Popcorn, peanuts.....

This week's carnival takes up residence at Think Buddha - a supercool site of its own accord (made all the better by joining our blogroll). Check it out.

Oscars, Schmoscars

In the fine spirit of film lovers everywhere, I'll now tell you my favorite movies this year, which pretty much don't line up with the Oscar voters. But what do they know?

Definitely my favorite film is The New World. That's going on the best of all time list.

After that, it gets fuzzy as to "rank" - but I love these for different reasons so up they go (any one of them is quite worth the time and expense of watching):
King Kong
The Constant Gardener
Howl's Moving Castle
Walk the Line
Serenity

I also really enjoyed, but couldn't quite put in the "favorite" and/or "best of the year" category:
Capote
40-year-old virgin
Charlie & the Chocolate Factory

Films that were overrated:
March of the Penguins (see Winged Migration instead)
Memoirs of a Geisha (at least the preview version I saw)
Narnia
Crash
Murderball

Not overrated, just disappointing:
Rent
War of the Worlds

Nominated films I don't really care if I see (so correct me if I'm wrong):
Cinderella Man

The films I'm ashamed to say I haven't seen yet (but most certainly will):
Munich
Syriana
Tsotsi
Paradise Now
Matchpoint
Transamerica
Nine Lives
A History of Violence

Films I'm considering seeing:
Hustle & Flow
Mrs. Henderson Presents
North Country
Pride & Prejudice

And then there's the movie you probably won't get to see, because it won't get distribution, but was my favorite documentary of the year (and yes, I did see the nominated films):
Frisbee: the life and death of a hippie preacher

And last night we watched Hotel Rwanda, which was amazing. Now check out this article about a new Jesus movie, which I REALLY hope gets distribution, because I have a hunch I'd love it (LA Times requires registration - you could also try googling "Son of Man" - just premiered at Sundance)

AWOL

Hey, all, sorry I've been gone. I have great posts brewing in my head - a response to that ridiculous senator from the Rolling Stone article, some thoughts about Hamas' new role as governers, and a list of my favorite movies from the year, because here, it's all about me.

I will tell you that Friday night I went to see The New World. I am not exaggerating when I say it may have been the best film I have ever seen. Certainly it shot to the top of my all-time best list. It was one of those magical spiritual experiences that you so rarely get to have at the movies (I think my last was Contact). It puts you in this trance state (at least if you have the patience for it - I've never been in a theater that more people walked out of at various times in the film, and I'm told that's been the experience of others as well), and before you know it you're floating along kind of meditating and just taking it all in.

But there was more than just the Zen quality to recommend it. The two other things that hit me hardest (and by that I mean set me to wild sobbing) were what I learned about God and about women. Throughout our main heroine refers to God as Mother, and as her story progresses she learns more about Mother and how to live her life in accord with the universe (such as having a humble heart, learning to truly love above lust, finding the face of God in nature, kindness and joy in all things, etc., etc.). As a person who's been trying to get myself to see God's feminine side (or at least not always as a man), it was hugely powerful. When she prayed, I prayed with her. She said what I want to say and did things I wish I was strong enough to do. Plus it's just so freaking empowering!

So the other thing is that our heroine eventually learns to love herself and choose for herself the best possible world. I don't want to give too much away, but let's just say she gains her freedom by the end of the movie - she finally is able to make her own choice. And even if it's not what you expect or want, you're just so damn happy for her that it's wonderful. I wanted to give her a big hug and say You Go Girl!

Of course J had lots to say about her being a symbol of America (so he loved my interp about her finding freedom in the end - because he couldn't figure out the ending!), but I didn't really want to hear it. When I have an experience like that, I need to just treasure it on the visceral level for a while without overanalyzing it. So, to sum up, it is a thing of great majesty and beauty. It is slow and not for most people. But if you're in a place similar to me (and a lot of you, I know, are), then it just might be a wonderful thing to do for yourself.

Okay, wow, so I didn't intend to write this much. You see, yesterday afternoon I came down with a sudden fever and I've been basically sleeping ever since. Like I try to read and I can't keep my eyes open. I lost the whole weekend's study time which is really bad this time of the quarter - usually these illnesses hit around finals week, not so early. I must be way stressed this time.

It's just the fever, no other symptoms (besides the utter exhaustion), so I figure it won't last too long. But I'm now officially behind. I have no energy to write the paper that is due Tuesday, much less read the several hundred pages due in the next couple days. It's weird - you think you're sick, so you'll lay in bed and read. But no, I can't comprehend what I'm reading. And then I just get exhausted and have to sleep again. The fever came down a little but it's still really uncomfortable.

So this was my one time at the computer all weekend and I have to go rest now for sure. Would you believe that the paper I had to write was analyzing a worship service, and so I had to go to church this morning?? Oh, I was so sick in there. It was pretty miserable. I wished so much not to have to go (because it also involves a long drive both ways), but it was good of course, and it will make my paper really good. Maybe I will post that later, because I shouldn't be taking the time to do normal posts this week.

Okay, you all take care!

God's next President

Or so the Religious Right says...
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/_/id/9178374

"Just six years ago, winning the evangelical vote required only a veneer of bland normalcy, nothing more than George Bush's vague assurance that Jesus was his favorite philosopher. Now, Brownback seeks something far more radical: not faith-based politics but faith in place of politics. In his dream America, the one he believes both the Bible and the Constitution promise, the state will simply wither away. In its place will be a country so suffused with God and the free market that the social fabric of the last hundred years -- schools, Social Security, welfare -- will be privatized or simply done away with. There will be no abortions; sex will be confined to heterosexual marriage. Men will lead families, mothers will tend children, and big business and the church will take care of all."

(thanks to Jeff Sharlet at the revealer for the heads up)

All is Well

Thank you so much for your prayers! And welcome to the world, Ethan...

Prayer alert!

I'm calling out the prayers of my readers today. My sister-in-law's (little brother's wife) water broke about 4 p.m. CST yesterday. She wasn't having contractions for a while. When she went to the hospital they discovered an infection and gave her an antibiotic. Now they think that interfered with labor, because she still hasn't had any "normal" contractions. She also didn't sleep at all, so they gave her something and knocked her out. As of 1 hour ago, she was sleeping but they were hoping she'd wake up and go into labor. If she doesn't by 4, they'll probably do a C-section.

My brother is Josiah and his wife is Shannon. This is their first child, Ethan Graeme. Please pray that everything will wrap up quickly and smoothly - preferably without the knife. Thank you.

Seeking Godly Wife

I just feel so bad for this guy, I have to help him advertise:
http://yyyc514.backpackit.com/pub/48159

(I dunno, he might be better off with a good spellchecker and an NRSV)

Bad Christian Art

Here's something to start your day off right:
http://www.badchristian.com/2006/01/19/dear-god/

Be sure to scroll down and find the link to Holy Ghost tees - possibly the weirdest thing I have ever seen.

I like the suggestion that we make a tee that says "God is pro-choice...he just wants you to make the right one." Ah, an affirmation of free will and a kick in the pants to obnoxious pro-life t-shirts!

About this carnival I keep mentioning...

Join the fun!

This coming week's Carnival finds a home at Think Buddha. If you want to support a more inclusive public voice for people of all faiths, send a link to xpatriated_texan@yahoo.com.

And here is last week's carnival - stop by for peanuts and cotton candy. And a good laugh thanks to Real Live Preacher.

Will the real worship service please stand up?

I had a very interesting weekend. I attended two worship services. One was intentionally so and the other was not. The former was in a church, contained liturgy from a few prayer books, and had all the normal trappings of evening prayer, plus a jazz band. It was known as Jazz Vespers. The latter was in a club (called "Fancyland"), had an ordo, and was planned and mostly attended by non-Christians. It was called Subversion City. Let me tell you what happened at each.

Saturday night, we went to Subversion. We gathered in a space with couches, some instruments, a sound system, a big screen at the front. It was BYOB and people were drinking and chatting.

We were called to order for the first event: a film that was a collection of images from pre-war Iraq. While it played, a funk/jazz band accompanied. There were no words...and no need. We watched children laughing and playing and parents showing off family members' photos with great pride. We saw homes and workplaces, cafes and roads, buildings with giant murals of Saddam on them. Over and over the people smiled into the camera and held up two fingers in the "peace" sign. The majority of people in the film did this, and it didn't appear to be coached. Children, adults - people of peace and of joy. They seemed completely content. Obviously there was another Iraq, the one that Saddam was oppressing. But the film mostly showed people at their leisure and they seemed pretty OK. It went for at least 20 minutes.

The filmmaker got up and took questions. She told how she'd gone with Christian Peacemaker Teams (how is that for weird? I met her and we exchanged info and I'm all freaking out about how much CPT comes up...I'm going to apply) because she just wanted to see the people and the country before the inevitable war came (this was in fall 2002).

During the film I saw what could have been a sermon, really. It spoke so much louder than words about the people over there. Oh, and a great amount of it was shot in churches, and there were nuns and priests and statues and posters for environmentalism in the churches. They were our brothers and sisters in Christ. Yes, it was like a sermon or maybe the prayers of the people. It didn't let you watch and not be changed.

Then we had a break (passing the peace?) and got to know one another. Following this was a staged reading of a play with themes on mortality, loneliness, despair...and finding the hope to go on, finding community. Like prayers of the people or the preparation for Eucharist, it touched on the big themes of life and how we get through them together.

Following the play we had a communal song while candles were lit then blown out in a ritual known to most anyone. Cake was broken and shared, wine was drunk. Then more joyful singing.

I think you get where I'm going with this. It could easily have been an emergent church service. In fact, what was so cool about it was that I completely sensed God's presence there yet God was not put out there. Not that I think churches shouldn't talk about God, but sometimes God doesn't really need our help. Sometimes I think God may prefer quietly speaking inside people in the way they most need to hear. Just because we are up front doesn't mean we necessarily have God's word for everyone any particular day. God managed to show up and speak through this completely secular experience that happened to be fashioned in an extremely liturgical way.

(What's funny is the people there and the organizers surely didn't intend any of this. But when I brought it up with the host, he was very keen to know more why I thought so, and thought my analysis was great. His intention is to give people an experience of community and sharing and thinking about deep thoughts and even possibly connecting with something spiritual. This is largely what many people come to church for.)

So anyway, Sunday night we checked out jazz vespers, which was the A-1 weirdest service I've ever attended. And quite oddly, it was not nearly as worshipful as the club the night before. It had all the trappings of a service - they said the right words, did the right order - but then they plunked a jazz concert down in the middle of it. One minute we're praying and listening to scripture, then with no transition or prep we're told it's time for the jazz. The band starts up and plays for 30 minutes or so, and there is literally nothing tying it to the service or to God. It's just a show. They play, we clap - we may as well be in a club. It felt so random. I couldn't connect it. I tried to ponder the creativity of the performers or God's gift of music, but it didn't work. And it was obvious the people had come for this part of the show, and the other was tacked on but really should have been left aside. So weird!!

I'm sad because the jazz vespers is a great concept. I hope some jazz musicians will write some mass music, so we can do jazz evensong sometime. Maybe they already have. While I'm at it, I'd like to put in a request for Moby to write a techno-mass. Get on that, please.

So those were my services, although really only Saturday night was a worship service in the true sense. What a palpable difference between those gathered in community expecting transformation (or at least beauty and education) and those who were just looking for a show. I guess God preferred hanging out at a club with a bunch of sinners who geniunely sought experience - of the world, of each other, of learning - than in a pretty church with professional musicians and empty words. Hmmm...how very like Jesus.

Things to check out

If you're local, this is an interesting event this week:

George Marsden, the Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame, will offer two lectures at Fuller Seminary to which the public is cordially invited. On Wednesday, January 25 at 7:00 p.m. Marsden will speak on the influence of Christian fundamentalism in American politics. All Fuller students and alumni attending Wednesday will receive a complimentary copy of Marsden's Reforming Fundamentalism: Fuller Seminary and the New Evangelicalism. On Thursday, January 26 at 9:00 a.m. he will discuss his most recent book Jonathan Edwards: A Life. Both lectures are free and open to the public, with refreshments provided. Wednesday evening's lecture will take place in Payton 101, and Thursday morning's presentation will be held in Travis Auditorium.

Definitely do not miss this gem from Real Live Preacher. It will make you laugh out loud!!

And here is this week's blog carnival!

Spearing the Culture Wars

In the fine tradition of Creating Stories Out of Nothing, the Baptist Press reports to its constituents the latest culture-war scandal: a gay actor cast as a missionary in The End of the Spear!

Craziness in the Academy

The news just keeps coming. Do I want to join this oh-so-fickle profession? I just don't know.

So my alma mater, Wheaton College, fired a professor for converting to Catholicism. Yikes. I'm none too pleased. He moved over from the Episcopal church - which to me is really hardly a move at all (you just have to reject the calling of women and gays and you're in). Good ol' Duane, Mr. Conservy, said that our venerated Evangelical institution couldn't be sullied by a Catholic because they believe the Pope holds equal authority with Scripture. First of all, not all Catholics believe that; second of all, most Protestants hold their church's authority pretty highly too, although they are loathe to admit it. And anyway, who is Duane to make sweeping pronouncements about the faith of over 1 billion people worldwide?

The irony is that many Catholic institutions have for years allowed non-Catholics to teach at their institutions to provide a needed broadness in theology and more importantly, expertise in their fields. Also it's really wild that Wheaton hired the prof to teach Medieval theology - specifically Aquinas - which led to his conversion.

I don't know what we're going to do with the academy.

I have more student stories, too. Last year J had a big winner for the Danger Professor Robinson award. This student came to him to whine about his grade on a paper about Descartes. He was pissed because he thought J had graded him down for disagreeing with J's opinions (and on his class evaluation - which yes is anonymous but they put their major and he was the only one from his major - he put that J grades down students who disagree with him, which is unfair, untrue, and could get J in trouble), when in fact he was graded down for not understanding Descartes' opinions. Now I will grant you that there are many interpretations of famous people's work, and often one does have to just believe what the teacher says. But then again, most teachers will happily accept a disagreeing interpretation if it can be proven from the text.

So like I say, he just wrote a lazy paper and he got a D. Here were a few of his protestations:

"But I'm a philosophy major!"
"I turned this paper in to three other classes and got an A!" (okay, first off, that's plagiarism to turn in the same work for different classes; secondly, the school hired J to teach Descartes because he knows more about the man than their profs - obviously)

And finally, my favorite:
"I don't pay $25,000 a year to get a D's on my papers!!"

Isn't that cute? He's learned about buying your way through life. How very American. How very entitled. What a jackass.

The thing he doesn't realize is that if teachers start giving out grades for lesser work, then the value of his $25k/year education will go down. And that means to get the best education people will have to pay way more, because at the level he's at it won't mean anything anymore. Does that make sense?

Besides, that's a bargain price these days. That was the price of Harvard when I was looking at schools 13 years ago. I guess he's expecting a bargain-basement education.

Progressive Faith Bloggers!

Check out this week's Carnival Post. Lots of fun new blogs on here! More ways to spend time wisely! (well I wasn't gonna say waste time!)

Academic Freedom?

There are UCLA alumni offering money to current students to rat out professors who are too "radical." What the hell is this about? This is going down a really dangerous road. I can understand the desire not to have ideologies shoved down your throat, but it starts down the slippery slope of censorship and loss of academic freedom.

To illustrate the dangers, let me tell you a story. My hubby teaches philosophy, as I've mentioned, and last summer he taught a class on Ethics of Love, Sex & Marriage. They got into all kinds of interesting issues like gay marriage, prostitution, pornography, etc. The final paper was to be a report and critique on one of a number of books. One of the more conservative students in the class chose (from the suggested list) L. William Countryman's Dirt, Greed & Sex. [a great book, by the way, which I used extensively for my ethics paper on homosexuality]

Countryman takes a very historical-critical approach to his subject. He talks the reader through the Old Testament practices concerning purity, patronage and kinship (to borrow terms from the DiSilva book I'm currently enjoying), then talks about how Jesus changed them or not, and how the early church understood them or not, and how all of that impacted how the Bible turned out. He specifically addresses the "clobber passages" used against homosexuals in one section of the book, although he is working towards illumination on many other issues as well. In the end, he builds a pretty good biblical argument for the reinterpretation (from the traditional, not original intent) of these verses.

So back to the student. Her paper was very well written, which is a boon to a beleagured state university prof (especially one whose students were largely (un)educated by the LAUSD!). She brought up most of the classic liberal arguments in favor of homosexuality and refuted them. The trouble was that not one of those arguments were used by Countryman. She was arguing against the perceived liberal position, but not against the biblically-based one taken in the book. She went so far as to cite pages, completely falsifying what was supposedly on those pages. Clearly she did not read the text, or if she did, did not remotely understand it. She quite simply did not do the assignment.

However, J was faced with a quandry. He wanted to give the paper an F. He felt strongly that it deserved a failing grade because she didn't do the assignment at all (and she did a little plagiarism). But he was worried. Because the class knew where he stands on the homosexual debate, what if this student thought she failed simply because she disagreed with the professor's viewpoint??

He went through a lot of agony in deciding what to grade her. He had the TA go through and mark every place where she presented a false argument or incorrectly cited a passage of the book, so that they would have ample evidence in case she went to the dean (which she did threaten to do). He also felt really bad for having to give her the F, because she had done pretty well otherwise in the class and he so rarely finds a student who can actually write.

But the fact remained that the paper was completely off, so she got the F. She threw a fit (because she'd be down to a B- in the class--oh the horror!), made threats, etc. In the end, he let her rewrite the paper (something I was against because it's not fair to the other students who also failed for writing bad papers), but told her she would not receive higher than a B, period. She never bothered to rewrite and took the grade as originally given.

So this is a really long story, but I hope it's becoming clear how this alumnus' efforts to promote his agenda on alma mater could cause utter chaos. What would happen if professors were intimidated into not being able to properly grade students simply because they hold an equally radical viewpoint that disagrees with the prof's (or with a wealthy alum's)? And in a public institution, no less!

I know that professors proselytize - I've not only seen it at Fuller, but I previously worked at the journalism school where Bob Scheer teaches! But quite honestly, it never bothered me that much. Why not? Because I'm smart and I'm strong and I don't have to believe what they are saying. I would always rather have a professor who is passionate about his or her subject and ideas than one who blandly drones about options. At least the former is entertaining, and usually raring for a debate, which is where one learns the most anyway.

Most of the greatest teachers throughout history, particularly in theology and philosophy, have held very strong, radical opinions. That didn't make them bad teachers. It made them interesting people to learn from. And I think we should continue to encourage the same today.

Orthodox

At J's suggestion, I've updated my description to call myself theologically orthodox instead of conservative. The latter is too politicized a term these days. As a person who believes in the evolution of language, I see now that the explanation I've given for my use of the term is simply not jiving with people. So hopefully Orthodox will better define my beliefs. I use it to explain that my faith is based on Christianity as put forth by the Nicene Creed. Nothing more and nothing less. The rest, as they say, is details.

Things have really heated up over at the blog of daniel. As usual people are not understanding the fact that Episcopalians have a wide variety of viewpoints. They ask us "What do you believe about x and y issues?" as if we could give one answer. Really, Baptists couldn't either - you can't ask "What do Baptists believe about such and such" because there are many varieties of Baptists, just as there are of Christians. In fact, though, that may be the problem.

Anglicans are a non-schismatic organization (did I just invent that word?). We don't split over issues outside the creed (yet). We have a big enough tent for many beliefs about a lot of non-salvific questions of the faith. We're primarily united by the way we worship (using the BCP), not what we believe about a set of dogmas or, for that matter, political issues.

But this confuses people from "independent" congregations because they are used to each denomination (or subgroup thereof) having a very clearly defined set of beliefs on just about everything. And of course they would, because they probably split with somebody else over said beliefs. Thus they know what they think (or are told to think) about many things outside the basic fundamentals of the faith (ha! You could say Anglicans are fundamentalists by that definition!).

So my point is that to understand Anglicans you first have to realize that we're extremely diverse and we do consider everybody in the Church a Christian, even if we disagree about abortion or gay rights or war or more theological stuff like real presence or the gifts of the holy spirit or even how to focus our worship (evangelical or anglo-catholic). Everybody who is baptized is welcome at the table (actually at more and more of our churches, baptism is no longer a requirement). We drop our differences in the presence of Christ.

It's a "grown-up faith," my first priest told me. They're not going to tell you what to think. They're going to ask you what you think and Socratically get your reasoning out of you. If the reasoning is sound, there's not going to be quibbling. Well, that's not true - we love to debate. But like I say, we're all one when we gather for worship.

It's actually a wonderful place for burnt-out evangelicals like we were, or damaged catholics, or people curious about Jesus but not ready to buy into the whole religious agenda. It's a good place for people who want to figure things out for themselves, and take as long as they need to doing it. It's a church that trusts God to do the work of growth in its people; trusts the liturgy to work its magic in our hearts; trusts the people to study the word; trusts the ancient rituals to still apply today.

All of that said, I did find a really nice description of what Anglicans (specifically American Episcopalians) believe about Scripture. Well most of us, anyway. The fun is that we can always find an exception to just about everything we say. And somehow we've managed to stay together this long. God help us continue to value our unity. IMHO, it's the best thing we've got going for us.

Identity Crisis

It's a very weird thing to have a blog, particularly to have one on which you write opinions that are frequently hyperbole of your own, and on which you say things you'd never say outside the relative anonymity of cyberspace. It is weird because before you know it, people are reading what you say, and getting worked up (positively or negatively) about it, and even making judgments about you (if I have to explain one more time why in the grand scheme of world Christianity my views are theologically conservative...). And it is mostly weird when someone references the blog. It's like I've got this person who is me and then this blog person who lives inside me but who is not entirely under my control. The blog is where I don't act like I'm supposed to. I probably can't keep it up forever, but I consider my life benign enough right now to allow for it. But anyway, when someone references it I always cringe. I don't really know why. Well that's not entirely true. Only when my friends or my peers at seminary reference it, or god help me my professors or relatives, then I cringe. Unless they are obviously being complimentary. Usually strangers I can handle. But people have this way of saying it...of drawing out FEMMMM...inary, like I'm some kind of weird bra-burner. And I'll be having a perfectly normal conversation with someone and then they'll say, "So, are you going to write about this on FEMMMM...inary?" or "Hello, miss FEMMMM...inarian" or whatever, and I'm like, hey, you're not supposed to know that about me! It's not me! It is me. But I don't want to talk about it in public and really not to you. You person who is saying the name with this hint of disdain and prejudice, like you dislike me because of what I write...but come on, it's just what I write! It's not who I am. Like some people are cool about it, some go borderline by teasing me, and some just act as if me & Feminarian are equivalent human beings and we're just not. She's not even a person, she's a character. Boy is she. But really it's schizophrenic isn't it. It truly is like they are talking about somebody else. Like I've got a secret identity that they are not supposed to know...because if they know, they know way too much about me...and I can guess what they've guessed and I'm no longer able to anonymously pretend to fit in at Fuller...well I asked for it, I know. I just hate feeling like an outsider or when I'm trying to help someone see a new point they fall back on my blog like I'm just a wacko so why pay attention to me. And I know I bring it on myself. And most people probably don't think the worse of me. But just understand that I really don't think of myself as quite the person who writes on here, at least not when I'm sitting in class next to you or we're out having drinks or whatever it is.

Church/State Lies

Here's an interesting thing I found courtesy CrossLeft: a lecture by J. Brent Walker entitled "Answering the Top 10 Lies About Church and State"

Love the new Christians

I love new Christians. Such wonderful experiences await. And new Episcopalians, finding home for the first time. This blogger has been commenting here lately and I just love this post about his/her? first experience at Sunday worship. Many of us have been here: "The priest had told me to expect uncontrollable torrents of emotion as I adjust to the idea of God." The overwhelming happened during one of our most beloved hymns, "What Wondrous Love is This?" Now imagine that! An emotional response and a Holy Spirit filling during a theologically astute treatise on salvation! I will grant you it is a somewhat repetitious hymn so one could argue that it's more chorus-like, but ... oh I shouldn't be getting into worship wars crap right now. The point is, I love reading about this journey and will continue to do so.

Isn't it totally cool when someone actually pays attention and notices the hard work that the worship artists put in to create something that would properly convey our faith?

We sang "The Church's One Foundation" today which I always enjoy. If you actually sing all the verses (I think there are 6?) it's a great story. That is the really nice thing about singing all the hymn verses...you get to see the narrative poems embedded in them. They have a beginning, middle, and end, many of them, or at least build to climaxes, or remind us of the Trinitarian nature of our religion, or whatever it is. I'm glad we sing all the verses.

Anyway I have way too much homework to be doing this so I will go. Blessings on the new Christians.

Jump the Shark

All right people, this is an awesome way to waste your time:
http://www.jumptheshark.com/

(thanks to commenter Peterson Toscano for the tip)

p.s. The Simpsons does not belong on the never jumped list...puh-leeze...however, I will say that somewhere in the middle of last season it seemed to get back in the water.