The whole family was able to go this time. Here are some pictures of our trip.

Anti-piracy is well and good, but congress acting to regulate the internet is not the way to do it. Enact laws to prosecute those who pirate, but do not force ISPs to block sites that are suspected pirates. There are copyright laws out there to enforce, we don't need more to help; enforce the ones that are already on the books (there are ways to do so, and they work).

SOPA and PIPA might not affect famwagner.com or Atlantis, though it could with my use of OS and Browser logos. Hey, I've never said I own the logos, but if SOPA and PIPA are enacted, I could be shut down or have someone go after me. That's how overbearing these bills are.

So, I stand with sites like Wikipedia (which is blacked out today) and Google, who put a black bar over their logo. I liked that idea, and decided to emulate it.

• Wikipedia goes dark for 24 hours to protest web piracy bills
• FoxNew's SOPA coverage
• Google's Anti-SOPA page—TAKE ACTION
• Wiki's SOPA information (while the site is blacked out, this particular page and their SOPA initiative page are not)

I've been playing around a bit with the site's cascading style sheets. For the longest time, I've only ever used CSS2.1, which is compatible with just about every browser out there. Well, a lot of the new browsers support CSS3, at least in part. Well, if you're using one of these new browsers (Firefox 3.5 or newer, Chrome 4 or newer, ChromePlus 2 or newer, Safari 4 or newer, and Opera 9.5 or newer), and you're reading this, you're seeing some of the updated style.

So, I just finished watching all 10 seasons today. No, I didn't watch all 10 seasons today, but I did watch episode 20 of season 10, having watched all episodes in order over the past several months. Watching Unending is always bittersweet. I got choked up at the last scene when the episode first aired. I got choked up when I watched it again via the DVD set Genevieve got me. I got choked up again today. I can't think of another show or series that has had this affect on me; not even Star Trek TNG's All Good Things.

I think I'll go through them all again when I finish watching the rest of the Stargate shows. I have been watching the first three seasons of Atlantis concurrently with the last three of SG-1, and I'll start Universe when I'm done with Atlantis, just like when the series ran. I'll put the SG-1 movies in there, too, at about the time they fit in the Stargate universe.

I was even thinking about Stargate Universe after watching Unending, and I found myself thinking that I hope someone decides to pick up the series and restart it, because it just didn't finish.

It was supposed to be a nice morning and early afternoon, and the free zoo day was advertised on the news, so the big kids and I went. It's a nice zoo, and we just about finished the whole thing before the snow started.

The tale begins about some 600 years before. Judah is taken captive by Babylon. It was the third year of the reign of the king Jehoiakim, and King Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem.

And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god. Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel and some of the king’s descendants and some of the nobles, young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king. Now from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names: he gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-Nego. (Daniel 1:2-7)

The Evangelist St. Luke serves as our guide for Advent and Christmas. From him, we hear of the birth of the Savior in the town of David. And, being the vigilant physician that he was, he was never short on details. Even in the silence, St. Luke gives us details.

You may recall the Christmas narrative from St. Luke’s second chapter. The first 20 verses are all about the birth of the King of kings in a lowly stable outside of Bethlehem. Angels appear and announce the birth to shepherds who were in the same country that night. The shepherds go to find the baby, just as it had been told them, wrapped in swaddling cloths. Then, they leave and tell everyone they know what had happened. And did you notice the one thing missing in all of that? The Child is nameless.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Sing lullaby! Lullaby baby, now reclining, sing lullaby!
Hush, do not wake the infant King.
Angels are watching, stars are shining
Over the place where He is lying:
Sing lullaby!

Love caused Thy incarnation, love brought Thee down to me; / Thy thirst for my salvation procured my liberty. / O love beyond all telling, that led Thee to embrace / In love all love excelling our lost and fallen race.

O LORD, HOW SHALL I MEET THEE

What’s in a name? It’s an interesting question, isn’t it?

We have, this evening, a text which on the outset seems insignificant, Mary travels to visit Elizabeth, greets her, and the baby in Elizabeth’s womb moves at Mary’s greeting—seemingly insignificant...until we get to Mary’s song, the Magnificat.

Last week, we heard of the Annunciation, when Gabriel announced to Mary that she would bear the Savior of the world, and we heard in that text the very conception of the Son of God in the flesh—we heard, right before our ears, Mary becoming the Mother of God. We heard the significance last week: Jesus is Lord and Savior, even from the moment He was conceived.

This week, however, our text immediately follows last weeks. Gabriel leaves Mary, who has just spoken that marvelous sentence of faith, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38) Now, she has packed up, and she makes her way out of Nazareth to a city of Judah. She enters the house of her relative, Elizabeth, whose husband had six months previously been visited by the same angel with similar news: “[Y]our wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.” (Luke 1:13)

Sing lullaby! Lullaby baby, now reclining, sing lullaby!
Hush, do not wake the infant King.
Angels are watching, stars are shining
Over the place where He is lying:
Sing lullaby!

Sing lullaby! Lullaby baby, now a-sleeping, sing lullaby!
Hush, do not wake the infant King.
Soon will come sorrow with the morning,
Soon will come bitter grief and weeping:
Sing lullaby!

Sing lullaby! Lullaby baby, now a-dozing, sing lullaby!
Hush, do not wake the infant King.
Soon comes the cross, the nails, the piercing,
Then in the grave at last reposing;
Sing lullaby!

Sing lullaby! Lullaby! Is the babe awaking? Sing lullaby!
Hush, do not stir the infant King.
Soon will come Easter, gladsome morning.
Conquering death, its bondage breaking:
Sing lullaby!

That's what it's all about. Not the oooh-ing and ahhh-ing at a little baby in trough. He's come as infant, yes, but He's come to die and rise again for you. That's the reason for the season (which, by the way, isn't here yet).

There’s something else we could call The Annunciation, and that would be The Incarnation of Our Lord. It happened right before our ears; did you hear it? Hear it again: “[Gabriel said,] ‘Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women! And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.’” Here is Gabriel announcing a very real, physical fact. When he says, “The Lord is with you,” this is not some simple acknowledgment of the omnipresence and omniscience of God. This time, he is telling Mary, “YHWH is right here, right now, with you, and because of this, you will conceive in your womb the Son of God. You will name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from theirs sins.” (cf. Matthew 1:21)

It's December 7...