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.