#geiky writes

[scotianostra]

November 9th 1795 saw the birth of Walter Geikie, an artist, noted for sketches and etchings of everyday Edinburgh scenes.

Aged only two, Geikie was struck by an illness that left him deaf. His father’s tireless efforts to educate his son in sign language reaped enormous rewards, and eventually Walter was also able to speak.

A talented draughtsman, he enrolled in the Trustees’ Academy in 1812, where he advanced under the guidance of John Graham, David Wilkie’s former master. Geikie’s real success and satisfaction lay in drawing directly from life, although he was also a capable painter and etcher. His favoured subjects were the simple, congenial people of everyday Edinburgh life, often interspersed with elements of the ridiculous that verge on caricature.

His jovial works were given wider exposure with the posthumous publication of his ‘Etchings Illustrative of Scottish Character and Scenery’, in 1841.

Religion was a massive thing during Geikle's time, and in the early nineteenth century society tended to write off deaf people as deaf and dumb, deaf mute, incapable of learning or achieving anything, fit only for menial, manual labour. He challenged those ideals and formed, what is said to be the world's first deaf church.

He was one of the four educated deaf men (possibly privately educated from wealthier families) got together in Edinburgh on 30th June, 1830 and began a church where the gospel could be preached, prayers could be said, psalms could be shared all by means of the despised language of signs.

From that beginning in Edinburgh, the news spread of this new idea that deaf people didn’t have to wait for hearing people to take pity on them, they could preach and teach themselves. Deaf churches were founded in London, South Wales, Manchester and Liverpool by people who had direct contact with members of the Edinburgh group

He died on 1 August 1837 and was buried in an unmarked grave in Greyfriars Kirkyard, although a memorial was erected to his memory on the western boundary wall in 1996.

The pics are of his memorial at Greyfriars, the second a great charcature drawing called The Reel O' Tullochgorum, if you follow my posts keenly, you will know it is one of my favourite songs! The third pic shows that Geikle was much more than a cartoonist and is Little Anderson Close a wee street in the Old Town, swept away when West Bow was remodelled into Victoria Street/Terrace. And the fourth is Houses at the Head of the West Bow.

Loads more of his work can be viewed here and are well worth a wee look through. https://www.nationalgalleries.org/search?search=Walter%20Geikie

You can read much more on his life here [https://www.electricscotland.com/history/other/geikie_walter.htm](https://www.electricscotland.com/history/other/geikie_walter.htm)

[kieg-kieg]

Ghosting - Japanese Version

I wrote a singable Japanese version of Ghosting by TXT. This song, as heartbreaking as it may be, holds a very special place in my heart. I really like TXT, and I hope they make an official Japanese version of this, but while it doesn’t happen, here’s my own take at it. 《Intro》 消え去ってしまった　淡き幽霊のように　キミは 消え去ってしまった　淡き幽霊のように　去った 残響と浮かんで　部屋で　僕一人 幽霊のよう Kiesatteshimatta awaki yuurei no you ni kimi wa Kiesatteshimatta awaki yuurei no you ni satta Zankyou to ukande heya de boku hitori Yuurei no you 《Verse》 画面沿いに駆け回っている メール交換　心地よかった いつの間にか　打ち切れてた 一週間の静寂 と Gamen zoi ni kakemawatteiru MEERU koukan kokochiyokatta Itsu no ma n ka uchikireteta Isshukan no shijima to

《Pre-Chorus》 孤独にぼんやり��見つめるWindow 右 左 どこを見ても Hollow たまらない緊張 All day... Kodoku ni bonyari to mitsumeru Window Migi hidari doko wo mitemo Hollow Tamaranai kinchou All day... 《Chorus》 急に　消え去ってしまった　淡き幽霊のように　キミは 無言のキミに僕は 誰だ?　(誰だ?） 急に　消え去ってしまった　淡き幽霊のように　去った 残響と浮かんで　部屋で　僕一人 幽霊のよう Kyuu ni kiesatteshimatta awaki yuurei no you ni kimi wa Mugon no kimi ni boku wa dare da? (dare da?) Kyuu ni kiesatteshimatta awaki yuurei no you ni satta Zankyou to ukande heya de boku hitori Yuurei no you 《Verse》 たった今のカキコされたHashtag見やる　#空綺麗 もうキミはね　僕の世界からLogoutしてしまいそうだ Tatta ima no kakiko sareta Hashtag miyaru sora kirei Mou kimi wa ne boku no sekai kara Logout shimaisouda 《Pre-Chorus》 眠れない夜まるでLike a zombie サヨナラの跡形探して まだ見つかれない All day... Nemurenai yoru marude Like a zombie SAYONARA no atokata sagashite Mada mitsukaranai All day...

《Chorus》 急に　消え去ってしまった　淡き幽霊のように　キミは 無言のキミに僕は誰だ?　(誰だ?） 急に　消え去ってしまった　淡き幽霊のように　去った 残響と浮かんで　部屋で　僕一人 幽霊のよう Kyuu ni kiesatteshimatta awaki yuurei no you ni kimi wa Mugon no kimi ni boku wa dare da? (dare da?) Kyuu ni kiesatteshimatta awaki yuurei no you ni satta Zankyou to ukande heya de boku hitori Yuurei no you 《Bridge》 返事のない答えは認めたくないよ 孤独に慣れないよ　 慣れるわけもないよ 写真に微笑む僕らを取り戻そう ここにいるから　どこにも行かない Henji no nai kotae wa mitometakunai yo Kodoku ni narenai yo nareru wake mo nai yo Shashin ni hohoemu bokura wo torimodosou  Koko ni iru kara doko ni mo ikanai 《Chorus》 急に　消え去ってしまった　淡き幽霊のように　キミは 無言のキミに僕はだれだ?　(だれだ?） 急に　消え去ってしまった　淡き幽霊のように　去った 残響と浮かんで　部屋で　僕一人 幽霊のよう Kyuu ni kiesatteshimatta awaki yuurei no you ni kimi wa Mugon no kimi ni boku wa dare da? (dare da?) Kyuu ni kiesatteshimatta awaki yuurei no you ni satta Zankyou to ukande heya de boku hitori Yuurei no you

I own nothing but my translyrics.

[tracichee]

And now for another character reveal! Please meet Geiki, Miuko’s new best friend and most excellent traveling companion! 🐦 Sometimes he’s a bird… sometimes he’s a boy with a penchant for thievery. 💰 Geiki was so much fun to write—garrulous, lighthearted, a bit of a trickster, and although he’s just as likely to get Miuko INTO trouble as out of it, he’s supremely loyal and there’s no one better she could’ve hoped to have with her on her journey across Awara. The best bird boy. 💯

Beautiful character art by @yutaan!

Pre-order here & be sure to keep your receipts!

[morgandzak]

An Ode To Morgan Dzak, by Kylene Gilmore

For my National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) graduation, all the students had to draw names of classmates out of a hat to write something for graduation night. It was supposed to be a nice little somethin’ for fellow classmates as we handed off diplomas and saluted one another after 90-days in the backcountry. It’s hilarious because everyone in our 11-student group got their best friend, or rather, selected a person they admired dearly and truly connected with. My best friend, Kylene, picked my name and wrote this oh-so-spectacularly-Kylene poem about me. And honestly, it’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me, ever -- the purest, kindest, most loving and thoughtful gesture a human has ever made (and also the only thing that makes me sob uncontrollably anytime I even merely touch it). I love Kylene Gilmore dearly.... She also writes in all CAPS, AHEM:

WE FELL INTO  A MUTUAL WEIRDNESS BEFORE LEAVING TOWN (#) AND FROM THERE IT PROGRESSED IN SUCH AN UNCANNY WAY THAT TO QUESTION ITS UNIQUENESS WOULD MAKE A CLOWN FROWN.

IN THE WINDS ($) IT WAS NOT LONG BEFORE I BROKE MY FIRST WIND; (%) YOU STOOD BY MY SIDE AND TOOK THE STENCH IN STRIDE. CLIMBING UP GEIKIE (&) YOU FED ME FROZEN PASTA  IN MY ALTITUDE SICKNESS DELIRIUM. YOU LED US THROUGH THE DARKNESS  OF MORNING (*) AND SCRAMBLED UP BOULDERS WITH THE MAJORITY OF THE GROUP’S GEAR ON YOUR BACK TO A SUMMIT I’LL NEVER FORGET.

UNAWEEP CANYON  GOT  PRETTY GROOVY, GROUP POOPS TO THE  GROOVER WERE (+)  NEVER A DOOZIE. LAUGHING UNTIL I PEED MY PANTS, FANTASY QUEST, (@) CAN YOU  BELIEVE  THAT KATO (#) DOES CRACK? ($) YOUR IMAGINATION IS ENDLESS AND WHEN WE  ARE TOGETHER I FEEL  AS IF WE  GO TO NEW WORLDS  TOGETHER. TRAVEL DAYS ARE NEVER  A BORE. UNICORN TIME (%) AND HOT SHOWERS HAVE NEVER BEEN SO FUN.

I MISSED YOU  IN CANYONS (^^) BUT I HEARD THAT YOU  FLOURISHED. YOUR  NAVIGATION SKILLS WERE IN FULL EFFECT AND YOU BECOME MUCH MORE DIRECT. YOUR LEADERSHIP ROLE HAD NEVER BEEN BETTER AND I SAW  IT CARRY OVER  INTO THE  SNOWY  WEATHER. (+)

SKIING WAS WHERE YOU THRIVED, SHREDDING TOGETHER,  YOU’D  ALWAYS WAIT FOR ME WHEN I’D DIVE HEAD FIRSTR INTO THE SNOW. COOKING TOGETHER WALTER AND CHARLIE, ($) THE WHISPER LIGHTS DROVE THEM INSANE, BUT TEAMWORK MADE THE MEALS DYNAMITE.

EFFORTLESSLY YOURSELF MAKES YOU SO MUCH FUN; HARDWORKING  AND DETERMINED TOO. I’VE NEVER SEEN SOMEONE LINE UP THEIR ZIPPERS (**) SO PERFECTLY. YOU’RE QUIRKY, SPUNKY AND VIBRANT BEYOND THE COLOR  SPECTRUM. I VALUE YOUR  FRIENDSHIP AND IT WAS THE MOST  UNEXPECTED GIFT I RECEIVED FROM THIS COURSE. SO BEFORE THIS GETS  TOO SAPPY, ALL I WANT TO SAY IS... THAT’S CAHHHHHDZ! MARAGARET, YA OLD BAG. 

========================

# The NOLS Semester for Outdoor Educators group left Lander, Wyo. on Sept. 15, 2018 for a backpacking section in the southern Wind River Range

$ Wyoming’s Wind River Mountain Range 

% Kylene had notorious farts

& Mount Geikie, a 12,300′ peak in the Sheep Desert/southern Wind River Range

* It was pitch black out in the wee hours of the AM for our Geikie summit bid

+ A Groover is a metal box people poop in on expeditions where digging cat holes/latrines is not feasible for human waste disposal

@ Fantasy Quest: one of the many ridiculous games we played around a campfire ring during an October base camp for rocking climbing in Colorado’s Unaweep Canyon

# Kato is Michael Kato, a guy from our NOLS group

$ An inside joke from the ‘Fantasy Quest’ game and not to be taken literally

% Unicorn Time is a name one of our instructors, Alyssa, called time for skincare/hygiene/whatever you wanna call it

^^ Kylene and I were split into different groups for the month-long technical canyoneering section in southeastern Utah

+ Snowy weather marks the transition to winter section -- backcountry skiing in the Wyoming Range

$ Kylene and I cooked a lot together in the winter section, and we called ourselves “Walter and Charlie” as kitchen alter egos

** A nod to my slightly OCD tendencies 

Photos taken by Sara Sneath and Jennifer Grasso.

[lindoig8]

Halls Creek (WA), 11-13 June

Friday, 11 June

After such a rugged few days, we decided to have a rest day – but didn’t get much rest. I went off straight after breakfast to find the mechanic we used last time we were here. I never found him, but I think his former premises are now the local Toyota dealer. We didn’t think there was a Toyota place in town, but within an hour, our tyre was repaired and our traction control problem was remedied. They attached their magic Toyota computer to the car and ran all the diagnostics and reset everything so it is now fully functional again. A strange condition still gets reported on the system though – something about a ‘glass error’. We don’t know what it is, but the mechanic thinks it might be something to do with the spare wheels obscuring the reversing camera since we moved them onto the back of the car. That’s no issue, because we haven’t used that camera (except for occasional parking in tight places) for several years.

I also found a tiny, very strange, hardware shop where I bought a bolt to fix the extension mirror and while all of this was happening, Heather had been washing and cleaning back at the van.

One of the other ‘damages’ along the track had been the BrakeSafe controller in a cupboard near the foot of the bed. (It is a device to apply emergency braking to the caravan if it ever gets accidentally separated from the car.) All four of the retaining screws had worked loose and there isn’t anything solid to screw them back into. It is floating loose in the cupboard, but I have replaced the screws (most of which screw into nothing much) and we have stuffed an old cushion in there to stop it from bouncing around and pulling the wires loose.

We also discovered that the air conditioner doesn’t work. Everything looks OK from inside, but I haven’t climbed onto the roof to see if something has shaken loose up there. Almost certainly, that is the problem, but I think I will let someone else address that one. Maybe in Katherine?

In addition to all of that, I caught up on some of the inevitable paperwork that accumulates when one of off-grid: paying bills, responding to email, returning phone calls and so on. Heather was doing likewise and we certainly filled our ‘rest day’ with everything but rest.

Saturday, 12 June

We continued ‘resting’ in and around the van. I walked around the camping area a couple of times looking at the birds, but we spent a lot of the day planning and arranging the next leg/s of the trip.

We think we have arranged a big day tomorrow, driving more than 300 kilometres south to Fitzroy Crossing and thence out to Geikie Gorge – and then back again – about 700 clicks for the day. We won’t take the van of course so we looked at staying down there overnight until we saw the cost of staying in a workman’s room – the cheapest option at the Resort at well over $200, plus all the add-ons including a very expensive restaurant meal. Fitzroy Crossing has an extremely bad reputation due to ‘aboriginal issues’. When we wanted to stay in the caravan park 4 years ago, the owner talked us out of it – as an example, people who had stayed there had been woken during the night to find a bunch of locals inside their van ransacking it – and he had some other colourful stories to embellish it. It is certainly a scary place and staying overnight still seems pretty risky.

So why is an hour at Geikie Gorge worth a 700-kilometre drive? My Mum visited there with Dad in 1970 and it seemed to be the highlight of her life ever after. She was obviously impressed beyond words and spoke of her love of the place for the rest of her life. We tried to visit it 4 years ago and got to within 100 kilometres, but a broken axle on the caravan prevented it. Hopefully this time, I will get to understand a little more of Mum’s obsession with the place. Heather spent hours on the phone trying to book a cruise up the Gorge – and we may even have stayed at the overpriced Resort if the promises on their website had proved true. They were touting an all-day tour of the Gorge, the town and a series of otherwise inaccessible aboriginal sites, but when she tried to book, she was told that they don’t do that anymore – but hadn’t bothered taking it off their website. As it stands, we have an unconfirmed online booking and the hope that by driving 700 kilometres in a day, we can cruise the Gorge for an hour and hopefully add something else to the trip. (The Resort subsequently proved absolutely unreliable on other grounds too. They advertise the availability of fuel with prices about 15 cents cheaper than anywhere for 500 kilometres. Prices are updated hourly on PetrolSpy and other online price monitors – but when we got there, we saw a sign saying that they don’t offer fuel. When I complained, they said they just haven’t updated their website since they stopped selling fuel a few years ago!)

We also booked a couple of other things – or at least we hope we did. It took several hours of research and phone calls, but I now hope to have the car serviced in Katherine next Friday morning and then get the air conditioner operational on the following Monday – and maybe a couple of other minor repairs. We have also made three tentative bookings in Burketown on 29 and 30 June and 1 July. Hopefully, the 2000-kilometre route we have plotted out, including almost 800 clicks on gravel is achievable in that schedule – and then we will mosey down the east coast visiting 7 (or maybe 8 or 9) groups of friends along the way – and then it will be Lightning Ridge for the next formal adventure.

Sunday, 13 June

We have been in the van most of the day. We drove around town just to have a look this morning and then bought a few necessities at IGA. We also put a bit of fuel in the car – it is quite a bit more expensive here than Fitzroy Crossing so will fill up down there tomorrow.

We had an online catchup with some of the kids during the afternoon, but otherwise, we have been writing for our blogs most of the rest of the day. I did a couple of small maintenance jobs and Heather cleaned out a cupboard that was liberally sprinkled with spilled flour but otherwise we have been banging away on our PCs and phones most of the day.

And we had camel sausages for dinner! They were delish! Much better than expected and we will certainly buy more if we see them!

[lystrialle]

Hello, everyone!

Geiky, who writes the majority of the lyrics for our ARM projects (including COSMOCRYSTAL II), is currently taking commissions for lyrics! Having worked with him personally I can vouch for the high quality of his work, so I sincerely do recommend him.

He can write in English, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, or even conlangs, and can also do translyrics between those languages. If you’re interested, please check out his portfolio and consider hitting him up on Twitter.

Thank you!

[lets-jon-blog]

Was Jesus Born on Christmas Day?

Most people assume that Jesus was born on December 25. After all, that’s the day millions of people celebrate as the date of His birth. But evidence shows that’s simply not the case. And this is only one of many problems with this holiday! 

Tradition tells us Jesus was born on Dec. 25, commonly called Christmas Day. But we also know tradition can be wrong. For centuries, tradition taught the earth was flat and that all the stars and planets revolved around it. It took many years of careful scientific examination to change traditional thinking on the solar system to a view based on verifiable truth.

Similarly, the tradition that Jesus Christ was born in the dead of winter has also been found to be without solid evidence—in consideration of what the Bible and other historical sources reveal. Yet we know tradition is hard to undo—witness how the names of the 12 months of the Roman year are hopelessly confused, but are still kept in this way. September is the ninth month in our calendar, but it actually means “seventh month” in Latin. October is the 10th month, but it means “eighth month,” November is our 11th month, yet it means “ninth month,” and December means 10th month, but it is the 12th month on our calendar.

The observance of Christmas Day has also become a tradition of men—and it turns out that this tradition is based on a false foundation. Let’s examine the evidence.

Evidence Jesus’ birth wasn’t in winter—the Roman census

The first evidence in the Bible that Jesus was not born anywhere near Dec. 25 was given by Luke when he wrote: “And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.  So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city .

“Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger” (Luke 2:1-7, emphasis added throughout).

There are Roman records of censuses dating from A.D. 20 until about 270. “In the New Testament the Roman enrollment [census] is mentioned in connection with the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:2) and again in a passing reference to the revolt of Judas the Galilean (Acts 5:37). It appears that the Romans took a census every fourteen years for the purpose of levying taxes” ( The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia,  1982, Vol. 2, p. 105).

The point to consider is that the Roman authorities did not take the census during wintertime, when it was cold, rainy and muddy, and slick roads made travel dangerous. The normal time would have been after the harvests were reaped in late summer to early autumn and before the late autumn rains and coming of winter, when people could return to their birthplace and not disrupt the agricultural cycle of planting, tending and harvesting crops.  

In his book  Holy-Days and Holidays,  author Cunningham Geikie affirms this census “could hardly have been at that season [of winter] … for such a time would  surely not have been chosen by the authorities for a public enrollment,  which necessitated the population’s traveling from all parts to their natal districts,  storms and rain making journeys both unsafe and unpleasant in winter,  except in especially favorable years. Snow is not at all uncommon at Jerusalem in the winter months, and I have known it so deep that people lost their way outside the gates” (“Christmas at Bethlehem,” 1968, p. 405).

Luke’s account of the Roman census argues strongly against a December date for Christ’s birth. For an agrarian society, a late summer to early autumn census was much more likely. A census in the dead of winter makes no sense because it would’ve been largely self-defeating!

Shepherds were out in the field at night

Luke goes on to say about Christ’s birth: “Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord’” (Luke 2:8-11).

So the shepherds around Bethlehem were pasturing their flocks  outdoors   at night . This is another indication that it was not mid-December, when the weather was normally at its coldest and the shepherds would’ve more likely kept their flocks penned up in shelters at night. The common practice in Judea was for shepherds to keep their flocks in the open fields from April to October, but in the cold and wet winter months they brought their flocks back home and protected them from the inclement weather.

Some Bible commentators have argued for shepherds in the fields at night in December, but others have ruled it out, which appears far more reasonable.  The Interpreter’s One Volume Commentary on the Bible notes: “These humble pastoral folk are out in the field at night with their flock—a feature of the story which would argue against the birth’s occurring on December 25 since  the weather would not have permitted it”  (1971, p. 676).

 Adam Clarke’s Commentary   adds : “And as these shepherds had not yet brought home their flocks, it is a presumptive argument that October had not yet commenced, and that, consequently, our Lord was not born on the 25th of December, when no flocks were out in the fields; nor could He have been born later than September, as the flocks were still in the fields by night.  On this very ground the nativity  [birth of Jesus]  in December should be given up.  The feeding of the flocks by night in the fields is a chronological fact, which casts considerable light upon this disputed point” (note on Luke 2:8).

We will return to this matter of the shepherds in the fields in a moment.

Why it’s difficult to find admissions for the pagan origin of Christmas

Before going further, we should recognize that despite convincing   biblical and historical evidence for Jesus’ birth not being anywhere near Dec. 25, there is strong desire, even among a number of Christian scholars, to reinterpret the evidence in favor of the winter Christmas.

The late Adventist historian Samuele Bacchiocchi warned in this respect in a Dec. 22, 2002, article titled “A Look at the Date and Meaning of Christmas,” stating: “The adoption of the 25th of December for the celebration of Christmas is perhaps the most explicit example of Sun-worship’s influence on the Christian liturgical calendar. It is a known fact that the pagan feast of the  dies natalis Solis Invicti —the birthday of the Invincible Sun, was held on that date.

“Do Christian sources openly admit the borrowing of the date of such a pagan festivity? Generally not. To admit borrowing a pagan festival, even after due reinterpretation of its meaning, would be tantamount to an open betrayal of the faith .  This the [church] Fathers were anxious to avoid  …

“The commemoration of the birth of the Sun-god was not easily forgotten by Christians. Augustine and Leo the Great strongly reprimanded those Christians who at Christmas worshiped the Sun rather than the birth of Christ. Therefore, it is well to keep in mind that in the investigation of the influence of the Sun-cults on the Christian liturgy,  the most we can hope to find are not direct but indirect indications . This warning applies  not only for the date of Christmas but for that of Sunday as well. ”

The “temple sheep” theory

Returning to the matter of shepherds in the fields with their flocks by night, one argument that tries to place this in winter is sometimes referred to as “the temple-sheep theory.”

This view was popularized by Alfred Edersheim, a 19th-century Jewish convert to Christianity and a well-respected scholar in matters of first-century Jewish life. In his famous book  The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah,  Edersheim wrote this concerning the account of the shepherds in the fields at night:

“This  Migdal Eder  [“the tower of the flock”] was not the watchtower for the ordinary flocks which pastured on the barren sheep ground beyond Bethlehem, but lay close to the town, on the road to Jerusalem. A passage in the Mishnah  leads to the conclusion,   that the flocks, which pastured there, were destined for Temple-sacrifices, and, accordingly, that the shepherds, who watched over them, were not ordinary shepherds.

“The latter were under the ban of Rabbinism [Jewish rabbinic ruling], on account of their necessary isolation from religious ordinances, and their manner of life, which rendered strict legal observance unlikely, if not absolutely impossible. The same Mishnaic passage  also leads us to infer,  that these flocks lay out all the year round, since they are spoken of as in the fields thirty days before Passover—that is, in the month of February, when in Palestine [the land of Israel] the average rainfall is nearly greatest” (Book 2, chap. 6, 2000, p. 131).

From this passage some scholars come to the conclusion that specially selected shepherds would be out in the open in December taking care of sheep chosen for the Passover sacrifice.

While the explanation might sound plausible, a more careful look at the sources in the Mishnah—Jewish oral tradition later set down in writing in the centuries after Jesus—does not support this conclusion. Notice that even Edersheim couched his words with phrases such as “A passage in the Mishnah  leads to the conclusion  …” and “The same Mishnaic passage  also leads us to infer  …” He clearly was not certain of what he was stating.

A look at the verses in the Mishnah shows the sheep being discussed are unattended or lost sheep found in the area, not those pastured by shepherds.

The Mishnah passage referred to,  Shekalim  7:4, states: “An animal that was found between Jerusalem and Migdal Eder, or a similar distance in any direction, the males are (considered) burnt offerings. The females are (considered) peace offerings. Rabbi Yehuda says, those which are fitting as a Pesach offering are (considered) Pesach offerings if it is thirty days before the festival.”

Rabbi Joshua Kulp, writing in an online study of the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem, explains this passage: “Thirty days is the period of time before Pesah [Passover] in which the sages began to teach the laws of Pesah and hence at this time  people began to set aside animals for use as a Pesah offering . One who  finds  such an animal may use it as his own personal Pesah sacrifice. If the owners come and claim the animal, then  he must pay them its value but he may keep the animal.”

So it appears that Edersheim was mistaken in his speculation that this Mishnaic passage referred to sheep being specially pastured for the temple in this area year round, as it actually had to do with lost sheep being found in this area.

There is no mention here of special shepherds out at night tending their temple sheep in the winter. This is simply a speculative attempt to justify the date of Jesus’ birth being reckoned in late December.

The conception/death theory

Another scholarly theory poses that Jesus was  conceived and later died   on the same day of the year!  This theory shows how far people are willing to go to justify the Christmas date. The theory was mentioned in the December 2002 issue of the magazine  Bible Review  in the article  “ How Dec. 25 became Christmas” by Andrew McGowan.

He begins by admitting: “The earliest writings—Paul and Mark— make no mention of Jesus’ birth.  The Gospels of Matthew and Luke provide well-known but quite different accounts of the event—although neither specifies a date. In the second century C.E. [Common Era or A.D.], further details of Jesus’ birth and childhood are related in apocryphal writings such as the Infancy Gospel of Thomas and the Proto-Gospel of James. These texts provide everything from the names of Jesus’ grandparents to the details of his education— but not the date of his birth.

“Finally, in about 200 C.E., a Christian teacher in Egypt makes reference to the date Jesus was born. According to Clement of Alexandria, several different days had been proposed by various Christian groups. Surprising as it may seem, Clement doesn’t mention December 25 at all. Clement writes:

“‘There are those who have determined not only the year of our Lord’s birth, but also the day; and they say that it took place in the 28th year of Augustus, and in the 25th day of [the Egyptian month] Pachon [May 20 in our calendar] … And treating of His Passion, with very great accuracy, some say that it took place in the 16th year of Tiberius, on the 25th of Phamenoth [March 21]; and others on the 25th of Pharmuthi [April 21] and others say that on the 19th of Pharmuthi [April 15] the Savior suffered. Further, others say that He was born on the 24th or 25th of Pharmuthi [April 20 or 21].’

“Clearly there was great uncertainty, but also a considerable amount of interest, in dating Jesus’ birth in the late second century. By the fourth century, however, we find references to two dates that were widely recognized—and now also celebrated—as Jesus’ birthday: December 25 in the western Roman Empire and January 6 in the East (especially in Egypt and Asia Minor) … The earliest mention of December 25 as Jesus’ birthday comes from a  mid-fourth-century Roman almanac  that lists the death dates of various Christian bishops and martyrs” (pp. 1-2).

McGowan cites Clement of Alexandria as giving three different dates for the birth of Christ, none of which come even close to December 25. He then speculates on three different dates for the death of Christ.

The same author then recognizes the pagan influence of December 25 after Emperor Constantine’s adoption of Catholic Christianity, noting: “From the mid-fourth century on,  we do find Christians deliberately adapting and Christianizing pagan festivals.  A famous proponent of this practice was Pope Gregory the Great, who, in a letter written in 601 C.E. to a Christian missionary in Britain, recommended that local pagan temples not be destroyed but be converted into churches, and that pagan festivals be celebrated as feasts of Christian martyrs” (p. 4).

But the incorporation of a Dec. 25 pagan festival as Christmas is then denied: “At this late point, Christmas may well have acquired some pagan trappings. But we don’t have evidence of Christians adopting pagan festivals in the third century, at which point dates for Christmas were established. Thus, it seems unlikely that the date was simply selected to correspond with pagan solar festivals. The December 25 feast  seems to have existed  before 312—before Constantine and his conversion, at least” (ibid.).

McGowan is quite tentative when he asserts that Christmas Day was established in the third century, and speculates a Christian group called Donatists could have observed it, but there is no direct historical evidence about this.

He then presents the “conception/death theory” as justification for the date of December 25 being chosen for Christ’s birth. He claims: “There is another way to account for the origins of Christmas on December 25: Strange as it may seem, the key to dating Jesus’ birth  may  lie in the dating of Jesus’ death at Passover. This view was first  suggested  to the modern world by French scholar Louis Duchesne in the early 20th century and fully developed by American Thomas Talley in more recent years. But they were certainly not the first to note a connection between the traditional date of Jesus’ death and his birth.

“Around 200 C.E. Tertullian of Carthage (same time as Clement and Origen) reported the calculation that the 14th of Nisan (the day of the crucifixion according to the Gospel of John) in the year Jesus died was equivalent to March 25 in the Roman (solar) calendar.

“March 25 is, of course, nine months before December 25; it was later recognized as the Feast of the Annunciation—the commemoration of Jesus’ conception. Thus, Jesus was  believed  to have been conceived and crucified on the same day of the year. Exactly nine months later, Jesus was born, on December 25” (pp. 5-6).

One problem with this theory is that Tertullian nowhere mentions the conception of Christ and only gave the equivalent date in the Roman calendar of Christ’s death. As we have already seen, Clement of Alexandria had three different dates for Jesus’ death.

Tertullian wrote: “And the suffering of this ‘extermination’ was perfected …  under Tiberius Caesar … in the month of March, at the times of the passover, on the eighth day before the calends [1st day] of April [i.e., March 24 or 25]” ( An Answer to the Jews , chap. 8).

And even if Tertullian thought Christ’s death had been on March 25 of the Roman calendar, he clearly did not tie it to Jesus’ conception or birth. That task would later fall to fourth-century writers and those of later centuries who would try to justify the Dec. 25 date for Christ’s birth—a time admitted by Church historians when paganism had already crept into the formation of the Catholic Church’s feast days.

The Bible certainly does not mention such an outlandish idea. But, as we have been warned, clever theories are advanced to justify the date of Dec. 25 for Jesus’ birth. By taking a closer look, we can see the “conception/death theory” as just another far-fetched speculation borne out of desperation to justify a Dec. 25 observance of Christ’s birth.

Don’t be “turned aside to fables”

The apostle Paul warned Timothy that false teachers would appear presenting fables and traditions of men but that he should stick to biblical truth. Paul admonished him: “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2 Timothy 4:2-4).

Don’t be deceived by clever theories based on the wayward traditions of men. A quick Internet search will show that Dec. 25 was chosen as the date of Christ’s birth not because of any biblical or historical evidence, but because this was the entrenched observance of the birthday of the sun-god!

And this is far from the only problem with this holiday. What does a jolly fat man in a red fur-trimmed suit riding in a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer (loaded with toys made by elves living at the North Pole!) have to do with the birth of the Son of God? The answer should be obvious— nothing!  But this and related imagery clearly reveal the unbiblical, ungodly, pre-Christian roots of this celebration.

Instead of following man-made traditions and holidays condemned in the Bible, why not keep the biblical feast days that God commanded and that were observed by Jesus Christ, the apostles and the early Church? You’ll be surprised at how they can transform your understanding of the Bible!

[lindoig]

Days 9 to 11

Three days of mostly driving with not a lot to see during much of it – but it was interesting to watch the country and the vegetation change as we progressed northward.  The land was still mainly flat (really flat!!) with just occasional low hills, sometimes short ranges, rising abruptly and inexplicably out of an endless plain.  And the grass became scrub with occasional scrubby trees, many of them long dead, and back to grass again a few times.  But as we went further north, bigger trees emerged and the areas of grassland became less frequent and less extensive, until we were in country much more akin to rural areas we see in more southern and eastern areas.  I love the desert oaks – not all that many of them, but lovely when we see them - a brighter green, with spindly pendant leaves that set them apart from most of the other trees.  I also love the smooth white-trunked coolibahs that stand stark and dramatic against the more muted greens and browns of the rest of the vegetation.  Could all get a poet going if there was one around......

There were a few surprises along this stretch of road. It seems that the Alice is a long way from Melbourne, but we are now 1200km further north with nearly 300 still to go to Darwin.  It really is a big country – and beautiful in its vastness too. We overnighted at two places I had never previously heard of: Wycliffe Well and Elliott.  There are quite a few places along the road that have hitherto been nameless to me, but some are big enough to be worth a greater level of recognition.  We stopped for lunch under a shady tree at Aileron and ended up staying an hour or so to see the 17-metre high anatomically correct statues of an aboriginal man, woman and child – quite staggering.  Has its own Art Gallery and all yet merely a fuel stop (or not) for almost all passers-by.

We also called in to a great man-made lake on the Mary Anne Creek and saw lots of water birds as well as a farmyardful of ducks, geese, chooks, guineafowl and peacocks just roaming wild across an extensive, beautifully-grassed shady picnic area.  Extraordinary in the middle of the desert and something we would have driven right past had we not seen an inconspicuous sign along the road.

When Mum and Dad did their ‘Big Lap’ 40-something years ago, I think the two things that most impressed Mum were Geikie Gorge and the Devil’s Marbles – at least they were the main things she talked about and showed photos of from that trip. The trip was perhaps the most important event in her life for a number of reasons, despite Dad’s first traumatic heart attack in Canberra. She fell in love with caravanning and indirectly, that led to me buying the little old Viscount van from her when Dad was no longer able to manage it.  She loved it and all it meant to her and wanted to keep it ‘in the family’ so I bought it from them and and we always tried to take her away for a trip when we were in Perth with it.  All of that to say we saw the Devil’s Marbles too – but were perhaps less impressed than Mum was.  True, they are rather extraordinary – a huge collection of giant weathered orange rocks tossed across a few square kilometres of the NT – but they are now securely fenced off and you are not able to get amongst them or climb on any of them. I am not sure quite how I feel about that.  I accept that hundreds of thousands of pairs of runners might wear the rocks away somewhat over the millennia, but I am not convinced that such a small proportion of the population should exercise such wide decision-making influence over the great majority of people who would respect the need for a level of restraint in such iconic places.  I really must do some writing on the farce we call ‘democracy’.

We also called in at the ‘Pebbles’ a few hundred clicks further up the track.  The Devil’s Marbles are big, bold and manly and are a sacred site for aboriginal men: the Pebbles are a wimpy photocopy that is sacred to the women who are excluded from the more important men’s business.  Seems to be the way with so many things, but I am not sure this is the place to get into gender equality too heavily.

Some of the unheard-of locations we passed were almost towns.  Elliott, for example, was a strip of houses, a couple of caravan parks, two servos and a couple of shops over a kilometre long.  Tennant Creek is definitely a town – much bigger than I imagined, maybe at least Katanning-size for any Waussies reading this or Numurkah for the Vics.  Quite modern-looking with a reasonable spread of services and something of a surprise to me.  I imagined these places to be pretty rustic and run-down, scraping by on long-lost glories of historic times, but most are still viable communities, albeit small, with residents who couldn’t be shoe-horned away under any circumstances.  The residents I spoke with are not hillbillies or hicks - they mainly seemed to be intelligent, knowledgeable, socially-aware, maybe a little critical of centralists or outsiders, but tolerant and welcoming for all that.

Daly Waters was also a surprise – not that it is large (it isn’t) but it was alive with tourists.  It is very quaint with non-operational parking meters in the street, the non-functional ‘most remote traffic lights’ (red light area only) in Australia and strictly ‘Angle Parking – any angle mate!’  We had the obligatory drink on the verandah of the pub and took the mandatory happy-snaps, but we could have stayed all day checking out some of the signage and quaint arrangements that have been set up to amuse what is obviously a huge tourist trade.  Daly Waters was also the start of many places clearly signed to indicate significant WWII sites – airfields, supply depots and so on when there was such real fear that we would be invaded from the north.

We are now in Katherine – another BIG surprise.  It is quite a large town (with REAL traffic lights and all!) and quite beautiful – what we have seen so far.  We are in the Boab Caravan Park – not cheap, but I have seen at least 20 bird species so far.  Lovely lawns, plenty of shade and well looked after.  It turns out that all our rush to get up to Kakadu before the water went was a little misguided.  A good deal of Kakadu is not yet open because there is still too much water and too many crocodiles!  We are now looking at staying here for perhaps a week to see the attractions in this area and hope that Kakadu is then fully accessible.  If not, we may go to the Darwin area until the Park is fully open.

Off to check out the Katherine Information Centre now and have a drive round this lovely town.  More when there is more to report.

(For the statisticians, we have driven 3999km so far and the species count stands at 101, including 3 new ticks for our personal records.)

[scotianostra]

November 9th 1795 saw the birth of Walter Geikie, an artist, noted for sketches and etchings of everyday Edinburgh scenes.

Aged only two, Geikie was struck by an illness that left him deaf. His father’s tireless efforts to educate his son in sign language reaped enormous rewards, and eventually Walter was also able to speak.

A talented draughtsman, he enrolled in the Trustees’ Academy in 1812, where he advanced under the guidance of John Graham, David Wilkie’s former master.  Geikle’s real success and satisfaction lay in drawing directly from life, although he was also a capable painter and etcher. His favoured subjects were the simple, congenial people of everyday Edinburgh life, often interspersed with elements of the ridiculous that verge on caricature.

His jovial works were given wider exposure with the posthumous publication of his ‘Etchings Illustrative of Scottish Character and Scenery’, in 1841.

Religion was a massive thing during Geikle’s time, and in the early nineteenth century society tended to write off deaf people as deaf and dumb, deaf mute, incapable of learning or achieving anything, fit only for menial, manual labour. He challenged those ideals and formed, what is said to be the world’s first deaf church.

He was one of the four educated deaf men (possibly privately educated from wealthier families) got together in Edinburgh on 30th June, 1830 and began a church where the gospel could be preached, prayers could be said, psalms could be shared all by means of the then despised language of signs.

From that beginning in Edinburgh, the news spread of this new idea that deaf people didn’t have to wait for hearing people to take pity on them, they could preach and teach themselves. Deaf churches were founded in London, South Wales, Manchester and Liverpool by people who had direct contact with members of the Edinburgh group

Walter Geikle died on August  1st 1837 and was buried in an unmarked grave in Greyfriars Kirkyard, although a memorial was erected to his memory on the western boundary wall in 1996, as seen in the pics

I’m a wee bit biased and have posted mainly his Edinburgh work, I particularly like the Lawnmarket and West Bow drawings, nut the sketch of the Wset Port murderer William Burke’s house id also interesting

There are lots more drawings of Scotland  on the National Galleries site, and are well worth a wee look through. https://www.nationalgalleries.org/search?search=geikie&page=0 You can read much more on Walter Geikle   https://www.electricscotland.com/history/other/geikie_walter.htm

[kieg-kieg]

보라빛 밤 (pporappippam) Japanese Version

Like with TXT, I’m a big fan of Sunmi, and this is probably my favorite song of hers. I wrote a Japanese version of it as soon as it came out last year, and I even tried to record half of it (but never finished). Anyway, I hope you can enjoy this! I’ll be posting some more translyrics I make here (mostly from Kpop).

《Verse》 「空の星も取ってくれよ」って言っていたなのに この夜しか要らないよね 二人だけで手と手 “Sora no hoshi mo tottekure yo” tte itteita nano ni Kono yoru shika iranai yo ne Futari dake de te to te

《Pre-Chorus》 보라빛 밤　I like it like it 離てはまだ早いよ We’re like 보라빛 밤 空高く　輝かせて 今夜　夜　夜　夜　夜 Pporappippam I like it like it Hanarate wa mada hayai yo We’re like pporappippam Sora takaku kagayakasete Konya ya ya ya ya

보라빛 밤 Pporappippam

《Chorus》 もう　あなた 目を開けると　全部消えたら Mou anata Me wo akeru to zenbu kietara

そう　あなたとの夜 待ち続けているから Sou anata to no yoru Machi tsuzuketeiru kara

Nanananana 보라빛 밤 Pporappippam

《Verse》 君に酔いしれては　Im tipsy ふらふらして　迷う 今じゃなけりゃいつ？ もどかしくなる 早く　キスを Kimi ni yoishirete wa I’m tipsy Furafura shite mayou Ima janakerya itsu? Modokashiku naru Hayaku KISU wo

《Chorus》 보라빛 밤　I like it like it 離てはまだ良いよ Were like 보라빛 밤 空高く　輝かせて 今夜　夜　夜　夜　夜 Pporappippam I like it like it Hanarate wa mada hayai yo We’re like pporappippam Sora takaku kagayakasete Konya ya ya ya ya

보라빛 밤 Pporappippam

《Chorus》 もう　あなた 目を開けると　全部消えたら Mou anata Me wo akeru to zenbu kietara

そう　あなたとの夜 待ち続けているから Sou anata to no yoru Machi tsuzuketeiru kara

《Bridge》   幻か真実か 紫の空に　 あなたと　今夜 打ち上げてた Maboroshi ka shinjitsu ka Murasaki no sora ni Anata to konya Uchiageteta

보라빛 밤 Pporappippam

  《Chorus》   もう　あなた 目を開けると　全部消えたら Mou anata Me wo akeru to zenbu kietara

そう　あなたとの夜 待ち続けているから Sou anata to no yoru Machi tsuzuketeiru kara もう　あなた Mou anata そう　あなたとの夜 永久に憶えているわ Sou anata to no yoru Towa ni oboeteiru wa I own nothing but my translyrics.

[scotianostra]

November 9th 1795 saw the birth of Walter Geikie, an artist, noted for sketches and etchings of everyday Edinburgh scenes.

Aged only two, Geikie was struck by an illness that left him deaf. His father’s tireless efforts to educate his son in sign language reaped enormous rewards, and eventually Walter was also able to speak. 

A talented draughtsman, he enrolled in the Trustees’ Academy in 1812, where he advanced under the guidance of John Graham, David Wilkie’s former master. Geikie’s real success and satisfaction lay in drawing directly from life, although he was also a capable painter and etcher. His favoured subjects were the simple, congenial people of everyday Edinburgh life, often interspersed with elements of the ridiculous that verge on caricature. 

His jovial works were given wider exposure with the posthumous publication of his ‘Etchings Illustrative of Scottish Character and Scenery’, in 1841.

Religion was a massive thing during Geikle's time, and in the early nineteenth century society tended to write off deaf people as deaf and dumb, deaf mute, incapable of learning or achieving anything, fit only for menial, manual labour. He challenged those ideals and formed, what is said to be the world's first deaf church. 

He was one of the four educated deaf men (possibly privately educated from wealthier families) got together in Edinburgh on 30th June, 1830 and began a church where the gospel could be preached, prayers could be said, psalms could be shared all by means of the despised language of signs.

From that beginning in Edinburgh, the news spread of this new idea that deaf people didn’t have to wait for hearing people to take pity on them, they could preach and teach themselves. Deaf churches were founded in London, South Wales, Manchester and Liverpool by people who had direct contact with members of the Edinburgh group

He died on 1 August 1837 and was buried in an unmarked grave in Greyfriars Kirkyard, although a memorial was erected to his memory on the western boundary wall in 1996.

The pics are of his memorial at Greyfriars, the second a great charcature drawing called The Reel O' Tullochgorum, if you follow my posts keenly, you will know it is one of my favourite songs! The third pic shows that Geikle was much more than a cartoonist and is Little Anderson Close a wee street in the Old Town, swept away when West Bow was remodelled into Victoria Street/Terrace. And the fourth is Houses at the Head of the West Bow. 

Loads more of his work can be viewed here and are well worth a wee look through. https://www.nationalgalleries.org/search?search=Walter%20Geikie You can read much more on his life here  https://www.electricscotland.com/history/other/geikie_walter.htm