Hey, It's That Time Again!

Todays guessing theme is, Name These Products! I chose these particular food items (yes, they are all food items) because I liked the brand names, mostly. Whoever can identify each of these items (in English), will win the right to name my new cat when I get one. (Since I seem to have some critics in the naming department).

Anabaptist thought for the day...

An MCC poster that I like...

Obituary and Adoption Announcement

Yes, I must make the unfortunate announcement that Chule has passed on from this life, courtesy of my neighbor's evil dog. Chule, we trust that you have gone on to greener pastures and we shall miss you.

Hence we welcome your replacement, 1968, offspring of Pipoca. We are proud that 1968 has begun to look more canine and less like a rodent. We hope that he likes catfood, since that's what's for dinner around here since Chule's untimely departure.

Water..... Wah...ter...

Are any of you feeling chilly? Experiencing inclement weather? Well I am sending this picture to balance your yang with some yin. Or the other way around, I forget which is which. The little specks in this picture (in case you cannot tell) are some boys coming to get their family's water for the day. They get it here, from this 'barragem', which means basically a largish mud puddle that gets smaller and smaller, in the middle of a dessert. This place is hotter than Hades.
See, my Northern Hemispherian Friends? Aren't you feeling more balanced now? If not, let me know and I can send you another goat, which always helps.

A goat a day...

More Goats. Because they're good for you!

A Child's Theological Points to Ponder

At lunchtime, Rebeca picked at her food. ''Eat more," we said, "so you can grow big and strong."

Later, while she was drawing, she said, "When I die I will go up to heaven."

"Do you want to go to heaven?'' I asked.

"Yes," She said.

"What do you think there is up there in heaven?" I asked her.

"Fruits."

"You're probably right," I said. "Do you think God likes fruit?"

"Yes. But God doesn't eat," She said.

"No?"

"No! He can't eat!"

"Why not? What if God wanted to eat?"

"No, He can't eat. Because God is already very big and very very strong. If He eats, He can't get bigger and stronger, because He's already bigger than anything. So if He ate, He would start to get smaller and smaller instead. So that's why God doesn't eat."

Happy Goat Picture for the Day 

Hah Hah Someone Left My Cell Unlocked

This is my cage, I mean house (It is a Shabby Chic House). Come visit me!

The Patriarch of Algodoes

Here is Seu Peter, me, and all his saints. I look like I have to pee, but that is not actually the case. I was trying to look about the same size as Seu Peter, and not block the saints from the picture. Actually, come to think of it, I did have to pee, but that is not why I look that way.

A helium balloon corral?

Okay Guessers, Put on your thinking caps. Tell me what this structure is and you will win a wise saying, which I will invent myself upon receiving the winning answer.

Your Personalized Tour through Algodoes

Here is the town of Algodões.

A Nice Goat

Here is a nice goat.

Mmm... I'm Getting Hungry...

Here are all the yummy goat parts in a bucket waiting to be cooked up.

Run, Goats, Run!!!!

Not far away, these innocent goats frollick, unaware of their probable fate. But let us not concern ourselves with that. Surely, this must be worthy of a field and garden dream?

Gone to the Goats

Brothers and Sisters, crazed fans and devoted followers:

This post is to inform you all that tomorrow I will be traveling to Algodoes (which I think is Portuguese for "Very-rural-place-with-lots-of-goats". I will be visiting some people I've never met, reading books about non-violence, and communing with the goats. Unfortunately I will also be eating said goats. That's what they eat in Algodoes. The ones who have been castrated in their youth taste okay, but the ones who never got castrated smell kind of rank and don't really taste that good either.

I will be bringing the full report of goats, castrated or otherwise, upon my return Tuesday evening.

A happy weekend to all of you and may all your goats be castrated.

The Backwards Cat

Why is this cat meowing at the door to get in?

Because, she has to pee. That's right, I am the proud owner of a cat who believes she must hold her bladder as long as she's outside. After all, you wouldn't want to pee on the plants or dirt, Heaven knows. That would be gross. So my cat meows frantically at my door until I let her in, so she can pee on my floor. How did I get so lucky?

An Easy One for the Slower Contestants

And here it is! The second round of the guessing contest. Here's a hint: It is not a guanabana with a snail on it.

Mennonite Statistics for the Day

Here they are, taken from the book, The Mennonite Starter Kit: A Handy Guide for the New Mennonite:

1. Of American men who still wear sideburns, 84% are Mennonite Pastors from the Midwest; 17 percent are Elvis impersonators.

2. Three-forths of Mennonites say that it is wrong to use alcohol; the other quarter say it depends on what you use it for.

3. Sixty-five percent of all Mennonites think that war has its disadvantages.

4. One percent of Amish men say it is wrong for a Christian to fight in a war. The rest could not be reached by phone.

*** *** ***

This important book is available, for those of you interested in converting today. It will change your life!

Anabaptist Thought for the Day (for beginners)

I recently began subscribing to the Third Way Cafe, which sends me an Anabaptist thought-for-the-day every morning. I have found it edifying, so I thought I would give you all one for today (though not one that I got from the Third Way Cafe). Since the vast majority of my immense community of readers are not Anabaptist, I thought I would start with this small snippet from a song called "Amish Paradise" by Wierd Al:

"A tourist kicked me in the butt last week
I just smiled at him, and I turned the other cheek."

So meditate on that. If you need to, you can refer to the illustration by our friend Brennand, previously posted on this page. I bet you all didn't even know that Brennand and Wierd Al were Anabaptists. See how educational this page is?

Gallup Hair Poll

Well, you will know I am not a resident of the United States when I tell you that tonight was the first time I saw John Kerry on TV. (A recent visitor from the US noted that this fact was also obvious because half the time we accidentally call Bush's opponent "Jim Carey'' instead of John. We are overwhelmingly surrounded with the world of Lula, and not with the world of Bush vs. Kerry).

I saw some snippits of the Bush - Kerry debates, and thought I would impress you all with my well-roundedness, or objectivity, or whatever you want to call it. Though you all know that I'm not a huge Bush fan, I have always tried to see the good in everyone, even people I don't really like. So, I wanted to state that I have observed one aspect in which Bush is clearly superior to Kerry. And that is his hair.

Bush's hair really isn't all that spectacular, but it's good, decent hair, that does its job of covering the head without looking garrish or disturbing. Kerry's hair, however, made me think he might make a good butler in a cheesy 80's movie about a haunted house, or something. I felt he sounded significantly more intelligent in the debates than his counterpart, but it was hard to listen to his words because a) they were dubbed over in Portuguese, and b) I was overwhelmed with the urge to buy a set of electric hair clippers and mail them to him.

And my candidate, I have to say, has the least suave appearance of all. But I guess that's part of Nader's image or ''charm'' (if it can be called that). I don't think he shops at Nordstrom's or spends much time thinking about his hair.

What if they trip?

Are these people armless, or just really cold? They look a bit like soldiers, but it would seem they would need all their appendages if that were the case... Hmmm....