Texas Pastor Electrocuted During Baptism

I have watched in terror many times as pastors did this. It finally happened.

WACO, Texas

A pastor performing a baptism was electrocuted inside his church Sunday morning after grabbing a microphone while partially submerged, a church employee said.

The Rev. Kyle Lake, 33, was standing in water up to his shoulder in a baptismal at University Baptist Church when he was electrocuted, said Jamie Dudley, a church business administrator and wife of another pastor there.

Doctors in the congregation performed chest compressions for 40 minutes before Lake was taken to Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center, Dudley said. Police said they weren't called and the hospital referred calls to the church.

The woman Lake was baptizing was not injured, Dudley said.

Pastors at University Baptist Church routinely use a microphone during baptisms, Dudley said.

"He was grabbing the microphone so everyone could hear," Dudley said. "It's the only way you can be loud enough."

About 800 people attended the morning service, which was larger than normal because it was homecoming weekend at nearby Baylor University, Dudley said.

Lake, who had a wife and three children, had been at the church for nine years, the last seven as pastor, Dudley said.

Ho Ho Ho

After teaching my cermics class how to make jugheads, see picture below, I was inspired by my wife, Connie, to try something for Christmas. I'm considering entering into a Christmas show in La Mirada. Connie suggested I try making some jugheads that look like Santa Claus. So, I started last night and almost finished it. (I think it looks like a Mexican Santa.)

I'll post a picture when I'm done, but it's rather interesting. It looks like a very old fashioned Santa. Almost reminds me more of Jack Frost. But once it's glazed, I think it will be pretty cool.

The one I made is pretty large, so I'm thinking of making some much smaller. The boutique I may enter is asking for vendors to sell things on the small side. Most of my stuff is probably bigger than they want. However, my sister-in-law, Cathy, is probably going to send most of my ceramics back to me because they haven't sold that well at the fairs. (Nothing much is selling there.) So, that will give me a lot small stuff to sell.

Eagle Trophy

This year at school we are letting students have a small eagle to keep at their desks to show they are the student of the week in their class.

For Student of the Month, I am making a large ceramic eagle. Then I take it to a trophy shop where they mount it on wood and put a brass plate on it with the student's name and month they won the award.

Here's a picture of it. I just sold one for $50.00 to someone who wants to give it to their pastor.

New Ceramic Items

I'm been playing around with some new techniques and items. Some are quite fun. I'm posting some pictures. One is called a jarhead or a jughead. They were used for scaring kids away from stills in the mountains. They are kind of scary looking!

The other picture is of some crystals I designed. Simply a piece of art, no function. There's always a raging debate amongst potters about form and function. I'm starting to lean more towards form. Function requires so much perfection and you should be able to duplicate it successfully. I'm not really there yet. But form is always different and hopefully beautiful. Well, can't say beautiful about the jughead, but it certainly is different! Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Decisions

I'm thinking of joining the La Mirada Arts Colony. They have memberships for the entire family that are quite reasonable. By joining, I would have some venues for showing my work. So far, that just hasn't happened. They are having a show in November, so it could be fun. It will be something I have never done. I need to get more information. I try to make several pieces a week, but with school and work, it's not always that easy. This seems to be a very small group and they don't currently have any potters in the group, so I guess that helps me out as well. Won't be any competition in my field.

It's not my fault!

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/10/18/051018164658.5t5yxs3t.html

I just found out I am not overweight. I just have a virus. Read the link above!

Bob

Here I Sit

I've got After Care duty again today. I was lucky Monday was a holiday, so I didn't have to do it then. So, here I sit, glad to have the internet to keep me busy.

The good news is that we have the whole computer network up and going. We now have the Distance Learning ready to go, so people can connect to our school computers even if they live out of state or even in another country. So, if you know someone wanting to home school, but feel the need help, we might have the solution because all the curriculum is on their computer and they can work with a teacher live, asking questions and getting things graded immediately. I'm excited about that.

On the ceramics front, I'm trying to connect with a friend of my sister Robin, who makes candles. I'm trying to get her to pour candles in some of my small pots. Her candles are much more fragrant than most. My thinking was that when people finished their candles, they'd have a pot for a plant or a bowl to use as they wish. What do you think of that idea?

I'm hoping people will buy some of my things for the Christmas season. I have some nice gift items. We'll see. I need to update my online studio site.

Best Fund Raiser Yet

Our school is always needing more money. Maybe this is the way to go. If I could just find an overweight pastor...

FATHER Pete Colapietro, known as the "whiskey priest" for reasons completely unclear to me, is going through hell for a heavenly mission.

"Knocking off the occasional mild restorative called bourbon is a breeze, but sacrificing pasta, now that is tough," said Father Pete, 57. "But let's all remember that all suffering is temporary."

The good shepherd of Holy Cross Church on West 42nd Street and the guardian of the Holy Cross School at Times Square is going through a painful diet for the cause of his students.

It started in the Hamptons Aug. 6, at an annual fund-raiser for Father Pete's school when someone came up with the idea that was going to put him through great anguish and self-denial.

"Lynn Wiegand, a great lady of Manhattan and Quogue, a charity maven of some status, figured I was too fat," Father Pete recalled with a sigh of resignation.

"Lynn organized 40 pledges from local friends. Collectively, they paid $2,000 to the school for every pound I lost. Most of them were $5 pledges per pound but there were two or three who pledged $100 [per pound]." The money is for the school which has 400 students starting at pre-K to the eighth grade. Some students come from as far away as central New Jersey. More than 90 percent are minorities and 30 percent are non-Catholics.

"It costs parents $2,000 a student per year, but truthfully it costs $2,900 to educate each child, so somehow we have to make up the rest from charity and just people's good hearts," Father Pete said.

When Father Pete started his "diet for God" regimen, he weighed in at 317 pounds.

The diet is being monitored by a doctor, and Father Pete weighed in on Friday at 293 pounds, a loss of 24 pounds, putting the pledgers on the hook for $48,000 in contributions to the school.

"Settling day is on St. Patrick's Day next in the rectory, and I want to get down to 250 pounds even if I have to have my right leg amputated," he laughed.

Glazes

It was months ago, during the summer, that I was given 2 vans full of glaze materials. The problem was that I had no idea how to use them, but I knew I had been given a great gift. Well, after reading a ton of books and researching on the net, I finally figured out how to make glazes. (The measuring is chemistry, weighing everything in grams etc.)

Anyway, I fired my first home made glaze yesterday. It was a simple clear glaze. Looked like mud when I brushed it on, but it fired beautifully. A very nice clear glaze. Now it's time to start messing with it to get some other colors into it. It was a big step for me. I have done a lot of different things lately. I will have to post pictures of my new work. It's quite different from what I had done previously.

The Pictures

The top picture is of Zack and Elizabeth at Neff Park. They liked this old tree with the huge roots and wanted to climb it. (Notice how tall Zack is getting?)

The next picture is Neff House. It and the George House are the oldest two houses in La Mirada. Mr. Neff and Mr. MacNalley owned this property. It was a working ranch and very famous for the olive groves. La Mirada still has a lot of olive trees in this part of the city. Mr. MacNalley is of the famous Rand/MacNalley, the famous Map makers. If you look at a Rand/MacNalley map of California, you'll see that La Mirada is show much more prominently than you'd think for such a small city. I've heard it was an agreement that was contracted into the company many years ago.

The next picture is of a lady who was demonstrating lace making. It was fun to watch. They move those little spindles back and forth, creating the lace. It was fascinating to watch.

The last picture is a beautiful quilt. Connie loved it so we bought some raffle tickets to see if we could win it. Many of the groups at the park were demonstrating something and trying to get interest for their various organizations. They did a great job of it.

Neff Park Pictures

Here are a few pictures I took while at the Neff Park Celebration.

What's a Neff?

What's a Neff? was the cry of all the students at La Mirada High, where I went to High School. Neff High was our rival school. But the Neff family was the founding family of La Mirada with the McNalleys of the famous Rand/McNalleys who make maps. Anyway, it was the 29th anniversary of the park that has the original Neff House, George House and the Neff Barn, all of which are the oldest buildings left standing in my town.

Our whole family went there and there were many booths with crafts, various civic groups, and of course, FOOD! We had a nice time, stayed about 3 hours. They had a baking contest. I had told Connie she should make a pie, but it was a busy week. Anyway, we didn't see even one pie there! So, she would have been an instant winner I guess. I'll post pictures of that soon as well.

All Fired Up

Have a load in the kiln right now. We have 13 children in our new ceramics class at school. I'm teaching kids from Kindergarten through 11th grade and all together, mind you. It actually works quite well. I find with crafts that kids are having so much fun that they tend to just help each other. I also have 2 teachers in the room with me and one parent, so it's pretty tame in there. Anyway, I'm firing at least 13 coasters, which was their first project. They also made some things with pinch pots, so they are being fired to bisque. (the coasters are now glazed and being fired.)

But I am excited about a few things I did myself. I made a face jug. I've always liked these. It's a jug as in "little brown jug" that has a face sculpted on it. The original idea was to make scary faces on them to keep kids afraid of going near moonshiner's stills. They, the jugs, were placed in trees and bushes to scare kids away. I think this one will be pretty cool when it's done. I might make a lot of them. A good gift for your boozer friends. (Just kidding)

I am also firing a new glaze called Apricot crackle. Can't wait to see what it is. It is a discontinued glaze and I got a whole gallon for $10.00, which is VERY cheap for glaze. Bought 4 others that I haven't tried out yet. I'll post pictures when I'm done.