Links and Stuff

Hello and welcome to this week’s Links and Stuff. The big news of the week has to be Hurricane Matthew. I know there was a Vice-Presidential debate on Tuesday, but really the only news to come out of that is the fact that the running mates are more likeable (and in the case of one of them–guess which–is an overall better candidate) than the people on the top of the ticket. Enough said about that. Hurricane Matthew is big and nasty, already responsible for deaths in Haiti, and now tearing up the Bahamas on its way to the eastern coast of Florida. While the storm is forecast to track the coast and not actually traverse land, that doesn’t make things any better. It’ll be blasting that coastline with Hurricane force winds that will extend well inland. And being on water only serves to fuel the storm. My prayers go out for those who have suffered, and those who face the prospect of a very long, stormy, wet, and hazardous weekend. Just a few days ago, the National Hurricane Center had Matthew’s track heading straight through Eastern North Carolina. Since then, the track has been revised. Now Matthew is supposed to take a sharp right, avoiding North Carolina altogether (aside from some localized wind and heavy rain). I have to say, I’m grateful and relieved, but I know that’s small comfort to those south of us who get no such reprieve. Stay safe, y’all!

On a cheerier house-hunting note, we received word that the people who are selling the house we’re looking to buy will fix the things we asked them to fix based on the inspections we had done. I think I mentioned last week that this was the last potential deal-breaker for us. Even though the repairs are not extensive, they would cost more than we can afford. The fact they’re willing to take them on is, therefore, a big deal to us. So, right now, it looks like we’re heading for a house closing in a few weeks!

And now some links…

A few weeks ago, Crossway, publisher of the ESV Translation of the Bible, reversed a decision they had made earlier to “freeze” the ESV text. It seems they made that controversial move on the basis that the KJV text has remained largely unchanged for 400 years (which isn’t strictly true, since there was the Blayney Revision in 1769, which is the KJV text in use today–and, of course, the spelling has been modernized), and locking down the text that way preserves the text for generations. But the purpose of a translation is to take the original Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic, and render it as accurately as possible into language that would be understood by the intended audience. There are lots of English translations of the Bible, and frankly, I don’t think we need most of them. However, I do think Bible translations should be updated every generation to be sure the words are being conveyed in the best language for that generation. It’s good that Crossway reversed their decision. Now, let the text sit for another twenty years or so before the next revision.

Now for a bizarre story from the UK, where an antiques dealer was murdered for his first edition copy of Kenneth Grahame’s classic THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS. It seems the accused had been planning this attack for months, desirous to lay his hands on the dealer’s collection of rare works. As the article points out, the text of the book is over 100 years old, and hence it is public domain and freely available online. Of course, nothing replaces the smell of a book, the feel of the pages, and the sight of it sitting on a shelf. But what kind of insanity drives someone to commit murder for it? *sigh*

And finally, another celebrity death was announced this week, though this celebrity was one you’ve probably heard more than seen. British songwriter Rod Temperton passed away after a brief battle with cancer, aged 66. Rod was a bit of a recluse, but he wrote or co-wrote some of pop music’s more memorable tunes, including “Boogie Nights” by Heatwave, “Thriller,” “Off the Wall,” and “Rock with You” by Michael Jackson, and “Give Me the Night” by George Benson. Let’s pay tribute to Mr. Temperton with one of those songs:

That’s all from me. If you’re in the path of the storm, stay safe. 🙂