I thought this would be appropriate to post this weekend. Ignore the glam rock hairdos ...

So says a Japanese spokesman.

Am I overplaying this to note that this is the same country that was gung ho about hosting a big conference to persuade us that global warming is real?

Today is Blo's birthday. He's 39 and counting. Everyone wish him a happy day.

Anyone who knows Blo knows a few immutable facts. Namely, Blo is not tangible. You can feel Blo's essence, but you can't see him. Furthermore, if you are lucky enough to encounter an apparition of Blo, then you know his tendency toward verbiosity. To put it in layman's terms, Blo knows how to talk. He's, well, long-winded; he's sort of a chatty fellow.

After much thought, I decided to invent a new word: bloviate. To bloviate means to speak or write verbosely and windily. It's a perfect word to describe someone who's acting like Blo!

I think I'll call the Webster guys to see if they'll include the definition in their dictionary. I'll be right back ...

... I'm back. My homeboy Noah Webster hooked me up right way. Check it out.

It's all coming together...

Update: Let's stroll down memory lane and look at some BloSighting® favorites:

The Bloshank Redemption

The Blolympic Games

Blo, Our "Brilliant Beast"

Meet Billblo Baggins

Blo-Info

G. I. Blo

Blo-Pac Shakur

I've heard it's very good:

A good day this is. Thinklings is back up, and is appearing to hold steady with snappy response times.

And I am now sitting at Java House with the one and only Blo. A real live Thinkling! I used to be one too, but now I have to live vicariously through Blo. Pathetic, I know.

We're here with Jay, Jeff, "Thundergeek" Fred, Honorary Thinkling Thor, and Brian the no "H" Budda. Jeff and Fred are newly back from a whirlwind trip to Mississippi to help a relative. They were up 40 hours straight and, although they have had some sleep, they are punchy but talkative.

This is reminiscent of a real Moot, as the conversation is percolating.

Perhaps I'll liveblog this. I'm on Blo's laptop. Blo has manifested tonight and appears, for the moment, to be real.

Jared - come back! We miss you, man.

Update: 9:22pm - Thor (supplier of this awesome webhost we're on) is holding forth on God's grace, God's judgement, God's will. Astute and insightful fellow, this Thor.

Update: 9:28 - someone just said something about magic underwear. I never caught what that was about. Thor is now sending me over to Egomaniac Pyromaniac - evidently there's some brouhaha going on over there? We'll see.

Magic underwear? [De cocks a quizzical snook]

Update: 9:36pm - We're now discussing how none of us feel ready to withstand real tribulation after the Katrina aftermath.

Update: - 10:03pm - Just got through a great convo on just war, gun-toting pastors, etc. Now the Mini-Moot is moving to IHOP (sans Jeff, who is heading home).

Update: - sometime the next morning - unfortunately, IHOP was without wireless access, although Blo made a valiant attempt to find internet packets using BloStation 2000™ but to no avail. The remainder of the night was extremely enjoyable; including great conversation, scripture readings and prayer.

It was a great Mini-Moot.

Update: Oh, this isn't going the way I thought it would . . .

Original post:

You may have noticed that the nebulous group known as "The Thinklings" is really a sham. The Thinklings is primarily one guy (Jared Wilson) who is currently on "hiatus" and thus posting like a crazed banshee.

I hardly ever post, and when I do I generally craft idiotic posts which are purposed solely for generating lots of filler commentary (by the way, Word Tag Memers, keep up the great work! We're almost there!!!).

Phil posts thoughtfully and well, albeit in waves.

There are several honorary Thinklings who do their part, laboring in obscurity like the "featured" members of the SNL cast.

There is Kenny, who checks in periodically, but is too busy losing weight and fathering children to post much. He does, however, claim one or two top ten posts as his own.

Asbell remains our wise patriarch. Descending from on high to post something would sully his shining robes.

Bird is on a true hiatus, and is much missed, but will never lose his Thinklinghood (in no small part because of his award-winning Gatorade post)

Then there's Blo. He never posts. We're not even sure he's real for crying out loud!

I've been waiting, hoping, dreaming of the day when Blo becomes re-engaged in the Thinklings blogotorium. But, alas, I've had it. I am therefore opening up the comments thread on this post as a vote for the continued Thinklingdom of Blo. Do we de-Thinkling him? Leave your vote in the comments thread.

Original Update: We're going to do this vote like Blo's in the coliseum, surrounded by snarling lions and dressed in a smashing leather sarong that compliments his girlish figure:

Make your vote count. A "thumbs down" vote means Blo is history (or legend, depending upon your view of the corporeal reality of Blo). A "thumbs up" vote means that he retains his Thinkling status.

Blo - if the comments start going against you, the only way you can stay the swift hand of justice is to come up with a substantive post. Godspeed.

The Abominable Blo-Man

The Abominable Blo-Man is a humanlike creature so named because it is associated with the perpetual snow region of the Himalayas. A figure unknown except through tracks ascribed to it and through alleged encounters, it is described as being 6 to 8 ft (1.8 to 2.4 m) tall, although, ironically, it's hooping-skills leave much to be desired. Attempts after the 1950s to verify the authenticity of its tracks (notably by Sir Edmund Hillary in 1960) have yielded no conclusive results. Most scholars dismiss the existence of the creature. A somewhat similarly described creature of W North America is known as Blofoot or Blosquatch.

Dr. Marvin Monroe of Springfield Anatomical Research: "After extensive biological and anatomical testing, I regret to announce that our findings are... inconclusive. This thing may or may not be human."

"This specimen is either a below-average human being or a brilliant beast."

If you're like me, you've been missing our friend Blo who is, reportedly, a real person and not just a mythological man-beast.

You've been wondering, hoping, and waiting for his return to Thinklingdom.

I think I found out where he's been these past few weeks. I was researching the Olympic standings/results and discovered, to my great joy, that our Blo has done good. He is indeed in Athens, where he just won the Gold in the women's gymnastics all-around championship!


Yay Blo!!!

Thor (a.k.a. Chris at Cozumel Community Church) snapped a photo of Blo hoopin' for the Lakers. It's no wonder Blo doesn't have time to post here at Thinklings, he's too busy with the NBA Playoffs!

photo by Ken Light

Has anyone seen Blo lately? Probably not. He?s been in the slammer playing chess with a hard core mobster named Darlok. They?ve got a pretty good game going, but it keeps getting interrupted because the warden likes to toss cells.

Today, Blo will be ordained as a deacon at First Baptist Church, Houston. In the Baptist tradition, becoming a deacon is a pretty big deal. Blo won't simply be the guy who ushers you to your seat after you show up ten minutes late for church. No! He'll be involved in church committees, helping make decisions at one of the largest churches in Houston. Let's hear it for Blo!

Now that the Thinklings Blog Series is officially over (for now), I thought I'd take this opportunity to call Blo out!

Blo assured us Thinklings that he'd have his Blog Series submission turned in before Rod's deadline, but it never happened. Then, after Rod ran the first submission on Monday, Blo again talked his smack about getting his submission turned in. (Keep in mind, Rod graciously granted us about three months to get this thing together! Ok, maybe it was two months, but it was a long time.)

On Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2003, Blo told me via email that he would "definitely" have his post over to Rod by Thursday night. He said, "Nothing's holding me back now." Well, Friday morning rolled around and . . . no post. Blo left us all hanging!

After heckling Blo on email again yesterday, he responded, "Good things come to those who wait."

Blo, we've waited long enough. We're calling you out, boy! We want your Blog Series submission . . . now!

Why don't we start all dissin' Blo in the comments section of this post until he forks over his post, ok? Let's see if we can get this thing on the top ten list. Umm . . . I have no ulterior motive with that . . . umm . . . I promise.

(A note on the photograph: Blo's real name is Mark Miranda. I didn't have a photo of him, so I did a Google image search for "Mark Miranda" and that's the first picture that came up. It kind of has an uncanny resemblence to our furry friend.)

Blo's here, he's within earshot. He "claims" he doesn't have time to comment or post on Thinklings.org, and he also claims he reads most of the posts (sans the comments) because he downloads it all to his IPAQ.

I think that's a bunch of bunk. If he's got time to send an email, he's got time to comment on a post.

He still claims to be a Thinkling. I say we all vote whether or not to kick him out, and we flesh it all out inside the comments section. Since he never reads the comments, he'll have no idea what we're saying.

After being abducted by Blo, Bill was transformed into an eerie amalgam: Billblo Baggins, part Bill and part Blo.

Bill's been missing from Thinklingdom for days now. There's only one logical explanation: he was abducted by Blo and assimilated into Blo's alien culture.

Here's a picture of Blo and Bill, chillin':



We'll miss you around here, Bill. *sniff, sniff*

Yes, we Thinklings actually just received an honest-to-goodness communique from Blo himself!
Of course, it was just a private e-mail, but still! Blo Lives!
Here are some words straight from Blo's mouth:

I promise someday to join the Bloggers...my problem is that my computer is
up in the kids area of the house and I rarely spend much time there without
the kids tugging at my leg. Besides...I don't have many good takes.
Maybe I should start by updating my Bio...hmmm.

I received this communique tonight from a Mr. Henry Morton Stanley, postmarked from the village of Ujiji on Lake Tanganyika, a town where rumor has said that the elusive Blo might be staying. This communique appears to be authentic:

"As I advanced slowly toward him I noticed he was pale, looked wearied, had a gray beard, wore a bluish cap with a faded gold braid round it, had on a red-sleeved waistcoat, and a pair of gray tweed trousers. I would have run to him, only I was a coward in the presence of such a mob ? would have embraced him, only, he being Blo, I did not know how he would receive me. So I did what cowardice and false pride suggested was the best thing ? walked deliberately to him, took off my hat, and said:



'Dr. Living-Blo, I presume?'

"Yes", said he, with a kind smile, lifting his cap slightly.