The local ABC tv affiliate, WXYZ, had their investigative reporter Steve Wilson do a story on last night's news on Joel Osteen, the hottest preacher on the evangelical circuit, the pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. www.lakewood.cc

Joel Osteen is extremely popular. So popular that his church has moved to a new building, the former Compaq Center in Houston. The building holds approximately 15,000 and they antcipate Osteen being able to fill it 3 times each Sunday. The church budget, if I remember correctly, is something like $70 million a year.

On the plus side, Joel Osteen does not appear to be fleecing his flock financially. He pays for his own luxury $2.5 million home, as well as his stays in fancy hotels, etc. He even has stopped taking his approximately $250,000 a year salary. But then, despite what the seemingly majority of preachers these days do, a shepherd is not supposed to live large off the earnings of his parishioners.

On the down side, Joel Osteen is what Jesus warned us against when he said don't be lukewarm. Osteen is more motivational speaker than preacher.
A man of God is supposed to preach the Word of God, not that prosperity gospel malarkey which, no matter how many churches and preachers push it, is non-biblical.

Tawny
tawnyford@webtv.net

Fallout from the All Star Game in Detroit the other day--Local news stations are reporting that there was a fire in a housing project in Detroit the same day as the All Star Game. Fire crews came from 1 mile, 2 miles and even as far as 4 miles away to battle the blaze. All this while a fully equipped good-to-go fire station and fire fighters sat right down the street from the blaze and did nothing.

Why did the closest crew fail to respond to the fire? Because they had been orderred not to respond to anything other than All Star Game emergencies.

I believe 5 out of 10 units burned at the housing project. Families not only lost all of their belongings, but now they're homeless to boot. Thankfully, no one died.

The fire fighters union apologized to the folks who were burned out.

Haven't heard a doggone thing from Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

I told you the powers-that-be in the city of Detroit don't give a hoot about their citizens.

Perfume on a pig, that's what the All Star Game was all about.


Tawny

Looking for an interesting book to read? I just finished "Dear Senator: A Memoir by the Daughter of Strom Thurmond" by Essie Mae Washington Williams.

If you will recall, Ms. Williams is the biracial outofwedlock daughter of the late Senator Strom Thurmond.

Aside from her perspective on what it was like to be the black child of a white segregationist, Ms. Williams also goes to great lengthes to make the reader aware of the history of slavery and segregation in her birh state.

This is a very interesting and informative read.


Tawny the librarian

Batter up! Local news has been dominated for days, if not weeks, with the All Star game that's (finally!) being played tonight in the city of Detroit.

Since so much media was expected to hit Detroit to cover the game, the city has been near frantic to rehab the downtown area. Just last night, final crunch time, artists were called in to paint murals to brighten up downtown. No surprise here, the murals were designed to cover-up the plethora of abandoned buildings.

To anyone who does not stray from Woodward Avenue, Detroit appears as a clean, prosperous city. But, if you dare to, wander a few blocks away into the neighborhoods. It's a whole other ball game.

While there are pockets of prosperity in the city of Detroit, the bulk of the city is poor. Neighborhoods are in dire need. There are thousands of abandoned and burned out houses that need to be demolished. Some of the houses have been on the demo list for years and years and years. While the neighbors await their demolish, rapists and drug addicts freely use the properties for their own mayhem.

I'm no politician and I don't pretend to be one, nor am I the sharpest crayon in the box by any means, but it just doesn't seem right that the city is so intent on dressing up for company while it's citizens struggle every day.

It's commonplace for people to wait a loooong time when they dial EMS and need emergency transport to the hospital. Sometimes the police just load the injured person into their squad car and haul them to the hospital because they know odds are good the person will be dead before the ambulance gets there. Or, there will be a crime, the police will be called, and they never show up.

Between stuff like that, the gang wars, the drive-by shootings, the high taxes with no services, and only half of the city of Detroit street lights being on on any given night---and I'm not lying about that! It's a documented fact that you can drive straight down Grand River, a main artery from downtown all the way to the suburbs, and, if it's their turn to be dark, never see a street light on. And, adding insult to injury, the police are in force downtown any time the tourists or suburbanites are in town in order to keep them safe, but the neighborhood city dwellers, where the majority of the crime occurs, are on their own.

I think all this hoopla the city of Detroit is doing for the All Stars game and the January Superbowl is like putting perfume on a pig. Even though it smells pretty for a minute, bottom line is it's still a pig.



Tawny

Back in the not so olden days when the USSR was a communist country and the KGB ran roughshod over their citizenry, you used to hear tales about the old ladies who would to keep tabs on everyone in their neighborhoods or apartment houses. They knew everything that went on. There was no such thing as privacy.

My neighborhood, while not communist Russia, nonetheless is similar. There is someone on my street who sees everything that goes on. Everything. This person, who shall remain nameless, knows what time every neighbor leaves the house, what time they get back, who their friends are, etc.

On the down side, it's creepy as hell that someone is spying on us all like that. On the plus side, if ever anyone should ever break into my house or decide to stalk me or attempt to harm me, this nosey person will be on the phone to the police in a heartbeat.

Interesting, huh?


Tawny

I've been watching the tv news reports about the hurricane most of the day. Living up north in Michigan, we don't get hurricanes. Fortunately, I've never been down south when one has hit. It's scarey enough to watch it on tv, I can't imagine actually being in one.

One of the tremendously popular former local tv meteorologists, Kim Adams, does periodic phone reports from her new home in Missauga (I think I spelled that wrong, sorry) Mississippi. Her husband was called to active duty because of the war in Iraq and so she gave up her job here on tv, packed up the children and followed him to the military base. Since she's been gone from Michigan she's been in at least two hurricanes. Saturday night when I heard her on tv she said she'd been evacuated to the border of Mississippi/Louisiana, and they were talking about evacuating them again depending on the projected path of the storm.

I saw that one news report on cable, maybe CNN, where the hotel sign snapped off. And another one where the high gusty winds knocked down the reporter.

And then the devastation after the hurricane passes through. I just can't imagine dealing with that.

A few years ago we had a very bad storm here in the metro Detroit area. Not a tornado, but fierce flat line winds. I had to have a new roof put on my house afterwards, as well as some other repairs. That storm just about frightened me to death.

For everyone down south, you're in my thoughts and my prayers.


love--Tawny

It's no secret that I'm a Northern Exposure fan. I love that show! I love it so much that not only do I own the first three seasons on dvd (and watch them for my daily fix!), but I also have the two cd's with music from the show, and--last but not least--the Northern Exposure cookbook.


Over the years I've visited numerous sites set up by other Northern Exposure fans and enjoyed them.


I read the Northern Exposure newsgroup too. If you're a fan, google it.I think you'll enjoy the posts from other fans.

Here's a site for you to check out:

www.moosefest.org

It has all sorts of information, as well as links.


hugs,
Tawny

For anyone who called me today, sorry I was unavailable but I decided to take a sick day (smile). No, I wasn't really sick. I've never felt better. I just decided to play hookey and go shopping.

I headed north, up US23, to Birch Run, Michigan. The biggest outlet shopping center in the state is right smack dab in that tiny town. I couldn't even begin to tell you how many stores are in there, just know that it's alot.

I didn't visit every store, I'm not that big of a shopaholic!, but I did manage to make it into every single cookware store I could find. I love looking at small appliances, dish sets, shiny pots and pans, etc. For all my looking, and oohing and aahing, I came home with a salad spinner and some new cooling racks.

Another one of my favorite stores there is Rocky Mountain Candy Company. They have these huge tasty carmel apples! My favorites are the ones coverred in pecans and the one they call apple pie. Hmmmm good! They also have wonderful chocolate candy. I brought home a bunch of it.

Talking about good candy, they have a Pepperidge Farm outlet there too. If you're familiar with the Pepperidge Farm product line you know it's crackers and cookies, stuff like that. Well, at this one they also had boxes and boxes of Godiva chocolates! For more than half off! Be still my heart! I love Godiva chocolate, love it.

There are lots of clothing stores there too. I wanted to go to the Timberland store, but it's not there any more. Bummer. Timberland makes great clothes and shoes and boots, but who can afford to pay full price? Not me. So I went to the Columbia store and just about every women's store too. I bought some nice things, I'm pleased.

All that shopping had me hungry so...there's a restaurant across the road from the shopping place, Tony's. It's nothing fancy, just a local place, where people line up all the way around the building, even when it's raining and snowing and minus everything, to get in. The food is good, but that's not the draw. What keeps the crowds coming is the size of the portions. Let's say you ordr hash browns. You get about a pound of them. Toast? A loaf of sliced toasted Italian bread. Everything is super super sized. Just about everybody leaves with two or three doggie bags. I orderred a sandwich and some fries and had to bring 3/4 of it home. But that's okay, leftovers are cool.

It did me a world of good to get away for half a day. Maybe you should think about playing hookey every once in awhile too. I think it's good for all of us.


hugs,
Tawny

Have you seen the movie, Diary of a Mad Black Woman? If you haven't, you should, it's a hoot!

Tyler Perry wrote the movie, as well as a number of stage plays. Madea is the central character in all of his works to date. She (well, actually she's played by a he, Tyler Perry) is so funny!

Today I went online to Barnes + Noble and ordered three of his stage plays that are on dvd--Madea's Class Reunion, Madea's Family Reunuion, and Meet the Browns. I've alredy seen them, my Aunt Gloria loaned them to me, but I enjoyed them so much I want to own them for myself. Next time I get some extra change I'm buying his other one, I Can Do Bad By Myself.

So if you're looking for something good to watch--funny and with a moral to it--either rent or purchase the Tyler Perry stuff. You won't regret it.

Two thumbs up,
Tawny

I passed on the barbecue at Belle Isle today. Why? Well, even though Belle Isle is a jewel, and I truly mean that, it is a beautiful place, it's also a place where it's not uncommon for there to be trouble. My cousins said I was a coward for not going. Like I care what they think, please. I don't like going places where some/many/most of the people carry guns. I don't find that exciting. And with a couple of gang wars raging in Detroit now, and shootouts between the rival gangs common, I had no interest in putting myself in what may have been a bad situation.

Turns out there was big drama in the family at the bbq and I'm doubly glad I didn't go. I hate when people get to arguing and fussing with each other.

I cooked out on the grill this afternoon and ate dinner in my backyard. It was pleasant and peaceful and fun.

There's alot to be said for solitude.

Tawny

Every summer my family gets together to celebrate the 4th of July and/or Labor Day. In years past, these celebrations have, for the most part, taken place in Michigan City, Indiana. Leastwise ever since my grandparents died. Since Uncle Mack and Uncle Gunk died in 2004, well, we all just haven't had the heart to go back that way. Except for Aunt Gloria who spent Mothers Day weekend in Michigan City.

Faithful readers of this blog may remember that a big family reunion was somewhat hastily planned for Mississippi over the 4th. From the get go I said I wasn't going. Mississippi in July? You must be out of your mind to even think about it! Well, a goodly number of my greataunts and cousins headed off to Mississippi today. And a goodly number of them stayed put here in Michigan.

Some of the relatives from Michigan City--Aunt Sylvia, cousin Betty and her daughter--headed this way to spend the 4th in Detroit. They came up on the train. That's the only way Aunt Sylvia will travel.

On the 2nd there's a pool party at the apartment complex where my cousin and her husband live.

There's a barbecue planned for Sunday the 3rd. It's to be at Belle Isle, a huge park just east of downtown Detroit. It's actually a wonderful place. Surrounded on 3 sides by the Detroit River, it has a sandy beach with swimming, an enormous water slide, numerous picnic tables, inlet streams, deer, tennis courts, fishing, etc.

I'm not quite sure what the plan is for the 4th. Maybe just sit around and visit at someone's house and recover from the 2nd and the 3rd (smile).

Hope you have a nice weekend!

hugs--Tawny