Monday Funday #1 The Pastor’s Son

A boy had just passed his driving license. He asked his father, who was a pastor, if they could have a chat about about him using the car.

The father said:

“I’ll make you a deal. Improve your grades, read the Bible a little, and get your hair cut — then we’ll talk about it.”

A month later the boy came back and asked again about him using the car. His father said:

“Son, I’m really proud of you. You’ve improved your grades, you’ve been reading the Bible diligently — but, here’s the thing,  you haven’t had your hair cut.”

The young man paused for a moment and replied:

“You know, Dad, I’ve been thinking. Samson had long hair. Moses had long hair. Noah had long hair. Even Jesus had long hair.”

His father answered:

“Yes, my son. Indeed they did. And, like yourself, they walked everywhere.”

Plan for the next quarter century

As we come to the close of 2025, it’s worth remembering that this marks the end of the first quarter of a century for our current era. As far as this blog is concerned, we don’t go back twenty years – our first post other than the “Hello World” one you get given at the outset, was on 1st November 2009, so that means that we have now completed 16 years, with the following profile of views and posts made.

Views Posts published
2009 486 47
2010 21,595 117
2011 45,391 119
2012 36,704 63
2013 41,626 23
2014 38,193 29
2015 44,725 16
2016 32,771 8
2017 27,200 110
2018 44,484 306
2019 33,040 155
2020 29,608 213
2021 16,340 215
2022 15,321 65
2023 10,794 3
2024 11,179 8
2025 10,708 14
460,165 1,511

All of which shows that the site has been negleted for a number of years and therefore the views came right down, but in any case in 2021 when I was posting most days of the year the views halved.

This is probably to do with the fact that the posts were at that time largely connected to the main project of getting my YouTube Channel all repurposed to here and properly tagged up and with the possibility for more discussion. Given that the YouTube material was older and older over time, and technologically lagged behind whta newer, fresher videographers were doing, and also after a while I stopped producing regular content on YouTube as I think I had come to an end of that time of life where I was regularly going to new places (and also I got a new hobby in 2016, namely Ingress, and also the camera I was using for the YT things wore out and I was unable to get a similar one to my liking) one can scarcely be surprised that this channel became less frequently viewed.

That having been said, many thanks to the loyal few who did still maintain a regular viewership, especially those who joined in with comments and discussion and sharing posts with their friends.

I have not given up the idea of putting all of the YT material here, and I will have to pick that up again, but I thought that for the next phase of this blog, to seek to bring it back to life, for 2026 and onwards I woud go for a different daily theme and I thnk I have sahred before the basic idea I have for the different days of the week.

1) Monday Funday – a growing collection of jokes. A light-hearted start to the working week for my viewers.

2) Tuesday Reviews Day – Product and place reviews, recommendations and unrecommendations, including some product links to Amazon which may help cover costs if people click on them. You will note that Google Ads have been taken off the site as there is too little editorial control over them and I think I would prefer to be developing the Amazon influencer side, so you’ll have started seeing soe Amazon ads also on the site. They go straight to the American site whereas I will also include Amazon.co.uk product links on the Tuesday Reviews.

3) Wednesday Essay Day – this is a day for new Essays about various topics, some of them are expected to have a philosophical or Spiritual dimension. The aim will be to work towards a collection of essays of a thought-provoking or enlightening character.

4) Thursday Polling Day – here we will be offering polls for your opinion, and/or maybe some commentary on the news items which are current. Instead of a poll, there could be a quiz, it’s the same software.

5) Friday AI day.  The format of the material here will be a converstaion with AI, in which I try to make sense of various topics using AI. The conversation will be shown in full excpet for the bits where te AI asks it’s continuation quastions of what I would like to do next, as these spoil the flow. These will also be tagged “Interviews with a VampAIre” if you want to access the whole collection.

6) Saturday Natterday – this is a day for Language related topics, and among the ideas for Saturday we have a collection of dictation or translation exercises that will grow, and possibly the beginnings of a collection of hymns in various language versions.

7) Sunday is the day in which I would continue to place the historical YT films in the original order tey appeared on the channel, for the simple reason that the project is half way though and I would like to finish it. Clearly there is no rush and at that tempo it may take twenty years to do it, but at least it will be done if God grants me to live that long.

SO I will be using schedulingin order to prepare the material ahead. Maybe time will fail me to keep all these days full of content. My rule will be that for 2025 I will start with the current week and then if I do mor in the same category, place them in the next week.

If you are more interested in one type of content than another, then please look out for the mail that will come to you as a subscriber on that particular day and ignore the others.

I hope that you’ll like this new approach and that you’ll like, comment and share your favourite items.

 

Israel and Palestine: the Story So Far

From Semitic Foundations to Eschatological Fulfillment: A Historical-Theological Reflection

The ancient Levant was home to several North Semitic peoples—Hebrews, Arameans, Phoenicians—whose cultural and linguistic influence shaped the ancient Near East. Aramaic, in particular, rose to prominence as the administrative language of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (c. 911–609 BCE), later adopted by the Achaemenid Persians (c. 550–330 BCE) as a lingua franca across their vast domains.

The Hebrew people, with their distinct covenantal identity, maintained the longest recorded historical claim to specific territories in the Levant. The northern kingdom of Israel fell to Assyria in 722 BCE, and its tribes were dispersed and assimilated. The southern kingdom of Judah was exiled to Babylon in 586 BCE, but under Cyrus the Great’s edict in 538 BCE, many Jews returned to Jerusalem, rebuilt the Temple (completed c. 516 BCE), and re-established their religious and scriptural traditions.

During the Hellenistic period (following Alexander the Great’s conquests, c. 330 BCE), and later under Roman rule (from 63 BCE onward), Jews lived under foreign dominion, often with limited autonomy. By the time of Jesus of Nazareth—whose life, death, and resurrection Christians affirm as the pivotal moment of divine incarnation and redemptive history—the region was under Roman control, and tensions between Jewish identity and imperial power were mounting.

In AD 70, Roman legions under Titus sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the Second Temple, fulfilling Jesus’ prophecy that “not one stone will be left on another” (Matthew 24:2). While the command structure was Roman, the legions included many auxiliary troops from Syria, Arabia, and North Africa. This destruction marked the beginning of the Jewish diaspora, though Jewish communities already existed across the Mediterranean, including in North Africa, Asia Minor, and Europe.

The Romans renamed the province “Syria Palaestina” after the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–136 CE), deliberately erasing Jewish ties to the land. The term “Palestine” thus entered Western usage, though the region remained ethnically and religiously diverse.

Continue reading “Israel and Palestine: the Story So Far”

Jak mówić po polsku, żeby brzmieć jak z Doliny Krzemowej (ale nie być rozumianym ani tu, ani tam)

How to Speak Polish Like You’re from Silicon Valley (But Be Misunderstood Everywhere)

By David J. James |

Witajcie w świecie pseudoanglicyzmów—językowej krainie, gdzie „zrobić upload” brzmi jak operacja chirurgiczna, „być na callu” to stan egzystencjalny, a „deadlineować” to nowa forma cierpienia. W tym słowniczku pokazujemy, jak polski biznes i młodzieżowy slang tworzą hybrydy, które brzmią światowo, ale są zrozumiałe tylko dla wtajemniczonych.

📘 Słowniczek Pseudoanglicyzmów | Glossary of Pseudo-English Polishisms

🇵🇱 Wyrażenie Znaczenie w polskim kontekście 🇬🇧 Jak to brzmi po angielsku? 🧠 Komentarz
O co kaman? „O co chodzi?”, „Co tu się dzieje?” What’s going on? (but “come on” doesn’t fit) Brzmi jak angielski, ale nim nie jest
Zrobić research Poszukać informacji, przeanalizować Do research (not “make a research”) „Zrobić” wszystko to polska specjalność
Być na callu Uczestniczyć w rozmowie online Be on a call Korpo-slang w pełnej krasie
Zrobić feedback Dać informację zwrotną Give feedback Feedback jako rzeczownik, „zrobić” jako czasownik
Deadlineować Ustalać lub pilnować terminu Doesn’t exist in English Brzmi jak kara boska
Zrobić upload Wgrać plik Upload a file Technicznie brzmi, ale to kalka
Zrobić meeting Zorganizować spotkanie Set up a meeting / Have a meeting Brzmi jak „zrobić obiad”
Zrobić target Osiągnąć cel sprzedażowy Hit the target / Reach the goal Agresywna metafora łowiecka
Zrobić follow-up Wrócić do tematu, przypomnieć Follow up (verb, not noun) Często używane jako rzeczownik, co jest błędem
Zrobić deal Dogadać się, zawrzeć umowę Make a deal / Close a deal Brzmi jak Wall Street, ale to kalka

Continue reading “Jak mówić po polsku, żeby brzmieć jak z Doliny Krzemowej (ale nie być rozumianym ani tu, ani tam)”

The Many Faces of the Cuckoo: Contrasting Symbolism in Sienkiewicz and Galbraith

The Many Faces of the Cuckoo: Contrasting Symbolism in Sienkiewicz and Galbraith

 

Introduction

In literature, nature often serves as a rich source of symbolism, shaping how characters and themes are perceived. One particularly fascinating example is the cuckoo, a bird whose meaning varies dramatically across European cultural traditions. While Eastern European folklore often attributes the cuckoo with mystery, longing, and fate, Western interpretations frequently associate it with deception, madness, or timekeeping. These contrasting symbolic traditions are beautifully illustrated through two distinct literary characters: Helena Kurcewiczówna (“Zazula”) in Ogniem i Mieczem by Henryk Sienkiewicz,

 and Lula Landry (“Cuckoo”) in The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling).
Both women bear a nickname derived from the cuckoo, yet their literary roles, character arcs, and thematic associations reveal the striking contrast between Slavic and Anglo-European symbolism. This essay explores the dual nature of the cuckoo in these two works, shedding light on how cultural folklore shapes literary meaning across Europe.
Incidentally, as I write this, the sound of the bird itself can be heard through my office window, practically the entire time.

Continue reading “The Many Faces of the Cuckoo: Contrasting Symbolism in Sienkiewicz and Galbraith”