When the music fades

I just watched a lady eat 53 potato skins. That’s almost four pounds of potato skins. I didn’t realize that ESPN now televised competitive eating competitions. It’s quite disgusting. The lady who ate all those potato skins had also consumed four pounds of chopped salad in the quarterfinals, and ten pounds of pasta in the prior round. That ain’t right. And the lady is a skinny-minnie. She is not large at all. And they use phrases like “power-nibble” and “stomach capacity.”

I had a friend today who I thought deserved and needed a hug. But I didn’t give them one. I’m not a hugger, nor am I known as a hugger. And I think that’s part of the problem. I can’t all of a sudden turn into a hugger. Or can I? It seems like a difficult thing to just switch on. But I feel bad.

If you would indulge me for a moment, I wanted to run some lyrics past you from a hymn we sung this past Sunday. Surprise, surprise, it’s about love.

O’ The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore!
How He watches o’er His loved ones, died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth, watcheth o’er them from the throne!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
love of every love the best!
’Tis an ocean full of blessing, ’tis a haven giving rest!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, ’tis a heaven of heavens to me;
And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!

-Samuel T. Francis, 1875

Last week, I read an entry in my Brennan Manning devo that had this quote about being a transparent Christian:

The transparent Christian resembles Jesus, becomes a professional lover who is motivated by compassion in all that he or she thinks, says and does.

And I thought to myself, the title "professional lover" is literally someone who loves people for a living. And I think that's something that we should all strive for.

Movie Review: Mad Hot Ballroom

Tonight I saw Mad Hot Ballroom at the Carlisle Theatre. It's probably the first time I've seen a movie with both of my parents in maybe 15 years. Anywho, I really enjoyed this documentary. It centers around elementary school students in three different schools in New York City. Get this, public school kids in NYC get ballroom dancing classes, during school hours! How cool is that? Every year there is a competition between the elementary schools to crown the five boroughs ballroom dancing champion. So the movie follows the students in the three schools as they prepare for the competition and eventually concludes at the championship. It's great to follow the kids and their teachers and to hear the kids talk about dancing and about the daily trials faced by ten and eleven year-olds. I just really enjoyed watching the kids dancing and hearing them talk about dancing (so much so that now I'm repeating myself). And these two kids, Michael and Cyrus just killed me. They were too funny.

If your name is Ellie, or you have even the slightest interest in dancing, you should see this movie. If you're a teacher, you should see this movie. If you liked that show that Bill Cosby used to host "Kids Say the Darndest Things," you should see this movie. The rest of you may not like it, but you should consider seeing it anyway. It's an honest simple movie that will entertain you. I'm giving it a "10."

Random Axe of Kindness

Yesterday I received the above mentioned axe. A friend and I were at a soccer match and after sitting behind the goal for the first half, we wanted to move up to the upper deck to get a better view. A "birds-eye view" if you will. Well, try as we might, we couldn't figure out how to get into these seats. It wasn't the upper upper deck, but more like the middle-upper deck. However, we did pass the club level and got as high as the suite level before being prohibited from getting up any higher. There was a guard at the suite door, so I knew we couldn't get it, but I wanted to find out how to get to those seats. So we go in and ask the guard where we can find these seats. Initially, he's not quite sure where we're talking about, but eventually he understands. Unfortunately, those seats are on the club level and you have to have club seats to sit there. So we said okay and turned to leave. But then he said something like "You'll need these to get in." And he handed us two passes to the club level. Dude hooked us up. Out of the goodness of his heart. So we went down to the club level, flashed our passes and got in!! That club level is pretty swanky, let me tell you. All sorts of wood paneling and couches and flat screen tv's and carpet. Nice stuff. So we got our bird's eye view. Thanks to the suite guard, who totally didn't have to do that for us, but did. And I'll remember him for that.

Now to pay it forward...

Bam!

I made some pasta for dinner last night. Do you like hot stuff? If so, try this. After you drain your pasta, throw it back in the pot. BEFORE you add your marinara/tomato sauce, throw some of your favorite hot sauce on the pasta (Frank's Hot Sauce for me, thanks) and stir well. THEN add your favorite sauce and enjoy.

This is a sad thing. Sadder still that it made a major metropolitan newspaper.

I should also state that I have become utterly fascinated by NASA TV. Today is my third day of tuning in. It's actually good, wholesome reality television. And it's out of this world!!

The Chicken talks!

He sounds like this: If I have an idea to write about, I will often write it down so that when I have time to write, I will remember what I wanted to write about. This morning I wrote down this question: "Ever asked your non-Christian friends to pray with you before a meal?" I wrote this because I was intent on praying before my lunch today with a couple of old friends (one of them, not a Christian). Not to myself, but with them.

Didn't happen. I was scared. Not quite sure why. These particular friends allowed me to say grace the last time we got together. I was determined to do it again. Didn't happen. I'm disappointed in myself. There's no heavenly reason why I should have been scared. But there was a few earthly ones. I suppose part of it had to do with not wanting to alienate my one friend from my faith. I want her to know Christ, but I don't want to beat her over the head with it. She was willing to go along once. Did I think I was pushing my luck with a second time?
Which leads me back to my original question: Have you ever asked your non-Christian friends to pray with you before a meal? Do you say a silent prayer yourself? Do you say a prayer out loud? Do you not pray because you don't think it's appropriate? Or because you're scared?

Amazing Science

Twenty minutes. That's how long it took the space shuttle to travel from Florida to Great Britain. And another twenty-five minutes later? They're 100 miles above the Indian Ocean. That is crazy. NASA has set up a great page for this mission where you can even tune into NASA TV. I also found it cool that because the crew are going to go to be at 5:00 today, the main ground crew is also going to bed at 5:00 so that they will be working when the crew is working, and sleeping when the crew is sleeping. That's some smart thinkin' there...

Yesterday I started listening to a record by this chick names Sarah Kelly. She really has some awesome pipes. Anywho, I'm enjoying the record both musically and lyrically, and I wanted to share some lyrics from a song entitled "Life Is."

I gave you a tear,
You gave me a song
And now I know what life is.
I asked you for silver,
And you gave me gold,
And now I know what life is.

Those words have just really resonated with me the past day or so. What is life like without Christ? And how would you compare it to life with Christ?

Ray Crist, 1900-2005

Ray Crist, former Messiah College professor and top-secret scientist guy passed away on Saturday. Here's the press release put out by Messiah. And here's the obit from The Patriot-News.

And when it all, is said and done.

There are lots of lists in this world. Mr. Letterman has his top-ten lists, the Redskins have a season-ticket waiting list and I have a birthday/Christmas list. And now I have another list. I'm calling it "Weekend Firsts." Those who are logically-inclined may have already figured it out, but this will be a list of the first experiences/sightings/discoveries which occurred the prior weekend. It will not be as encompassing or entertaining as his reflections, but it's not meant to be.

So now that I've gotten you all excited, here ya go.

Weekend Firsts
I. First time that I saw a man with hair plugs (that I was aware of).
II. First time I saw a baseball game at RFK.
III. First time I saw "spinners" on a Geo Metro.

Moving along. If you've been to Haar's this summer, you know that they got an upgrade in their audio signal, which is now available at 101.1 FM. Well, I thought it would be fun (for me) to check out how far that signal extended. Could I pick up Tom Cruise complaining about driving without a driver's license on 15? The answer is yes. I made a map. Prepare yourselves.


The blue spots represent the farthest points where I could hear the signal clearly. The red star represents Haar's physical location, and as you can see, I could pick up a signal a mile away in several directions. Cool, huh?

JGR

Nobody knows much about John Roberts. It’s actually a little amusing to see the Democrats with no discernable ammunition to fire at the moment. They seem to be taking the “he looks good, but we need to check his credentials” kinda approach. Which is cool with me. It’s actually refreshing to see a lack of hostility between the two parties on this issue. Please note, I said “lack of” not “absence of.” Here’s a link if you are interested in taking a peek at some of the stuff he’s worked on.

That reminds me, if you are not registered with The Washington Post, consider doing it. There have been lots of articles there that I would have liked to linked to, but I’ve refrained because most of their site requires registration. The registration is free, and you don’t get annoying emails from them. And you can read stuff that I consider to be worth your time. Register here.

As you may recall from the presidential campaign, I am on the John Kerry email list. On Wednesday night he sent out an email to his people letting them know that he would be steadfast in his pursuit of answers regarding John Roberts' views. Here's what he had to say:

There are big questions that must be answered involving Judge Roberts' judicial philosophy as demonstrated over his short time on the appellate court. The Senate must learn whether he has a clear, consistent commitment to upholding Constitutional standards like civil rights, the right to privacy, and Roe v. Wade. These issues are in serious question if you take even a cursory glance at his record.

We need to ask the tough questions to determine whether John Roberts is the nominee who will give America a Court that is fair, independent, ethical and committed to Constitutional freedoms rather than an ideological agenda, and I promise you I will do everything in my power to assure that no question is sidestepped.

Throughout every step of the confirmation process, I will keep you informed about the questions that need to be asked, the answers we need to demand, and the principles we need to defend. It's impossible to overstate the importance of this moment.

Well I don't know if it's impossible...

Also, my parents are looking to sell their 1998 Toyota Avalon. It’s sparkly-green, beige cloth interior, automatic. It has 99,000 miles on it and an Alpine CD player. I think they’re asking $7,000 for it. Email me if you’re interested.

Finally, I think that the words “thank you” are some of the best words in the world. Whether it’s spelled “Merci” or “Danke” or “Gracias.” It’s music to my ears. Sometimes I forget to say it, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. I’ve had those moments where I’ll be doing something and suddenly realize that I forgot to say thanks for something two hours ago. If that person is in my presence, I’ll say it then, and if not, I will communicate it to them within 24 hours (I’ll do my best anyways). But I like to think that it’s just as rewarding whenever it’s said. Just so long as it gets said.

This is better.

I started working on an entry talking about the John Robert development, when I found something better. I think.

I saw this article, and immediately thought that a friend of mine would enjoy reading it (just based on the picture alone). Then I actually read the article. And most of the article is fluff. But George Eads quote in the second paragraph resonated with me.

The reason that he isn't getting married, is because his parents got divorced. Having not experience divorce before, I can speak directly to the issue. But I'm rather concerned that his parents are the reason why he has no interest in marriage. Has the prospect of marriage become so bleak that people will let the results of their parents' marriage influence their decision? Perhaps he thinks that if people like his parents, who he probably respected, can't stay together, that he shouldn't even bother. That saddens me. I'm not sure if I'm more saddened by a perceived lack of faith in the institution of marriage, or that perhaps it's a self-esteem issue.

Regardless, it makes me sad to see people shunning marriage because living together is just so much more convenient. Blah.

So I was thinking, but not deeply.

I was thinking to myself today about how I was looking forward to the upcoming football season. Football is not my numero uno favorite sport (unless we're talking about what the rest of the world considers football), but it is top three. I was browsing NFL tickets on eBay and checking out the views from different sections in various stadia. I am pretty darn excited to be able to see the inside of Fed-Ex field next week and I'm working on getting to M&T Bank Stadium this year, hopefully as a mediator between two fans of opposing teams (conversely, I may have to act as a barrier between the away team fan and the home team fans).

And it's not just the pro ball that I enjoy watching. I also enjoy watching college football, specifically SEC football. Just not Florida. I'm a Vols fan and I have been trying to get down to Neyland Stadium to catch a game. Neyland seats just under 105,000 and I think it would be an experience seeing a game there.



I don't know if this year will be the year, but if not, there's always next year.

For the record, I should also remind you that with football season comes autumn. It would come whether football is played or not, but the football creates a nice accent to mother nature's sleight of hand.

Appearences..

So I went out to Barnes and Noble last night to do some complimentary reading. Imagine my excitement when I saw this sign out front. Lots of drivers like to speed through the shopping center in front of B&N which makes it a little precarious for bookstore patrons. This sign probably won't make everybody stop, but hopefully it will stop a lot of the speeding.

I was watching the telly tonight and saw this lady:


Her name is Jennifer Rothschild and she has her own women's ministry. As I listened to her speak, I was struck with her dynamic presentation and speaking skills. And then I found out that she was blind. You would never guess it if you saw her talking. Appearences can be deceiving.

One more point. Some of you guys might have remembered a fellow by the name of Admiral James Stockdale. He ran on the ticket with Ross Perot in 1992. What I remembered most about him from the VP debate that year was that he was crazy. He seemed incoherent at times and very much out of his element. I really thought he was nuts. He died earlier this month. And only in his death, did I realize what was behind his bizarre behavior. He was a POW for seven years in Vietman. He was tortured terribly. He refused to let the North Vietamese use him as a propaganda piece by purposely disfigurring himself. It is also rumored that because of his extreme behavior, he causes the officers of North Vietnam to alter their captivity tactics because of their experience with Stockdale.

Again, appearences can be deceiving..

For my Lord of the Ring-Dings

Lord of the Ring-Dings = big fans of Tolken and LOTR.

I just made this phrase up. I got tired of calling them crazy. =)

This looks like it will be absolutely hilarious.

Also, it's last minute, but Billy Boyd is singing his song in Pittsburgh this weekend.

I got dibs

Anybody notice how fast that GM “Employee Price” promotion has spread to other manufacturers? Ford was the first one to jump on board, and since then Chrysler and Hyundai have also joined the fray. GM has now even added the HUMMER line to the promotion, which had initially been withheld.

There was an article in today’s USA Today about the theory that “co-habitation” is the new marriage. So instead of people waiting to shack up after their marriage, their shackin’ up and just skipping the marriage (yet still operating in the same fashion as a married couple). What's up with that? Sure I want a lady around, but there's something old-fashioned about waiting till she's my wife.

I think a good small business idea for the Mechanicsburg/Camp Hill area would be a good bagel shop. I was inspired by watching a television show tonight, on what else, bagels. I think I might name it Bennie's Bagels. Alliteration is always good when you want a catchy business name. There's a Bob's Bagels in Lemoyne, but it's only okay.

And the hair. It was a big deal because you've never seen it that short. I've never seen it that short. It hasn't been that short since my parents kept track of my age in months. And I wasn't so sure I wanted it that short again.

I do have to confess to other folks (mostly the ladies) that I often don't pick up on your hair cuts either. And if I want affirmation, I need to give it too. I'm sorry.

We interrupt your normally scheduled blog....

I'm developing a complex. About my haircut. You see, I got my haircut on Friday and between all the people I saw over the weekend (including at church), only one person said that she liked my haircut. That was my mom. People noticed that I had got my hair cut, but with comments like "You got your hair cut." or "You got your hair cut short." But no one expressed that they liked my haircut. Which leads me to my complex. The people who acknowleged my haircut, but didn't give any affirmation. Were they more polite than the people who didn't say anything at all? Or were the ones who didn't say anything the polite ones?

Someone help me out? Is it a bad cut? Is it too short? Or did it just not cross your mind that I might be looking for some positive affirmation? Cuz so far, I haven't gotten any from anyone besides my mom.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to browse online for a new hat.

State Round-up

I was reading assorted news sources this evening, and I found this little gem:

Act 71, which Gov. Ed Rendell signed into law in July, allows for seven "racinos," as the track/casinos are called, along with five stand-alone casinos.

Two of the stand-alone casinos must be within Philadelphia city limits, and a third must be in Pittsburgh. That leaves two other stand-alone casinos to be built elsewhere in Pennsylvania. Some developers in the Poconos or the Bethlehem-Allentown areas of Eastern Pennsylvania also are angling for a stand-alone casino license.

"Citizens of Philadelphia! To thank you for your votes both as a mayoral candidate and most recently, governor, I am giving you a casino. And not just one, but two! I could give you more school funding, or more opportunities for community growth, but why would I want to give you money when I could take it courtesy of a one-armed bandit?"

Now, I have to admit that that previous statment was chock full of sarcasm. But the point remains, does Fast Eddie think he's doing Philly a favor by requiring that they have two casinos?

In other state news, I've heard rumors that a certain Mouse has been buying some pretty large chunks of acreage in the Gettysburg area. I'm looking to substantiate the rumors. Perhaps the Mouse is making another run at the "America" park.

TA-DA!

Welcome to the new look site. Whaddaya think? I'm most concerned about the size of the text. Is it too small? I don't want people squintin'.

Check out the nutritional content of my breakfast this morning:

McDonald's© Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit©

Serving Size: 152 grams
Calories: 480
Calories from Fat: 280
Total Fat: 31 grams
Saturated Fat: 10 grams
Cholesterol: 250 milligrams
Sodium: 1360 milligrams
Carbohydrates: 31 grams
Fiber: 1 grams
Sugars: 3 grams
Protein: 21 grams

Ha ha. That's over half of my day's sodium and fat RDA. In one little biscuit. But I had a coupon. So a co-worker and I each got a biscuit for a buck (it was buy one get one free).

I figger I'll rejigger

So I'm going to try and mess with some coding here and if I can make some small changes. You may notice that my template doesn't have separate sidebars for blogs and other links. I'm gonna try to fix that. And maybe tweek some stuff here and there.

Cooter doesn't want you to see the new Dukes of Hazzard movie. He says it's dirty. Read his exact thoughts here.

This looks like it might be an interesting movie, as does The Brothers Grimm.

And you can hear a bit of the new Switchfoot single on their site.

The day started out well..

Grrrr. So I have this bowl at work right? I use it for cereal or oatmeal. For the past week, I've used it for my Cracklin Oat Bran. After every use, I wash it out and place it in the dish drainer in the kitchen. This morning, much to my chagrin, I found my cereal bowl, in the sink, filled with the remnants of another person's meal. Another person's meal!!! Someone else was using my bowl without my permission! And they didn't even clean it!!

Moving along, the orginal plan this morning was to post another one of Brennan Manning's devos this morning. Every once in a while, good ones come along that I feel are worth posting. And it just so happens that we have two back-to-back.

For Paul, a new creation meant a total renovation of the inner self, a change of mind and heart. It meant far more than the passive union achieved in water baptism. To be "in Christ," he told the Philippians, means to have in you the mind of Christ Jesus, to think as Christ thought, to have the ideals Christ had, to throb with the desires that filled Christ's heart, to replace all your natural actions to persons, events and circumstances with the response of Jesus Christ. In a word, a Christocentric life means to live in the heart of Jesus, to share his tastes and aversions, to have the same interests, affections and attitudes, to be motivated in everything by his loving compassion. It means making the habitual thought patterns of Jesus Christ to be completely your own so that truly "I no longer live, but Christ lives in me."

Yesterday, I commented on how hard it can be to love to love like Christ. It is just as hard to have the mind of Christ. Again, it's difficult, but we need to try.

Page 194

This be the devo that I mentioned in the post immediately below:

Have you ever been sexually aroused to an intense degree? Really stimulated in a sensuous way? Passionately turned on? Both the scriptuer and the liturgy of the Christian community say that human sexual is but a pale imitation of God's passion for his people. That is why human love, though it's the best image we have, is still an inadequate image of God's love. Not because it overdoes it, but because human desire with all it's emotion cannot compare with the passionate yearning of Jesus Christ. That is why saints can only stutter and stammer about the reality, why Blaise Pascal on his famous night of fire, November 21, 1654, could not speak a word, why Bede Griffith wrote: "The love of Jesus Christ is not a mild benevolence: it is a consuming fire."

It is only the revelation that God is love that clarifies the happy irrationality of God's conduct and his relentless pursuit. For love tends to be irrational. It pursues in spite of infidelity. The Gospel account of the cleansing of the Temple tells us that sometimes love blossoms into jealousy and anger. Jesus' anger reveals his keen interest, his frantic involvement in his brothers and sisters coming into the right relationship with Abba God.

So if we are to love like Christ, we have to love with reckless abandon and total irrationality. And we can't do that. We are incapable of doing that. But we can try. And sometimes it's hard. But we have to try. Here's a verse to think about:

And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deuteronomy 10:12

Post #445 - Amore

So lots of folks are talking about love. At least folks who blog. Who I know. Personally. Anywho, I was doing my devos last night and last night I happened to be reading Brennan Mannings' book Reflections for Ragamuffins. In yesterday's entry, he spoke about the love and the passion that Christ has for us. I was tempted to hold off on this post till I could actually type the entry verbatim from the book. And I think I will.

In the meantime, check out this link to see some video of some of the personal deliveries that Amazon.com set up for their 10th anniversary.

I'll get that devo up tonight.

Movie Review - Bewitched

Saw Bewitched over the weekend. Fun movie. For those of you not in-the-know, it's the story of an actor (played by Will Ferrell) who is trying to save his career by creating a remake of the old Bewitched sitcom. In his search for a perfect Samantha he ends up choosing a nobody (played by Nicole Kidman) based solely on her nose twitch. Little does he know, that she is actually a real witch!

Originally, I believe this movie was just going to be a straight movie version of the old series. I'm glad they didn't do that. It's fun to see Nicole's character act as a witch, but pretend she's not a witch, even though she is. There's a bit of romance that develops between characters, but it's more goofy than sappy, so I was okay with it. There's a real good supporting cast in the movie, including Jason Schwartzmann, Steve Carrell and Shirley McClaine (who I don't even like that much).

This movie gets a "8.5" on the 10-point scale. It's a real fun movie that I would see again. Will and Nicole did a great job. Just don't expect anything extraordinary, unless you find laughing extraordinary. Then expect that.

Sue 'em!

Yesterday, the esteemed Republican Senator Rick Santorum, the formerly-esteemed not-so-Republican Arlen Spector, and Ed Rendell filed a lawsuit against the government to prevent the closing of a National Guard base in Pennsylvania. How ridiculous is it that we have to file a lawsuit against our own country? Regardless of whether or not it's determined that the Guard is a state institution as opposed to a federal institution, the question remains: Why sue?

I was thinking yesterday that I could write a children's book. I don't know about what, but I think I could write one.

I've also been thinking about purchasing an mp3 player. Nothing real big. I don't think I need more than a half-gig or gig of music in my pocket or on my arm. Just something that I can load a few songs on that I can use for working out or traveling. I've actually been thinking about the iPod Shuffle. This is suprising, because I've kinda been reluctant to jump on the iPod bandwagon. Part of it was that I wouldn't know what to do with a minimum of four gigs, another part of it was the crazy cost, and another small part of it was the fact that it kinda has the "everybody's got one" sort of stigma attached to it. However, the half-gig Shuffle is actually cheaper than most of the other mp3 players of that size. And I can actually get a slight discount from my employer at the Apple Store. So I've been thinkin' about it. Stay tuned for further information as it develops.

Look at the stars..

Tonight, jumped in the car and took a ride with a friend down to McLean Bible Church down in Virginia. Specifically, to check out the young adult service, which goes by the name of Frontline. This ministry has a lot of things going for it: Great facility, great worship, great support staff and great teaching pastor.

We walked into this huge lobby that was beautiful. I spent some time in their bookstore which carried archived church messages, as well as books and your latest Christian music releases. They had a pretty decent selection of stuff. We entered the sanctuary and ya knew something was different when you got the bulletin, which looked more like a small program (and it was a landscape layout as opposed to portrait). We found our seats in the theatre-style seating area (located behind the pew-style seating area). They had screens set up that featured a countdown clock that counted down until the start of the service. That was great because it told you exactly when the service would start. And sure enough, when the clock hit 0:00, the drummer clicked off a measure and the worship part of the evening. Worship included "In Christ Alone," "How Great is Our God" and several other songs. The band was excellent and really sounded tight. After some announcements and prayer, we had a short message. I was pretty excited about what the pastor spoke about. He shared about the importance of knowing what you believe and why you believe it. It helped motivate me because I had initially been challenged to do this very thing back in January. I have been slow to get on this, but this message helped renew my interest.

It was a great service and I will definitely go down there again. You should check it out as I think it's definitely worth your time. As opposed to Fantastic Four, which isn't necessarily worth your time..

On the dining tip, we had dinner at the Sweetwater Tavern. I had this great Roasted Chicken Tortilla Soup. It was fantastic. And the resaturant had a southwestern theme that was pretty cool. After the service, we headed over to the Silver Diner and I had a Reese's Peanut Butter Shake. It had these huge chunks of peanut butter cup in it that I know a certain friend of mine (the one who loves that peanut butter/chocolate combo) who would love it. And our waitress was named Alexina. How's that for different?

Fantastic Four?

Checked out the latest flick from the pages of Marvel Comics last night. Spoilers Ahead The premise is that five folks get exposed to some cosmic radiation that messes with their DNA and makes them "different." Four of these people become the Fantastic Four. The remaining dude becomes their adversary. Here's the highpoints of the movie: Johnny Storm and the special effects. That's it. The actor who played Johnny, Chris Evans, could easily carry a movie himself. And the special effects with Dr. Doom, and the Fantastic Four powers were pretty cool. And that's where it ends. The relationship between Mr. Fantastic and Sue Storm was tired. The Thing was just kinda there. Dr. Doom came off pretty heartless, but he was nowhere near the villain that Magneto was or the confused genius that Dr. Octopus was. In that sense (the villain sense), he was kinda lame.

The movie moves along pretty quickly and also includes the now obligatory appearence of one Mr. Stan Lee. If you're looking for a fun movie with no substance, this is your movie. If you're looking for a fun movie with substance, go see Batman Begins. This movie gets a "6" on the 10-point scale.

Paging Gordon Gecko.

This is the post where I calmly rant about the pay increase that the Pennsylvania House and Senate passed this week. Earlier this week, I mentioned the Luther Vandross resolution. I didn't even know about this one until this morning.

But somebody needs a raise. And apparently those somebodys are our elected officials. They gave themselves a 16% pay raise. They don't need a raise. They wouldn't even vote to raise Pennsylvania's mimimum wage. What they need, is an annual review. No raises without the review. Sure, you can consider re-election a review, but that doesn't happen every year.

It really bothers me that most of these people feel they need more money, when services are getting cut left and right. Did you know that Medicaid folks will only be permitted to see a doctor 18 times a year? It sounds like a lot, but if you think about it, in most cases, these are the folks who need medical assistance more than others.

Thankfully, there are some legislators who voted against a pay raise and plan to use the money for charity. Read about them here.

Gettin' snippy with it...

I've been doing some thinking about that London bombing. I have a hunch. Tony Blair said London was picked because of the G-8 summit and GB's involvement there. I disagree. I believe that it was London because they were selected to host the Olympics. But wait a tic you say, what if they had chosen another city? That city would have been bombed. Now I know what you're thinking. Yes, that means these "terrorists" were prepared and ready to bomb any of the cities that were selected to host the Olympics. So all of their people were already on the ground in New York, London, Paris, Moscow (waste of manpower) and I think Seville or Madrid was the other city in contention. Scary thought, huh?

Now my hunch is just that, a hunch. But it makes ya think.

Going to lunch today, I got mad at a man trying to cross the street without a crosswalk or a traffic light. What's worse was that he had some sort of injury that required him to walk with a cane. What's even worse then that is the fact that I myself have crossed the street without the assistance of a light or crosswalk. Many times. And I bet somebody got mad at me...

London Blast

If you hadn't heard, there were a series of explosions in the London Transit System this morning, affecting buses and the tube. Here's some British links:

Eyewitness accounts
Report on who's responsible
Citizen submitted photos

Meat Meat Meat

Normally, I like to limit my intake of red meat to two or three servings a week. Here's what has transpired since Saturday:

Saturday Dinner - Whiskey River bbq Burger (Red Robin)
Sunday Dinner - Two burgers (from the grill)
Monday Breakfast - Sausage and Cheese Omelet (in the microwave)
Monday Dinner - Garlic and Cheese Sausage (from the grill, but a different one)
Wednesday Lunch - Two burgers (from Sunday's grillin')
Wednesday Dinner - Pork Ribs (Damon's)

For those of you less mathematicaly linclined, that's six servings of red meat in five days. Yikes! It's gonna be chicken for me for the rest of the week. Or maybe some turkey...

In other news, I did some work on my small group lesson at work today. I left that work in my car. My car is now sitting at the shop because it is being inspected on Thursday. I have no way to retrieve that work, as I will not be able to pick my car up till Friday morning. Poop.

And we pay these people for this?

I was watching PCN (Pennsylvania Cable Network) tonight and they were covering the House of Representatives and some legislation they were trying to pass. Check out this bill. And it passed, 199-0. That's unanimous folks. Nobody objected..

And you may have already seen it, but here's a link to the King Kong trailer.

Whaddaya miss most?

I had a great or not-so great thought this morning. It had crossed my mind before, but I hadn't really taken much note of it. Here's the thought: When you're away, what do you miss most? I would like to suggest that what you miss most, is what you hold dear to your heart and what is important do you. When you're away for work or on vacation, do you miss certain people? Video games? Traditions? Routines? And of more interest, what DON'T you miss?

In answering this question myself, I can say that when I'm away, there are certain people that I miss. I often have those times where I'll say "Man, I wish so-and-so were here" (please substitute a real name for "so-and-so"). Or routines. I may miss reading the Sunday paper over breakfast. And you may say to yourself "Hey kid, what's so important about reading the paper over breakfast?" To that I say that it's important because it'a leisurely and relaxing event for me. I can have a fork-full of eggs in one hand, and the Sports section in the other. And I am content.

VBS

So we've started practices for this year's Vacation Bible School. We're doing this really neat song that has really been growing on me in the past week. Think on these words:

When I'm all alone and afraid,
I will trust in you.
For you watch over my ways,
When things in my life don't make sense.
I will trust in You,
For you are good, You are good.

Sovereign One
You work all things to Your plan.
Sovereign One
You hold all things in Your hands.

When I don't get to have my own way,
I will trust in You.
For You know what is best.
When tears begin to roll down my face,
I will trust in You.
For You are good, You are good

Sovereign One
You work all things to Your plan.
Sovereign One
You hold all things in Your hands.

-Zach Jones

Thank you Forefathers!

Big rock show over the weekend. Here's an un-great quote that I pulled from the London show:

Chris Martin, leader of Coldplay (and husband of actress Gwyneth Paltrow), praised Geldof's campaign as "the greatest thing that's ever been organized probably in the history of the world" and said those who were cynical about it "are stupid."

Here's a link to The Guardian's take on things.
I went to Burger King today. I thought I might snag one of my favorite strawberry milkshakes on my way over to Borders to do some reading and small group prep. Imagine my horror, when the loudspeaker crackled "I'm sorry sir, we only have Strawberry Cheesecake right now." Nuts! They don't even know when the regular strawberry will return. So I went to Borders, without my shake. However, while I didn't get the shake, I got the opportunity to try the "Magic Berry Smoothie" in the Borders Cafe. For those wondering, the magic berry is blueberry. It was quite nice. She even put whipped cream on top.

Tomorrow is my country's birthday. I wanted to say that I am so glad that the framers of our consitution and declaration of independence were God-fearing men. As a country, we have wandered a long way from God, but I'm still thankful that they gave this country a foundation based on biblical principles.

Whew!

The end of the week is finally here. This has been one of the longest weeks for me in recent memory. Between moving out of my old place and music practice this week, I have been running like Mary Decker-Slaney (kudos to anyone who recognizes her). And finally things are slowing down a bit.

Tomorrow Sir Robert Beldolf has set up a little show called Live 8. Here’s what I’m trying to grasp. I only figured out a few days ago that this wasn’t a fund-raising event for Africa. It’s a political-activism event. They don’t want money from private citizens, they want funding from heads of state. For those who don’t know, the “8” in the Live 8 title is a reference to the G-8 Summit which starts on Sunday. So basically, we’re having a concert to try to rile people up. But the question is, do people care? I bet some people do, but I don’t know that it’s the folks that will show up for these shows. For the most part, I think people concerned with Africa’s plight are already involved. I said “for the most part.” Some folks will be finding out about Africa for the first time at these shows. And that’s a good thing. But I don’t know that this medium is going to the best for Africa. And I feel fairly certain that it’s not the best we can do.

What I would love to see is Conservative Republican Toby Keith play right before Liberal Democrat Dave Mathews. Oh to be a fly on that stage…

I was going to go to NYC for the fourth. But for a variety of reasons, I’m going to. But I do want to go back. So much so, that I’ve penciled in a date on my calendar. August 20th. You’re invited, but you have to like boats. I can’t say why, but I don’t think you would be disappointed.

I also wanted to announce that I’m gambling for the next seven days. My car inspection was due at the end of June. My appointment to get my inspection is not until Thursday. I could have gotten my inspection done early, but the guy I have doing the inspection is a Christian guy and I wanted to give him my business. The only problem was that they didn’t have any openings until Thursday. So I’m hoping that I can avoid some fineage and stay clear of the cops for the next few days. I could have gotten my inspection done at Zimmermans’s. They’re Christians too, but they were going to charge $25.00 more to do the inspection. No thank you.

And I get to eat at Red Robin AND Cracker Barrel this weekend! Woo-Freakin-Hoo!!