Sunday, December 20, 2009

Sarge's Shack

This is somewhat overdue, but William, Juliana, and I stopped at a little roadhouse called Sarge's Shack both going to and returning from Magna Faire.



Sarge's serves a pretty standard "roadhouse" menu of steaks, chicken, and fish dishes with southern country sides. The beauty is that it's all good. On the way down, I ordered a pretty small steak medium rare, and when I first saw it I was worried that -- being on the thin side -- it would be overdone. Nope, it was a perfect medium rare. The cooks at Sarge's absolutely know what they're doing. If you're traveling between Nashville, TN, and Huntsville, AL, Sarge's Shack is an excellent place to stop for lunch or dinner.

I took pictures on our second stop, on the way back from Magna Faire for Sunday lunch, so -- unfortunately -- no steak pictures.

Sarge's is at Exit 14 off I-65, south of NashvilleSarge's ShackSome of the interior
Menu, side 1Menu, side twoThey know what RARE means
Chicken stripsFried catfishFried green tomatos and potato soup

Monday, December 14, 2009

Dickens Festival

Franklin, Tennessee has a Dickens festival every year. Last year I drifted in by accident because I wanted to have lunch at McCreary's Pub. This year, I actually planned to attend (and dressed warmly enough). Like most street festivals, this one has food vendors, art and craft stands, and street performers, like this handbell choir...



In addition to the video, I took some ordinary pictures of the festival, too. Didn't seem as crowded this year; possibly a combination of the gloomy overcast and it being Sunday instead of Saturday.

Cratchet GangCouldn't pass it upFranklin
Best Uniforms EVERFaginFinally got to try a sugarplum
Marley?I need this elementary school recorder ensemble to record a dance albumTrombones

Friday, December 11, 2009

A Brief Moment of Idiocy from Ray Comfort

Much like Allecto, Ray Comfort is a train wreck that I can’t help watching. Unlike her, he produces a steady stream of nonsense, so I don’t really have to wait very long for him to say something absurd and irrational. I’ve found it mostly pointless to post responses on his weblog, since he almost never bothers to address any of the points people make, so I'll contribute to my blog instead of his.

The Religion of Evolution

I was asked recently during an interview if I thought that the Theory of Evolution was a religion. I said that I think it is.
Cue Ray projecting like a movie theatre.

If evolution is responsible for everything that has evolved--everything, then it is worthy of praise. What it did was miraculous, and time is the miracle-method it used. Its prophet was Charles Darwin (the faithful can pay homage to his facial hair in the Natural History Museum, in London), and Richard Dawkins is the sitting pope.
Worthy of praise? No one who accepts the Theory of Evolution thinks it's worthy of “praise”. It’s worthy of recognition for its accuracy, which means that it has earned its place in classrooms. You could call that “praise”, I suppose, but it's not what Ray's talking about.

Charles Darwin was not a prophet; he was an ordinary naturalist who made an observation and happened to publish his discovery before anyone else. He didn’t ask people to believe him on faith, he showed them the evidence he had collected and explained the conclusions he’d drawn from it.

Richard Dawkins is not a religious figure; he’s an advocate for scientific thinking. As far as I can tell, Ray has ever experienced scientific thinking, which might explain his endless misunderstandings of the thought process.

According to his decree, if you disagree with the canon of evolution you are "wicked." So those who don't believe, should therefore be excommunicated from the realm of science.
Dawkins does not make “decrees” that people are wicked for disagreeing with evolution, but he’s not shy about criticizing people who lie about evolution, as many creationists routinely do.

The "Bible" of the Darwinian believer is On the Origin of Species. If you write a mere Introduction that disagrees with its sacred contents, it is tantamount to blasphemy. Be prepared for an inquisition from believers and threats of book burnings.
There is no more a “Bible of Evolution” than there’s a “Bible of Newtonian Physics”. The Origin of Species just describes the theory as Darwin developed it, and evolution theory has changed over time as new information has become available. It’s historically important for being the first published description of the theory, but it's not some kind of unchangeable scripture. If you write an introduction that disagrees with it, that’s your business, but if your introduction is full of misinformation and long-refuted claims about the theory and about science in general, people are going to call you out on it.

So, if you believe in evolution, don’t question dating methods, or the credibility of revered paleontologists, or the learned priestly professors.
Actually, if you believe in evolution, feel free to question any of these things (although you’ll be hard pressed to find a “priestly professor” outside of a theology department), but actually learn what the theory says before you start criticizing it. If you question seriously and actually do the science, you’ll come to the same basic conclusion: the Theory of Evolution accurately describes how the diversity of life on Earth developed from a common origin.

Just believe.
That’s what you do, Ray.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Magna Faire 2009

Well, I have a day off today, so I suppose it's high time I at least posted some pictures from Magna Faire. Magna Faire was essentially an all-dance event for me, as I didn't think I'd have time to get in and out of armor around performance times.



Yes, we had live music for the ball. Very good for three musicians who had never played a note together before, if you ask me.

I have video my entry with Juliana, but I'm waiting to do a little editing before I post it.