The Final Edition: 12.13.07

2.26 Sniffles. I feel quite empty inside, knowing there will be no more Troxel lectures coming in the future. Further, being a senior, never again, ever. Frowns.
2.27 This is not a time to get all wsihy-washy, we need to go out in style. Boldness is the name of the game. Today every one of Troxel's moves will be documented for the historical blogosphere record.
2.28 The sweater motiff continues with a cookies and cream sweater that may or may not be from a few weeks ago. I distinct feeling is that I should be in a ski lodge overtakes me.
2.29 Troxel looks out at the crowd holding his manuscript he must be so proud!
2.30 We're off with a nice little black circle transition. I bet Troxel is a terrific skiier.
2.31 Another transition used subtly but strong. BAM! Colors abound. Only a few places are black ink as Troxel points out, an array of blues, violets, reds, and greens captivate the audience.
2.32 Classic Troxel diction being used the words are pronounced with verve and power, my ears are dancing with pure glee! Also, hold onto your hats but if possible we will try to get some interviews in today with key players. OK, probably not but we can dream.
2.33 They should have a concession stand outside because Troxel is better than any movie. He should write a Biblical Scholarship Screenplay about a Hebrew Professor searching for the lost vowels of the ancient language.
2.36 Briefly distracted by reading about the Mitchell Report which by the way anyone mentioned in there should never go to the Hall of Fame, but back to Troxel who would never use performance enhancing drugs.
2.37 Reflecting on the semester: ahhh, exploding mountains, Tupac, Jerubaal, good times.
2.39 Wow, packed house! Unbelievable, this is ridiculous!
2.40 Just before lecture a source tells us about the following interaction. The unnamed student was walking and saw Professor T-man who asked "One more time, (insert protected name here)?" The student replied "Yes" then Troxel walked 50 feet down the hallway turned and yelled back, "In case Marc is wondering I went with white backgrounds with black and blue today." And he delivered, its a classic Troxel background.
2.43 Troxel pauses mid-sentence in the silence I swear my heart stopped beating.
2.45 Oh so many themes in Ezra-Nehemiah, but all I can think about is Troxel with a 3 three foot long hat on skiing. You know those hats, see photo.
2.51 Took a long time to get that picture, but it was worth it. Haven't missed much Troxel has been using the word Chronicler a lot.
2.53 Oh Vandenlangendndneberggger, the theme continues (see picture).
2.54 Troxel has been looking at the screen an awful lot, it kind of makes me feel alone and left out. We need eye contact professor! It sustains us.
2.55 We have quite a collection of texts on the screen right now, I'm just waiting for them the turn into Hebrew or get highlighted or something.
2.57 34% of Chronicles is about David. 34% Take that Solomon and your crappy 16%.
2.59 Snap! We've got graphs. Graphs in an L & S class, I can't handle this, my quantitative abilities were exhausted by Astro 103. If you were wondering the graphs charted references to David.
3.01 Some things are just too amazing not to share.
3.03 Troxel has lost his place. We count it out, 7.5 seconds. Still some pauses coming even after he began speaking again. We are back on track now, talked about deathbed exchanges. If I ever have a deathbed exchange it will NOT be about the law of Moses, because the Law of Moses has been replaced by the Holy Spirit. True story, look it up. (Galatians 4:4-7)
3.07 Trox asks "Is this clear?" Perhaps for the last time.
3.08 Someone looks pretty sleepy, whoa, another graph. Its titled "Hits per 1000 words."
3.09 Someone else is doing Christmas shopping right now and has his credit card out.
3.10 Troxel is talking about the books "obsession with David," similarly does this blog qualify as an obsession with Troxel? If so should I be worried? Should Troxel be worried?
3.11 The wizardry factor is quite high right now, animated passages a rolling out onto the screen, and the graph did sort of a black hole thing and disappeared.
3.13 Troxel stops mid-word and says "So close to a sneeze, but no quite" Oh, trox, you don't need to pretend. Its ok to cry because its the last lecture. Don't hide your emotions.
3.15 Dave Vandeeeeeeeeeeberg is reading something that starts off with the phrase "Filipinos are a warm, gentle, caring, giving people."
3.16 Chronicles keeps marching on, now onto retributive justice. Also, our battery here is running out, sad day, but we have a backup.
3.18 I will simply call this photo I just posted: Vandenlangenberg's Revenge. Un-freakin believable, an error on blogspot won't let me post the image, I will go by other means.
3.21 WOOOOOOO! Troxel just referenced high places!! As you all know this is a direct reference to his classic 10.14.07 lecture where high places were examined in depth! Wow, the wizard brings it all back around. The skills can't be denied.
3.30 Wow the longest break in blogging history. Sorry, 9 minutes. I had to make that picture work and change computers and such. But fun fact, check out the picture I put up and look who's in the background JON WYLIE!
3.31 Back to the trox: He has his arms crossed and is swaying a little bit from side to side, clearly he's upset about the lack of Persian and Greek terms in Chronicles. We don't always get what we want.
3.33 The whole lecture is coming together now, but I can't understand it because the emotional weight on my soul from knowing be are 12 minutes from the end.
3.35 YES! "Is this clear?" He knows what we want and every good performer gives the audience what they want. By the way Trox, we also all want A's.
3.36 There was a flipping, fly-in effect that brought up what else but-- THE FIRST SLIDE OF THE CLASS! We are wrapping up and my emotions are going to get the best of me.
3.37 I'm remembering learning the word Tetragrammaton, I'm remembering there for some reason being a picture of Bill Clinton on the screen, and I'm remembering when Troxel used the red emergency phone to prevent seizure. What a class. What a man. What a long, strange trip its been.
3.39 Thanks for coming along with us, thanks for joining us on the journey, its been something. You've laughed, you've cried, you've slept, you've abused the other people in your study groups, but most of all, you've grown.

12.6.07 Lecture

2.27 Well this is certainly exciting as today will be the Song of Songs edition. Several people, who are not even in our class, have expressed interest in coming to this event, let's see if they show up.
2.29 Troxel has been in the room for 4 or 5 minutes already, he's looking very composed. Standing very tall, great posture. Almost to the point where I wonder if he's been doing exercises to strengthen his back.
3.30 Dave Vandenlangeneneneneneneneberg does an Arsenio Hall "woo woo woo" when Troxel introduces Song of Songs as the topic.
3.31 Wow, we are flying. We've had an announcement about the final, a transition out of wisdom literature, and a intro into the book of Ruth all in the first 60 seconds of lecture.
3.33 So before we get into what most people are referring to as "the main event" we'll dive into Ruth. Troxel tells us its a novella.
3.34 My co-blogger just raised his eyebrows at me. Looking at our course material for today, I'm more than a little worried. In the meantime, lets look to Troxel's attire. Once again, for at least the 3rd lecture in a row, we see Trox sporting a sweater with a collared shirt underneath. It goes without saying that the top button is undone, as Trox is always cool and always chill. The sweater is made up of a series of colored rectangles of brown, red, and gray (or grey as some would say).
3.36 "Woo woo woo" Yeah right. Vanden-etc-berg is already out.
3.37 We are seeing the use of check marks as bullets and some vertical blinds animations to reveal most passages.
2.38 The fickle relationships between mother-in-law and spouse are being discussed which makes me think of Everybody Loves Raymond, which makes me really angry. That show makes me very angry. Explaining why would take a lot of words.
2.39 Now Troxel is referencing gleaning, which is an admirable process, but nonetheless makes me think of a painting from Art History 202, which was the single worst class I've ever taken. Troxel keeps unintentionally bring back bad memories, I trust he'll make a comeback.
2.41 Good crowd today I note as Troxel uses the phrase "Ruth is to gussy herself up . . . " I love the word gussy.
2.42 "Clearly something more is going on here than just having your tootsies bare" I think that's better if I don't explain the context.
2.43 Why don't weddings consist of some sort of covering with a cloak anymore. "I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may place the trenchcoat on her." Heartwarming.
2.45 Wylie still sitting in the back. Hypothesis: Maybe he's just trying to make sure TA Steve isn't lonely because TA Steve has crutches and has to sit in the back.
2.47 For those he formed search parties and were combing the snow, BJ Hilbelink was never trapped in an avalanche or missing in the snow. Turns out he was actually just sitting one row further back than usual.
2.48 Wow, back with a bang. Van . . . berg somehow throws his Nalgene not just across the aisle but down a row, waking up a guy, who hands it back then immediately goes back to sleep.
2.51 Hands moving in unison Troxel emphasizes his point, really quite bold and impressive.
2.52 We're now turning to Boaz, which would be a great name for a hermit crab or a koala.
2.54 Troxel's talking about the "provocative" language that is being used in Ruth.
2.55 Most people's feet aren't just that hairy. For those of you who self-identify as nerds, yes, except hobbits . . . nerds.
2.57 Still talking about Boaz and Naomi. So now I'm imagining this as a cartoon, which is a little strange as Boaz the talking koala, is now scheming and personally, koalas seem to be good natured to me.
3.00 Watch out Troxel just said "piertry". The two "r" sounds were very subtle, but were certainly there.
3.02 Koalas "rest motionless for about 19 hours a day, sleeping most of that time. Koalas that are disturbed are known to be violent, their teeth and claws capable of causing considerable injury to humans" according to Wikipedia, as it turns out, their lazy jerks.
3.03 A source tells me that koalas are poisonous also. Double jerks. Poisonous fur.
3.04 This could be it, this could be the sass, Nate Sweet has just asked a question, he was promising sass long ago, what? He asks if the story could also be seen to show virtue for women, which while it does challenge Troxel's entire argument, is certainly not sassy. Better luck next week Sweet.
3.05 Wow. So we've moved into Song of Songs and Trox is rocking a pink color for the headings along with little pink hearts as bullets. He points them out saying "Please take note of the hearts." He asks and we respond. Yes, I take note.
3.07 After learning discussions of fruit had a sexual meaning for Ancient Near Eastern peoples, I give thanks that I've never been to a grocery store's produce section with an Ancient Near Eastern adolescent.
3.08 Five bucks says Trox cracks up with a case of the giggles at some point in this lecture.
3.09 Wow, hand motions make the text come alive. Hand out and in motion and contrasting and explaining. The catchword principle is now forever ingrained in my mind.
3.11 Aside from one guy it seems the entire class is alert, even the surrounding laptops appear on task.
3.12 Vandenlangenberg is leaning forward with an attentiveness that is rarely seen.
3.13 I secretly wish that I had grown up in an agrarian society.
3.14 Michael Fox referenced again. I still don't care what you want, he's not from Back to the Future and never will be, however if this Michael Fox could go back he'd probably go back to the 6th century BCE and then get upset because they distracted him.
3.16 Troxel explains the phrase "your eyes are doves" as better understood in our terms as "your eyes are soft," does that actually make any more sense, why are you touching people's eyes?
3.17 "And if that's what she's up to, she scores!" says Trox. Not sure why, just before he told us that there was outdoor lovemaking going on, this also seemed to have no reason except Troxel just wanted us to know.
3.18 chapter 2 verse 3 . . . . lets focus on verb tenses, yeah, ok this is getting a little awkward.
3.20 "yeah, you didn't know this was in the Bible, huh?"
3.23 Michael Fox's interpretation is being appealed to repeatedly. He argues the story is about a secret tryst. Tip for the future: If you want to keep something secret don't write something about it that ends up in the most read book in all of history.
3.25 Someone near me is drawing a picture of one of those claw machines, with all those stuffed animals in it, which reminds me of how I could go for some Perkins.
3.26 This guy cross the aisle has seriously been sleeping for at least 50 minutes in the exact same position, the only time he moved was to hand Dave's water bottle back, then out again.
3.28 Troxel shows a literal portrayal of the lover from one of these poems. To which Mike responds "Hot!"
3.30 Troxel is now covering legitimate material, but is leaving this image of the woman up on the screen. Also, my arm now reads "Chris Kopp 4 Eva" inside a heart. No I did not write that, but I do agree with it.
3.32 Troxel is going to stop early, because we have to do stupid evaluations.
3.33 Wow, Troxel is explaining how we will do the evaluations and says the "quite agile" Jonathan and "hop-along" will hand them out. TA Steve looks devastated.

Lecture 12.4.07

2.26 He's up front. We're up and running. New desktop background: the plaque outside of Bascom Hall; the "sifting and winnowing" one. An unconfirmed source who will probably be asleep soon states that this is from Amos.
2.29 "...Last week we got our feet wet with wisdom literature..."
2.31 I began to take notes in this blog window, then caught myself; realizing that I was actually participating in class instead of making random observations about Trox's appearance. This obvious shows my true character: committed to academics and the pursuit of knowledge. I did, however, delete these notes as soon as I realized what I was doing, so as not to interfere with Trox's copyright disclaimer.
2.32 Today Troxel looks very festive and is dressed for the season: a pea green sweater over a red dress shirt sets the holiday mood while his dark khakis inform us that he is in a formal, yet relaxed mood.
2.34 Today we're talking about Job. I really like Job. And Gob. Arrested Development is great.
2.35 I kind of feel like I killed Evel Knievel. I blog about him once and all of a sudden -bam- he's dead. It's a good thing that he patched things up with Kayne before he died. Rest in peace, Evel, rest in peace.
2.36 Trox is using some nice new 'pointing finger' bullet points.
2.39 Still sticking with the pointing finger bullets. These things are freaking sweet. It's like a hand. On the screen. Pointing out what I need to know.
2.41 Trox references Bildad the Shuhite then quips "... actually a quite short guy, considering his name...the Shuhite." Whoa! Shuhite... it sounds like Shoe-height! Well played, good sir. You've made mince meat of him.
2.44 Today we are sporting a light yellow background. An ever so slight marbled background is prevalent. We are also seeing a display of two highlight text colors: both blue and red.
2.45 The main text color now has shifted to a dark maroon. Cancel that. Rather, the main points are in maroon; while all supporting scripture continues to be in black. It's really a nice understated way to make those points stick out.
2.47 "...is a curse only when someone says DAMN GOD?" (caps used to attempt to show articulation and passion displayed by the Trox in saying this.
2.51 Troxel is really feeling it today, though it's hard to tell it if you aren't looking at him. In all honesty, his voice isn't portraying the emotion that I'm used to it carrying. But if you look at him, his body language is telling him a completely different story. Karate motions towards the podium. Circular hand rotations. Intense head nodding. I wish I could push mute and just watch the man go. In retrospect, that is a weird thing to say.
2.55 Troxel is pronouncing Satan as "suh-thon" It makes me feel uncultured. It also makes him sound like the smartest person in the world. (Probally because he is)
2.56 Not so fast, assumptions! It appears that Trox is talking about The Satan, which is clearly shown to not equal to "satan" by a "unequal to" symbol in blue.
2.57 The red highlighted text has shifted to also being italicized.
2.58 Man, this body language is hot.
2.59 An unconfirmed source tells me that Wylie has denied accusations of him only sitting in the back of the room to avoid the watchful eyes of the blog. All I will say is this: prove it.
3.01 It looks as if we are summing up the book of Job, with the help of some nifty check mark bullet points. As we turn to "the debate that rages...", our contrast text color shifts to green. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
3.03 But where does my concept of red and green as Christmas colors come from, you may ask. This guy thinks he knows. He doesn't. He's an idiot. This place has some fancy pants symbolism. Also wrong. And this place's discussion even goes into some historical facts. Unfortunately, they're al made up. The real reason is that Jesus, Santa, and Sam Walton got together and picked the colors.
3.07 For some reason, while I was ranting, the slide show has deemed it appropriate to cross out "The Lord (YHWH)" with a large red X. Also "The land of Uz" is displayed in blue text. I wonder if it's kind of like Oz.
3.08 "Any questions..." No one dares. Trox then proceeds to talk about the necessity of questions if we don't understand something. No one dares.
3.10 Dropping into ecclesiastes. For some reason the room has begun to smell like urine. Seriously.
3.14 Some girl from the third row has the audacity to walk out. I shoot her a gaping mouthed "what are you doing" look, but she refuses to make eye contact with me.
3.16 Nothing to exciting going on on the computer screens around me. Mostly notes, a couple web browsers (news sites for the most part, I can see nyt, cnn) Boring. Somebody play a game.
3.17 We are now going into "Plato's View of the Soul" Troxel has constructed a truly diagram to demonstrate the notion. Two circle's: one which represents the human soul and one which represents the animal. Within the circles are the types of spirit that the beings posses. arrows then appear to demonstrate what portions of the soul would ascend after death, and what would... I don't know, I was kind of zoning out. It's very well executed, however.
3.20 The energy in the room is curiously low today. I'm seeing quite a few nodding heads. Troxel's energy has also noticeably dropped. HIs pate has slightly slowed, and there is a visible lack of body motions.
3.22 Where is BJ Hibellink? How could I not have noticed this? HE usually sits right next to me. He must be trapped in the snow! He probably either slipped and broke his hip or is trapped under an avalanche. How can we learn about Biblical Scholarship at a time like this!? A man is missing!
3.23 I get over it. He'll make it.
3.24 Troxel quips that Ecc 1.18 "... is not a passage that you want to tell your parents as you show them your tuition bill." Slight laughter from throughout the room. The heaviest, of course, if from Marc. Trox jokes, but he knows, too. His oldest is heading off to school next year. He must be feeling nostalgic, while at the same time proud. I am.
3.26 Hand motions are coming back into the equation. It appears that we could be about to witness a classic Troxel 'three twenty-something' turn around. Just when you think the energy is gone; there it is again.
3.27 Trox refuses to call Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes. HE instead is calling it Qohelet. Either that or these are serious typos.
3.28 Total missed opportunity to play The Byrds' "Turn, Turn, Turn." It will have to join Wylie's aspirations of Journey's "Wheel in the Sky."
3.30 Other computer people are still being boring.
3.32 I think the only person sitting in the front row is asleep. Yup. He definitely is. How do you do that? If you're going to sleep, why do you decide to be the only person in the front row. It just doesn't make sense. Perhaps he isn't sleeping, but rather fainted after experiencing the full might and glory of The Trox after witnessing it from a short distance.
3.34 Man, Stephen Still's "Love the One You're With" would be a nice complement to Ecc 9.7-10. I'm sure Troxel recognizes these musical counterparts to his lecture, but chooses not to use them, as he would rather wait for a text that matches up with another Tupac or a BIGgy track.
3.36 For the third time in two lectures, Trox references "my colleague Michael Fox." Disappointingly, this continues to not be Michael J Fox. He does, however, continue to not like being disturbed.
3.37 Another Michael Fox name drop. Trox also uses the word "credence" for the first time I may have heard it used outside of the context of a Clearwater Revival.
3.39 Dave is out. (didn't have time to grab a picture)
3.40 Trox ends lecture early and promises a Song of Songs analysis next time. You don't want to miss that.

11.29.07 Lecture

2.27 Troxel enters, I was able to grab a picture of him. It was pretty sweet.
2.28 Moving around the blackboards in order to reveal the white screen behind them, we're getting prepped.
2.29 My cohort's pen is low on ink, he may not take successful notes, or he might be distracted by drawing cartoons.
2.30 Not started yet, lets go Trox! Lights dim, here it goes! A picture of Brett Favre appears on the screen and with spinning text effect of "Beat Dallas" popping up all over the screen. Troxel looks at the screen, scratches quizzically behind his ear and remarks "I don't know how that got there." In this clever move he successfully broke the heart of and tore down the confidence of any Cowboys fans. Now, he'll win them back with an academic discussion of wisdom literature.
2.32 Today we have a sweater that I really wish I would have checked out the color of before the lights dimmed. Its darkish. Looks pretty warm, I'd even go as far as to say "toasty." Between the collared shirt, the sweater, and a cool beard Troxel is probably ready for just about anything winter will throw at him.
2.33 Don't want to dwell on the outfit, but it seems certain that Troxel's button-up shirt exists to compliment his slide backgrounds, the match is spot-on.
2.34 Wisdom literature is not there to help you download pirated music. Just buy "Now 26" and all the top hits are there for you, kids.
2.35 After spending two of the last three hours of my life discussing Mormonism, I can't help but wonder if Troxel will throw in a reference to Lamanites or Nephimites. Probably not.
2.37 Really solid crowd, especially for a Thursday lecture, they look fairly attentive. Not one of the three laptop screen I can view from my location is on Facebook. Well done.
2.40 We've been tipped off that Jon Wylie might be watching the game tonight. If he in fact watches it at the location we've been told he will literally be only ten (10!) feet from my apartment.
2.42 Not only does a twisty-curvy fly-in effect reveal Job 39:1-3, but this section of Job 39 also happens to be my favorite passage of all time to pull out of context and quote at inappropriate times. The key is that it be out of context.
2.43 The two set-aside windows on the screen are each a nice pastel, one a lavender, the other a blueish-violet. They are nicely accented by the yellow background. This is more beautiful than any bouquet or arrangement of flowers ever created.
2.45 Slight mix-up by Trox as the Powerpoint was slow to react. For a moment, he and Powerpoint were out a sink and the world began to spin off its axis, and the planets went out of orbit, but now we're back.
2.47 Oh no, update on the laptops in front of me. One guy is downloading TV shows it appears and someone else is checking the weather, but honestly that might have been some sort of volcanic forecast, or it looked like it to me.
2.50 Two rows in front of me someone is wearing a Cowboy's hat. OK, so I'm partisan towards the Vikings (aka the Minnesota Adrian Petersons) but even I know that being a Cowboy's fan is just unacceptable. Where's the geographic tie, if this guys not from Texas, he better have a very good explanation. I promised that Troxel would win all the Cowboy's fans over, I'll keep you updated.
2.52 Troxel is throwing about the word "shrift" which apparently is German. Someone near me asks, "Where does he come up with this stuff?" I know where, it comes from the fact that German is just one of 11 languages the Trox has mastered.
2.53 We have yellow highlights, two Hebrew words with an equals sign in between them, and maroon text.
2.54 Troxel refers to a text about men swinging from ropes in buckets. All that I can think about is that this must be some sort of game found on Legends of the Hidden Temple. I love that show.
2.57 Oh dear, one of the people I'm keeping track of in front of me is back on his crazy volcano website, while someone else is one AIM, with three windows up.
2.59 Searching Wikipedia in an attempt to find out if Legends of the Hidden Temple ever did any sort of Hebrew Bible themed episodes has revealed that someone has mapped out all of the various temple layouts used during the show's run. Check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legends_of_the_hidden_temple
3.01 Imagine the possibilities of a Ancient Near East episode of Legends (David's slingshot, Hezekiah's book of the law, Abram's foreskin)
3.04 Not sure if I just crossed a line.
3.05 Troxel just described the book of Proverbs as having an "international flavor," as a ethnocentric American when I hear international flavor I assume that means spicy. Proverbs 22:17-23:14 is clearly spicy.
3.06 Troxel . . . just . . . I'm not sure what to do. Um. Wow, he thought the Powerpoint was at the wrong point, so he used the reverse feature to go back 5 slides/animations then he realizes he was at the wrong place on his manuscript and returns back to his original location. Good recovery.
3.08 Troxel refers to his collegeue Michael Fox, if you're wondering, no not Michael J. Fox. No.
3.10 Troxel introduces the next section by saying "I'd like here to compare this to the comedy of Jerry Seinfeld." Troxel is like Seinfeld in many ways friendly demeanor, groundbreaking comedy, cool beard.
3.12 We will be paralleling modern proverbs to ancient Proverbs.
3.13 Troxel suggests he has somehow learned the lesson that talking too much can get you in trouble. I doubt, in fact one of my greatest wishes is that Troxel would next stop speaking, maybe I can borrow audio recordings from someone who tapes lecture just so I can hear him at home. Like background music.
3.15 Breakthrough! Legends did an episode entitle The Golden Cup of Belshazzar! Who was Belshazzar? A Prince of Babylon!!! That's Ancient Near East Baby! Ill trow a picture up of the great Prince, note the Hebrew text.
3.18 This is an impressive background slide, we have here. two bracketed yellow highlight sets of texts, with a red arrow connecting them.
3.19 Freud would love the first few chapters of Proverbs according to Troxel.
3.20 Unlike the lectures of our dear Professor, sometimes Proverbs is not clear.
3.24 The Cowboy's fan two rows up is very attentive, you know why? Because Troxel won him back over, as predicted.
3.25 If you've ever wondered what Troxel might look like riding a unicorn. I know a guy who draws pictures of that type of thing. Just ask to see them.
3.26 Wowee!! This might be one of the best slides Trox has ever crafted. There are at least 11 white set-aside boxes, circled words, red words, Hebrew words, quotes . . . . its just goes on and on.
3.27 Trox again references Michael Fox, who is still not Michael J. Fox. Also, this Michael Fox does not like to be disturbed. Don't do it. You'll get a death glare.
3.29 OH! We have a hand in the air! A Question!! Trox doesn't see it! Oh man, I thought we were going to see some off the cuff reaction.
3.33 For the first time I've seen today Troxel is using significant hand gestures.
3.34 Troxel just mentioned the beloved Wylie, stating the line "Then a woman comes toward him, decked out like a prostitute, wily of heart-Not like your TA" Comedy is defined in that work right there Trox. You define comedy. I'm thrilled, I wish lecture would never end.
3.36 The volcanoes guy is now on a message board, probably a message board about volcanoes, which from my two one-credit online geology classes I've taken I do know to be pretty interesting. P.S. Go check out the Geology building sometime, they have dinosaurs there (but they are made of plaster).
3.40 Dwelt, not dwelled.
3.42 Its been a compelling day of wisdom literature, Hebrew words, and Kirk Fogg, I'm fighting the temptation to wrap up early, come on Trox, make the last three minutes count!
3.43 I ask and he delivers! Trox leans forward adds emphasis to his words puts out a flat hand and makes a chopping motion three times towards the podium to drive this last point home.
3.44 He leaves us begging for more stating "But remember Proverb literature is not the only kind of wisdom literature" Oh yes.
See you Tuesday.

Lecture 11.27.07

2.24 The Stage is set. No sight of The Trox yet, but the anticipation in this room is ridiculous. We're back, turkeyed up, and ready for some Biblical scholarship.
2.26 Where is he? An unconfirmed source has told us that Troxel was not "burning the midnight oil" despite a late night email, but rather was in San Diego, preparing a talk on Isaiah in the Septuagint.
2.27 He enters. A (potentially new) blue winter jacket is being sported with his grey/black backpack, complete with umbrella in water bottle holder. He's sporting a very wintery "homesy" feeling cookies n' cream colored sweater with a wonderful zig zaggy design in the middle. It is wonderfully complemented by some grey khakis.
2.29 Projector on. He has a traditional "blue wave" macintosh desktop background up. My guess is that he ditched his traditional photo backgrounds for a more classic, professional look at the Biblical Scholarship party in California.
2.31 Lecture begins. Today we begin the third and final section (tear) of the Hebrew Bible: "THe Writings" Troxel refers to them as "a popery" of writings
2.33 Startin' with "The Psalms." which comes from the Greek word "Psalmoi" I think that is a lot more fun to say than "Psalms." Maybe I'll begin using this term more often. Kind of like how I use "grey" instead of "gray." Take that contemporary American English norms!
2.35 Troxel is outlining the characteristics of Hebrew Poetry. While the lecture material is nothing short of stellar, the colors are leaving something to be desired. Plain white background with dark blue text. But...Whoa! It matches his sweater so nicely! He planned this! He had to have! It's like he's a chameleon up there! He moves a little, in sync with the slide show, one with the projector. It has finally happened. Ron Troxel has become so in sync with Powerpoint that he has become an actual part of the slide show.
2.38 Troxel says "virtual absence" and for some reason it makes me think of robots. Robot Troxel would be awesome.
2.39 The characteristic of "Rhyme" has been X-ed out. It's looks like an episode of "THe Jamie Kennedy eXperience." You've been X-ed Rhyme, You've been X-ed.
2.40 To demonstrate cadence, Trox demonstrates with "dah dah dah dah dah dah dah dah" So rythmic.
2.41 Trox realizes that the lower blackboard is up slightly to high, so that part of his powerpoint is obstructed by it. He turns around while saying "Whoops. I'll fix that. and lowers the blackboard. How humble! By saying "whoops" he implies fault on his part, while it was clearly the blackboard's fault.
2.43 The T Man is breaking down Parallelism in Hebrew Poetry. Synthetic parallelism is being singled out right now, with a red circle around it. Based on what happened to "rhyme" when red last appeared, I wouldn't want to be synthetic parallelism right now.
2.44 Oh boy, parallelism has been labeled as "inaccurate" (in red). How has red become the bearer of bad news?
2.45 Man, the guy's really on his a-game today. When you look into his eyes you can tell that he means it. He could convince me that possums could talk right about now.
2.46 Possums would be terrifying if they could actually talk.
Troxel is name dropping like nuts. Maybe these are people that were at the Biblical scholarship party with him.
2.47 More red is appearing as we delve into the concept of "seconding", but I think red has resumed its role of highlighter rather than phrase-hitman.
2.49 "Is this clear?"
2.50 Here's a picture of Kanye West and Evel Knievil. It made me laugh.
2,51 The term "narrativity" has just been dropped. Twice. This is groundbreaking.
2.53 The background shifts to a more yellowy shade, casting an incandescent like glow over the classroom as Troxel begins his riveting narrative on "Psalms outside the Psalms"
2.57 An old friend appears on the screen as Troxel begins to incorporate yellow shaded boxes to highlight certain parts of the text. I feel like I'm at home.
2.58 The "cube" transition effect is used, reminding us that a third dimension exists. It's so easy to get caught up in Troxel's magical two dimensional presentations. Thanks for reminding us of the third, Trox.
2.59 Sometime between 2.53 and now we've shifted back to the straight up white background. Correction: While I felt it was a white background, Marc has informed me that there is indeed a "slightly marbled" texture in the background. Upon second look, I can confirm this. Also: while the projector may simply be slightly off, the text seems to have a slight "shadow" effect to it. You have to really concentrate to notice it, and when I concentrate on the text enough, I get a little dizzy.
3.02 My stomach and I seriously regret having a cup of black coffee with no food this morning.
3.03 Pinwheel effect into a yellow background-ed title slide for "lamentations" The contrast text color of choice seems to be a maroon, which complements the light yellow color splendidly.
3.05 There is a girl wearing a yellow sweatshirt in the second row that appears to be dead.
3.06 Forty nine minutes of battery remaining. Stupid battery. I need to send it in. Oh well, it should carry to the end of lecture.
3.07 OKay, we're back to the 2.53 yellow shade of background. I'm fairly certain that this is a textured yellow and white "cloud" pattern- but the lighting in the room is slightly to bright to truly discern what the understated background is. But still; it's the little touches like this that make Troxelectures so magical.
3.10 As Trox talks about an August 9th holiday, he slips and says August tenth- it's like he was thinking of my birthday! Does he know my birthday!? I bet he gives fantastic presents; like a Strong's concordance.
3.11 Coherence and flare is shown as he sticks to the "pinwheel" effect is used to transition to the title slide for "Esther" Interesting note of actual relevance: Esther is one of two books in the Hebrew Bible where God is not mentioned. The other? Song of Songs.
3.13 "The Story" appears, and Trox promises he will outline this story for us. I move to the front of my seat, waiting for him to pull out a large tome and rocking chair. It's hard to sit indian-style in these seats.
3.14 We're rocking some green italics here. He's also saying some horribly sexist things about men being the masters of there own houses and virgins being brought for evaluation. There's lots of sarcasm in his voice, but it's more fun to pretend he's serious.
3.15 Trox tells us to "tuck (a fact) in the back of your minds." until we come back to the subject later.
3.16 I'm very warm. I remove my scarf and roll up my sleeves. Surrounding students might mistake my sleeve rolling for intensity in doing actual work. Suckers.
3.18 We're entering "Act Two." This is a long story. Troxel uses the term "ridiculous proportions." I think that's a new one.
3.19 We're coming up on the power lecture barrier. A normal lecture would be finished in one minute, but we still have twenty five to go. Heads begin to nod...
3.20 It's like he sensed the barrier and broke it with some banter "...Those who are writing the blog aren't going to be particularly impressed with this as...(mic cuts out, begins talking loudly without amplification)... I'm going to pause to change my batteries, but...(mic turns back on, returns lav pack to his belt)..." I disagree. It was smooth, humorous, and suave. Instead of his typical seamless transaction, he brings attention to his debonairness with some casual banter.
3.23 While analyzing the past transaction, Troxel has dropped humorous terms such as "enjoying cocktails..." and "death schmeth." I think they're more funny out of context.
3.24 I did notice that when Trox mentioned the blog, many students looked at me. to maintain my secrecy, I may begin wearing a ski mask to class. It would be terrifying if I did that. I think I would cry if someone sat down next to me in lecture wearing a ski mask.
3.26 Trox calls Mordecai a jerk and Haman whiny.
3.27 The guys is just on fire. On fire. You can tell how much he loves this book. I feel like I'm in the story. He's blending in narrative, humor, puns, direct quotations; it's incredible. You just have to see it. All that's missing is character voices.
3.28 He's nearing "character voices" intensity, as his inflection is really getting into this story.
3.29 There's talk of costumes and noise makers.
3.30 He's about to tread Queen Esther's address. We're on the edge of our seats. He loves this. We love this. I wish I could live in this moment forever. The passion! The emotion! The narration! I'm going to say it: we've transcended Biblical scholarship. We're in something I like to call Biblical FUNarship.
3.32 Wow. I feel like I should clap. Give a standing ovation. And we're about to go into the final scene.
3.34 Story completed, conflict resolved, heart rate beginning to slow. Palms are still a bit sweaty. The term "cocktail hour" is displayed on the screen, humorously describing a scene from the story as he summarizes what we've just been over.
3.35 Man, around 3.18-3.19 I thought the lecture was dragging a bit. Then all of a sudden BAM battery change BAM blog reference BAM intense narrative. Time flies when you're analyzing Biblical texts with the Trox.
3.37 Still summarizing the narrative, energy has dropped a little bit in the room, but look at what I'm comparing it to. Despite stumbling over a word here or there, Troxel is still very much in the zone.
3.39 In case you were worried because of lack of mention, John Wylie is in the back of the room at his normal seat. He's okay, people.
3.41 In a rare moment, Troxel looks down at his lecture notes, possibly reading from them, for a duration of nearly ten seconds. Pace and inflection are not altered. If visual confirmation was not made, I would not have known or believed it myself.
3.43 We're racing to sum up Esther in the next two minutes.
3.45 I'm concluding now as my battery life is waning. What a day. He was on his A Game. All I could do is sit in awe, aware that I am in the presence of a living legend.

11.15.07 Lecture

2.26 I arrive and have noted that the Troxasaurus is certainly aware of his audience as his desktop background has changed once again, he informs the audience that the background is a picture of his 15 year old son performing a solo in Grease. Yes, the Troxel family has a wide variety of talents, can the Professor sing?
2.29 Reports have come through that Troxel just pulled a pen from within his shirt collar. He defies the laws of physics, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that Troxel just created that pen by fiat.
2.30 Leture begins and Troxel has already referenced the blog saying "I'm not sure if everyone is just assuming they'll get their class notes off the blof or if its just the cold weather." And now that I notice looking around the room there is a significantly smaller crowd than usual. This disappoints and saddens me as I am wquite confident we are in for a treat.
2.32 Troxel is clearly in his highest academic mode as he prepares for the Society of Biblical Literature conference next week. He is dressed in a deep red sweater with a collared shirt underneath. Some have witnessed his appearance before the class began as "pensive", I think he was actually just getting "in the zone" because he's got some Bibilical analysis smackdown that he's prepping to lay out. (See picture and decide for yourself)
2.34 In other news, Troxel was given a shout out in my last discussion as Professor Cohen stated African American exhorters in the early 19th century did not have "Ron Troxel to lay out biblical scholarship"
2.35 Further, an undisclosed source that has spoken with the Trox tells us that he described the blog to him/her as "witty", "very quick", and creative.
2.36 The wizard himself just used the phrase "hunky-dory." And I'm sure he knew I would comment on that. Its a great word.
2.37 An examination of Troxel's look reveals a distinct "Christmas-y" feel. If only we could adorn him with ornaments and lights and put a star on his head. That would be the best outfit ever. That's a little creepy.
2.40 I am somewhat confused about how to proceed from here. The blogger is experiencing some internal angst. Troxel's awareness of this site was at first a source of great joy, but now the pressure is on. To continue our U2 metaphor I feel that we have successfully signed with our major label, but I'm not sure if we have a Joshua Tree in us, I think the best I have to offer might be a Zooropa or Pop, and we all know that's okay, but not great. We'll see what the future holds.
2.42 Malachi is the subject of today's lecture by the way for those of you who stayed home and are relying on this for notes. How about this we might have a tie to Hosea with a discussion of the Israelites infidelity, but no troxel doesn't go there, he decides to take the high road and stick with arguments that actually make sense.
2.44 We have a pretty standard set-up, passages on the screen, red text to set aside the words of note, we've seen a few transitions, but nothing too flashy. Its a subtle tone, its a calming tone. Troxel's voice is like a warm ocean breeze, its sound washed over us allowing us to feel peace and calm of mind.
2.46 Wake up, beach goers! Something radical is going to occur according to Troxel. my theory an attack by the Assyrians, it seems to be a recurring theme.
2.47 Now moving onto the book of Joel, which transition at is with a fly-in effect. This is fitting as the book is "rather dramatic".
2.48 I'm disappointed to learn we are given no significant biographical information about Joel, so lets make some up for him. Joel was born into a chaotic environment where he never knew who his realy parents were. Soon after birth, he was captured by an invasion of locust who carried him off to a far away land and there he was raised by a warthog and meercat. The two raised him and changed his view of the world towards a hedonistic view of life based on gluttony and sloth. However, Joel overcame and became a champion prizefighter. He won some fights. Later he took on the first name "Billy" and warned americans of the risk of having a "heart attack -ack -ack -ack -ack" while defending himself against the claim of "starting the fire".
2.54 We are asked if this is clear. i think nothing could be more clear, espeicially now that there are a couple dozen Hebrew characters of the screen.
2.55 A Wkipedia search for prominent extra-biblical Joels is shockingly disappointing. The best I can do for you is Joel Pryzbilla, who proved that simply for being 7 foot 2 you deserve $50 million even if he have no offensive ability, and Joel Osteen, who is simply one of the creepiest men on the face of the earth.
3.00 For all you Religious Studies majors out there, I have a special announcement that is being made here, for the first time. That's right this is the world premiere of this announcement. Sometime next semester we will be having a part for Religious Studies Majors and Troxel is going to be there. One suggested plan is that we'll all prepare PowerPoint presentations that Troxel will then judge and deem one the winner. Get excited. More details to follow. We need to get Tom DuBois to come to the party, wow, I'm now imagining blogging his class, for any of you who have taken a class with him you know what I'm talking about, it would be absolutely fantastic.
3.02 I don't understand Troxel's line of reasoning. He states that the saying "the White House said . . . " does not mean the building literally spoke, he is crushing all my visions and dreams about the functioning of our federal government.
3.04 Troxel is challenging the general arguments about Joel's message, he feels that some of these arguments are "tenuous". You show em!
3.05 I apoligize for barely referencing Trox today. I'll be more careful from now on. Here we go. Troxel is drawing a parellel to music . . . oh he referenced pitches and keys rather than his favorite Top 40 hits.
3.07 Something is developing nearby, it appears to be a comic starring Ron Troxel. I'll tell you more as soon as i know.
3.08 We are moving at light speed, done with Joel and onto Jonah, which has three features. Five bucks says the next exam has a possible question reading "What are three unique features of the book of Jonah?"
3.09 OK, the comic has cicled around its entitled "Wiley and the Trox". Its about biblical scholarship and facial hair. Its kind of clever, maybe we'll post it. I'm not quite sure of it origins, but I have a guess based on the handwriting.
3.11 Speaking of Wiley. He always sits in the back now. I have a theory that he does so purely so we cannot blog about his every movement. By the way, this was probably a good move on his part because we would be watching and it would get real creepy.
3.13 We just finished the three distinct features of Jonah, I hope you took notes.
3.14 Troxel says the sentence "Things happen is a certain chronological order", but I can't give it justice with blog, the intonation and the inflection he put on each syllabal is fantastic. I'll attempt to describe it, but just know any description falls short. As the words came from his mouth I could have sworn an angel was speaking, the beuaty of the words fluttered out of his mouth and dove into our ears their true and beloved home. When I heard the words I felt a feeling of fulfillment and pure joy. An effervescent of overflow of contentedness. That's how good that sentence was.
3.16 Troxel misspeaks when saying "covered himself in sackcloth" and says "covered himself with Axe", this makes me think of my friend Dave's roommate who would "Axe up" before going out and make his presence known from about 40 feet away.
3.17 Troxel just said "megalapolis." Being one to never doubt the veracity of a word of Troxel, i presume a megalopolis is kinda like a megapolis but awesomer.
3.19 I sudden feeling of overwhelming worry covers me as I realize that while the other blogger, who should be taking notes, is doing anything put.
3.20 Troxel has been a big fan of the 30 degree angled stamp effect lately, in this case he has "stamped" the words "Persian Practice" upon the passage. The authority of this "stamping" motion is fantastic.
3.23 We are trying to classify the genre of Jonah (which is fairly anti-climactic as we read an article about this exact subject the 2nd week of class) and Troxel refers to allegory and the parable's "kissing cousin". Also, he just came through with my Hosea reference, only about 40 minutes late.
3.25 Prediction: Troxel throws something into the crowd before the end of lecture. Lets see.
3.28 Troxel says he'd like to compare Jonah to Archie Bunker! And even better he made a fantastic joke that I laughed really loud at, he stated, "Archie Bunker was on a show that was popular when I was in college, just before the Civil War." Hilarious.
3.29 Point being is that this story is one filled with irony. Jonah you're so fickle!
3.34 Troxel breaks out on of my favorite phrases of all time "comeuppance" Are you serious!? I think he's ending lecture right now! NO PROFESSOR!!! NO PROFESSOR. BUT BUT BUT we have 11 more minutes!!! How could you you do this! And now we have to go for almost two weeks without you . . .tears fill the eyes. I will overcome
3.35 Now I must establish the last point, he wished us a Happy Thanksgiving by having an animated turkey hop out on a slide with the words "Happy Thanksgiving." Pretty spectacular.
3.37 One last point, by way of correction we had previously stated that the blog does not show up when searched on Google. it now does, so big news. In fact its the number 1 result.

Lecture 11.13.07

2.24 I enter. The Trox is already up front, adorned in a cranberry shirt with two pens in his left breast pocket.
2.25 Projector on. What is going on!? His background has changed, now displaying what appears to be a number from a high school production of "Grease." My initial reaction is that his son was in a production of the show. Marc thinks he's toying with us now that he is aware of the blog. Will we be seeing multiple desktops just to provoke comment? I think not, but we will certainly see.
2.29 He's talking about us! I think I'm going to have a seizure! There is no way to describe the joy I am feeling now. I will spend the next couple of minutes trying to sum up the pure ecstasy of the past minute. He began lecture by stating something to the effect of "I'm sure that many of you have participated in sports or plays and have felt that the positive encouragement of your peers pushes you to your best... I have recently had my eyes opened by something to this effect as I have learned that someone in this class has been live blogging my lectures. This has really pushed me to bring my 'A Game' to class. [he begins his POwerpoint show. Multiple clipart graphics begin dropping into the page as words begin falling, spinning, dancing the wonderful dance of the powerpoint. It's like a symphony is unfolding before our eyes. The class is laughing, applauding, wetting ourselves. But he's not done yet. As the title slide begins to unveil it's glory behind him, Troxel begins to describe his attire: "I would call this a cranberry shirt (note: I did not edit my 2.24 post, but I, in fact, accurately guessed the hue of his shirt the first time), khaki pants (he puts his left leg up onto the table), with some (he details his shoes here, but I was laughing to hard to make out the description). The class applauds him for his relaxed demeanor in the face of what appears to be someone clearly stalking him online. Bravo, good sir, bravo.
2.38 He has been lecturing about Isaiah chapters 56-66 for the past eight minutes or so, but I'm pretty sure everyone has reliving the first few...WHA???
2.39 "Let's see what the blog has to say about my lecture today..." ( I frantically post my bloggings thus far) It takes a few seconds an d a couple of "refreshes" for the new post to appear. Then he begins reading the post out loud. HE is directly referring to Marc. The man is on fire. As he reads "I think I'm going to have a seizure..." He picks up a large red phone from under the podium. Did he plant that there? DId he know this was going to happen? I've said it before, I've said it again. THe man is a wizard. I swear, he just pushed a button and our blog popped up. It's like he hot-keyed it. He reads on to confirm that yes, in fact, his son was in a production of Grease. I was right. He continues on "...whoever Marc is, he is an extremely creative person." Jonathan speaks up from the back "I know who Marc is, Dr. Troxel." Trox: "Give him an A Jonathan."
2.45 I hesitate to continue to write about the blog itself, but as The majority of this post has been about it, I might as well continue. Marc is not a poster who chooses to write about himself in the third person every other lecture. Rather, there are two authors of this blog. I prefer to be a silent partner. (SEE PICTURE) I don't know how (stellar "cube" transition in the powerpoint) Marc will deal with this pressure. I don't even know how I'll deal with it. We're like U2 when Island signed them in 1980 and all of a sudden we're not this cute little band winning talent shows in Ireland, we're on an international stage.
2.49 HOw did Troxel find us? An unconfirmed source stated that Troxel had said "sometimes it pays to google your own name..." However, a quick google search does not yield this blog as a result. Perhaps he Google blog searched it? Or more likely, we have a rat. Wiley, I'm looking at you.
2.51 Let me try to pull my head out of the clouds and get back to lecture.
2.52 Map of the Near Middle East. There's some yellow circles that were clearly inserted by Troxel. Nice touch, T Daddy. I immediately regret calling him that.
2.54 Both Marc and I are still shaking with excitement.
2.55 Haggai and Zechariah. As the title slide transitions what is either a slide transition sound effect or a cell phone goes off. I'm almost certain that it's a cell phone, but there's room for hoping, isn't there?
2.56 Dave Vandenlangenberg (who is wearing glasses today!) would like to apologize for sleeping in lecture everyday. And I'd like to apologize for posting evidence of this on the internet. (I'm not actually sorry) He's eating what appears to be an energy bar now, so he'll stay awake. He's also looking at fanny packs on Amazon.
2.57 apparently Haggai was "practical", whereas Zechariah was more of a "visionary" Who do you think would be more fun to have at a party? Haggai wouldn't do anything weird or anything, he'd probably just kind of chill out. Zechariah would probally be more fun and zany, but he'd weird everyone out when he starts talking about fire consuming the Earth and what not. Call me a prude, but I'm going to go with Haggai.
2.59 A yellow ribbon appears above the text proclaiming that Zechariah is "apocalyptic literature". It's pretty.
3.04 Shocking! Haggai and Zechariah both exhibit eschiologal delay! I try to take a humorous picture exhibiting my "silent partner" commentary, it takes three takes and I feel like an idiot.
3.05 Today we've been working with mainly italicized red contrast text.
3.06 Dave is still awake.
3.07 The term "gettin' props" was just used. Subsequently, Troxel gets some props in our "relatability" tallies.
3.09 We have an animated Davidic line goin' down on the screen. Simple, but quite effective. He's really been digging the squared brackets [ ] today. I like them too.
3.10 Zedekiah replaces Jehoiachim in the Davidic line. So much for legitimate rulers of Judah.
3.12 Zerubbel saves the day because of something about a signet ring!
3.12 It looks like TA Steve hurt his leg. He has crutches with him. I hope he's okay.
3.13 Troxel begins to explain what a "signet ring" is. I'm expecting a picture to be coming up any second now... There it is. The Seal of Baruch. He makes an inside joke about the Hebrew language. Dave gets it (He's still awake!). Nobody else does.
3.15 He's really on fire with his slide transitions today. I think the one he just used was "flip." It's like were watching a magical slide show.
3.17 Nate Sweet had promised me in advance that he would be asking a question and "showing some sass" in class today. We'll have to see if he delivers this promise.
3.18 "Is this all clear?... I know I'll be written up on this, but is this all clear?" He even knows what we comment on about him! He is truly a scholar in every regard.
3.19 One question (not by Nate Sweet). It is cleared up rather quickly.
3.21 Language of "the branch" from Zech 3 is being looked into. I thoroughly look forward to this scholarly endeavor.
3.23 It took me two minutes to determine how to spell "thoroughly." With Spell Check.
3.25 USes the adjective "tantalizing" for at least the second time today. I feel like that's a lot, proportionally. "Blinds" transition.
3.26 A stunning "pinwheel" transition into a picture of a oil lamp. "Flip" transition into a picture of a multiple-spouted lamp. What transitions! Bravo! Encore!
3.27 The words of Haggai 4.2 are superimposed over the image of the multiple spouted lamp. Truly stunning effect.
3.29 His Mic seems to be altering volume as it sees fit today. It could be something as simple as differing volumes as he faces his head in different directions, but I think there's something more going on here. Clearly an attempt of another competing Biblical scholar to sabotage the beautiful work of art that is the Troxel lecture. You're going to have to work harder than that, foolish scholars!
3.31 Is it really already 3.31?! My how time flies when you're analyzing post exilic texts!
3.32 "Well, the question becomes..." What a classic Troxillian catch phrase.
3.33 I zone out for a couple of seconds and when I come to the large bolded word "Darius" stands alone on the screen. I have no idea what is going on right now.
3.34 Directly references Kevin Costner in Field of dreams when summarizing Eschatological delay. with "if you rebuild it, they will come."
3.36 Summing up Zechariah 9-14 with a very light, airy sky blue background.
3.37 The phrase "hairy mantle" is funny. I have no desire whatsoever to dig into what it actually means.
3.39 "But remember the words of Micah!" Troxel exclaims as he analyzes why Collins is wrong in every possible way. Also, in his righteous fervor, he uses the term "Hucksters."
3.40 Yes! One of my favorite graphic of all appears on the screen: the scroll with all of the prophetic books listed on it. You've been missed, scroll. You've been missed.
3.41 "...And next time we're going to be looking at the book of Malachi..." Troxel teases us with
3.42 More teasing as he exposes us to Malachi 1.1; We're on the edges of our seats! There's no way anyone's missing this Malachi lecture!
3.43 This is really quite the slide. We're still building off of the scroll graphic slide, but multiple text boxes have popped up. There's writing everywhere.
3.44 "Any questions on..." ( a hand pops up before he can even finish the question) Question (not Nate Sweet's, he's all talk) is handled well and the asker looks satisfied.
3.45 Another question. It is "intriguing" and Troxel says he will have to think about it. "Well, enough; I shall see you on Thursday."

What a lecture! I can't believe that we have achieved recognition. This maybe the single greatest moment of my life. How can we go anywhere but down from here? It's reassuring to know that we don't have to. We only need to hold tight to The Trox and let him take us up, up up.

11.9.07 The Most Amazing E-mail Ever Received

I received the following at 11:05 AM Central Standard Time, by all indications this is real. Enjoy:

Marc,

I must admit, I've never see anything like your blog on Intro to Bib Lit.
It's one of the most creative and humorous productions I've come across in
quite a while! Needless to say, having read a few of the pages, I will be
much more self-conscious about what I'm wearing and what transitions I build
into my PowerPoints.

Incidentally, you weren't the only one disappointed by the lecture last
Monday evening. But no, I didn't fall asleep.

Have a good weekend!

Dr. Troxel

11.1.07 The Belated Edition

2.25 Troxel enters the room and today is dressed in a shirt, that upon much debate, will be described as lilac in tone. It has a calming effect on me. I could probably look into it for hours and feel my self and soul sink into the depths of bliss.
2.27 In other news, the in-action goalie shot of his son remains as his desktop background, still pretty sweet. He opened a program that isn’t Powerpoint! We wonder what in the world it may be, does T-rox have something up his sleeve?
2.31 Sorry for the late update. We are off and running. Already seeing nice usage of keyhole, blinds, and upward sliding transitions. Obviously this is a lecture that Troxel has perfected over time.
2.32 Habakkuk is the topic for today. A new exam is drawing near (which Troxel erroneously referred to as the “first exam”) and today we will have limited blogging as the battery is running out. 37 minutes and counting (frowny face).
2.33 Josiah, Johoham, Jehoiakim are working for Johovah in Judah. Alliteration! How can Troxel not be grinning with joy. I’m sure on the inside he is.
2.34 Back to Troxel’s shirt. As usual the top button is undone (does he ever where a tie?), long sleeved, a nice fit.
2.36 Because we care about you our devoted reader, we have taken every action possible to save battery power. Dimmed the screen, turned off internet etc, and I’m pleased to tell you that we still have 34 minutes of battery remaining . . . slightly ahead of schedule.
2.38 Though the animations have been a little flashy, the texts and backgrounds fail to visually captivate me.
2.39 Big stumble. Troxel calls it “The Book of Ezekiel” rather than Habakkuk. Part of me, not believing he can verbally falter, wants to believe his every misstep is carefully calculated so that we, mere mortals, can identify with him, increasing his credibility.
2.42 Really reaching out to the modern audience today. Calling a summary “like a Cliff notes”, calling a Biblical reference “like a billboard”. He brings the words to life, I could almost walk out and dance with them.
2.43 We have two verses on the screen with a small gap in the middle of them! What will he fill it in with? What color will the text be? My guess it will be three words and red text.
2.44 The wicked will get their comeuppance.
2.45 I nailed the color. Red text pops in a fills the gap. But its better than I ever could have imagined. A true master of his craft, he moves a punctuation mark and takes seven letters onto an already existing word, turning faith into “faithfulness”. Further, [in brackets] Troxel adds the Hebrew text as well. Well done sir, well done. Much respect, I applaud in my heart.
2.46 Why do we never write in the form of a lament anymore. Declaration: I will record the next five minutes of this blog in the form of a lament.
2.47 Alas, scholars of the Academy of the hill of Bascom, rouse yourselves, awake understand the words of the great lilac encaped man. Be aware of his knowledge, do not forsake his Powerpoint presentation.
2.49 How long, how long can this go on? Rise up, rise up, for in the past your days were filled with John Collins and even McKenzie, but today you turn away from knowledge and trust instead your own eyes.
2.50 Alas, great teacher, he who can bestow knowledge, I cry out to you, Teacher please enlighten your subjects. Show us the way of Tupac and the Notorious Mr. B.I.G. Inspire!
2.51 OK, that’s enough of that, I now know why no one writes in the form of laments: because they suck.
2.52 Trox just said comeuppance again. Spectacular.
2.53 A great opportunity to pull out the Ipod right here as Troxel speaks of Psalms (songs?) of questionable authorship. The moment has passed, I think we will not be hearing anything from his library. Our collective heart breaks.
2.54 Comeuppance count number 3. Whoa! Whoa! “Any questions on the book of Nahum? [sic]” Silly Troxel laughs at himself as a student points out that we are in Habakkuk. Now Ron, there’s a line between making our self-esteem rise and abusing it. Keep it in line. Can I call you Ron? Lets say no.
2.56 Pressing on into Jeremiah. My money says Troxel will avoid the temptation to make a Three Dog Night reference.
2.58 Troxel says people walked around town and say Jeremiah only the respond “Here comes old magor missabib again.” All of us who are fluent in ancient Hebrew colloquialisms share a hearty laugh.
2.59 Troxel breaks out the word “whacko”, also “rabble-rouser”, which is one of the most underused words in modern America.
3.01 Added to descriptions of Jeremiah are “social misfit” and “borderline traitor” Hmmm, a treasonous rabble-rousing whacko social misft sounds like an anti-Troxel.
3.03 16 minutes of battery remains. But it has been bouncing around a lot.
3.06 Quote: “So Jeremiah cuts quite a pathetic figure.” Ouch, that’s a rough label. Whoa, battery now claims to be at only 7 minutes. Tears begin to well up.
3.08 The word Septuagint is delightful. New words to add to daily use: comeuppance, rabble-rouser, Septuagint. You can even use them all in one sentence. i.e. “According to the Septuagint, all those rabble-rousers in Moab will get their comeuppance.” Or “Troxel told us all about the Septuagint, but some rabble-rouser wasn’t paying attention so he get his comeuppance in the form of Troxel’s fist to his face.”
3.`11 nearing the end here bettery life ending ahhh

At that point the computer shut off and I was forced to take regular notes.

11.5.07: Special Evening Lecture

This is the live blog of a guest speaker, Professor Greenspoon of Creighton University. Things are a bit chronologically out of order on the blog. We'll get caught up soon. Enjoy this special presentation.

7.27 Just arrived and this is ridiculous. Its standing room only to hear a lecture about the history of Biblical scholarship. My theory is most people are here only because Troxel called this guy “a personal friend”. One of my greatest goals in life is to get as physically close to anyone Troxel considers a friend. Maybe I can get a handshake after the show.
7.29 The potential for song and dance is high. I see Prof. Greenspoon (great name) and he’s a prankster, he just compared this presentation to “Hannah Montana”. I don’t know if this knowledge of pre-adolescent TV makes him cool or creepy.
7:30 Troxel comes down and announces we will do something unorthodox by all sitting up in the front on the floor, which won’t be too odd because “Prof. Greenspoon is used to his student’s falling all over him.” Weird Troxel. Weird.
7.31 People still streaming in, we are nowhere near starting and its for sure going to be a violation of the fire code. But if we do all get trampled, what a way to go. Death by Biblical scholarship.
7.32 Troxel is wearing a (according to Jon Tong) “grayish maybe” suit. He looks nice, he looks excited. He is now giving an intro. Very nice, very respectful, excellent diction, not able to use any Powerpoint, yet still gets by. This man’s skills cannot be contained.
7.33 We are now being given an extensive history of Greenspoon’s works and positions.
7.34 Greenspoon is a pretty big deal, he’s a “vigorous and vital” figure in Biblical scholarship.
7.36 Greenspoon comes up and is given a nice ovation. He is a portly figure with a nice bald look. He reuses the Hannah Montana joke I heard him give to the TAs, gets a hearty laugh. Also, he describes himself as quite addicted to alliteration.
7.37 Now we are being shown a series of comic strips. He knows how to control an audience.
7.39 I’m not sure if I trust him, his accent makes me think he might be trying to sell me a used car. Whoa, sudden shift to scholarship, abrupt but it works.
7.40 He appears to be using the exact same background that Troxel takes advantage of, but without the colored texts, subset boxes, or impressive animations.
7.42 A Powerpoint faux paus as the lower left corner is obscured by the box of options that comes up when you right click.
7.45 Greenspoon gets a laugh.
7.47 Yes, Wylie we’re watching you, you look engaged. We won’t distract.
7.48 The documentary hypothesis is being discussed, more laughs from the crowd, they are eating this stuff up. Feeling a need to actually pay attention so my apologies if the blogging becomes uninteresting.
7.52 A McCarthyism reference and he leaves off by saying “but that’s another story”. Our collective thoughts cry out, “Please tell us”, but no we’ve moved on to Harvard, if I was a TV pundit I would make some comment about Harvard being a stronghold of Communist thought. Thankfully, I’m not.
7.54 Zinger! Sarcastic reference that scholars are never boring. He’s just a little bit feisty. Loving it, I imagine a dinner party with him and Troxel, if I could just sit in the corner and observe, oh the excitement that would be.
7.57 He’s a miniature Barry Alvarez. That’s what he is. This is uncanny, I can’t believe I didn’t realize until now.
7.58 Back to comic strips, he apologizes for only being able to find one strip relating to the Dead Sea Scrolls.
7.59 “A sober, serious, sound, scholar.” This mini-Barry doesn’t mess around about his love for alliteration.
8.03 A shout out to the TAs from the podium, he gives a tip don’t get between your students and the blackboard. No he doesn’t mean it literally, but I wish he did.
8.04 A picture of Krusty the Klown appears on the screen, I really have no idea why, we’ve moved on.
8.06 Little Barry is bold he accepted the task of writing an entire encyclopedia article on the LXX in just three weeks.
8.07 Legs are getting a little sore from sitting on the floor perhaps we could be led in some half-time stretches by T-rox.
8.09 We are onto comic again. The accent is getting better and better. He says: “I would doubt your vowacity [veraticy]”
8.11 One comic too many and the joke falls flat and Greenspoon knows he made a serious error. He must be kicking himself inside. However, the crowd continues to gaze deeply at him. I’m no expert but I would bet most of the ladies in the room are seriously crushing right now. Just a guess.
8.15 This man has a serious love for “Frank and Ernest”. We’ve seen at least 10 strips of it.
8.16 Many other people in the room have laptops out, I seriously doubt any of them are also live-blogging however.
8.18 I said I’d stop looking towards Wylie but I can’t resist. Greenspoon makes a medieval monacticism joke and Wylie can barely control his laughter, he draws looks from people around him, after several minutes he is able to calm himself.
8.19 Three more Frank and Ernest. I thought that this was just a little attention grabber, but no, he intends to use comic strips at every juncture possible. There are a surprisingly large number of comics about ancient scribes.
8.24 Were moving at a frantic pace here, but still finding more comics between every slide. The man is a gold mine of pure comic genius.
8.26 A BLOG COMIC!!!! A BLOG COMIC!!!! If he only knew.
8.29 Wow! Greenspoon wrote an article on “The Septuagint in Popular Culture.” We need to find this as it is likely the most amazing thing ever written.
8.33 YES! We’ve moved on from comics to the Weekly World News. And Greenspoon tells us that he writes a monthly humor column for a scholarly journal. Also, something worth looking up.
8.37 This man is amazing. He would be a fantastic fun uncle. He could have his own variety show. The depths of talent have just barely been scratched. Hooray for mixed metaphors.
8.38 He closes out by showing us a comic strip that featured him as the star! Well done sir. Well done. We move into a time of Q and A.
Conclude: Well I guess in reality, I can sum it up by saying “What just happened?” Though it was a whimsical ride through comics and the Bible (maybe), I’m not sure if much actual information was presented. We have an unconfirmed report that Troxel fell asleep, I won’t see it until someone provides me video evidence.

Lecture 11.6.07

2.31 A bit of a late start. Still struggling to recover from the incoherence of last night's lecture. Enough about that. Let's talk about The Trox. He's wearing a neutral green long sleeve dress shirt and khakis. He's looking very relaxed.
Lecture begins. Talking about Ezekiel
2.32 A phenomenal Powerpoint transition. I believe it was "cube". It made me believe that the overhead screen was actually in three dimensions for a few seconds.
2.34 We're analyzing a table that looks curiously familiar to myself from "Prophets of the Bible." Dave Vandenlangenberg confirms that though it is live, we are watching a repeat. Dave has an existential crisis as he asks why he is here.
2.35 Trox says "Dire warnings of destruction" and it makes me smile and feel warm on the inside for some inexplainable reason.
2.36 We're going into specific dates that these historical events happened in. I bet Trox just guessed on them. For my money, a Troxel guess is as good as what any archaeological information can discover.
2.37 I'm unsure if this guy across the aisle is chewing gum or repeating everything that Troxel says. It's freaking me out.
2.38 I think he's just an inappropriately active chewer. I'm done with being freaked out and am now just angry with him
2.39 A large list of "Oracles against foreign nations" appears to drift up from the bottom of the screen. I have to be honest: for as dry as some of these tables are, the man knows how to work with them. A list of verses and their corresponding dates of occurrence may not seem "fun" to everyone. But with a few powerpoint transitions, a relatable tone, and a firm grasp on the material, Troxel is able to hold attention without resorting to comics strips.
2.42 The list disappears for a moment and -psych!- it reenters. Our hearts give a silent cheer of gratitude that we should be worthy to view it twice.
2.44 Someone leaves the classroom quickly through the back side door. They are pitiful.
2.45 We're talking "Fiery-cloud vehicle" it appears that John Wiley's wish of "Wheel in the Sky" by Journey being played as this is introduced will not be granted.
2.46 Troxel suggests in jest that Ezekiel may have had "too much pizza and beer the night before" to provoke this vision
2.47 It seems that the contrast text color of choice will be red for this slide. Is this because of it's relation to fire? Or just random chance? I have the feeling that he is so in control of this powerpoint that no detail, slide transitions or contrast text color relations would escape his knowledge.
2.49 For some reason "I've got a feeling" by The Beatles has begun to play in my head. Also, Troxel says "loins" a couple of times.
2.51 Some freaking sweet picture of a fricking thing with wings all sweet up in the sky. Seriously. This thing is fricking sweet.
2.54 A graph, or chart, image? Of the conception of the world as a "three layer cake" Dome above Earth, Earth, and Subterranean Waters.
2.55 "Before we go there, I want to return to those creatures themselves..." I wish that could be my cellphone ringtone. He promises that there is an image coming up. I am on the edge of my seat, struggling to maintain bladder control.
2.56 Slides from the Ancient Near East sweetness rating from 1-10 in parenthesis:
1- From Persian period. Two divine figures with horse hooves holding up sky god (4)
2- Neo-Babylonian diety with four faces. this one might give me nightmares. Troxel references Philadelphia Cream Cheese for some reason. (5)
2.58 Only two slides. I'm a bit disapointed. I was really building it up there so that by the fourth image my descriptions would be vivid and the sweetness level would be at a 10. It just goes to show that Troxel's ways are not our ways.
3.00 Troxel teases Wylie by mentioning songs that reference "wheels within wheels" Buts up an image of a wheel. This one gets a sweetness rating of negative four. Because it's a wheel.
3.01 After Googleing the names of those sitting close to me, I stumble upon this I think the most disturbing thing is that someone thought it was appropriate to present their resume in an online flash video hosted by, as far I can tell, a demonic zombie-teddy bear. It was probably Jeremy.
3.04 The "Sleeping Dave" pictures are almost obligatory by now (see picture)
3.10 The mic goes out. It take him about a half second to recognise it, then he compensate, without further pause, by speaking louder. As he is speaking he, with the speed and agility of a puma, replaces the battery in roughly four seconds. HE continues talking, again with the aide of microphone (not that he needs it.) Amazing execution. Possibly his best. Stunning. Just stunning. He sets the bar so high for other professors. No awkward "Is my Mic out?" no "wait just one second" Just first class lecturing. I am honored and privileged to have witnessed that.
3.11 Just when we were taking the third dimension for granted, "Cube" effect again. Amazing.
3.12 Dave wakes up and puts his arm around me.
3.13 We're going to the gold background that he has been favoring as of late.
3.15 I accidently knock over my tea bottle (lid is on) People look at me with little grins. The guy across the aisle gives me a nod that almost literally says "You da man, Broseph." Yes, morons. Beer is the only beverage sold in glass bottles. I must have knocked over the beer that I brought to my Biblical Studies lecture. You caught me and you know it. You clever devils, you.
3.19 Contrast color appears to have shifted to blue, this can not be confirmed with certainty, however, as there is still some red text on the screen.
3.24 Troxel brings up the view that Cyrus' mention in Isaiah may have been a gloss. After he says "Cyrus is a gloss..." I hold back on my urge to yell "You're a gloss."
3.25 Summin' his points up. Are we don-- nope. "But this raises a question..."
3.26 "Any Questions...Everything clear." No. Yes.
3.27 Forty Five minutes in and my eyelids begin to get heavy. Must. Continue. Blogging. Must Expose Troxel to the World. Must Not Sleep.
3.28 Troxel cites "phraseology" Dave skeptically repeats the word in a comical fashion, but spell checker is telling me that it's legitimate. He should have known better than to question Trox's word useage. I personally don't care what the dictionary says. What Troxel says is.
3.33 A new transition! Words can't describe it! It's as if the next slide was on the back of the previous one and the slide simply flipped to expose it's other side... I can't do it justice. You had to see it to believe it.
3.34 A map titled "The Former Things/ New Things" Since I have only been listening enough to take note of Troxel's behaviors, I have no idea what this map is actually of. There are arrows. And dates.
3.36 Map disappears. apparently the map had something to do with Isaiah 42.9
3.37 Man, it's nice to listen to a coherent, comic free lecture. Trox abandons the gold background to settle on a plain white slide. Red is back as the text contrast color.
3.38 "The language...(slide changes) Whoa. I don't have language first, I have this (gestures to slide) first." A map that apparently caught him off guard. HIs composure, of course is only lost for less than a second. It's as if he feigned surprise to try to convince us that he's only human.
3.40 Enthusiastically whispers "Forget about it!"
3.41 Marc giggles. It almost makes me giggle too. That would have been bad new bears. Marc understands and gives me a grateful tap on the knee as if to say "thank you for fighting to avert that disaster, friend."
3.42 Somehow, we are still talking about The Former Things and New Things. I think.
3.43 For the first time, I begin t question why we are doing this. No! Stay the Course. Fight hard. Giving up is not an option. I am not a quitter!
3.44 Summing up his themes. Wishes us well on studying and gives us a couple of reminders.
3.45 Wraps up with "Good look on the test" [sic]
Man it was nice to hear a lecture without any freaking comics.

Lecture 10.30.07

2.30 A bit of a late start here. Troxel has been setting up for a couple of minutes. Lights dim. Heart rate accelerates. He flies through the title slide so quickly that I can't keep up with the speed of my emotions
2.31 Jumping into Isaiah 6.1-13 Wow! look at that yellow slide. It looks like how i visualize the adjective "majesty"
2.34 The first red-bolded text of the day
2.35 Wow. we're still talking about this (Isaiah 6). From last lecture. The Trox must really be into stumps.
2.37 Troxelnater is really digging on these yellow backgrounds today. When he stands in front of the slide, there is a slight golden grow which seems to radiate from him, into my soul.
2.39 HE'S PULLING OUT THE IPOD!!!!
2.40 Asks the audience how to spell "Tupac" He's looking for the song "changes"
2.41 HE can't find the song. I yell "sing it!" He laughs. I just made him laughs.
2.42 I can't believe this. I have to concentrate to not wet myseld. He's talking about "P Diddy" and " Notorious Mister BIG" Also refers to :one of my sons" Who apparently has over 1000 songs in his iTunes library.
2.43 TA Steve brings an iPod up and saves the day. YAH STEVE! "Changes" begins to play. After a moment, Trox drops the volume and begins to talk over it. Nate begins to clap along with the music. Hearing Troxel's voice blend with 'pac's is like listening to The Beatles for the first time. "Tupac is an editor whether he knows it or not...He's a redactor..."
2.44 We're back to Isaiah. Incredible.
2.47 I'm still sweating. My vision is becoming less and less blurry, finally working of the intoxicating effects of Troxel's A-game.
2.49 Marc is clearly counting something on the screen. Probably the number of times a word is used. Out Marcy is thinking like a scholar. I blush with pride.
2.52 The time is flying by. We are into Micah. You don't here that name much anymore, do you? A quick Wikipedia search shows that the only prevelant extraBiblical Micah is the character Micah Sanders from Heroes. And he's a lame Hero, anyways. "Look at me, I touch machines and do things to them. I'm little." Lame. Doesn't even count as a Micah.
2.54 Micah was dark.
2.55 Recreating reaction while hearing Troxel say "Tupac" (see picture)
2.59 Busting out some Hebrew. Apparently Micah distances himself from "prophets out for profit" in a unique way.
3.03 Compositional History of Micah.
3.04 Beginning to hope he didn't peak too soon in this lecture. Tripping over a word here and there. He's talking about "hungering after figs", though. I think that sounds pretty funny.
3.08 I think Micah was like the Fonzie of prophets. He played by no one's rules but his own. I think he'd be my friend, though.
3.10 According to Trox, Micah was not a foretelling rebel. Just the normal social-political kind.
3.13 "Does this make sense? PLease say yes, or please say no, or... (switches to mock-angry voice) Say Something!" I laugh. Probably a bit too loudly.
3.14 WINDMILL TRANSITION!
3.15 Nahum. We're flying through at the speed of awesome.
3.16 Wow! Email for a free photographic print from the UW Athletic store! What a deal!
3.17 troxel calls Nahum 2.4, 6-7 "A CNN-like report"
3.18 Internet cutting in and out...
3.19 "Full of booty..." "Holocaust Literature"-Man, Nahum is crazy dark.
3.22 Dabbling into the book of Ninevah.
3.23 Troxel's example Acrostic poem: "Always...Before...Continually...etc" The man should be am actual poet.
3.25 LOLCats are awesome.
3.26 Book of Zephaniah. Wow. This is getting ridiculous.
3.28 Quick quip about "....the latest fashions from Paris."
3.29 Wikipedia confirms no prominent extraBiblical Zephaniahs.
3.30 Crowd participation! "...Now Janus is the namesake of one of the months of our calender? What is it?" I'm pretty sure that in his head, he asks that question and pumps his fist in the air while a resounding yell of "January!" echoes throughout the room.
3.34 Man, we are covering some dark freaking prophets today. Trox must be feeling sinister.
3.35 In my haste at the beginning of lecture, I never even described Trox today. He's wearing a pumpkin colored plaid shirt with khakis. He looks well rested and content.
3.39 The words on the screen that are highlighted are "darkness", "gloom", and "destruction." I'm not kidding about this dark theme today. Do you think he tried to coordinate this lecture with Halloween?
3.41 Some are beginning to pack their things up.
3.42 Wrapping up a bit early to avoid my computer dying, what a lecture. In what shall forever be known as "The Tupac Incident" Dr. Ronald Troxel has forever shaped the course of Biblical scholarship and rap music.

10.25.07 Lecture

2.27 A late start today as Troxel has just entered the room. Questions abound: His khaki collared shirt and white undershirt is a classic, but are the olive pants a little too bold? Is his hair parted to the other side? Finally, is his beard a little darker than in the past? We'll investigate these issues as the day goes on.
2.28 Things are fully normal, the late start seems to have not effected his ability, he now is a machine of effieciency. He turns the laptop on, he moves the sliding chalkboards into their position, in doing so I am convinced his biceps are not those of a regular man, he is some sort of Hercules. Interesting: Troxel's desktop background is back to his son, it was different on Tuesday.
2.31 WE HAVE NOT STARTED LECTURE YET! WE ARE BEHIND SCHEDULE! Take note that he seems to be a little rushed as he knows that the clock is ticking.
2.32 Troxel's podium is in its regular place, no need to drag it into place today.
2.33 The TAs are handing out a flier advertising for a FREE PUBLIC LECTURE (by a personal friend of Troxel). See picture. We learn that the other TA's name is Steve. We were not aware of his name good to know.
2.34 We are rolling now and examining the book of Hosea. The only prophet from the North.
2.38 My, and everyone's, fascination with Troxel's personal life continues. What does he do in his spare time? Golf? Raquetball? Hip hop dance?
2.40 The word whoredom is being thrown around like candy at a parade. Its symbolic. Troxel assures us that its usage makes sense and its not a mere tale of "poor Hosea's troubled family life." A chart showing the structure of the book of Hosea helps explain.
2.42 Lets gather some statistics.
2.44 Troxel made 31 hand motions in the 60 seconds from 2.43-2.44. ALL OF THEM with his right hand. Most quite small but some of them were big, sweeping, inspiring movements. Occasionally, he would even be motioning with the hand while looking at the screen or his notes. He beckons us to come in and pay attention to his every move, he invites us in to a stunning and captivating history of a people and a nation.
2.45 Troxel just said booty.
2.46 Troxel tells a joke, that apparently only I thought was funny. Suggests the names of Hosea's children do not stem from a "list of baby names popular in the 8th century." Very clever.
2.48 The screen shows us text overlayed with two boxes that each have shadows behind them, however all the text and boxes are in one color. Its an unfortunately boring image fails to inspire any sort of emotion in the audience.
2.49 Just noting that Troxel has done an excellent job with some very difficult looking Hebrew words, but perhaps he just makes it up as he goes and hopes no one calls him out on it. How could I say that!? Troxel's integrity surpasses that of even the proud sea lions. Comment withdrawn.
2.50 Some blue lines (not a color he often uses) and arrows, these things help me feel at home.
2.52 Were talking bout "raisin cakes" These are not snack food, but rather a part of fertility religion, its about offering raisin cakes to Baal rather than honoring the Lord. This makes me wonder about other type of cake, apricot, prune, date, dried food has a strange texture.
2.54 One of my favorite Troxelisms: "He could be accused of throwing the baby out with the bathwater."
2.55 I search the room for Dave Vandenfendenberg. Is he even here?
2.56 The crowd seems very aware its late in the day on a Thursday. Not seeing much by way of attentive students, some are sleeping, a fair number of seats remain empty. In all seriousness, this is actually kind of an interesting topic and an interesting book.
2.57 Troxel refers to the temple being turned into the "red light district" and talks about the "provacative" language.
2.59 Troxel tells us that Hosea is like a "shock jock" using provacative language to get us to think. From my understanding of "shock jocks" I dont think their goal is to get us to think. I feel I could make a pretty strong case its exactly the opposite. However, maybe I just don't get the deep satire found within making fun of midget eskimo strippers.
3.02 Troxel asks "Is this clear?" Right on time. Everyone in the room knew it was coming, but then he follows it up by probing again "Is it?" Were not sure what to think, he's going off script, finally another surprise as he states: "Usually when you talk about sex and religion people pay attention." Now who's using provacative languange?
3.03 Troxel describes driving as "motoring about".
3.04 Troxel just accused his son of carousing. Obviously not the soccer player, he can do no wrong and if you want to challenge me on that I'll just point to his 27 saves . . . IN ONE GAME!
3.06 We now turn to the book of Isaiah, but don't worry just the first 39 chapters. A yellow tinted preview slide puts us into eager anticipation to find out what treasures lie within. I just hope we won't be to tempted to jump ahead.
3.10 An examination of our file photo of Dr. troxel refutes our earlier claim about hair parting. As we can best know he's always been parting to the right. However, the picture shows no full beard, so its accuracy is in doubt.
3.14 Challenge from the audience, a question is asked. Troxel says thats exactly what he's about to explain. Lets press forward. Mike is now writing on a piece of paper on my leg.
3.16 A giant scroll unrolls on the screen and Troxel is also on a roll (pun intended). I see seven arrows and two sets of brackets. The only thing missing is color, come on Professor make my day! Do it!
3.17 Chance of color is getting bleak . . .
3.18 Still no color, actually there's less color he made a light yellow fade to a biege. Heartbreak.
3.23 Troxel just got a little political on us, making a Colin Powell in front of the United Nations reference. New topic, what does Colin Powell do for fun? I bet its even more fascinating than what Troxel does.
3.27 I've been pulled away from Colin Powell's Wikipedia page to check out an image on the screen. It shows two creatures holding up another creature who Troxel calls a "sky god".
3.29 Troxel has a minor slip up saying Jerimiah instead of Isaiah, and doesn't even notice his mistake.
3.30 I was doing a pretty good job of paying attention until that Colin Powell comment, the man is fascinating.
3.35 SHoT
3.38 Crisis: Troxel pages through four slides quickly and asks aloud: "What am I doing here? Oh, hit the wrong thing." Were back on track now, of course.
3.40 We are back to the slides that have tinted yellow in the corners. It seems about 1/3 of them are of this style whie the rest are just regular backgrounds. How does he decide which ones get tinted?
3.44 Almost done. Mike has drawn a picture of someone in a bear suit or something like it on his notes. The title of the photo reads "If Troxel was an evil teddy bear" Its brilliant. Thoughts of a Halloween theme dance in my mind.
3.45 We had been told there would be only 3 themes of Isaiah now we are being shown a fourth. Troxel tells us "you all get a bonus one . . . no extra charge" I feel honored, cared for, and informed.
3.46 Uh oh, class still going. The man is out of control. He's on a mission. He will get through this material.
3.47 Its over. What a ride. You ever rode the roller coaster at Camp Snoopy, because this is pretty much the opposite of that. Camp Snoopy roller coaster sucks. Troxel is thrilling. Camp Snoopy makes me want to gouge out my own eyes, Troxel makes me want to stare deeply, forevermore.