H-Town: Day 2 - Houston by the numbers

Woke up: 8:20 a.m.
Arrived at work: 9:05 a.m.
(SEE. He can do it.)
Cost of BBQ Lunch (it is Texas, after all): $9.24
Cost of a new AC power cord for Dell Inspiron 9300: $80.00
(I left the real one on my couch in Baton Rouge.)
Exchange period for new AC power cord: 90 days
(Better believe it's going back.)
# of songs lost from iTunes after computer guy set me up on the network: 2,472
(8.2 days, 9.17 GB)
# of songs recovered from iPod, extracted to external hard drive, and manually dragged and dropped back into iTunes: 2,468
(Don't ask me what the other 4 were, or where they went.)
# of students and/or parents and/or coworkers names I actually remember: 5?
(Are we talking real names?)
Date I was supposed to be able to move into my apartment: November 10, 2005
Date that Lisa, the apartment lady, called and told me I could move in, instead: November 5, 2005
Date that I can realistically move in, financially speaking: November 15, 2005
Left work: 5:15 p.m.
Total work hours today: 8 hours 10 minutes
(But who's counting?)
Gas at Copperfield Exxon #60399: 10.464 gallons at $2.389/gallon = $25.00.
(I swear the pump stopped itself right there. I took it as a good omen. Okay - I took it as inspiration to write this post.)
Dinner at Boston Market: $11.12
(Exact change. A ten, a one, two nickels, two pennies.)
Smallville: 7 p.m. CST on Channel 36
Survivor: 7 p.m. CST on Channel 12
CSI: 8 p.m. CST on Channel 12
# of times the freakin' DirectTV lost signal tonight: 4
Average length of lost signal: 5 minutes
Is it currently on the fritz for good? Yes.
Percentage of Sunday morning's High School Sunday School lesson complete: 0%
Days until Sunday: 3
Days until return to Baton Rouge: 3

This was really fun. We should do it again sometime. OH - AND....

A Boy Named Sue by Johnny Cash (Mitchell Shoumaker)

Shaleauxm.

Ode to B.R. - Upon My "About-to-be-leaving"

I know it sounds funny, but I just can't stand the pain.
Girl I'm leavin' you tomorrow.
Seems to me, girl, you know I've done all I can.
See I begged, stole, and I borrowed.

That's why I'm easy.
Easy like Sunday mornin', yeah.
I'm easy.
Easy like Sunday mornin'.

Why in the world would anybody put chains on me?
I paid my dues to make it.
Everybody wants me to be what they want me to be.
I'm not happy when I try to fake it.

I wanna be high, so high.
I wanna be free to know the things I do are right.
I wanna be free.... just me....

That's why I'm easy.
Easy like Sunday mornin', yeah.
I'm easy.
Easy like Sunday mornin'.

- Easy - The Commodores

Also, if anybody's wondering - this is the song that reminds me of Brett Babin, for some reason.

Soothes the savage breast

So, last night, I saw Elizabethtown with Mitchell and Dustin. Not that they're in it... but they went to see it with me. Anyways - Cameron Crowe never disappoints. Say Anything, Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous, Elizabethtown. The hits just keep on coming. Well, these kids didn't know anything about Cameron Crowe flicks. But anybody want to guess the first thing they remarked about when the movie was over? Of course - the soundtrack. One character in the movie even sends another on a road trip across the country, complete with a down-to-the-minute mixed cd soundtrack. We started talking after the movie about how music makes all the difference, and I even mentioned those cool re-cuts of old movies that keep popping up on the web these days (check these out when you get a chance - they're short).

It's a funny thing that this came up. Because as I drove home from H-Town the other day, I heard a song on the radio, and had a little bit of a moment. It was a song that reminded me of a someone, and a sometime that I missed. For me, that song will always be a link to that time, and especially that person. Some of us really can trace the pattern of our lives through music. I realized that there are some songs that will always remind me of some of you. So as I drove - I started to make a list, first a mental one, and then a written one, that I've decided to include here. This might be construed as pandering - whoring for comments. I don't care. I think I've proven time and time again that I have no problem with that. What I want to know is this: do you agree? Do you even remember the significance of this song, and what the heck it has to do with you? Do you have a better idea for "our song"? If you haven't made the list yet- give it time... this is an ongoing project, or submit your suggestion. So here goes... in no particular order:

I Love The Way You Love Me by John Michael Montgomery (Gayden Jones)
Celebration by Die Happy (April Melancon)
Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton (Andrea Naul)
Goodbye by Hootie and the Blowfish (Ginny Ebarb)
Freshmen by Verve Pipe (Christie White)
Long December by Counting Crows (Abby Conner)
Fields Of Gold by Sting (Casey Adams)
Can't Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon (Jennifer Garner)(Yes, I dated a chick named Jennifer Garner.)
Goin' Down by the Monkees (Erin Johnson)
Theodicy On Trial by Tourniquet (Tara Mullin)
God Only Knows by The Beach Boys (Jamie Hawkins)
Arms Of A Woman by Amos Lee (Shelly Munkberg)
Follow Me by Unkle Kracker (Stormy Allen)
Tiny Dancer by Elton John (Emily Babin)
Angel by Sarah McLachlan (Jessica Thacker)
Sweet Surrender by Sarah McLachlan (Robin Watson)
Foreign Language by Anberlin (Dustin Collette)
Arms Of Orion by Prince (Krysten Forde)

Rape Me by Nirvana/ Here I Sit In Prison by Cowboy Mouth (Chris Ables)(Whoa. Creepy.)
Satellite by Dave Matthews Band (Rozino Smith)
Mama Said Knock You Out by L.L. Cool J (Darren Jobe)
Blame It On The Rain by Milli Vanilli (Brannon White)
Every Rose Has Its Thorn by Poison (Mark Johnson)
Paradigm by All Together Seperate (Mitchell Shoumaker)
Farewell To Human Cries by Seventh Angel (Jeff Francis)
Hands In The Air by the Waiting (Shane Mullin)
Groovy Kind Of Love by Phil Collins (Danael Broussard)
The Beautiful People by Marilyn Manson (Bill Chandler)
Ark Of Suffering by Tourniquet (Patrick Mehaffey)
Home Sweet Heaven by Angelica (Sean Borders)
Best I Ever Had by Vertical Horizon (Nathan Dewberry)
Bullet The Blue Sky by U2 (Josh Cohagen)
Lodi by Credence Clearwater Revival,
She's Every Woman by Garth Brooks, and
House Of The Rising Sun by The Animals (Bill, Chris, and Jessica @ the Hungri Maverick)

This is fun! To be updated periodically....

THEY'RE BACK SUCKAS!

Believe it! The Duke boys are reunited on next week's episode of Smallville. Thursday night at 7 p.m. CST on the dubba-dubba-dubba-dubba-dubya-bee (WB).

I seriously hope that THIS guy...

... does not try to make an appearance at Tiger Stadium tomorrow night for the LSU/North Texas game. That's ALL we need. As if the new coach doesn't have enough problems playing out from under his shadow, and getting booed by his own fans - there are plenty of folks who are still willing to unleash boos on this dude for leaving in the first place. It's a lose-lose situation. Stay away, Nick. Stay far, far away until Sunday.

Lord, who sinned.....

Robert Terrell has U2 tickets for the show in Houston this Friday night. Not only that - he has passes for INSIDE THE CIRCLE. Not only that - he has passes to get in during the setup.

Robert and I used to be friends. Before now.

Remember that time when Jesus and the disciples encountered the man who had been blind from birth, and the disciples asked him who had sinned, the man or his parents, to have him born that way?

After reading his post, I found myself asking a similar question.

"Lord, who sinned? Me, or my parents, that Robert gets my U2 tickets and passes?"

and,

"Lord, what good has Robert ever done that he gets those tickets instead of me?"

Then God was like, "Don't you read his blog, yo?" And he started to go on and on and on about stuff Robert had done, and I finally just had to quit listening, and start praying for him to get really, really violently sick.

ACHTUNG!

THIS WAY UP �

Boy Wonder has fragile contents which may break!

Username:

From Go-Quiz.com


Nicely packed, Bagboy!

Baby mama drama

Okay, so I know I've used this picture before, but I thought that it was more appropriate for this post than it's ever been. LISTEN TO THIS:

A couple of weeks ago, my sister and I signed up for the Cox cable bundle pack that includes cable, high speed internet, and telephone service. When we finally got it up and running, it was the first time this house had had a telephone since before I lived here. Naturally we were assigned a phone number for our place. Now, since I never wanted to get a phone in the first place (I have done just fine using just my cell phone for the past 4 years - plus I HATE talking on the phone) - I didn't care much about giving out the new number, so I didn't. But my sister gave it to our parents, her boyfriend, and the church, because she got tired of everybody using up all her cell phone minutes, or using them for business. All that to say - we have a phone, but hardly anybody has the number.

A shortly after getting the phone, we hooked up my old answering machine from college. No sooner had we done so, than I started to get messages from Faye. The ONLY person who has ever left a message on our machine, to this day, is Faye. Faye would call and say she really needed to talk to me, and that it was really, really important. Later she would say that she was getting married in December, and needed to talk to me as soon as possible. But she would always call when I wasn't here. She would promise to call back later on, or the next day at 9 p.m., and I would always plan to be home (my curiosity being peaked), but she never called back when she said she would.

The thing is - I have NO IDEA who Faye is. I've never even met anybody named Faye. And I have no idea how she got my number. What could she want? I formulated this theory that she had called the church to see about getting married there, but that they had told her no, because we only allow church members. Persistent and desperate as she was, I theorized that she had looked on our website, grabbed my name as somebody sympathetic-looking, and perhaps similar in age, called back pretending to know me, and perhaps they gave her my number. I thought she wanted to plea for help in landing our church as the location for her wedding.

I could not have been more wrong.

Last night, with my sister out of town for a week, and noone to witness it - I got one last message on my answering machine from Faye. She said that she had been trying to get in touch with me, but didn't understand why I wouldn't talk to her. She didn't want to leave her phone number, but wanted to let me know that we have a 9 month-old daughter together, and thought I would want to know, and maybe meet her. She emphasized that she didn't want us to get back together, or anything, and that she was getting married in December. She promised to try calling again later on, but after that - and I quote - "forget you!" Much to my dismay - she never did call.

WHAT. THE. HECK.

Just to clarify - Billie Jean is not my lover. She's just a girl who says that I am the one. But the kid is not my son. Seriously, though - I have never met Faye, and I certainly don't have a daughter or son of any age with anybody. But now.... see... now I'm invested in this relationship. I feel bad for Faye because she obviously thinks she has the right man, and he has been ignoring her, for whatever reason. I feel bad for "Jason", whoever he is, because evidently he still doesn't know about his daughter. And I feel bad for me, because really - what's the next step? If she doesn't get closure on this thing before her wedding, is she going to call information with my phone number, and get an address? Maybe show up at my door with my "daughter" and get the shock of both of our lives? Okay, actually - I don't feel sorry for me. Because if that happened I would laugh so amazingly, unbelievably, ridiculously hard for so very very long. You know... after... she left... of course. Now I'm actually sort of wishing that would happen. Because that would make the greatest story ever - and a great follow up blog to this post.

So Faye - wherever you are - don't let it get you down. You've apparently got a great man now, who loves you and my daughter, and is going to make an honest girl out of you in just a few short weeks. You've got so much more to worry about than getting closure with your baby' daddy. Flowers to arrange, tuxes to rent, shoes to dye. Don't miss out on your opportunity to be the very best Bridezilla you can be, just because some man stuck you with a bun in the oven 18 months ago. Cheers!

Voltron, Defender of the Universe

ASSEMBLING VOLTRON
Matt Himes and Richard Ho
Wizard Magazine #169
November 2005

After conquering the imaginations of an entire generation, the Voltron Force heads for some uncharted territory: Hollywood.
Originally launched in 1984, "Voltron: Defender of the Universe" is currently being developed as a big-budget, live-action film by New Line Cinema's Ford Oelman and Mark Costa. The duo snapped up the rights for the cult-favorite animated series from World Events and pitched the concept to producer Mark Gordon (Saving Private Ryan) and musician/producer Pharrell Williams, who will compose the score and produce the soundtrack.
For Oelman and Costa, the journey from TV to silver screen will truly be a labor of love. "We've always been part of the animation generation," said Oelman. "We grew up on shows like Transformers, Thundercats and G.I. Joe, and there's a strong sense of nostalgia for these shows as we get older. As fans, we wondered why there wasn't a Voltron film in development - so we decided to do something about it."
The original series followed the spacefaring adventures of five pilots who journey to the planet Arus to command the robotic lions that make up the fighting machine known as Voltron- all in an effort to save the universe from the dreaded Drule Empire.

...

The producers also plan to do Voltron justice when it comes to the visual effects, which Oelman confirms will be a combination of CGI and physical techniques. "We anticipate using some CGI for the science-fiction elements, but for the most part we want to bring a larger-than-life, realistic Voltron to the big screen", said Oelman. "It's important to utilize every possible technology when making a movie of this scope to ensure the creation of a believable world. For larger mecha battles it can be a good idea to use scale models. I think WETA [Workshop] was amazingly successful The Lord of the Rings, using CGI and scaling techniques as well as intricate makeup and costumes."
The popularity of the various animated series has already proven that Voltron has staying power - and the producers hope that longevity will carry over into the world of movies. "The fact that it's still airing in some territories 21 years after its conception is a testament to its durability," said Oelman. "The film franchise should have the same kind of resonance. We intend to make the first film a success so that we get to do it again and again."


OH. FREAKING. YES. You better believe I am all over this action. Now that Batman Begins is behind us, and The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe is almost upon us, I was badly in need of something I could obsess about. Thank you, crazy-weird Japanese dudes, for creating Voltron. Thank you.

Golden Age J.T.

Earlier today, when I was in the shower, I was thinking of all the things that will be different about living in Houston. One of the biggest drawbacks will be the water. Over here we have what you would call "soft" water. You know, the kind where after you shower, you're not always sure you were able to wash all the soap off? Well, over in H-town, they have what you call "hard" water. The kind where it's difficult to get a smooth shave, and your skin is never slick, but actually kind of rubbery.

Then I got to thinking - the Golden Age Flash, Jay Garrick, was the first speedster in all of comics. And do you know how he got his speed? As a college student he was investigating the properties of so-called experimental "hard" water, and prolonged exposure to it caused him to develop super-speed. Yeah, I know - doesn't connect quite as well as getting bitten by a radioactive spider, or having your parents killed right before your eyes - but that's the story. Anyways, here's hoping that after years of being used the the "soft" water, prolonged exposure to the "hard" stuff will endow me with powers I never could have imagined. Like the ability to run at several times the speed of sound. Then I could come visit you all on my lunch break, and be back at work in plenty of time. *Fingers crossed!*

Leadership Bartlet Style

Yeah, yeah, so I know this is the second West Wing post already on the new blog, so blah, blah, blah bite me. But as I mentioned in the earlier post (the most wildly successful post comment-wise, of my young blogging career, I might add), since the acquisition of my DVR, I have more West Wing episodes to watch than time to watch them. It doesn't help that this past week, Bravo! featured a marathon of seasons 5 and 6.

So - this afternoon, as I lay on the couch in my pj's (Yes, I said this afternoon, and NO, I did not even see the morning, and you can judge me if you want but I work on Sundays). Where was I? Oh yes...

This afternoon, as I lay on the couch in my pj's, watching Leo's heart attack and Claudia Jean's assumption of the Chief of Staff position - I was reminded of a thought I had a few weeks back when I was in the thick of West Wing watching... before LOST, Smallville, and new West Wing episodes which (did I mention?) have taken a turn for the lame. I had this idea that someone should write a book on leadership, using examples from the West Wing. I mean, somebody wrote this book, this book, and this book. They could call it Leadership Bartlet Style (Jamie - you may eat your candy now). I am enthralled by watching not only the decisions those characters make, but the process they go through in order to make them.

The silliest thing you'll ever hear me admit to on this blog is that I've started to think of our office as a mini-West Wing. Maybe, just maybe (mention this to anybody else and I'll deny it), myself as a Josh Lyman. As stupid as it sounds, it motivates and inspires me, even excites me - to think of our place like that. Now, my boss is hardly anything like Jed Bartlet (Glenallen Walken, perhaps?) but you should have seen us during the Hurricane relief efforts. Stand-up meetings to coordinate, specific tasks to specific people to benefit the greater cause, verbose, lofty, hilarious conversations while walking down the hall at breakneck speed. Okay, maybe not that last one. And don't think this type of thinking wasn't a factor when I considered accepting my new position at Copperfield - they've already got this vibe going on.

And you might get the impression that I think I'm going to write this book - but I'm under no such illusions. Maybe I'll do some research. If by "research" you mean watching countless episodes of my favorite show and writing down cool stuff. Maybe I can get credit on the book jacket that way - but I have the perfect person picked out to write this book.

Shane Mullin.
Dude, I'm about to make your career.

Shane is a bigger WW fan than anybody I know. He has the charisma, and thinks big enough to actually write a book and expect it to sell. He studied business at ETBU - AND is currently enrolled in classes toward a Master of Science degree in...

wait for it....

ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND ETHICS.

Are you kidding me? It's like asking me to write a book about Batman, and laundry-piling. It's buttah! Tell me you wouldn't buy this book?

Irony of ironies, just today that kid blogged over on his site that:
"I need to rework my Personal Concept of Leadership and I need to write my Leadership Development Plan. Both of these documents are going to serve me well for a long, long while"

You can all thank me later. Possibly with a back-end deal on the book profits. I'm claiming proprietary rights on this. Steal it, and I'll sue you. In love, of course.

Ain't she a beauty?

Big day for me yesterday. I paid off the car. That's right - I am now the proud owner of a tan 1999 Ford Escort Sedan, in mediocre condition. More importantly, I am now the sole owner of something that cost (not something that is worth, mind you) $12,000.00. This means 1 of 2 things. Either I will 1) bask in the luxury of having an extra $200 to spend every month - or 2) take advantage of my imminent pay increase to saddle myself with the even greater burden of buying something new. Place your bets now on which one that will be.

Also, yesterday I told the students in the youth group that I would be leaving at the end of the month. I was semi-nervous, but not as nervous as when I had to tell the preacher. I made a joke thatI have my work cut out for me, because there are lots of successful churches with successful youth ministries in the country, and that somebody has got to be there to run them into the ground, like I did this one. The kids took it well, with no small amount of tears from the girls, but eventually, smiles all around. All of a sudden, everyone seems to have a sense of the value that every day now holds. Funny what it takes to give us a sense of urgency like this. Note to self: remember this feeling in your new job, and in all your relationships from now on.

All in all, it wasn't a bad time. I knew that no matter how the day went, at then end of it there was a big steaming pile of LOST waiting for me on my DVR when I got home. *Sigh* Thank God for LOST. It's a rock for me. Anybody notice Walt's picture on the milk carton during Hurley's dream sequence at the beginning? Attention to detail, and little gifts like that are what make this the best show on TV. Well, now that the West Wing has taken a turn for the LAME.

Today I'm cleaning up my office. Not out - up. Getting it ready to be cleaned out. It's complicated, I know. Something tells me an ounce of prevention of this mess, would be worth a pound of cure for it.

Something tells me that I'd blog more often if I could keep every post to about this length.

**edited to add: Looking for tickets to Saturday's LSU game vs. Florida. Any ideas?

"Leaving home ain't easy.... but may be the only way" - Queen

Finally. I've been holding off posting, until I had something official to say, and now I guess I can let the cat out of the bag.

I'm moving to Houston. It's official. I submitted my resignation to my pastor today, and let him know I'd only be staying through the end of October. This Wednesday I will face the daunting task of having to tell the group of students I've grown to love that I won't be their youth minister anymore. This weekend, I'll tell the church, and next week, they'll publish my letter of resignation in the church newsletter. I'm not sure how people will react. Some will probably be angry. Some will be disappointed. Some will be relieved. I must admit I've never really had close friends at the church aside from some teenagers, and kids who are now in the college group. I wonder if they will decide to go ahead and pretend I've already left. This could be a very lonely three weeks. While I'm excited about the future, everything I do at Jefferson for the next 3 weeks will have a sort of bitter taste to it - all the "lasts".

However, I am hopeful, and optimistic about starting something new. I am throwing in my lot with a church in Houston where my aunt, uncle and cousin go. Copperfield Church is much larger than any church I've been involved with before, and comes about as close as I can imagine to what I would call an "ideal situation". After several visits, to interview, to teach Sunday School, to attend a couple of student events to meet kids, and to get interrogated by parents, the church voted on me yesterday morning. Rumor has it, the results were 189 to 5 in my favor. Those five people have been summarily executed. Seriously though, I am going to be the Sr. High School Minister, on a team with several other top-notch folks, including a Jr. High Minister. Both the Sr. High and Jr. High youth groups have about 150 kids each, so this will be no small task. The magnitude of this responsibility - especially in comparison to my present responsibility - is not lost on me.

The next couple of weeks will involve getting the house in order at Jefferson, packing, and finding an apartment in H-town. I think the part I'm least looking forward to is cleaning out my office. Ugh. Maybe I could just take what's mine and skip town with piles of paper and mail on my desk and a five gallon bucket of plastic flamingos in the middle of the floor. But probably not. Do any of you know anybody in Houston? I don't know a lot of folks, but let me tell you this - I'm getting just enough of a pay increase to spring for a 2 bedroom apartment, and if you can read this I expect you to fill half of it at some point. No, really. I need your company.

Alot of posts in the near future might trend toward the cathartic - me quoting Donald Miller, whining about leaving, starting over, moving on, family, friends are friends forever kind of crap. Just play along. I'm sure I'll be letting you know which LOST character I am, which Napoleon Dynamite character I am, what my emo name is, and which High School stereotype fits me.

Your thoughts?

Red State, Blue State

You are a Social Moderate (55% permissive) and an... Economic Moderate (50% permissive) You are best described as a: Centrist Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid Free Online Dating

Thanks Robert Terrell.

America's Teams

By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports
September 11, 2005

One team, displaced to the road like nearly everyone else back home, faced a championship contender on their turf and scored four times in the fourth quarter, including twice on special teams and once when, on fourth-and-forget-it, a 39-yard prayer was caught for a touchdown to deliver the comeback, the game and the dream.

One team, displaced to the road like nearly everyone else back home, faced a championship contender on their turf and scored twice in the fourth quarter, including a last-second, 47-yard game-winning field goal to deliver the comeback, the game and the dream.

And so now you begin to wonder.

Louisiana State on Saturday night, New Orleans Saints on Sunday afternoon. Two stunning, last-moment victories.

Do you believe in miracles?

"In the back of our minds, we know we have to give them one tiny bit of hope," quarterback Aaron Brooks told reporters after the Saints' 23-20 victory over Carolina, which came not 24 hours after LSU beat Arizona State 35-31.

"We have complete faith in what we are doing because every time we go out there, it is our job to give them hope that every day will be a better day."

And there can be no minimizing the word "tiny" here. A couple of dramatic football victories don't bring back the dead, lower the floodwaters or rebuild neighborhoods.

A couple of dramatic football victories are a couple of dramatic football victories – a little more than nothing in the great, grand post-Katrina scheme of things.

But if you witnessed New York and its Yankees after September 11, if you can appreciate that having anything to cheer, to distract or to warm the heart can mean so much more than tiny, then these were more than just a couple of dramatic football victories.

If you can understand that for some of the 340,000 former residents of Greater New Orleans, huddled across the country in shelters, hotels and someone else's living room, the chance to pump a fist about something great happening to a couple of teams representing their battered hometown and bruised home state is more than just a couple of dramatic football victories.

Which is why everyone's favorite team to reach the Super Bowl should be the New Orleans Saints.

And everyone's favorite team to reach the Rose Bowl ought to be the LSU Tigers.

Because who doesn't want to believe in miracles?

Before the Saints' game at Super Bowl-favorite Carolina, coach Jim Haslett read a letter he received from New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin, who understands all of this too well.

"He talked about the things he had seen, babies dying," receiver Joe Horn told reporters.

Horror movie stuff Horn went on to say. Every-day stuff in the Big Easy. It brought the tragedy of New Orleans home for a group of players and coaches who have the spent the last two weeks in San Antonio.

For the LSU players, a letter from the front lines wasn't needed. Their game against Arizona State was moved to Tempe because their campus is full of refugees from New Orleans. Sixty-eight Tigers hail from Louisiana, 14 from the city of New Orleans.

This is their tragedy.

"I'm just so proud," LSU coach Les Miles said afterward.

Everyone should be. These two teams won two games under incredible distraction and distress. And both teams spent their postgame interviews talking about how they have it easy, reminding us that football is nothing and repeating that they would trade all the wins in the world for Katrina to never have happened.

"It's not all about us anymore," Saints offensive lineman Wayne Gandy said.

Humble, big-picture athletes? In today's sports world?

The fortunes of these teams could have broken either way. The hurricane could have cost focus, it could have slowed minds, it could have sucked the fight out of people too tired to fight for something so frivolous.

Or it could raise them up – give them a sense of pride and purpose never before experienced. Having something so powerful and real to rally around – not just silly locker room stuff – could give two teams the little edge that creates big seasons.

It was just football. It was just one weekend.

But for two teams with one dream, it was much more than that

"No, but could you tell me more about Jackie Robinson, and breaking barriers?"

So - I got this fascinating new device from my cable company for mere pennies per month. It's a DVR. If you don't know what that is, look it up - you need to know. It's like TiVo, or replaytv. It enables me to record, without those cumbersome videotapes, anything I want. In fact, I can even set it to record a certain show any time it comes on on any channel. Which I have done with several shows, including (here comes the point) The West Wing. Since I got it I have watched approximately 453 episodes. In case you didn't know - The West Wing is probably (not possibly) the 100% greatest television show of all time.

It is also the show with the coolest dialogue. Since about 79.8% of the appeal of something is sharing it with others, I thought I would contribute to our conversation (yes, we are having a conversation. Deal with it.) several of my favorite bits of West Wing dialogue, and allow you to do the same with your comments - all culminating in a massive compendium of screenwritten literary gems and fanboy geekiness. I'll go first!

President Bartlet: I could jump you right now.
Abby Bartlet: I could kill you right now.
President Bartlet: My thing's more fun.
-----

Josh Lyman: All I'm saying is, if you were in an accident, I wouldn't stop to get a beer.
Donna Moss: If you were in an accident, I wouldn't stop for red lights.
-----

President Bartlet: Who's your commander-in-chief?
Abby Bartlet: You are.
-----

(With the cabinet member who stays behind during the State of the Union address, in case someone blows up the Capitol Building)
President Bartlet: Roger, if anything happens, you know what to do, right?
Roger: I honestly hadn't thought about it, sir.
President Bartlet: First thing always is national security. Get your commanders together. Appoint Joint Chiefs, appoint a chairman. Take us to Defcon 4. Have the governors send emergency delegates to Washington. The assistant Attorney General is going to be the Acting A.G. You got a best friend?
Roger: Yes sir.
President Bartlet: Is he smarter than you?
Roger: Yes sir.
President Bartlet: Would you trust him with your life?
Roger: Yes sir.
President Bartlet: That's your Chief of Staff.
-----

C.J. Cregg: The theme of the Egg Hunt is "Learning is delightful and delicious!" As, by the way, am I.
-----

President Bartlet: "We hold these truths to be self-evident," they said, "that all men are created equal." Strange as it may seem, that was the first time in history that anyone had ever bothered to write that down. Decisions are made by those that show up.
-----

Abby Bartlet: I was very young when I had my kids. I was very, very, very, very young. I was barely even born yet when I had my oldest daughter, Elizabeth.
-----

President Bartlet: You're Dr. Jenna Jacobs, right?
Dr. Jenna Jacobs: Yes sir.
President Bartlet: Forgive me, Dr. Jacobs. Are you an M.D?
Dr. Jenna Jacobs: A PhD.
President Bartlet: A PhD?
Dr. Jenna Jacobs: Yes sir.
President Bartlet: Psychology?
Dr. Jenna Jacobs: No sir.
President Bartlet: Theology?
Dr. Jenna Jacobs: No sir.
President Bartlet: Social work?
Dr. Jenna Jacobs: I have a PhD in English Literature.
President Bartlet: I'm asking 'cause on your show, people call in for advice, and you go by the name Dr. Jacobs on your show, and I didn't know if maybe your listeners were confused by that and assumed you had advanced training in psychology, theology, or health care.
Dr. Jenna Jacobs: I don't believe they are confused, no sir.
President Bartlet: Good. I like your show. I like how you call homosexuality an abomination.
Dr. Jenna Jacobs: I don't say homosexuality is an abomination, Mr. President. The Bible does.
President Bartlet: Yes, it does. Leviticus.
Dr. Jenna Jacobs: 18:22
President Bartlet: Chapter and verse. I wanted to ask you a couple of questions while I have you here. I'm interested in selling my youngest daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. She's a Georgetown sophomore, speaks fluent Italian, always cleared the table when it was her turn. What would a good price for her be? While you're thinking about that, can I ask another? My Chief of Staff, Leo McGarry, insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly says he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or is it okay to call the police? Here's one that's really important because we've got a lot of sports fans in this town: Touching the skin of a dead pig makes one unclean. Leviticus 11:7. If they promise to wear gloves, can the Washington Redskins still play football? Can Notre Dame? Can West Point? Does the whole town really have to be together to stone my brother John for planting different crops side-by-side? Can I burn my mother in a small family gathering for wearing garments made from two different threads? Think about those questions, would you? One last thing: While you may be mistaking this for your monthly meeting of the Ignorant Tight-Ass Club, in this building, when the President stands - nobody sits.
-----

C.J. Cregg: The more photo-friendly of the two turkeys gets a presidential pardon, and a full life at a children's petting zoo; the other one gets eaten.
President Bartlet: If the Oscars were like that, I'd watch.
-----

John Van Dyke: When our children can go to any street corner in America and buy pornography for five dollars, don't you think that is too high a price to pay for free speech?
President Bartlet: No. On the other hand, I do think that five dollars is too high a price to pay for pornography.
-----

And last, but not least:

Toby Ziegler: He calls you and me the Batman and Robin of speechwriting.
Sam Seaborn: Well, I don't think he does.
Toby Ziegler: He doesn't, but he should, 'cause that's what we are.
Sam Seaborn: Okay.
Toby Ziegler: We are Batman and Robin.
Sam Seaborn: Which one's which?
Toby Ziegler: Look at me, Sam. Am I Robin?
Sam Seaborn: I'm not Robin.
Toby Ziegler: Yes you are.
Sam Seaborn: Okay, well, let's move off this.
Toby Ziegler: You bet, little friend.
Sam Seaborn: Listen, we're really not Batman and Robin.
Toby Ziegler: No, we'll keep those identities secret. I'm Bruce Wayne, and you're my ward... Dick Something...
-----

I could go on forever.... and it appears I have.

Petra Means Rock

Rules of the Day:

Rule #1 - When aliens talk, they never use contractions.
Rule #2 - Old people always have exact change.
Rule #3 - Do not trust a man who calls the bathroom "the little boys" room.

About 14 years ago, when I was a high-school freshman, I was walking out of a youth group meeting one Wednesday night and into the parking lot where my mother's van waited. A car - an old beater of a car, too - sped right up to me, and stopped. It was my youth minister's brother-in-law. He said nothing, only rolled down his window, and handed me two cassette tapes.

"What the heck is this?" I asked.

He just smiled, rolled up his window, and drove away.

In the movie version of my life, that moment will feature a bright light shining down and angels singing.

The contents of those cassettes changed my little 14-year-old life forever.
One of those tapes had Deliverance's self titled album on one side and Deliverance - Weapons of our Warfare on the other. THAT is a whole other post altogether. The other tape had Whiteheart - Powerhouse on one side, and on the other side? Petra- Beyond Belief.

That day I was thrust into a world unlike any other I had ever known. Until that time, the soundtrack of my life had been The Beach Boys and The Monkees, and more recently Sir Mix-A-Lot and Public Enemy. I was not prepared for it - but switch had been thrown in me, and from that day forward I would be a worshiper at the church of the rock. (Dramatic enough for ya?)

Petra.

There's no telling how many actual members that band has had over the years. In fact, based on the above "Then" and "Now" pictures, only one man has actually been involved for 33 years - Bob "Eddie Who?" Hartman. Which begs the question - what percentage of actual "Petra" is necessary to continue Petra? 1 out of 5? 20%? Any at all? Or perhaps - obscure Princess Bride reference coming - perhaps, like the Dread Pirate Roberts, it's the name that's the important thing for inspiring the necessary fear/respect. I do find it amazing that a band could survive something so drastic as a lead-singer change, and STILL be as good, if not better, than it was before. When that happens with most bands, people end up choosing one, to the detriment of the band's other stuff. Admit it - you either like Van Halen with Dave, or with Sammy, but not both (and certainly not Gary Cherone). You either like Judas Priest with Rob Halford or with Ripper Owens. The one notable exception is AC/DC - nobody has to choose between Bon Scott and Brian Johnson because they sound almost exactly the same. It's not like that with Petra, either. Don't get me wrong - fans will be debating Grex X. Volz vs. John Schlitt forever - but it's a little bit like arguing about who was the best Bond. It's a win-win. And no - I'm not saying which one is Connery.

Now comes word of Petra's farewell. After 33 years, and very nearly as many members, they are retiring. There have been rumors of a kind of Best Of Petra Concert, with all the former members showing up to play the all the best songs from the albums that they were on. They should literally put a revolving door on the stage. I can't tell you how cool I think that would be - I would pay any amount of money to see it. But I only say that because I know it will never happen. I did have the privilege of seeing them in concert once, though. ETBU brought them in to play for my Freshman class - the last cool thing ETBU actually did.

Anyway - say what you want about Petra, their current place in music, their relevance, and the choices they've made in the past few years, but there's no doubt that they started something, and were the best at it for a long time. I know I sound like everybody's grandfather now, but they just don't write songs like those anymore. For me, Petra will never go out of style, because every time I listen I'll remember what it meant to me growing up. I think it's safe to say that - for better or worse - without them, I wouldn't have ended up the guy I am now. Funny the things we allow to shape us, isn't it? Some people would be ashamed, but not me. Thanks for the memories, Petra - lol.

R.I.P. Petra 1972-2005

"When it came to kissing, Harlow was the best."

Jimmy Stewart You scored 19% Tough, 19% Roguish, 33% Friendly, and 28% Charming!

You are the fun and friendly boy next door, the classic nice guy who still manages to get the girl most of the time. You're every nice girl's dreamboat, open and kind, nutty and charming, even a little mischievous at times, but always a real stand up guy. You're dependable and forthright, and women are drawn to your reliability, even as they're dazzled by your sense of adventure and fun. You try to be tough when you need to be, and will gladly stand up for any damsel in distress, but you'd rather catch a girl with a little bit of flair. Your leading ladies include Jean Arthur and Donna Reed, those sweet girl-next-door types. Find out what kind of classic dame you'd make by taking the Classic Dames Test.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 27% on Tough You scored higher than 53% on Roguish You scored higher than 57% on Friendly You scored higher than 46% on Charming

Link: The Classic Leading Man Test written by gidgetgoes on Ok Cupid

I Want This:

Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith
by Rob Bell

And no - in case you're wondering - this is not the new post I promised you yesterday. But sometimes, covetousness compels us to interrupt whatever we are doing and demand certain material posessions. Stop judging me, and just run out and buy it. But you better hurry... if I get a free minute today, I'm Barnes & Noble bound.

**UPDATE** 3:06 p.m.
Got it! I also got a 2006 Batman Calendar, and a copy of Esquire Magazine's THE RULES for men to live by. And I'll probably be including some of those in future posts, because they either make a lot of sense, or are just plain ridiculous.

Saving The World One Ice Chest At A Time...

Well, well, well... - here I am.
Do I have to talk about that bloody storm? I mean, you all watch the news, and read everybody else's blogs. You don't need me to re-hash it, or tell the J.T. version of the story, do you? Even I wouldn't read that. Okay, fine.

For those of you scoring at home, I believe its:

Katrina - 1
New Orleans - 0

And if you don't believe me, just ask any real estate agent in the greater Baton Rouge area. You can NOT buy property here right now. Not because it's in bad shape, or because it costs too much, but because there isn't any. Seriously, our population has doubled in the past week, and apparently the Red Cross is not only handing out blankets, water, and hot meals, but they're also giving away big piles of cash to anybody who wants to buy a new house just up the road in Baton Rouge. My dad was talking about some guy he was working with out at Exxon, who had been trying to sell his house. He had been having some trouble unloading it on somebody, until along comes Katrina, and some refugees from New Orleans show up at his doorstep. They offer him 500G's in cash (more than 2ce what he was asking) if he'll just get his family's personal items, and get out of there. Leave the appliances, leave the furniture, leave the food in the pantry and the refrigerator. Faster than you can say "fat wallet", that dude and his family are on their way out of town, and do you know where they are going to live now?

Any-where they want.

Okay, seriously, I would rather sandpaper a bobcat's butt in a phone booth than recount the lame details of what I've been up to the last few days - so here, for your reading pleasure, are a few key words that you may hear about over the course of the next few years, as we remember this time in our nation's history: Parking lot security, burned noggin, "buy me 3 ice-chests and some snacks", 2 1/2 foot Batman, one bag per person, chainsaw crew, water brigade, airport shifts, Jesse Jackson, Steve Harvey and the Nation of Islam, Sean Penn's leftovers, stealing from Ted Turner, casual Sunday, Oprah's plane, and on-the-air with Richard Condon.

Also, as you may have guessed from the picture - the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, to which I am currently in bondage, suffered quite a bit of high water. A few days ago I was elated to hear that classes on that campus will, in fact, resume..... in August 2006. HA! I told that joke to everybody I knew for about 6 hours, until I actually looked on the NOBTS website. They expect everybody who's already enrolled in classes to resume their fall schedule October 3rd - on the internet! Are you kidding me? My sister's taking a class called Totall Wellness and the Minister - it's like a Seminary P.E. class. How the heck is she supposed to take that on the internet? Maybe I'm just bitter because I thought I was going to get a pass on this semester - and now most of my assignments will have to be writing assignments submitted electronically, without the benefit of lecture. This Seminary thing just continues to get worse and worse.

Well, I do actually have some thoughts on the sociopolitical situation (no, seriously) down here, but I will save them for a separate post. That way you can be assured that I will post again, and we will all have something to look forward to. Until then, let's keep the "where have you been"'s and "It's about time"'s to a minimum, shall we? Much lub, homies.

"Coldplay - The New Jonestown Kool-Aid"

Here's a great post from a blog called Kid B that pretty much sums up what I think about the whole Coldplay thing. Check it out. Feel free to leave comments on his post here, if you like. I don't know how I found this... I probably couldn't get back there if I tried.

Salty Dogma

I saw this a few weeks back, and meant to say something, but what with the switching of the blogs, and the success of the last post... I didn't get around to it/want to interrupt the flow. Either way - this is probably one of the most freakin' cool articles I've seen in a while. It's a World Magazine interview with Bono from August 6, 2005, where he details exactly what he believes, as if those of us with any sense at all had any doubts about where Bono stood on the whole Jesus thing. You've heard it before, but - if the previous era was defined by the scholars, scientists, and theologians, the next era is going to be defined by the poets, musicians, philosophers and painters. I think Bono has known this for a while, and has been writing the spiritual soundtrack for a generation. Do us both a favor, and check out this article.

This post, article, title and all... ripped cleanly and without permission from Josh Cohagen's blog. Thanks Josh!

Scattered, Smothered, And Covered

Everybody knows that there's only a finite number of really good songs. Great songs, like electricity, or precious gems, are discovered, not created. They are not a renewable resource. Sooner or later there's going to come a time when every good song is simply a remake of a song that's already been recorded by somebody else. I, for one, am okay with this idea. I don't necessarily like it, and I can understand how it would be difficult for others to accept but it is, nevertheless, fact.

Cover songs rule. They rule because it's cool to hear a band you like, playing a song that you already know the words to, but haven't heard them play a million times before. I don't understand why bands like the '80's cover band The Molly Ringwalds haven't become the most popular thing ever. Basically, when you do a cover song, you can go one of two ways:

1) You can try to sound as much like the original as you possibly can.
or
2) You can try and totally go your own way with the song and drastically reinterpret it in your style.

Both options are equally perilous. I personally prefer for bands to go the first route, because there's a reason the song was great in the first place. If you try to mess with it too much, you can really piss people off about what you did with their favorite song (see U2/Jars Of Clay - All I Want Is You). Grrr.

Anyway- I have compiled a list of my favorite cover songs, and decided to include them here for you. There's a bunch. Look through these and see which ones you've heard, haven't heard. Perhaps there are some versions of your favorite songs here that you didn't even know existed. Perhaps there are some you know of that I didn't list. As I said, this is a list of my favorites, which means it is highly subjective, and necessarily limited to the catalog of songs I am actually aware of. If it's not here, it's probably because I either don't know about it, or know about it and don't really like it all that much. Still there are bound to be some I just didn't think of. This is where comments come in. I would love nothing more than to hear your opinions on my list, and your own additions/amendments to it. FIRE AWAY!

These are listed in an Original Artist/Cover Artist - Song Title format.
In some cases, the cover actually surpasses the original. These cases will be identified by bold print.

Stryper/ Steve Hindalong – To Hell With The Devil

Stryper/ Klank – The Way

Stryper/ The Blamed – Soldiers Under Command

Stryper/ Deliverance – Surrender

Screamin’ Jay Hawkins/ Marilyn Manson – I Put A Spell On You

The Rolling Stones/ The Sundays – Wild Horses

The Cure/ Anberlin/ 311 – Love Song

David Bowie/ Deliverance – Beauty And The Beast

David Bowie/ Nirvana – The Man Who Sold The World

Bloodgood/ Mortification – Black Snake

Bloodgood/Tourniquet - The Messiah

Trouble/Tourniquet – The Tempter

U2/Echo Hollow/ Pillar – Sunday, Bloody Sunday

Five Man Electrical Jam/ Tesla – Signs

The Tremoloes/ The Mavericks – Here Comes My Baby

Pete Townshend/ Audio Adrenaline/ Pearl Jam – Let My Love Open The Door

U2/Starfield/dcTalk – 40

U2/ Tobymac – Mysterious Ways

U2/ Tait – One

U2/Grits – With Or Without You

U2/ Chris Tomlin – Where The Streets Have No Name

U2/ P.O.D. – Bullet The Blue Sky

Charlie Peacock/ dcTalk – In The Light

Terry Taylor/ Deliverance – Sanctuary

Paul McCartney/ U2 – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

The Clash/ One Bad Pig – Rock The Casbah

Petra/ Galactic Cowboys – Not Of This World

Petra/ Die Happy - All Over Me

XTC/ Sarah McLachlan – Dear God

Deep Purple/ Vengeance Rising – Space Truckin’

TV/ Relient K – Charles In Charge

TV/ Matthew Sweet – Scooby Doo, Where Are You?

TV/ Sublime – Hong King Phooey

Radney Foster/ Hootie and the Blowfish – Fine Line

Led Zeppelin/ Hootie and the Blowfish – Hey, Hey, What Can I Do?

R.E.M./ Hootie and the Blowfish – Driver 8

New Grass Revival/ Hootie and the Blowfish – Let Me Be Your Man

The Smiths/ Hootie and the Blowfish – Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want

The Doors/ Stone Temple Pilots – Break On Through

The Doors/ Aerosmith – Love Me Two Times

The Doors/ Days Of The New – The End

Rich Mullins/ Reflescent Tide – Hold Me Jesus

Veggie Tales/ The Channelsurfers – God Is Bigger

The Police/ Blackball – Message In A Bottle

Imperials/ Atomic Opera – Water Grave

Billy Joel/ Garth Brooks – Shameless

Bob Dylan/ The Byrds - Mr. Tambourine Man

*edited 8-15-05 to add:

Bob Dylan/Billy Joel/ Garth Brooks - To Make You Feel My Love

Simon and Garfunkel/ The Lemonheads/ Pennywise - Mrs. Robinson

Mark Cohen/ Cher - Walkin' In Memphis

Rufus Wainwright/ Jeff Buckley/ Kmax - Hallelujah

also, check out this site for their list of the 100 greatest cover songs of all time.

Greatest Hits

Every morning, one of the first things I do is check all the blogs I read, to see if anybody has updated. Sometimes, alot of people will go a long time without updating, or saying why. It's those times when I actually start to wonder if the rapture has happened, and I was left behind. You think I'm kidding, don't you? I'm not. But then I think - nah, one of those people was Bill, or Shane, or Nathan Dewberry... and there's no way they're going and I'm not. And then I feel better.

So - you may have noticed that I've moved the blog, and you're probably wondering why. Well, I would say that a good example is probably the paragraph that you just read right above this. My other blog was compromised by some younger, more impressionable minds, and I wouldn't want to subject them to some of the stuff you see here. Not that it's raunchy, or tasteless, or anything like that - but just because some of it is raw, and questioning, and me just trying to process and work through things. Things I'm not quite ready to teach, necessarily, which is the unfortunate byproduct of influence and association with more impressionable minds. So, for their protection and mine, I decided to relocate. Also because about 10 months ago, some random kid left a comment on the old blog that said something like, "Aren't you a little old to have a Xanga site?". Probably so, kid. Probably so.

I have painstakingly migrated all of my favorite stuff from the old blog over to this one... Xanga's Greatest Hits, if you will. I have even kept their original dates and times. Blogger is cool like that. And there's no need for the chatterbox because here you can post comments without signing up for anything! Let's DO avoid posting anonymously, though, can we? Now, I only know 2 things about HTML - jack, and squat. But I am open to suggestions, tips and tricks. If you made it over here to the new blog, congratulations - I consider you an adult. Now do me a flavor and don't mention it on the old one.

Gay-Friendly

Last semester I was commissioned to write a paper for my Advanced Youth Ministry class on the Emerging Church, and what it means for my particular denomination (Southern Baptist). Well, anybody that knows me knows that the paper never got done, although it probably came closer to actually getting worked on than most papers in my Seminary career. Either way, it sparked an interest in whether or not Emerging sensibilities would be the death of my denomination, the reason it became irrelevant, or the Great Awakening. Not that I am drinking the Southern Baptist Kool-Aid, by any means - but being that that's where my roots lie - I'd be lying if I didn't admit to some affinity and no small amount of frustration with them. That being said, I have come across some interesting tidbits as of late that I would like to record here for posterity, so that I can come back to them later. One of them is a really cool article by the young lady pictured, Christi Avant, and can be found here. I'm not sure for how long. It's about being gay-friendly (her words), and very cool - if you're into that kind of thing. For a while I've been really disgusted at how religious folks have treated homosexuals, regardless of where they stand on the rightness or wrongness of the issue.

The second item is this article in the Baptist Standard in which Bill Leonard, dean of the Wake Forest University Divinity School in Winston-Salem, N.C, mentions that he'd "rather be Baptist in the postmodern period than anything else." It's pretty interesting.

Thanks to Emerging SBC Leaders for the first link, and tallskinnykiwi for the second.

For those of you who have no interest in this stuff - fear not! More mindless, banal, entertainment is sure to follow, in the forms of quizzes, surveys, and song lyrics that I didn't write. Stay tuned! And go ahead and leave your comment on something that was posted previously - I know you've been wanting to.

"Oh, it's already been brought'en!"

"I AM the squad. I mean, God blessed me with some booty-shakin' talent. I gotta get out there and shake it!"
- Jaime Doyle, about her acheivement at cheerleader camp this week

"At Last"

AT LAST
by Phil Harrison

The other day I had a dream.

I dreamt I arrived at the gates of heaven, heavyshut, pure oak, bevelled and crafted, glinting sharp in the sunlight. St Peter stood to greet me. The big man wore brown- a smile set deep against his ruddy cheeks.

"'You’re here," he said.

"I am," I said.

"Great to see you - been expecting you," he smiled. "Come on in."

He pushed gently against the huge door; it swung silently, creakless. I took a couple of steps forward until, at the threshold, one more step up and in, I realized I wasn’t alone. My friends had joined me, but they hovered behind, silently, looking on. None spoke. I realized only I could speak. I looked at them; some were Christians, some Hindus, some Buddhists, some Muslims, some Jews, some atheists. Some, God knows what. I stopped, paused. A hesitant St Peter looked at me, patiently, expectantly.

"What about these guys?" I asked him. "My friends. Can they come?"

"Well, Phil," he replied, soft in the still air, "You know the rules. I’m sorry, but that’s the way things are. Only the right ones."

I looked at him. He seemed genuinely pained by his answer. I stood, considering. What should I do? I thought about my reference points, and thought about Jesus, the bastard, the outsider, the unacceptable, the drunkard, the fool, the heretic, the criminal, and I knew exactly where I belonged.

"I’ll just stay here then too," I said, taking my one foot out of heaven. And I’ll tell you, I’d swear I saw something like a grin break across St Peter’s face, and a voice from inside whispered,

"At last."

Once again, taken from IKON

Buddhist Parable

Translating the Word of God

There was once a young and gifted woman who set herself the almost impossible task of setting up a printing press so that she could translate and distribute the word of God to those in her country. Yet such a task required a great deal of money and so she sold the few items that she possessed and went to live on the streets, begging for the money that was required.

Raising the necessary funds took many years, for a while there were a few who gave generously most only give a little, if anything at all. But gradually, over time, the money began to accumulate.

However shortly before the plans for the printing press could be set in motion, a dreadful flood devastated a nearby town destroying many people’s homes and livelihood. Without hesitation the woman used all the money she had gathered to feed the hungry and rebuild lost homes.

Once the town began to recover the woman went back to the streets in order to start again, collecting for the amount needed to translate the word of God.

More years passed, with the cold winters and rough street life inflicting great suffering. Then, shortly before the target amount was reached disaster struck again. This time a plague descended like a cloud over the city taking the lives of thousands.

By now the woman was herself tired and ill, yet without thought she spent the money she had collected on medicines and spent her time caring for the sick.

Then, once the shadow of the plague lifted, she again took to the streets, driven by her desire to translate the word of God.

Finally, shortly before her death, this faithful woman gathered the money required for the printing press and completed the project she had set herself many years before.

After she had passed away it was said by some that this godly woman had actually spent her life making three translations of the Word, the first two being the most beautiful of all.

Once again, taken from IKON

Zen Parable

The Moon Cannot Be Stolen

Ryokan, a Zen master, lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain. One evening a thief visited the hut only to discover there was nothing to steal.

Ryokan returned and caught him. 'You may have come a long way to visit me,' he told the prowler, 'and you should not return empty-handed. Please take my clothes as a gift.'

The thief was bewildered. He took the clothes and slunk away.

Ryokan sat naked, watching the moon. 'Poor fellow,' he mused, 'I wish I could give him this beautiful moon.'

Other parables from IKON in the UK.
This stuff courtesy of Cory's blog on it.

R.I.P. Luther Vandross: 1951-2005

R.I.P

Luther Vandross
1951 - 2005

It finally happened. The greatest male R&B voice of all time has passed on. At only 54 years, he was in the prime of his youth. At last he'll finally have that chance to dance with his father again. In the wake of this tragedy, I predict a population boom 'round about tax time next year. After all, when news of his passing gets around, folks are going to naturally want to start putting on his old CD's and tapes. And you know what happens when you put on some old Luther stuff. I ain't playin'!

Anyway, the other concern I have is this: Celebrities always pass away in groups of 3. Don't act like it isn't true, because it is. Think back - or check your back issues of Entertainment Weekly. Everytime a major celebrity "wins the big Grammy" (you like that one, don't you?), at least 2 others follow in relatively close proximity. I couldn't make this stuff up, folks. Now I'm worried who else it's going to be. I always start to get really protective of my favorite celebs when this kind of thing goes down. I put in a call to the people who handle Adam West (the old 60's TV show Batman), because I think it would be particularly ironic for him to die right now. I should also send some e-mails to all four Monkees, and Billy Graham. I had a letter all written out, and ready to send to Fred Gwynne (The Munsters, Car 54, My Cousin Vinnie), and then I found out that he had actually died back in 1993. I did love his work, though.

Also - the right honorable Mr. Vandross' website lists him as "The World's Greatest R&B Vocalist". I guess that title's up for grabs, now, isn't it? Don't mind if I do....

Get freaked out

Perhaps one of the coolest, most disturbing things I have ever encountered in my entire life.
I want to look away - I really do. But I just can't. And neither can you, I predict.

Get freaked out.

If she gets stuck. Click and drag. Seriously.

I found this link on Robert Terrell's site at Ministry Via Mistakes.
Thanks a freakin' lot, Robert.

Three priests walk into a bistro...

I hate for my first post in weeks to be a link somewhere else, but if you check this out, I think you'll thank me.

Three Priests Walk Into A Bistro...

Seriously.  Start reading, and stick with it... it's worth it.  It's not that long.  I found it through a link on Real Live Preacher's blog at Salon.com.

Good stuff.

Shalom.

What's your theological worldview?

Yeah, I know. I was as surprised as you are. Take the thing for yourself.

You scored as Emergent/Postmodern. You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don't think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this. Emergent/Postmodern 75% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 68% Neo orthodox 57% Classical Liberal 43% Roman Catholic 36% Reformed Evangelical 32% Modern Liberal 32% Fundamentalist 25% Charismatic/Pentecostal 25% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com