Random Thoughts 2/18/09

• I'm going to try to get away for 48 hours next week for the Preaching and Teaching Convention at Ozark Christian College. Ultimately it's a trip that could get canceled at any moment, but I'm tentatively making plans.
• Most fan-made films are horrible, almost-unwatchable, little home movies. However, this LOTR fan film looks like they something with at least a TV-level budget (but they didn't). Lord of the Rings fans are of course still waiting for Hobbit movies in a few years.
• Here are some drawings of the new Arrowhead stadium. I saw these when the plan was first proposed but they seem to be circulating among the blogosphere again.
• The Chiefs hired several new assistant coaches including a new defensive coordinator, Gary Gibbs, and retaining the offensive coordinator Chan Gailey. The buzz around town is that the GM Scott Pioli is going to build a team and not just collect talent. That means that talented players that don't fit are expendable but lesser players who do fit will surprise us. This is the recipe for success used by Pioli's former team, the New England Patriots.
• I'm really enjoying teaching my Wednesday night class on Heaven. But I'm genuinely surprised at how folks are reacting to the information, with disbelief, uncertainty, and skepticism. I'm just teaching basic orthodoxy here but our culture is so tainted by Greek dualism and Biblical ignorance that the Bible's teachings sound foreign to our ears. I've taught classes on baptism, church history, and grace that met with less resistance than this class on Heaven.
• I'm quickly becoming spoiled with HD television. Now that we have it, its hard to go back to standard definition. For instance the last few KU games have been in HD, where you can read the players names on the back of their jerseys even in some of the wide shots. But tonight's game (which I'm taping) will be in fuzzy, blurry, square SD. I suppose it was the same when people transitioned from black and white to color.