FOXNews.com - World's Strongest Beer Launches at $762 a Bottle

Just what you need to take to your local PETA meeting!

FOXNews.com - World's Strongest Beer Launches at $762 a Bottle: "The blond Belgian ale, named The End of History, is an astonishing 55 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) and is presented in a case made from stuffed animals, including stoats and squirrels."

A long day

Time seems to go by slowly on some days.  Yesterday and today seem to be a pair of ones.  I tried to tell my daughter that it was a long day yesterday and she looked at me strange.  I could see the cogs going in her head and before she could say anything I said, 'well technically it has been 24 hours, but it feels longer'.

Yesterday and today have been convocation days at the college that I work at. As part of the team that takes care of the multimedia and the computers I get to put in long days to make sure things go right when these events take place, and this semester it was on my campus. Rooms had to be set up, projectors made sure to be running, etc.  You get the idea.

I did get one blessing though.  I changed jobs abruptly in the college and because of that had to change shifts that I was working. That meant that I lost the two classes that I was going to teach.  Teaching brings in the extra $ that I need.  I thought that nothing could be done. But a little faith and prayer and a little putting out of feelers that I was available (the Bible does say 'faith works'), helped me get one class to teach out of the two. While it would have been better to have the two, I am sure that God will provide.

You can do it... we can help

Had an interesting night tonight.  Last night I replaced the float assembly in the toilet tank. In doing so, the old  metal pipe that was coming out of the wall which already had a kink in it got a worse kink.  In doing so, the old metal (probably original pipe from the 60s or 70s) got fatigue and started spraying water.

My thought was to get some JB Weld to try to seal the pipe.  So with some money in my pocket I headed out to the Home Depot.  The wonderful woman at the South Tulsa store talked me out of the weld and suggested that I try to replace the pipe with a new type mesh hose.  I was not sure that I had the skills but she talked me into it.  Well it took two trips to get all the parts needed, and a lot of help from my 14 year old daughter Annie, and it was after 10 when I was done, and it took a few disassembles and reassembles.  But we got it all done.  And afterwards we sat down to some Ice Cream and the first David Tennant  episode of Doctor Who.

I really could have used his screw driver thought.....

 

FOXNews.com - U.S. Atheists Reportedly Using Hair Dryers to 'De-Baptize'

FOXNews.com - U.S. Atheists Reportedly Using Hair Dryers to 'De-Baptize': "American atheists lined up to be 'de-baptized' in a ritual using a hair dryer, according to a report Friday on U.S. late-night news program 'Nightline.'

Leading atheist Edwin Kagin blasted his fellow non-believers with the hair dryer to symbolically dry up the holy water sprinkled on their heads in days past. The styling tool was emblazoned with a label reading 'Reason and Truth.'"

I kind of find this interesting even if it is a few weeks old. It seems that it is OK to make fun of the way that Christians do things. Now to be fair, they make fun of infant baptism, a thing that I do not believe in but accept that some do. But what gives these people the right to make fun of beliefs. If a Christian was to do the same about their beliefs, they would be intolerant Bible thumping fanatics. If they do it, they are trying to open our eyes to the truth.

Seems they might have a bit more faith they they claim, they seem to think that we do not have the truth and that they do.

Do people think before they create advertisement?

Sitting at lunch, reading the company magazine. They want us to sell USB sticks so they have an ad in it for colored USB sticks. Picture has a tween girl sitting at a computer. Now the kicker! The colors; fearless red, aqua blue, ... Lolita. Excuse me, did any one stop to think about this?

Where are the parents?

Many people who know me know I work for a large retail store chain on the weekends. Seen a lot of weird stuff in my two years here. Today has to take the cake. I work in electronics and we haves Nintendo Wii display with a game in it. When I came back from break two kids were playing the game. That in itself is not strange.

Two and half hours later I leave for lunch. The kids ate still playing.



My questions: where were the parents and how could you leave a kid alone that long in a store where there are a lot of strange people?



Or is it just me

Update: mom showed up for her kids Of course I was writing the above at lunch and she came back after I had returned from it. Three and a half hours!

New York Weekly Paper 'Smithsonian Messnger'Depicts Obamas As 'Sanford And Son' - wbztv.com

New York Weekly Paper 'Smithsonian Messnger'Depicts Obamas As 'Sanford And Son' - wbztv.com: "Hazel N. Dukes, president of the state NAACP conference, said in a statement Wednesday that the county should immediately pull advertising from any publication that ran the photo.

'It is simply shocking and outrageous that such a blatantly racist ad would run in any paper, much less an official paper of Suffolk County,' Dukes said. 'New Yorkers of all races and ethnicity are disgusted by it and reject it.'"

And just were these people when George Bush was racially electrotyped all those years as a cowboy with a little bitty hat in so many editorial cartoons. I bet they thought they were funny. But when one of your own gets made fun of, the shoe goes on the other foot.

"Why can't we all just get along?"

Book Review – Different Eyes – The Art of Living Beautifully

Different Eyes: The Art of Living Beautifully

A few weeks ago, my Twitter stream had an offer go through it.  If I had a blog and agreed to give a book review, the nice people from Zonervan would give me a book.  Hey, i will do anything for free so I thought why not.  I contacted they, got the book a few days later, and now, the last day that the review should be done I finally got the book read.  I am not saying it was a boring book. Quite the opposite. In fact, I had to put it down to many times the chew on what the author had to say.

Now when I got the book I did a big eye roll.  The author, Steve Chalke, was listed on the back cover as being '”..a UN Special Advisor working to combat people trafficking.”  Oh well, another liberal author, is it too late to send the book back or pretend that I never got it in the first place.  I am glad that I did not do it.  I took the time to do what I said I would. And in some ways, that is what the author was trying to say.

Now, do not get me wrong.  I still feel, especially from my conservative point of view that the author is more liberal.  I have no problem with that. I know a lot of people who are liberal and we can learn from each other if we put prejudice aside and listen to each other. And that is what I had to do here.

The book is divided into Parts. Each part has two sections and a Thinking Christianity section. The first section is available to read if you are so inclined. And it was the first section that really got me upset with the author.  His premise as I could tell, was that we have interpreted Jesus, the Bible and Christianity in our own image.  Did what our meaning of the words match up with what the Bible really said.  How bold of him to think that was my reaction.  Are you going to tell me that my way is wrong and yours is right.  What makes your opinion any better than mine.  First reactions are not always right.  At one point he points out that if you take the 10 commandments as a list of do’s and do not’s then you have missed the point. Read the whole thing.  Of course, that is what I try to do. As he pointed out that God just before this said, ‘be holy for I am holy’, not the commandments take on a different meaning.  They are not suggestions as some might say, but God is saying, ‘I am Holy, here is how you are to be Holy!’  Now we do not have a list of rules to follow, but ideals. 

Now that becomes the them of the book, the ideals that we should have as Christians.  In fact, in the very last chapter he says what the whole book has said in two lines:

In truth, however, as we have seen, the formation of moral habits and practices is a real and ongoing communal discipline. Whereas blind obedience to a set of inflexible rules is not only a lazy and poor substitute for moral formulation, it will also stunt your growth.

I yelled out in my mind why didn’t you say that 140 pages ago. I could have saved a lot of time.  And then I thought, no I was not ready for what he had to say. Although I feel this is the way I lead my life (not as well as I could I will say), I realized that I would not have accepted what he said 140 pages before this.  I had to let him weave the stories of Jesus life and the old and new testament saints into a pattern that I had not see up until then.  I did not see that when Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan, He did not ask which was the neighbor, he asks who acted like the neighbor.  Who threw away the rules and did what was right.  It was like the story that I heard Charles Swindol say on his radio show, Insight for Living,  this morning. A story of a little boy who in Nazi Germany was lead with a neighborhood in Germany to dig their own graves, and then lined up naked and shot. The boy did not get shot by some miracle, but was covered by his parents blood and fell into the pit when they did. The Germans covered the bodies, but the shallow grave let him breath till night. He dug his way out and went from farmhouse to farmhouse asking for help and all panicked and would not take him in. He then said something no Jewish person would ever say. As the door opened, he said, ‘Do not turn me away, I am the person that your Jesus talks about when he says not to turn away one in need.’  And the took him in warmly. The people had to turn away the fear that they would be killed for taking him in, to do as the Good Samaritan did, throw out the rule book and like the way Christ wanted them too.

Am I going to say this is easy, nope.  It is a struggle every day, and we have to have the insight not to say something is wrong because our church says it is wrong, but we have thought it through and said this is how Jesus would have acted.  Does that mean we will always agree. No, because we are fallen humans and still see things differently.  While the author talks about how much better it would be if we would council young pregnant woman to have their babies, and help with the adoptions rather than be political about it, I had to scream a little bit. First because I know many people/ministries that are doing that. Second, because why can we not do both?  In the end we will have disagreements and I think that is OK. 

The book is not a simple read. If you pick it up, make sure that you know that you will have to take some time to digest the nuggets that are there. I do recommend it though. 

 

Different Eyes: The Art of Living Beautifully

3D TV: Not for the drunk, tired, or pregnant | HDTV | Playlist | Macworld

3D TV: Not for the drunk, tired, or pregnant | HDTV | Playlist | Macworld:

"Viewing in 3D may cause disorientation for some viewers. Accordingly, DO NOT place your TV television near open stairwells, cables, balconies, or other objects that can be tripped over, run into, knocked down, broken or fallen over."

I have to really ask myself, do I really want to watch 3D TV so bad that I would endanger my health. Not to mention the other warnings:

Children and teenagers may be more susceptible to health issues associated with viewing in 3D and should be closely supervised when viewing these images.

and

Pregnant women, the elderly, sufferers of serious medical conditions, those who are sleep deprived or under the influence of alcohol should avoid utilizing the unit's 3D functionality.

WOW

ACORN to formally disband | Reuters

ACORN to formally disband | Reuters: "'ACORN has faced a series of well-orchestrated, relentless, well-funded right wing attacks,' the group said in a statement announcing the moves."

And just how is this different than what the did to the conservatives? Sorry guys, if you can not take it, do not dish it out.

Setting your sights on something BIG!

Obese mother Donna Simpson weighs 43st, but she is determined to nearly double her size to become the world's fattest woman.
The 42-year-old from New Jersey is set on reaching the 1,000lb mark (71st) in just two years.
Remarkably, she insists she is healthy despite now needing a mobility scooter when she goes shopping.

Donna Simpson aims to be world’s fattest woman in two years - World news, News - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk


I guess everyone needs a hobby, but this is kind of ridiculous! I cannot see how it can be good for her to be so heavy, even if she feels she is healthy. It cannot be good for her heart.

in reference to:

"Obese mother Donna Simpson weighs 43st, but she is determined to nearly double her size to become the world's fattest woman. The 42-year-old from New Jersey is set on reaching the 1,000lb mark (71st) in just two years. Remarkably, she insists she is healthy despite now needing a mobility scooter when she goes shopping."
- Donna Simpson aims to be world’s fattest woman in two years - World news, News - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk (view on Google Sidewiki)

BBC News - Love Story author Erich Segal dies from heart attack

BBC News - Love Story author Erich Segal dies from heart attack: "Love Story, which had the tagline 'Love means never having to say you're sorry', was nominated for seven Oscars - including Segal's screenplay - and won one for best original score."

I guess that he will never have to say he is sorry anymore. As sappy as I thought the movie and book were, it is true, true love means never having to say you are sorry ever again.