Sunday, June 15, 2003

I stopped at Blockbuster on my way home from church-lunch with the ‘rents. I won’t bore you with a rant about the questionable customer service I received from the clerk, but it’s a little frustrating when you’ve worked in a store and the clerk tries to tell you they can’t do something that I know can be done. The result was that I was unable to use the coupon that expired today.

Anyway, I rented About a Boy, which I just watched. Very cute. I love, love, love Hugh Grant. Is it just my opinion, but is he great in everything he’s in?

Up next: The House of Mirth
Also rented: My Big Fat Greek Wedding and The Ring

LATER (9:12pm): The Ring is freaky, good freaky...and I admit that I’m a little weirded out from it. Mom, do not watch this. Not your cup-o-tea.

Blog-reading this afternoon and I clicked into my friend Jason’s blog. He doesn’t have archives set up therefore there are no permalinks, so I copied his whole post here.

I’m hesitant to say anything but this has been eating at me. I just saw a marketing postcard from a new church in VB. Besides the fact that they are advertising free starbucks coffee as a reason to attend they make a comment that really frustrates me.

“Late Saturday night? No problem. Sleep in. You can still make it to our 11am service. And better yet, you’ll be out by 12:15” It’s not the “late” comment that bothers me it’s the understood notion that you can come to church and should never be challenged or made uncomfortable. The Biblical Church always set an incredibly high standard for life. The Gospel is uncomfortable to those who are perishing (2 Corinthians 2:15-16). I don’t know why this frustrates me. I understand the church’s intention is to be attractive to non-believers, but sometimes I think we lose sight of the fact that the Biblical Church always called people to something and it wasn’t comfort—it was repentance surrounded by love.

Maybe our marketing strategy should be we offer people a chance to submit to the Lordship of Christ while drinking free Maxwell House coffee?

The title is just a joke for my father, who happens not to be a fathead. My Dad is great...I’m blessed with fantastic parents.

So to my Dad: Happy Father’s Day (again). I’m glad you were home, the b-b-q was delish.

Oh, and Dad, if you see this on Sunday, go check out the logo at Google.

Saturday, June 14, 2003

Kevin at Wizbang has created a Trackback Pinger for non-MT users. I understand the basic idea of the trackback pinger, but I don’t know if I care that much about it for my blog.

Anyway, just thought I’d spread the word for those who might care.

I’ve done my good deed for the day.

Wild at Bleeding Brain has a thought-provoking post about abortion. (If the permalink is not working, it’s at June 10.) An excerpt:

I was following a number of debates regarding the abortion issue and began to imagine a universe in which children (not yet conceived) were given a choice as to where they would be born.

[...]

Some would look upon the earth and watch the gleeful earthlings splashing around in the blue oceans and leaping out of planes to parachute to ground.

To them, it would look so exquisitely delightful that they would hardly be able control their eagerness to be born.

The little angels, as they awaited parental assignments, would be asked to fill out forms to register their selected countries.

I meant to link a specific post of Bryan McAnally’s yesterday, then decided to post about the new blogs in the roll instead. Then I realized this morning, that I really do need to mention the post that got me hooked to Bryan’s blog. An excerpt:

...I had to first undergird the important task of melding the old wafer of Mountain Fresh into the new block of Sport Scent. This is an extremely important process, accomplished by the vice-like squeezing of the two products between my hands. There are many risks associated with this irregularly regular event (which is necessary, because—God forbid—I waste that last 1/32nd of an inch of soap). First, if the wafer be too thick, it could break in half while adhering it to the surface of the other bar. This would result in what is technically known as “lumpy bar” and causes an untold number of irritating soapings. The other main risk is squeezing too hard, causing the the bar of soap to torpedo from between my hands like a lubricated projectile, ricocheting off the walls, and striking me in the head, knocking me unconscious, or worse. I have pledged to my wife that if tragedy ever befalls me, I will do my level best to be completely dressed when it occurs, so she is not assuming the added burden of clothing me before the paramedics arrive.

This is how my life in Christ is to be.

I’ve noticed the link colors match my text box colors. In my work browser the links are standard blue and the boxes don’t show because I have the stylesheets turned off. So I’ll change my box colors.

That’s a bummer, because I really like those colors.

LATER: Fixed - found the olive green from the masthead, which I like so much that I changed the Date Header to that color and the Post Title to the shell. Me likey.

Friday, June 13, 2003

I’m finally getting around to reading the first recaps of The Amazing Race 4 at TV Without Pity.

Best quotes so far:

Reichen is very pretty, but he has that shiny, waxy, sculpted thing happening that makes me unsure whether to admire him or prop him up in the backyard garden and have him made into a fountain.

[...]

DadSteve is a corrections officer. Josh, on the other hand, is a reminder that you should always read care labels, because Elvis Costello is clearly marked dry clean only, and if you put him in the dryer, this is what happens.

[...]

(Re: Millie and Chuck) What I find strange, actually, isn’t that they’re virgins—it’s that they’ve been “dating” for twelve years, and he says he’s “scared of commitment.” Who “dates” for twelve years and is still thinking about whether he wants to commit or not? What kinds of dates are you going on after twelve years? I mean, this is the year of X2; these people have been dating since Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead. She says that if he doesn’t propose soon, she’s going to bail. Well, sure, because dating a guy for thirteen years would just be weird.

[...]

David and Jeff are friends...They are[...]the designated Unfortunate Facial Hair Special Envoys from the planet Remington Microscreen...They claim to be “planners” who “think on [their] feet,” but the introductory footage is of them running on the beach with surfboards. Their motto? Love Us For Our Minds Because We Are Smart, But If It Helps, We Are Ripply Also.

LATER: Just in case you decide to check out TWoP, please be aware that it’s PG-13 to R-rated. Depends on who’s writing, but there’s some profanity at times. Especially if they’re recapping reality TV, because real people tend to cuss a lot more than fictional characters...on TV anyway. You’ve been warned.

James has a regular Caption Contest^TM. The newest one is hilarious. So if you’re clever, run over and submit your entry.

Alas, I’m not clever enough to come up with anything right now. But I love that last picture in the series. HILARIOUS!

There are six bodies in the office. There may be a few deputies up in court, but it’s vewy, vewy, quiet.

And I have to stay another hour.

Dang.

LATER: We’re down to four now. It’s 4:30pm. 30 minutes to go.

Who will be the last to leave? That is a very good question, because those of us left tend not to be the dawdlers at the end of the day.

It’s been a while since I noted the new links in my blogroll. Let me do that now:

Bryan McAnally - I discovered that he had linked to me, so I thought I should reciprocate. That he writes good stuff doesn’t hurt his cause.

Cootiepie - My niece’s blog. Lots of cute photos and anecdotes about CootieGirl.

Losers in the Blogosphere - Mentioned here ad nauseum already is this grand scheme by sadists who insist that we lose weight this summer.

Media Review - I noticed that I was linked there and I’ll admit that this is a reciprocal link here. He doesn’t update often from what I can tell, but it’s interesting stuff anyway. I plan to visit occasionally.

Moving Godward - Another one that linked me first and I’m reciprocating. It’s an interesting read about Anita’s journey of faith.

Phillip Coons - Yet another that linked me first and I’m reciprocating. This guy is in the DC area, so he’s got to be great, right?

Added Later: Poliblogger - I’ve been meaning to add this one to my blogroll. I discovered him through OTB.

Random Act of Kindness - I can’t remember who linked who first here, but Trigg’s libertarian rants are educational for this mainstream Republican. I don’t always agree with him, but he makes me think.

Wizbang - I ended up on his list of Blog*Spot defectors and after checking in there, I decided I liked what I was reading.

Be Quiet - This is Timothy Bard’s new blog home, which looks very cool with a photo-a-day theme. The photos are beautiful and I look forward to when it gets it rolling with content. I’m assuming there will be content, anyway.

Espresso - This used to be named The Ridiculously Mundane, but Daniel has a new look and content style to his blog that I like a lot.

I Am Always Right - I think I already mentioned his move, but I’m willing to shamelessly plug the fact that I’m letting him share my webspace.

For fans of Celebrity Mole, there will be a return that includes Stephen Baldwin and Corbin Berensen.

“We learned from ‘Celebrity Mole Hawaii’ that performers play this game very, very well because their acting abilities raise their level of deception,” said Scott A. Stone, executive producer of the series along with David G. Stanley and Clay Newbill.

The cast includes former v.j. and talk-show host Ananda Lewis, comedian Mark Curry ("Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper"), versatile actors Stephen Baldwin ("Usual Suspects,” “One Good Cop") and Corbin Bernsen ("L.A. Law,” “Major League"), sitcom stars Tracy Gold ("Growing Pains") and Keisha Knight Pulliam ("The Cosby Show"), supermodel Angie Everhart and legendary basketball bad boy Dennis Rodman.

“Celebrity Mole Yucatan” will be a special seven-episode version of the show, as each of the eight celebrities tries to figure out who among them is The Mole. The celebrities will use all their guile to uncover clues that could lead them to a pot of up to $250,000. They must complete a series of challenging physical and mental games to earn money for the pot, which one player will eventually win (last season comedienne Kathy Griffin took home $233,000). Working undercover against the team, however, is The Mole, a double agent planted by the producers to sabotage the players’ efforts. It is the goal of the players to decide who they think The Mole is, then learn as much about him or her as possible. In the final dramatic episode, The Mole is revealed and the one remaining player wins the jackpot.

[via Reality Blurred]

The Governor of Texas may want to look into subsidizing parenting classes in that state. Here’s another fine example of the type of parents that seem to be profligate in Texas.

SUGAR LAND, Texas — A 7-year-old girl was abandoned by her mom in a grocery store Monday after a shoplifting scheme soured, an investigators have not yet been able to locate the girl’s home, her mother, or two accomplices.

1. What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to do, but never have?  Get married and have a family. But it’s not just up to me on that one.

2. When someone asks your opinion about a new haircut/outfit/etc, are you always honest?  Probably not completely honest - it depends on who it is. I’ll find a way to be tactful about it.

3. Have you ever found out something about a friend and then wished you hadn’t? What happened?  Yes. It was terrible not letting them know I knew. But I managed it and it eventually didn’t matter.

4. If you could live in any fictional world (from a book/movie/game/etc.) which would it be and why?  Hobbiton because life is so much simpler. And I love the Hobbit-holes with round doors.

5. What’s one talent/skill you don’t have but always wanted?  Hmmm, I’m pretty talented. I wish I were more athletic, just generally. I’ve always liked sports, but not to play.