I called this website sparkplug9.com mostly due to my fascination with the Gilgamesh epic. And my fascination with that epic is mostly due to Robert Silverberg’s amazingly great book Gilgamesh the King.
So I was quite interested to see a link my dad shot over entitled Noah’s Flood and the Gilgamesh Epic. Click here to take […]

What do the following phrases have in common? (And yes, there is a common link.)

Ethiopians make their gods black and snub-nosed, Thracians red-haired and with blue eyes; so also they conceive the spirits of the gods to be like themselves.

The contents of the world are not just there for the knowing but have to be […]

Can someone please tell me what’s up with the Austin Mini?
I love the exterior of the Mini with it’s vaguely retro multi-color styling. I hate the interior of the Mini with it’s Jetson’s bulbous plastic futuristic styling.

I happen to be a Christian, and I also happen to publish my church’s bulletin. Occasionally I write a devotional thought or two, and I plan to also publish those here from time to time.
The following was originally published in the bulletin of Emmanuel Free Reformed Church, a member of the Free Reformed Churches of […]

Hmm … interesting. People who had Gmail used to only have 3 invites to give away.
However, I was notified that I now have 6 invitations to give away. Interesting!
Who wants ‘em? Let me know!

I just finished reading Hitler’s Secret Partners, by James Pool. While being interesting for all the usual reasons - interesting topic, well written, fascinating details - the book is particularly interesting for insight into why WWII happened the way it did.
In Pool’s analysis, WWII happened mainly because Hitler was running a pyramid scheme. If that […]

I just finished reading A Beautiful Mind, by Sylvia Nasar, which formed the basis of the recent movie of the same title starring Russell Crow.
Yikes!

Wow. Excellent, wonderful, great, happiness, joy, peace, and light.
Canada won the World Cup of Hockey, everything is well with the world (for one night) and Canada is celebrating one more confirmation that hockey speaks Canadian.
But isn’t that trophy butt-ugly?

I’ve been meaning to write about this for some time, and never have been able to summon up the passion for it. But yesterday I heard two kids names: Parker and Peterson.
Now I have the passion.

The Dune series by Frank Herbert is one of the best SF series ever, ranking up there with fantasy’s Lord of the Rings (JRR Tolkien) and the Thomas Covenant novels (Stephen R. Donaldson).
And now they’re being bastardized by bullshit from Frank’s son Brian and some other hack by the name of Kevin J. Anderson.

Most of my blog entries are for the world at large. This one is for just one person - you know who you are.

Compliance seems to be a very in word these days … and I have had it with a passion.
I’ve heard it three times in the last 36 hours. Enough!

I wrote a few weeks ago about the need, yes need, for an Apple tablet. Today the new iMac came out.
Anyone else notice anything interesting?