Laughs Galore in the Little Theology Corner

Open letter to all :

Are you a Christian, be it Catholic or Protestant. Are you a practicing Jew? Perhaps you are a weekend Satanist that understands the principle of reversed Theology or exaltation of the Self. May be you are just a non affiliated that has a thirst to try out charlatans. I am inviting you by means of this missive to take a look at the Greatest Theological Circus on Earth.... Creciendo en Gracia.

Yesssss, the self proclaimed Messiah of the Gentiles, Jose Luis de Jesus Mendoza, has declared himself the Anti Christ.

For those of you who have no clue, this jolly self- proclaimed deity from the otherwise illustrious
city of Ponce, Puerto Rico has been...

• Prophet for the new Revelation of God



• The Reincarnation of the Apostle Paul



• The Incarnation of Jesus of Nazareth for the Gentiles



• God himself



• and now, after running out of schemes, has declared that he is the Anti Christ

At this moment I am actually making fun of this guy. I must say though that it is a shame that neither him nor his followers can answer basic questions concerning their own theology.

Follow my example, please

As I said, he had declared to be prophet for the new Revelation... what is this revelation? That there is no such thing as sin, that the Devil doesn't exist, and that God living within him is Reigning on Earth right now?.... One may ask. Ok, a theology that believes in no consequence sounds promising, what is may I ask, the destiny for the non believers since there is no hell or punishment to fear? Is our soul to be destroyed? Non of this idiots have thought of an answer to that question... disappointing.

No one has been able to explain how he went from being the Reincarnation of Paul to be the reincarnation of Jesus. He calls himself the branch of the root of David, yet he doesn't believe the promise made to Abraham regarding the Jews is valid... Sounds complicated? Not at all.... See none of this guy's followers have heard of the Da Vinci Code.... Aaccording to this guy, Jesus married Mary Magdalene and of his descendants came... Puertorricans. Yessss, but then, later he would say he doesn't believe in the Divinity of Jesus of Nazareth, what is the point? Then it would be like having any other Jewish relative.... no one ever asks a question.

He is God, and he is perfect. Yet non of his followers have asked him why oh why Lord do you change your mind every six months or so about who you are?

And now he is the Anti Christ, not to sing the praises of the Devil here, but we are talking about the frigging Beast who will sit in the Temple in Jerusalem and stop all offering, declaring that all belongs to him. Upon his command all the armies of the East will rise to make War against the remnant of Israel... so far the guy has convinced a bunch of nerds to tattoo a 666 in their forearm... geez whiz, Louise, all nations tremble, and beware the chosen, for if these days were not shortened, this guy might get you- excuse me while I yawn...

What really boils my blood is watching the followers of this idiot all through Latin America tattooing their CHILDREN (yes minors with no sense to judge) I mean one thing is to teach your child a doctrine, which he or she will be free to embrace or reject upon reaching maturity, the other is to get a kid into a frigging tattoo shop.

You might say other religions do it, why not this freako? The point is CHOICE

The Catholic Church, who baptizes babies, will still give a child a chance to QUESTION in Catechism, before he gets confirmation and Eucharist. The Jewish law although circumcises children on their eight day of life, still will patiently wait for the child to be 12 years old before asking him to recognize and embrace publicly the principles of their faith. The Protestant church, who won't even baptize children will wait until the person has voluntarily profess his/her wish to be a follower of Christ to welcome them in the body of the Church. A person who believes nothing, yet trusts due process of law will patiently wait for a child to come of age to make a valid decision.... it is an outrage.

As I said, no matter what your religious back ground, or if you simply have a knack to uncover charlatans where ever they may appear, you night, if you have a chance, want to visit the CHAT at http://www.creciendoengracia.com/ and try to ask an honest question. Please don't mark your expectations high though, because their ultimate answer for all pressing questions is YOU ARE A BITCH BECAUSE JOSE LUIS SAYS SO.

Oscars... Yipeee

General Disclosure....

Don't ever set up an Oscar Party and play a drinking game that revolves around Leonardo Di Caprio, not when you have to work the next day. It will impair your ability to write an original response to the EVENT for all movie fans.

Anyway, I'm here, half asleep at the Office, clear enough to celebrate Del Toro, although he didn't take Best Foreign, the guy just stepped up to the plate. He is amazing and the bar has been set. Only good things are to come from this.... Clear enough to celebrate Martin Scorsese who brought about the best adaptation ever, a movie that plays like a frigging chess game and proves that a powerhouse ensemble still works when they forget about star status and get their hands dirty. Well deserved.

Mr. Di Caprio, please, make it so that I will not loose my next game and I'll be able to write down something decent next time. I still believe you are one of the best actors in your generation and in my mind, you are the guy who could have been Alexander if the script had been decent and the epic had been true to it's core.

Anyways, I'll leave the rest of the Oscar night impressions to Harry Knowles, who did it bit by bit and obviously was quite sober... consider it the quote of the day:http://www.aintitcool.com/node/31694

Lost City or Viva La Revolution-NOT!

I Spent this weekend reading a frigging protocol for an upcoming study, 176 pages of pain.

Come Sunday afternoon my brain was fried, so I ran to the nearest BlockBuster and rented the first movie I got my hands in to, literally.

I usually don't rent Andy Garcia movies of my own free will. Is not that the man is not a great actor is just that I once paid $42.00 in late fees for Godfather III, just because my ex-brother in law was obsessed with it and the fact that in his mind, he looked like Andy. (Long story...)

Anyways, I'm glad I got over my usual denial of all things Garcia until I stumble upon them in basic cable...

This one is a jewel. Somehow I feel I have to defend this movie because when I checked it's rating in Rotten Tomatoes this morning I found out is was less than 30%, how could that be? I reached the conclusion that these critics

• Are not Cuban
• Never met a Cuban before
• Believe Che Guevara was a poet who wrote, in nice, free rhyme a colorful epic called Viva la Revolution

The first thing that crosses any one's mind when watching a movie about Cubans in exile, directed by a Cuban is that it will be black and white. All related to Fidel is Evil, including those who support him, USA is the land of the free and the home of those who get to step on dry land... etc, etc.

As soon as I saw Dustin Hoffman playing a likeable, yet shady American businessman with interests tied to Havana's night- life, I knew I was not going to be let down.

The movie romanticises the place, not the time, people involved or the consequences of it all.

Fulgencio Batista is who he was, a dictator whose methods were as extravagant as they were dangerous, each of his actions feeding his megalomania.

Fidel barely has any screen time. One thing that might have bugged the critics is that you hardly see Castro in this movie... the thing is that is nice communist fashion, and quite like Schrodinger's cat, he is everywhere and nowhere. Fidel is the revolution, and I thought that was brilliant.

Ernesto Guevara still is, the brilliant mind that the CIA is forced to picture in it's disdainful dossier, but is also quite an agent of the new Cuban order. He is writing a poem alright, in a very Machiavellian fashion. Che is perhaps, the character that hits the unsuspecting American audience in the head right on. After all, most of the critics, sadly have only The Motorcycle Diaries as a reference.

Front and center is a Cuban Family, three brothers with different views about change, united by their uncompromising love for their father. Unfortunately, I'm quite disappointed to find out that the critics saw this as an ill attempt to summon The Godfather (?). As if the concept of family comes first, were inherently Sicilian...

If this movie was a Greek Tragedy, Bill Murray would be a very cynical chorus. Bringing a bit of comic relief, he plays an American living in Cuba, working (Or pretending to work) the night club scene. His comments are neutral leaning towards aphaty, as coming from one who has nothing of value to hold on to, that couldn't care less. Sometimes, he comes across as cruel, but the that's life, boys and girls.

This is not one of my regular reviews, I will not discuss the morals of the story, but my amazement at how people didn't get it. We are either very blessed, blind or conceited... I don't know.

One thing they all agreed though, is that the music was superb. Shit, you know the soundtrack is amazing when it manages to "sacar el negro que llevas dentro" and that's all I have to say.

Today's quote is a little bit cynical and the thinker is not well known, but it struck me funny then and it strikes me funny now. Ladies and gentlemen, Isriel Zamora, Cuban by birth, Puertorrican by marriage to the incorrigible Michelle once said, referring to the aesthetic, humane value of the mesmerizing Motorcycle Diaries, which we all professed to love "They got THAT right, the man loooved his bikes." I guess all votes in, the Cuban had the right to disagree.

Valentine's

Before I get to the nice stuff... a general cautionary tale
If you ever find yourself in a position of power over someone who has a B.A. in Literature, NEVER, EVER, ask this person to

*Google a Poem for your loved one

* Or maybe "write something up"

The case might be that your assistant is, at that moment either

a. Buried in a load of work, perhaps filling out a 16 page

certification that you forgot to give her a week ago, when

there was time...

b. God knows if she watched Sylvia http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0325055/ the night before

c. Perhaps she is just plain pissed at your incompetence

The problem is, when making requests like these, you tend to forget that your assistant knows words, big ones she cares not to use, but once in a while, like attenuated manhood and she knows metaphors. These words, if skillfully combined, once read, might come across as a vibrant, vast vocal vendetta against your lack of detail. Pray to the Muses my friend that your Assistant is not pissed, or she'll make you look gay, or worse, like a lesbian trapped in a man's body.

One of this days, I'll elaborate on this cautionary tale, but right now, time is money and I need to get to the nice stuff

HAPPY VALENTINE'S!!!!!

To those who have found the right one, you need no further blessing

To those who fell for the wrong one... step away and run as fast as you can

To those who are inevitably in love with themselves, look in the mirror and congratulate the Sexy Beast that you are

Both God and Plato tell us that there is a Perfect Love for which to fight for. While we attain it, as humans, our nature is more of trial and error, nevertheless it's embedded in us all to give it all we've got. Messing up? In days like today all is forgotten. After all, and consider this your daily quote, the great John Lennon said "Love is having to say you are sorry every five minutes"

Have fun, boys and girls

Baby pics!!!!

I'm an aunt again, we are all very happy that Little Miss Marrero is here, may her life be full of blessings and joy.
I got this pictures in a hurry, at lunch break. The whole clan is not in them, but eventually we will all be. With no further intro...

Peoples of the internet... Lysanelle. She's the first baby in 4 generations to be born with hair, and lots of it :p (let's thank her daddy for that)

Mom and The Great Ken-Ken , being a good sport about the goofy "I'm a big sister"" shirt I got her.

She's not afraid of Lysania's mean chihuahua

Mama Mia! Lysandra, already planning how to shed the pounds

"A new born babe, rings light to the cottage, warmth to the heart & joy to the soul - family is wealth" - Irish Baby blessing

News Flash!!!

I am an auntie again. The great Ken-Ken now has a sister. Lysanelle was born this morning at 7:00 am. Pics will follow. I can't skip work so I'll see her in the afternoon. Congrats to Leo, but most to Lysandra (Here at 5 months) who was pregnant for what felt like a year...

The horror....

Why, Why Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy? Don't make me come there and slap you... the man who thought it would be a great idea to put nipples in the Bat Suit , could end up directing the Crowned Prince of Comic Book adaptations. Come on. Mr. Gaiman, how much is it to buy back the rights? I'll start the telethon now

From EISB.net:

Joel Schumacher Eyeing Neil Gaiman's Sandman!



Written by Robert Sanchez
Saturday, 03 February 2007
The IESB had the opportunity to speak with veteran director Joel Schumacher during the press junket for The Number 23 today in Los Angeles. Amongst the many things that I had to ask Joel big on my list was what other comic book character he would like to tackle? The response - Neil Gaiman’s Sandman!

The possibility of a big screen live action feature film of Sandman has been talked about by many filmmakers, but for the past few years, it has become almost like the Holy Grail of comic book movie adaptations, unattainable.
Alan Moore’s Watchmen was facing a very similar problem for many years until recently. It is currently in development with Zack Snyder (300) at the helm.
Trying to turn a seventy-five issue opus into a two-hour film is almost an impossible task.
Last year during the San Diego Comic Con, Neil Gaiman told his fans, "I'd rather no Sandman movie got made than [to have] a bad Sandman movie."
That brings me to what Schumacher told me today. He would like to do a Sandman movie…but can he get it right?

Schumacher has delivered many good films including The Lost Boys, A Time to Kill, Falling Down, St. Elmo’s Fire, 8MM and Phone Booth.
But, of course, we can’t forget about the two Batman films that he directed. While I enjoyed Batman Forever for the most part, you have to admit that Val Kilmer as the Bat was pretty cool and Jim Carrey as the Riddler was genius, it is difficult to forgive him for Batman and Robin.
Everything from Arnold as Mr. Freeze (Patrick Stewart would’ve been perfect!), Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl, Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy, and the infamous Bat Nipples, Batman and Robin was a complete disaster.
But who was at fault? The blame will always land on the director even though the studio had to sign off on all the kooky details. The damage that film caused to the Batman franchise was insurmountable and it took 10 years and a total reboot to make the movie going audience have faith in Gothams favorite hero once again.

Would the studio allow him to direct Sandman? Joel himself wasn’t to sure if they would but like I mentioned earlier, he does have a pretty decent track record and I believe that a lot will have to do with how The Number 23 and his next horror film, Town Creek, perform at the box office.
Is he right for the job? That’s for you guys to decide.
Stay tuned for our exclusive video interview Joel Schumacher on The Number 23!

The Sandman is a comic book series written by Neil Gaiman. Published in the United States by DC Comics for 75 issues from 1988 until 1996, it was one of the flagship titles of DC's Vertigo imprint, and is currently kept in print as a series of ten trade paperbacks. It is widely considered one of the most original, sophisticated and artistically ambitious comic book series of the modern age and will be the only comic book to ever win the World Fantasy Award . By the time of the series' conclusion, it had made significant contributions to the artistic maturity of English language comic books and become a pop culture phenomenon in its own right.

The plot, as summarized by its creator is: “The king of dreams learns one must change or die and then makes his decision.” Thus stated, the plot of the The Sandman centers around the protagonist, Dream, the immortal anthropomorphic personification of dreams. The series begins with the end of a long imprisonment of Dream and this first third of the series somewhat conforms to the horror genre. Later, the series evolves into an elaborate fantasy series, incorporating elements of classical and contemporary mythology, ultimately placing its protagonist in the role of tragic hero. Wikipedia

Jesus is News

I debated for a while if this should go under my usual Theological Corner, but decided against it for several reasons

• Little Theological Corner deals with Comparative religions, specially Abrahamic faiths and I try to keep it as neutral as possible, beating people over the head with their own holy books and quoting as often as I can




• I've had Christianity on the spotlight before, but if you read the one above, the Christians that I usually address in my comments are the ones that deserve a beating over the head with the Good Shepperd Staff.

Today I'll talk about decent, worthy people and I care not to be neutral.

I'll start saying that, by experience, Christians in this wonderful US of A are starting to find themselves between a rock and a hard place... if we worship openly, people take us for crazy Jesus freaks and ask us to please keep it to ourselves, which we usually do. If there is ever an outburst of indignation towards certain matters, everyone will be kind enough to remind us their favorite biblical passage (the most misquoted, out of context of them all ... aren't you guys supposed to turn the other cheek?). This usually brings Christians to a point in which we would rather keep our mouth shut and go with the flow. This weekend some people decided that is was OK to give praise where is needed.

This weekend Florida was on the news for two different reasons, one being the biggest US Sports event ever, the Super Bowl, the other the terrible aftermath of Category 3 Tornadoes in the central region of our State.

Tornadoes brought about destruction as we are not used to seen on a daily basis, ground zero for this devastation was Lady Lake in which lives were lost and buildings were torn off their foundation. One of the affected buildings was the Church of God, which was considered one of the town's safest buildings and had served as hurricane shelter countless times before. The path of the tornado was set right through it, for those with an observant eye, there are photos that show twisted metal, and that a lot to say.

Ms. Katie Couric went to cover the event for prime time, as did every other Network. Couric, though, did something that really annoyed me. In a shot that was evidently staged, a hymn book is opened on top of the rubble right on the page for " I surrender to Thee". Ms. Couric said, with a bit of an ironic tone, that in fact the church had surrendered... leaving between the lines the question that every non believer tries to shove down our throats every time something like this happens.... how could the God you serve allow this? I am, as I've said before a work in progress and unfortunately, I am not at the same level as the pastor of that church. I would have happily tell Ms. Couric to go to hell in roller skates, but the pastor gave the answer needed, the building was lost, but the church would be there on Sunday, and he proceeded to invite her to Sunday Worship, in a pile of rubble, with high percentage of rain coming their way.

As I write this, I don't know whether she took them on their offer or not. She should, but then, people who don't question or regret belief in the first sign of adversity and keep going on with a smile are no news... I hope she proves me wrong.

The other big spotlight for Florida was of course, the Superbowl, where Christians and Heathens alike reunite to watch pigskin in motion. Some Christians, depending on their denomination will have a cold beer along with their BBQ (praise the Lord!)... after quite an exciting match Colts won over Bears (some would say with the assistance of Chicago's own Grossman). Coach Tony Dungy became the first African-American to coach a team into winning a Superbowl. Good for him, the guy is loved and respected in the league for his integrity and has the sometimes perceived as dubious honor of being the coach who never curses... As I was impressed with the pastor's display of faith in Lady lake, I was equally moved by Coach Dungy's statement, in which he said that he was grateful for the social significance of his achievement, but wanted to add a spiritual dimension to it by asserting that it felt equally good to be the first Christian coach to win the Superbowl through God's vision... for those who have no idea, Coach Dungy had a rough year, quite a bumpy ride that included the death of his son James, which was ruled a suicide. A blow like that is enough for many to shake the foundations of their faith, is more than enough for those who don't understand a faith based life to wait for it to crumble, but this man shined through yesterday and on his turn on the spotlight, he looked upwards and thanked the Guy Upstairs.

Fact is, I just felt like shouting out to those who believe, even against the odds, the people who make it worth while to share Christian Fellowship and Testimony.

"I really wanted to show people you can win all kinds of ways. I always coached the way I've wanted to be coached. For guys to have success where it maybe goes against the grain, against the culture ... I know I probably didn't get a couple of jobs in my career because people could not see my personality or the way I was going to do it ... For your faith to be more important than your job, for your family to be more important than that job ... We all know that's the way it should be, but we're afraid to say that sometimes... I'm not afraid to say it."- Tony Dungy on Coaching

Say cheeeeeese

Just a small step for anybody, a giant leap for yours truly. Got me this little number, because of several reasons:

• I need to step into the 21st century since I plan to grow old in it



• I keep forgetting where I left the stupid cell phone and when I have it with me, I forget I can take pics



• Kendra knows how to hook this thing into the computer and is able to explain it in words I understand (Lysandra is the tech wiz -Savant- at home, but she really enjoys using the big words, to make me feel that I am the Blondie one)

• Ms. LightShadow told me anything with Olymous on it is guaranteed tobe technologically impaired friendly



• I haven't taken a decent picture in ages (Baby Eleph is asking for cash in exchange or representing me around) I, though, have made one of those weird promises not to take pictures of myself until my B-day, but I'll be snapping away at everything that moves

PS: It's pathetic that I posted an image of the camera but before I press the button I need to get over the fear of breaking it.

All of this and flying too

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! There, feels good. It turns out that Little Miss Office Assistant is on the move. My presence has been required at a conference. Of course, just to make things fun I have to do reservations not only for the boss, but also for an Assistant Researcher and moi.

I usually love to fly, the idea of being chartered anywhere for free is amazing, so I call the nice travel coordinator and told him, yes... we'll take the small plane, after all it is a trip within the state, yes... the early return time is OK, after all who wouldn't want to be back early on a Sunday when you have to work on Monday (let's not forget that the weekend will be spent working as well), yes... It is OK if only one carry on piece of luggage is allowed on the little plane, after all, if I'm a girl and I can fit one formal suit, one business casual attire, make up and maintenance stuff, pj's, changes of underwear enough for 3 days, toiletries, etc on a carry on, anyone can.

WRONG, WRONG, WRONG...

Enter "El Divo de la UPR"- long story, but el divo is this weird person that takes over the boss when he gets complementary stuff. It goes something like:

• Make sure that the charter plane holds at least 20 people I don't do Cessna unless it is jet. No glorified mosquitoes, please.
• One carry on is never enough!!!!!
• If you want to leave early, be my guest, but I like to sleep in on Sundays... now let's talk about arriving.... what do you mean there is no flight after 8:00 pm, there's gotta be...The latest arriving flight is at 6:00? I'll take that one... the activity starts at 7:00 and it takes 50 minutes to get there? No problem, that is why the Researcher and my fabulous assistant are leaving in the first morning flight... to get there on time to the Opening I will not be assisting to and take notes.

As I said one before, sometimes The Devil Wears Scrubs...

"Get to your places!' shouted the Queen in a voice of thunder, and people began running about in all directions, tumbling up against each other; however, they got settled down in a minute or two, and the game began. "- Alice in Wonderland