a compass, often without a goal. Those who reach the altar seem to have stumbled upon it by accident....





Scientists: 'Don't Panic'

Avatar by Dr Ransom at 04:33 PM ET , Monday, Oct 10, 2005

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Categories: Science: Genesis, General, Deep Doctrine Magic: Cross Firings



LiveScience.com and I are in agreement on the whole possibly-very-soon, end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it (or think we know it) ideas envisioned by Pat Robertson. I suppose that means one of us has to change sides:

The recent spate of natural disasters affecting the globe “might be” signs that the Biblical apocalypse is near, says Christian televangelist Pat Robertson.

[. . .]

Scientists see Earth doing what she always does, however.

[. . .]

Seth Stein, a seismologists [sic] at Northwestern University's Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, thinks everything is as it should be, at least as far as earthquakes go.

“I don't think there's any reason to believe the frequency of large earthquakes has changed over the past million years,” Stein told LiveScience. “That's contrary to everything we know about how the Earth works.”

On average, there is at least one magnitude 8 earthquake every year and about 17 magnitude 7's, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The Pakistan quake measured 7.6.

Even if you believe Stein's “million years” are simply part of his unscientific assumptions about the unobservable past, you can still agree with him that earthquakes have always gone on, and they don't seem to be increasing very much.

But Robertson won't have any problem with the “million years” part — because Robertson agrees with old-earth assumptions and sneers at Biblically literal creation-believers, or, he just remains laughably ignorant of the true sources and implications of buying into old-earth dating methods and their humanist presuppositions.

Concerning hurricanes, Robertson may be correct in observing that they're occurring more frequently than in the past.

According to the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), the period between 1970 to 1994 saw on average about 9 tropical storms in the Atlantic basin, with about 7 of those turning into hurricanes. From 1995 to 2004, that number jumped to 14 tropical storms and12 hurricanes.

[. . .]

But scientists aren't willing to blame the apocalypse just yet. A decades-long cycle of busy and the quiet periods is evident in records dating back to the mid-1800s. This is not the first stretch of highly active hurricane seasons. It is just the first time so many people have lived near the coast during such an active period.

True, and the first time we've had full-spread coverage from multiple 24-hour cable networks and diverse news sources that give us enough information to think that we're the first generation to go through these circumstances.

One scientist couldn't depart the article without a well-placed, but ill-supported, gripe:

About Robertson's comments, [National Center for Atmospheric Research climate analysis head Kevin] Trenberth said that he “thinks its part of the general [socio-political] climate that seems to exists in the country today, fostered partly perhaps by this administration and their lack of credence to science.”

Riiiiight. One can just see every day that we're becoming more and more backward with our internet, nanotechnology, wireless networking, private space flight and iPods and all.

Or did Trenberth perhaps only mean that evolutionary ideas, irrelevant to real applied science, is suffering a setback?



Sept. 23, 2005

Avatar by Dr Ransom at 06:46 AM ET , Friday, Sep 23, 2005

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Categories: General



Interesting.

Behold the first entry into an all-new system, powered by Nucleus — ah, what a great name for a site named FaithFusion.net.

Thus far we have two bloggers, and I'm even now uploaded retro-warped entries into the “past,” with full intellectual honesty, because that's when I really did write them. You'll have to take my word for it.

I'm adjusting my expectations to the system, even while expecting it to adjust its template and landscape to mine. Ergo, watch for landscape reformation soon.

Otherwise, this is quite effective. I do not need Dreamweaver nor FTP to rewrite the page. What I do need, however, is more extensive knowledge of PHP, Java, ASP, Quenya, whatever language the developers have used to string together these batches of bytes.

More to come soon. End entry.