Darlene and I arrived safely home without further incident Friday afternoon. But I was too tired to blog. Now that we're unpacked and back in the swing of normal life, I thought I would catch up on some BlogSpotting. Here is a sampling of various friends and critics around the blogosphere who have mentioned PyroManiac lately:
- Eric Zeller over at FoolishBlog figures I'm already burnt out. He wonders if anyone else has noticed how the quality of PyroManiac has been plummeting lately. He wishes I'd get back to more serious business.
- On the other hand, Gavin at The Squawking Cockatiel (all the way from Perth, Australia), lists me among his favoritessaving the best for last. He wryly notes that I wasn't the only pyro-fiend in London last week. (I figured it was only a matter of time before someone would make that connection.)
- La Shawn Barber did her usual great job of reporting and commenting on the very latest developments on the day of the the London bombings She noted that the PyroManiac was on the scene in London.
- Michael Bates thinks Darlene's July 4 photo is really cool. If you missed our postcard from London on July 4 and want to see what a brilliant photographer my wife is, click here. She had gone to Westminster bridge to hear the noonday chimes (because she had never been that close when Big Ben struck twelve). At the stroke of noon, the Red Arrows flew over. Darlene quickly pulled out the camera and turned it on just in time to snap this photo. Unfortunately, the noise of the Red Arrows' nine T.MK1 Hawks drowned out the sound of Big Ben, so hearing the noonday chimes remains an unfulfilled wish of hers. But the photo was worth it. I've been telling you she is wonderful. Now you know.
- Mark Hanson is mystified by my speaking in tongues. But he nonetheless gives me an honorary PhD. (By the way, for instant online help deciphering any unfamiliar words or foreign expressions, Dictionary.com is the latest thing.)
- Dr. Andrew Jackson at Smart Christian says he would rather be knocked unconscious than travel with me. Does this mean you don't want me to come to the Christian Blogosphere Convention, Dr. Jackson?
- Mark Gibson thought of me when he learned of the London bombings, and it provoked him to think deeply about the mystery of divine Providence and the truth that God is sovereign over every intricate detail of our lives.
- James Spurgeon, better known as The Howling Coyote, made a great post about the doctrinal downgrade, its pattern, its subtlety, and the ultimate good that God ultimately brings even from seasons of apostasy. At the end, he virtually begs to be BlogSpotted.
- Kim at The Upward Call thinks the ambience here at PyroManiac reeks too much of old gym shoes. But she approves of my article on "The Second Great Commandment" in July's TableTalk. She's a home-school mom. Say no more.
- Charmaine Yoest was liveblogging from the G8 summit. she paused to give a hat tip to the PyroManiac.
- Finally, I have no clue who Thucydides 67 is, and she hasn't even really launched a blog yet. But judging from her preliminary blogroll, the blog is going to beum, interesting.
[Note: I edited this entry and removed the link, because some grossly blasphemous material was posted at the blog in question. I'm leaving the reference as a cautionary alert to the blogosphere. See also the comments below, and the July 12 blogpost (above) titled "Dog Days." It's probably best to avoid "Thucydides 67" if at all possible.] - But, then, Josh Hicks reminds me that there's no such thing as "bad" publicity.
That's all I can do for now. I haven't attempted to be comprehensive. But I'll probably do more short BlogSpotting posts as the week grinds on.
17 comments:
I spent a little time reading your blog and I thought I'd leave you a note that I was here.
Gingerly stepping into the locker room
Hmmmm.....don't know if I should feel insecure or not about that home school mom comment. We home school moms can be a rebellious bunch. We come equipped with dictionaries and grammar books.
You go, Kim!
Now Phil, after missing all my blog posts about you and failing at the blogspotting on the newest and greatest place to blog on the net (www.homeschoolblogger.com), you have to go and insult those of us homeschool mothers who read your blog regularly, quote from it, and enjoy it? You ought to be ashamed!
Warmly joking,
:+) Kate
http://homeschoolblogger.com/underthesky
Thanks for your comments from London. Somehow i found it today and through it my own blog, started a year ago and abandoned due to my old mac not reading it.
While you were at the Met Tab I was at the London Theological Seminary for a course on Abraham Kuyper ans a Christian Worldview.
I would also like to thank you for your Hall of Church History whch I have linked to for years,
http://www.christiansquoting.org.uk/favorite_links.html
Kate,
Insult?
All I said was "Say no more." You have to bring your own hermeneutical assumptions to that statement to make it an insult.
I'm scared to death of women with dictionaries and grammar books. I had a sixth-grade teacher who broke a grammar book over a kid's head when she caught him whispering. Snuck up behind him, slammed him on the head with the book, and broke the spine of the book. I'm not making this up. Her name was (and I am REALLY not making this up) "Miss Hit." Seriously. This was at Kechi elementary school, Kechi, Kansas, 1964. You can check it out. It was enough to sell me on the virtues of home-schooling.
Anyway, I'm also not finished BlogSpotting. Look for more as the week progresses. And hold those grammar books.
Phil,
Steve Camp has a good picture of what I think a Pyromaniac would look like. You'll see it at his post titled 'What Brings Satan Pleasure?'
You are right, of course, about bringing my own hermeneutical assumptions to your statement. When one is so frequently the object of derision, one tends to question the meaning behind a statement such as yours. I do apologize for jumping to my hermeneutical assumptions however. :+)
Your blog is a source of great pleasure and I appreciate your insight, comedy, as well as doctrinal stand.
Warmly,
Kate
If you like James Spurgeon's blog, make sure to read his "Tales From The Temple."
Oh Kate, you are bold. I would never refer to Mr. Pryomaniac as "Phil." I'm still trying to get over the fact that I was mentioned on his blog and it wasn't because I said anything illuminating or interesting!
After reading your blog for two minutes I was inspired to create a protest against all blogging.
http://againstblogs.blogspot.com/
lol Kim, you crack me up.
Did you see the pic of Mr.PyroPhil at the Michael Jackson fiasco? Trust me, it's okay to call him Phil (despite the floral print shirt, he's really a rather pleasant brother to converse with - and I can say that based on the 3, painfully insignificant emails we've exchanged a month ago - lol).
And you have tons of great things to say, don't sell yourself short.
Thucydides67 has some very bold comments on his blogging predecessors. He calls James White shallow... James White...shallow! I do like Dr. White and I can think of a lot things to describe him... but shallow is not one I'd use. And what he says about you, Phil...
Well, we'll see if he can live up to par.
You homeschool moms go!! My wife is not a blogger, but she reads many of your comments. She find them enlightening and encouraging.
Grace to You!
I've been wanting to get blogspotted again since I made the very first one, but I wanted to do it for something substantive - not just name-calling or gushing. I figure if I want to insult you or just gush, I can do that right here.
;)
BTW - I'm still thinking about something to disagree with you about so I can get into a slugfest with a real pro. I haven't been knocked silly in a good while.
Hey sean macnair, thanks for the free plug!
Hey, Phil, can I claim a "fabulous No-Prize" like they give away in the Marvel Comics letters pages for "Fastest Derivative Baiting Job"? I think we're in the 99th percentile of turnaround speeds between your linking Thucidydes67, my twitting his "AV 1611" sidebar, and his publishing an over-the-top article titled "If you read this and smirk or mock, you don't have the Spirit in you."
I wasn't really *trying* to bait, but these KJ-only, er, fellows really irritate me. Not least 'cuz they like to use the word "Fundamentalist" a lot, and I think it deserves better (even in its moribundity).
Turns out he's just a hit-and-run nutjob, anyway; or maybe he got caught fast.
Cheers,
PGE
Peter,
You win the fabulous no-prize.
Actually, I believe "Thucidydes67" is a woman. She is apparently the same woman who used to post as C.T. (which at one point was supposed to stand for "Caroline Trace"). Someone told me she lives in Iceland or something. I don't quite know what to make of that.
I had to oust her in the first two days of my blog, forbidding her from posting as "CT" in my comments section, because she started using profanity and posting off topic on day one.
That's when she became Xenophon and toned down both her language and some of her bizarre opinions.
She's lucid enough to get a few things right. And she's obviously not stupid. If she's who I think she is, she actually has a rather high IQ and may even be an attorney.
I don't believe she is from Iceland, and I seriously doubt her real name is "Caroline Trace."
It is my theory that she is actually a Phelps—a daughter or granddaughter of the notorious Fred Phelps, patriarch of the Topeka, KS, Phelpses of "GHF" infamy. Sadly, that means her most off-the-wall opinions are the only things she is truly serious about.
If I'm right about who she is, she is not a Calvinist at all; not a Christian at all; but a living parody of hyper-Calvinism blended with a cultlike hatred of historic Christianity.
That would explain why although she sometimes says things that are right, she cannot restrain herself from veering into bizarre and fanatical ideas every third post or so.
In the post you pointed out, I note that she admits to being part of a cult. That, too, would fit with the Fred Phelps connection.
My counsel: ignore her. She won't go away quickly, but ignoring her is the best way to minimize the harm and confusion she can inflict. If she's who I think she is, she has been bred and trained to feed on conflict, and paying attention to her only makes her worse.
Makes sense to me. Didn't see much future in that debate, that's for sure.
Thanks for the heads-up.
Cheers,
PGE
Post a Comment