Monday's Devotion

Here's today's devotion from Church camp:

“Recycling Your Mind”
by Jared Altic

In 2003, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock tried a risky experiment. Spurlock ate nothing but McDonald’s food for thirty days, breakfast, lunch and dinner, and his health began to deteriorate immediately. He gained as much as two pounds per day, began feeling depressed, and developed a long list of health problems. Twenty-one days into the experiment, one of his doctors told him to “stop now” to prevent permanent health problems but Spurlock continued his McDonald’s diet. At the end of the thirty days, the filmmaker had gained about 25 pounds which took him over a year to lose again.

It’s fairly obvious that if Morgan Spurlock had continued such an unhealthy diet he would have eventually killed himself. His “Super Sized” diet of fatty, unhealthy foods was so extreme that he might have done permanent damage to his body in just 30 days of bad behavior. Most remarkable was how it affected him emotionally, creating a drug-addiction kind of depression and dependency.

If unhealthy food can do this, what would an unhealthy diet of entertainment do? How much vulgar language and moral filth can we pipe directly into our brains before it begins to affect us?

Read Philippians 4:8. List the things God’s people should be thinking about.

Morgan Spurlock’s wife put him on a “detox diet” to help him get healthy again. Imagine how our lives would be different if we applied Phil. 4:8 to our thinking.

How would your friendships be different?

How would your attitude change?

Think about your intellectual junk food. What most interferes with your closeness to God?

Read Romans 12:2. Perhaps we don’t understand God and his purposes for our lives because our mind is still patterned after this world. How can God help us change this?

Pray for God’s guidance to renew our mind; to recover from the world’s sinful, rebellious, hurtful thinking.

Best Plan Yet

If the Longhorns and their calves (I'm looking at you Oklahoma, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma State) stampede to the Pac-10, then maybe there's hope after all for the Big 12.

According to this plan, what's left of the Big 12 would merge with the Mountain West Conference to form a new Big 12 (Big 15?). That's Kansas, K-State, Iowa State, Missouri, and Baylor (and A&M?) adding the 10 Mountain West teams. The Mountain West includes Utah, BYU, UNLV, San Diego State, Wyoming, Colorado State, Air Force, New Mexico, Texas Christian, and now includes Boise State. By merging under the Big 12 name, you keep the BCS rights of the Big 12 and get the payouts of those turncoats that left early.

If the Big 12 just dissolves, Nebraska and Colorado pay no penalties because there's no one to pay.

Rumor has it that the new Big 12, which would number between 13 and 16 teams could pursue schools like Houston or SMU, if necessary, to round out a group of 16. Personally, I'd love to see them jump on this and beat the Big Ten to it, claiming the name Big 16 while it's still available. Sixteen seems to be all the rage lately.

I don't know much about Craig Thompson, the commissioner of the Mountain West, but I'd suggest he ought to replace the Big 12's Dan Beebe, since Beebe doesn't like 16-team super conferences.

New Blog Design

I decided to lighten up my blog design a little. I tweaked the colors and added a background photo. I realize that with a small audience that reads my blog on Facebook and through RSS feeds that only a tiny audience actually sees my blog design first hand… but I hope you enjoy!

• New background photo – looks like something I'd be allergic to – and it covers the formerly dark gray sides.
• I didn't like the black band across the top; it looked like memorial band. Those links are in the sidebar now.
  
• I took out the blue colored links and changed everything to green and orange.
• I kept my same title photo - I like it too much to let it go.

It's All So Confusing

So now the the Big Ten has twelve teams and the Big 12 has ten teams. Okay, sure.

The poor Big 12 doesn't stand much of a chance it seems. By all counts, the conference is waiting for Texas and its satellites to defect or stay – and Texas (and Texas A&M too) seems eager to go. Oklahoma has hitched its wagons to Texas, it seems, which is probably smart for them. Missouri was humbled (humiliated?) yesterday but could still fit into the Big Ten before everything is finished. Poor KU, K-State, and Iowa State seem especially unloved right now.

Random Thoughts 6/11/10

• Panthers' wide receiver Muhsin "Moose" Muhammad is retiring after 14 years in the NFL. And I've been waiting. Moose was the color commentator in an NFL Europe game several years ago. I saw it. He was fantastic; hands down, one of the best, as good as the big-name guys who do it on Sunday afternoons. I know that there's a long line of retired players who think they have second career in broadcasting, but Moose could really, really be good.
• It's sad to see the Big 12 implode. Grrrr…
• I'm doing church camp next week. Blogging will be spotty at best from Sunday to Friday.
• John Juanda, one of the nicest guys in professional poker, has already made two final tables in the first 15 events in this year's World Series of Poker. Just these two great finishes (4th place and 5th place) have earned him half a million dollars. The WSOP runs through mid-July.
• Are there any Big 12 schools you miss when your team doesn't play them regularly anymore? I'm really apathetic about Colorado and Nebraska. But if Missouri or K-State gets separated from KU, then it'll bother me. I'll miss seeing the Oklahoma schools too.
• When I go to camp, I'll be leaving Shannon, Graham, and Anneliese at home. That's really going to make me sad.
  

The Beginning of the End, Part 2

Here's some thoughts:

• Colorado was actually the first domino to fall. The ugly truth is that if Colorado left the Big 12 and that was it… no one would have noticed. Colorado wasn't a significant factor in the Big 12 and could have been easily replaced. But once Nebraska leaked that they are also leaving… that cinched it. At that point, all bets were off with the Big 12.
• Stupid Nebraska. Yes, the Texas schools were a pain in the rear, but we had a good thing going. That said, Nebraska is the only one who won't be quadrupling their travel budget by realigning. They are honestly a good fit for the Big Ten.
  
• Nobody wants Baylor, but Texas politics may save them in the end. Otherwise, they're in real trouble.
  
• Poor Mizzou. Ha Ha!!! Missouri started all this talk about going to the Big Ten, but then they got passed over for the Cornhuskers!!! Ha Ha!!! The current rumors have the Big Ten looking in other directions. You were left at the altar, poor Tigers.
• One of the great tragedies in all of this is the loss of the fantastic Big Ten logo, which reflected the eleven teams that made up the Big Ten for twenty years.
  
• K-State and Iowa State may be the real losers here. K-State's best hope is that KU and MU get a good invite on which the Wildcats can tag along. That's really not fair but that's where it's at right now.
  
• The Texas and Oklahoma schools are gone to the Pac-10 almost for sure. How are they going to bus their track teams and swimming teams to California every other week? Are they going to pay to fly them there? The logistics are going to be killer.
  
• Where will KU go? Somewhere east, along with Missouri? Can the leftovers (KU, MU, K-State, Iowa State, and maybe Baylor?) build a new conference? Maybe merge with the Mountain West and form a new BCS conference to replace the Big 12? Perhaps Memphis or some others back east could join?
  

The Beginning of the End

Thanks a lot, Nebraska. Nebraska began playing football games with Missouri and Kansas in 1892. I guess that doesn't count for anything against the almighty dollar.

Jerks.

Is Missouri next? Will the Big 12 south go to the Pac-10? What's KU or K-State supposed to do if everyone leaves?

Random Thoughts 6/9/10

• Helen Thomas, the anti-Semitic "reporter" in the White House press pool has retired. Thank goodness, especially after suggesting the other day that the Jews of Israel should "go back to Germany and Poland." If only she had retired twenty years ago.
  
• Get ready for some 80's nostalgia. Both the "Thundercats" and "Voltron" are coming to the Nicktoons network as new animated shows. I've really enjoyed the "Star Wars: Clone Wars" on Cartoon Network with my older boys, so maybe these shows might be worth a try.
• Go Meg Whitman for California governor! She's not perfect but that state is so close to going "Greece" it's not even funny. Hopefully it's not too late.
• The iPhone 4 looks fantastic! Wow. I'd love to upgrade at the end of the year, which is probably the earliest we'll be eligible. But fortunately the iOS 4 software update is due out in a week and a half and that will keep us happy with our current phones.
• I don't think our President is a potty-mouth. I think he is a weak individual trying to feign toughness. It wasn't "saltiness," it was bad acting.
  

100 Miles and Counting

As of my ride at 6am yesterday, I have passed 100 miles on my new bike. 100.89 miles to be exact. I know that's not a lot in cycling terms, but I'm really pleased with what I've done in the last three weeks.

Random Thoughts 6/5/10

• Tomorrow is the 66th anniversary of D-Day, 6/6/1944.
• The Hobbit movies lost their director, Guillermo del Toro. He's still involved but scheduling conflicts means he can't be the director of the two Lord of the Rings prequels. This isn't a total loss if Peter Jackson, the producer, would become the director. But the wrong director could ruin this project.
• 87% of Americans would like to make English the nations official language. How in the world do we not make that happen with that kind of support? Our laws and history are written in English; citizens need a command of the language if they're going to preserve their rights. Here's a great map of English speaking countries.
• Charles Krauthammer does an excellent job of explaining the predicament that Israel finds itself in and what options it has left. For my part, I'm just flabbergasted that the American left can be so overtly anti-Semitic, a la Helen Thomas.
• John Wooden passed away yesterday at 99 years of age. God bless a great basketball coach and a great Christian man.
• Only a weak-minded socialist who believes they are dependent on the government for handouts fills out the census "to get my fair share."
• Everything you need to know about 4G cell phones here.
• My wife is making 200 homemade cinnamon rolls for church tomorrow. We might set a record attendance.
  

Best Ride Yet

I got up at 6am yesterday and cycled an 8-mile route that went through Wyandotte County Park.

Perfect!

This is my new standard ride. I really liked the route as well as the time of day. The sun was only just up, it was 70º, and there was virtually no traffic whatsoever. This ride took me about 40 minutes but I think I can get it down to around 30-35 minutes as my conditioning improves.

My Wife is Smokin'

My beautiful wife was using her newly restored smoker again today. Today it was ribs and smoked bologna. The first time it was the best tasting smoked turkey ever. The yard smells wonderful, the kitchen smells wonderful, everything smells like delicious, yummy smoke.

Good job, sweetheart! You're smokin'!

Random Thoughts 6/2/10

• Church camp is coming up fast. I'm the assistant dean and teacher at Junior High week this year as well as the evangelist for the second week of Sr. High (Deeper Life).
• Google is so fed up with the security issues in Windows 7 that they're dumping Microsoft in favor of Linux machines and Macs. Gotta love that, especially since Google hasn't been too friendly with Apple lately.
• I know it's too late now, but Memorial Day weekend was a great time for classic war movies. Several channels were showing some of the best historical movies ever made. Fox movies had Patton, while Spike was showing a "Band of Brothers" marathon. Turner Classic Movies had 72 hours of war movies followed by a 24 hour Clint Eastwood marathon. I taped a few shows here and there but in future years my boys will get their classic movie education on weekends like this.
  
• Apple has sold 2 million iPads in its first two months. That's an insane amount. Personally, I'm going to stick with a laptop for a few more years but I fully expect tablets like the iPad to start working their way into our lives. The iPad, in particular, is so easy to use that I could see it make huge strides in educating children and personal computing for the elderly. Right now, it can't push my iPhone or my Mac laptop out of my life, and since I can't afford (or justify) three devices for my computing needs, the iPad will have to be on my Christmas list, 2011 or later.
• For the first time in almost three weeks, I finally saw another cyclist while riding my bike. I saw two cyclists yesterday while commuting to work.
  
• One question for Tipper: is Al a true believer or was the whole global warming thing a political means to an end? And either way, who gets the ginormous carbon footprint of the Gore household?
• The Royal Society is going to "review" its formerly uncritical support of global warming. Oops.

14 Years Married

I was asked a few questions about my anniversary that I thought were worth sharing:

Q. Does fourteen years feel any different that five or ten?

A. Yes, in subtle ways. Shannon said she thought this was our best year, and I'd have to agree. We are both actively working to be better communicators, better teammates. This is paying off as we work better together and parent better because of the energy we're investing in it.

A lot of people measure a "good year" by the lack of major catastrophes. But in a marriage a good year ought to be measure by how well both good and bad times were handled.

Q. So it's like a fine wine, getting better with age?

A. No. A wine improves as you leave it alone. But marriage is more like a house. If you leave a house alone, it'll fall apart. But if every year you do the regular maintenance along with a few improvement projects, it will increase in value – even greater than the sum of the individual investments.

Too many people treat their marriage with a hands-off attitude, saying, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." But if a marriage isn't actively maintained, you'll get so far behind that you may feel it's too overwhelming to do anything about it.

My Girl is Bipolar for Horses

We went to Aunt Sonya's yesterday, which seems to be Anneliese's favorite hangout of late. One of the highlights is that Aunt Sonya has horses!

Did someone say horses?




Where are the horses?




There's the horse!!!



Thanks, Craig and Sonya, for loving our kids! (And for having horses)

Memorial Day 2010

In 1994 I visited the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in Metro Manila, Philippines. Over 17,000 Americans who died in World War 2 are buried here and another 36,000 names of those Missing in Action are also listed here.

It's a remarkable monument to the fallen.

Better Biking

I'm steadily improving in my cycling, getting stronger and faster. Today I took a mid-morning ride, about six and a half miles long. I had my best time for that route yet, shaving a minute off my time and averaging over 12 miles per hour; it was one of my better rides ever considering the hills on that route. There's one hill that is just long enough and just steep enough to really get me, almost stopping me each time.

I've only been biking for two and half weeks but I'm really pleased with the progress I'm making. I'm a pretty big guy but I've gone almost 75 miles and burned almost 6000 calories. I'm sure that if I can keep this up, a little six mile ride would make a nice warm-up rather than be the devastating workout it is now.

My first major goal is to ride around Wyandotte County Lake, which is pretty hilly and bit longer than most of my current rides.

My iPhone's GPS tracks the route and gives me my speed and location and all the averages, including splits by mile or by time. It maps my ride on Google and then sends me a link via email. Having this kind of information (and communication – it emails my wife as I ride) is really helping me enjoy the sport.

Random Thoughts 5/28/10

• I'm sure glad Kansas is so flat because otherwise those hills would've absolutely killed me on my ride this morning. Ugh. I'm enjoying the cycling but it is a lot harder than I had anticipated.
  
• I've read the Arizona immigration law. And a lot of people don't have a clue what they're talking about. In my opinion the law tries too hard to be cautious and politically correct.
  
• The World Series of Poker (WSOP) starts today. As usual, I'll be rooting for the professionals, as that strengthens the argument that Poker is less a game of chance and more a game of skill. When the more skilled and experienced players win more often, like Phil Ivey's incredible run last year.
• This is a real-life scramjet. For real. Finally, the materials science caught up the engineering.
• Former child-actor Gary Coleman died today. Hmmm… that's really sad. I saw an interview with him recently, he seemed like a nice guy whose parents robbed him blind and set him up for a seriously difficult life.
  

A New, Longer Route

My bike route this morning was a hilly, 6+ mile route that took me about half an hour. It nearly killed me and it's the closest I've come yet to stopping mid-ride. I have longer routes mapped out but it looks like my conditioning is going to have to improve first.

Counting the added weight of my bike, I'm still pushing a considerable mass down the road, with all the aerodynamic qualities of billboard. I've been especially disappointed with how little my downhill inertia translates into uphill distance. More than once a nice old man in a motorized wheelchair was making better speed up a hill than I was. Oh, well.

In the last two weeks I've cycled almost 60 miles and burned about 5000 calories. I've averaged 11.35 mph, which seemed really slow to me at first but, now that I'm done a few hills, I can't believe it's double digit. So far: no wrecks, no flats, no dog bites, no soccer moms in minivans running me off the road… yet.

That Got A Long, Low Whistle

I was looking at some church database software and saw this sentence:

Some churches call a Family a “Pledging Unit”.

Wow. I can't imagine why people think churches are out to get their money.

Random Thoughts 5/26/10

• HBO's "The Pacific" comes out on DVD on November 2. Please don't call until at least the morning of the 3rd.
• I'm almost done reading Eugene Sledge's book, With the Old Breed. It is easily one of the best war memoirs I've ever read. It will be on the required reading list for my boys when they're old enough to handle it. Wow.
  
• There are lots of rumors floating around about Verizon or even Sprint getting the iPhone sooner rather than later. The new fourth generation iPhone is expected to be released in coming weeks and the current iPhone 3Gs dropped in price at Walmart to $99.
• This is why "Lost" was the most overrated show in a long, long time. I can't stand it when writers make stuff up as they go along, writing without a plan, and then leave the audience hanging with dozens of unanswered questions.
• Has anybody noticed that North and South Korea are about to go to war and that a South Korean ship was torpedoed by the North, killing 46 sailors?
  
• President Obama is seeing his lowest approval numbers ever. His approval index rating is -20 and his job approval is down to 42%. Here's the report from Rasmussen.
  
• Finally, here's a great video paying homage to the Get a Mac ad campaign that gave us, "I'm a Mac." "And I'm a PC."
  

Not the Trash Man

Random Thoughts 5/24/10

• We just finished our home Bible study yesterday, watching the "Truth Project." I have to say that the video series is good but not readily accessible; some of the lessons are downright tough to endure. But all of the information is good and necessary; perhaps the college lecture format just isn't as user friendly as they expected.
• I've been cycling almost everyday. My standard route this last has been a five mile, 25 minute route down to Wyandotte County Park and back. My iPhone tracks the speed and position via GPS and gives me a report on how I'm doing. The nerd in me loves that!
• My beautiful wife just found and salvaged (or "picked") a BBQ smoker. You have to check out what she did with it! Now we have a $300-400 smoker for almost nothing.
• One of my friends from church, Marc C., has been helping me with the whole cycling thing. Perhaps the best part yet was a small mirror he gave me Sunday that clips on to my sunglasses. That little rear view mirror may literally be a life saver, especially when I'm changing lanes on Parallel Pkwy.
• Our sermon podcast feature is back up on the church website. Now you will be able to search and find sermons and listen to them in multiple ways. We'll be adding archived sermons shortly.
• We're getting ready for fantasy football again. We're debating going to an auction format for the draft. It's an improvement in most ways over the traditional serpentine style draft, but it is more involved and it is different than what we've been doing. I think it's the way to go but I can see some of our super conservative guys not being interested in changing.
  

Random History Thoughts 5/22/10

• Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back. Widely considered the best of the six Star Wars movies, Empire is easily my favorite and probably generates enough interest to forgive the flaws of the other five films.
  
• Today is the 30th anniversary of the original Pac-Man video game.
• Last Tuesday was the 30th anniversary of Mount St. Helens erupting.
• June 1 is the 30th anniversary of CNN. It's also our 14th wedding anniversary. Happy early anniversary, sweetie!
• Today is the 633rd anniversary of the Pope denouncing John Wycliffe.
• This is the 167th anniversary of the Oregon Trail. "You have died of dysentery."
  
• Today is the 104th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' patent #821,393 for the "flying machine."
• Today is also the 20th anniversary of Windows 3.0. Fortunately, Windows got a lot more Mac-like, including the comparable Windows 7.
  
• Today is the 18th anniversary of the last Johnny Carson "Tonight Show."
• Today is the birthday of composer Richard Wagner (197) and actor Laurence Olivier (103).
  

TV in Fall 2010

In a perfect world, television shows with good acting and writing would continue while poor ones would be canceled. It's not a perfect world. Budgets, personalities, and pandering to the lowest common denominator rule the day, so… here's the scoop on TV next fall:

Ending/Canceled: Heroes, Law & Order, Scrubs, FlashForward, Dollhouse, 24, 'Til Death, Ghost Whisperer, Cold Case, Ugly Betty, Lost, et al.

Renewed: Chuck, V, Castle, Survivor, American Idol (sans Simon Cowell), The Marriage Ref, Parks and Recreation, Community, Who Do You Think You Are, and many more.

Here's TV Guide's scorecard for the Fall schedule.

• So NBC is getting rid of "Law & Order" (tied with "Gunsmoke" with a record 20 seasons of drama) but is ordering a new "Law & Order: Los Angeles." I've not watched any of the Law & Order series for years (since the Det. Briscoe/Jack McCoy/Arthur Branch days) but I used to be a fan.
• There are rumors that "Law & Order" will move to basic cable channel TNT to air the record-breaking 21st season.
  
• I've been watching "V," in spite of itself. The show is poorly written and has some really mediocre acting, but the nostalgia factor helps me give the show a lot of grace. My question is how in the world a show like "V" gets renewed when shows like "Firefly" can't finish a single season?
• I understand the networks' reasons behind it, but I think that putting a show on a long hiatus (eight months or longer) hurts the fan base of the show.
• Survivor has been moved to Wednesday nights at 7. Formerly, it had been on Thursdays nights since 2001. Survivor's first season was on Wednesday nights at 8, all the back in 2000.
• I can't believe CBS greenlit a new show with the s-word in the title, staring William Shatner. I suppose they could change the word to "stuff" or even "shat" (because of Shatner), but still…
• The traditional network television season is roughly September-December with the second half from January to May. But cable television is throwing that to the wind. Cable channels sometimes offset their programs so that you're watching their shows when the networks are showing reruns, e.g. AMC's "Mad Men" starts July 25, while the Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Catch" started in April and will run through the summer.
• Conan O'Brien returns to TV, this time on TBS, on November 8.
  

Brain Damage

Like Bill Cosby said, the children have brain damage!

This morning I texted Shannon while she was at the doctor. These are the actual texts:

-Our children are retarded. I'm changing the bike tire, patching it and putting sealant in it. Meanwhile…

-Sis takes off her poopy diaper, Tanner steps in it, and she squats and pees on the kitchen floor.

I walked in the house from working in the driveway to see my 14-month old daughter squatted over a puddle on the kitchen floor. She sees me, bolts upright, back peddles in place like a cartoon character, and lands on her behind, soiling the yellow dress I had put on her just 15 minutes before. Just beyond her is my 8-year old, who was sitting on his behind next to dirty diaper, sticking one fecal matter-covered foot in the air.

The 9-year old and 6-year old were running in circles around the other two yelling, "What do we do?! What do we do?!" The 4-year old was sitting on the beanbag watching TV; none of this had yet risen to a level that he deemed more important than the cartoon he was watching.

I was in disbelief that my four boys didn't notice their baby sister remove her diaper, right in front of the TV, dump a bowel movement out of said diaper and then waddle to the kitchen to urinate.

I was just outside (that time) for less than 15 minutes.

Wow.

Random Thoughts 5/18/10

• Here's a list of states ranked for business by CEOs. The Top 10, led by Texas, are mostly "red" states. The bottom five, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Michigan, New York, and California are pretty solidly "blue" states. Kansas and Missouri are right in the middle, at 25 and 26, respectively.
• I patched my first bicycle tire today. Brennan ran over a screw with his new bike and I did the repair, removing the tube, finding the leak, patching it, adding sealant, and doing all sorts of other things YouTube taught me.
• Are you tracking what TV shows are getting canceled? I am. I'll post something at the end of the week after all the networks announce their plans to ruin television as we know it.
• The NBA lottery order is decided tonight, which might affect two KU players (Aldrich and perhaps Henry).
• Did you hear that Ted Turner thinks God is telling us something? It's not about oil wells or environmentalism or any other item in the news but God is trying to tell us something. Good try there, Ted, even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
• Great new poster for the next Narnia movie. Did you spot the Dawn Treader?
  

Going for a Ride

I rode my first non-commute today on my Bike, a quick 25-minute, five mile round trip to Wyandotte County Park and back. My iPhone's GPS tracks the ride and gives me a fairly accurate report on my speed and path, which you can see here.

The app I use is Cyclometer, which tracks the rides, manages routes, provides charts and maps, and even emails my wife when I arrive at my destination. The only problem I have is probably a limitation of the phone: the GPS doesn't accurately portray the elevation at all. The elevation graph misses the hills and valleys completely, but the speed graph seems right on.

Google maps recently added bicycle routes to its features. The map of Wyandotte County doesn't show a lot of bicycle paths or bicycle friendly roads but there are still some good options.

Random Thoughts 5/16/10

• Al Gore doesn't know what he's talking about. Great article, by the way.
• Two words about my cycling: saddle sore. But I'll keep riding and slowly increasing the amount that I ride. If the rain lets up, I hope to ride Monday morning.
  
• Protecting our border doesn't seem quite so racist when a third of the citizens in Arizona and 52% of the Border Patrol officers are Hispanic. Besides that, calling someone racist today is about the biggest ad hominem attack possible: you don't have to answer their argument, you just attack their character.
• I got to work yesterday and realized that I had a chunk of some sort of cereal bar or pop tart in my shoe. I didn't put it there.
• Speaking of work, I took my four sons with me to the office and they played quietly together for hours. I got a lot of work and studying done while they played. What good boys.
• Poor Shannon went to Worlds of Fun as a youth group sponsor… and it rained all day.
  

Baby What?!

I was looking through the freezer for something to fix for dinner for the boys… and did a double take… and a triple take. I could have sworn this package said, "Baby Whale."

My Schwinn

My goal after losing 40+ pounds (January to April) was to buy a bike. I have an easy commute and my older boys are starting to bicycle every day, so it seemed like a good idea. So after four months of saving and waiting (and starving), my bike finally arrived.





The assembly wasn't too difficult, especially with a knowledgeable (and enthusiastic) friend to help. Marc not only helped me assemble the bike but fine tuned the brakes and shifters and adjusted everything that could be adjusted.


And here's the final product, my 700c Schwinn Avenue.


The boys are so happy to ride together up and down our street (on their new bikes, that replaced the stolen ones) and I've traveled back and forth to work a few times now. The workout is great but how do you get used to being so saddle sore? I'm thinking of a giant piece of yellow foam and some duct tape. That's what Lance Armstrong would do.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Here's a fantastic graph showing how long it took professional golfers to win a major from when they first starting playing golf. Most of them played for over twenty years before they won their first major.

There's no substitute for hard work and dedication.

I'm Moving to New Jersey

…just so I can vote for this guy. New Jersey governor Chris Christie is awesome!

Gov Christie calls S-L columnist thin-skinned for inquiring about his 'confrontational tone'

Random Thoughts 5/13/10

• The planet Jupiter got demoted from corporal to private. The planet recently lost one of its two large red stripes and scientists don't really know why.
• It's been a great season of "Survivor," which ends this Sunday by the way.
• Pixar canceled it's upcoming movie, Newt, which would have been about the last two blue-footed newts on Earth. It would have been a "not if you were the last man on earth" love story, which I thought sounded really interesting. Oh, well.
• "Heroes" is almost certainly canceled for next season. That's okay; it's been dead on it's feet for awhile (like since the last episode of the first season). There may be a tv-movie finale to wrap up the show. The networks reveal their Fall lineups next Monday.
• I started biking today, making three short 2-mile trips between home and work. It'll take some getting used to but soon this little jaunt will be child's play.
• Will Verizon get the iPhone this year? It's been about 14 months since a Verizon sales rep told me not to leave because "we're about to get the iPhone too; this year for sure!" Yeah, whatever.
  

Some Assembly Required

It looks like Dad's bike arrived first but we'll all be back on two wheels by this weekend.

Random Thoughts 5/11/10

• Best computer rumor I've heard all week: Apple's MobileMe service, which syncs your data between devices and provides online storage for $99 annually, could become a FREE service. I'd be all over that.
• How in the world does my little girl (14 months old) know to play with hairbrushes, lipstick, and nail polish? We didn't (directly) teach her that. The boys at that age would have used the hairbrush as a gun… but how did they know that? Could it be that boys and girls are different?
• I really appreciate our church's youth minister, Chris C. He's hard working, creative, and has a heart of gold. God has blessed us by calling him here. But if I get five minutes alone with his cell phone, I'm changing all of his ring tones. Chris' philosophy is that ring tones are easier to hear if they're more annoying; I hear his phone in my sleep.
  
• We are slowly shopping for bicycles to replace the ones stolen from my boys. It's going to run us something on the order of $350, and that's shopping online, at garage sales, and at Walmart. We have had some help with this (Thank You!!!) but it's still quite an undertaking.
• I did finally get my money for my bicycle, a Schwinn Avenue hybrid. I'm getting pretty excited about the prospect of cycling, both to commute and to ride with my family.
• We've started watching "American Pickers" and "Pawn Stars" on the History Channel. We're addicted.
  

Starting a Library

What book would you give to a young person to begin their Christian library? Let's assume that they already have a Bible; what else should be on their shelf?

I'd love to generate a reading list of Christian books to share at church through our website (thanks for the idea, Tom M.). Add your comments below or on Facebook.

Topeak Surgery

I found a Topeak-brand neoprene cell-phone pouch, normally $20, for $2.99 on the clearance rack. The pouch has a belt clip that snaps into a mount for handlebars and such. It's perfect for carrying my iPhone when I start cycling, except for one thing… there's no room for the earphones plug at the top of the phone (due to the pouch's velcro flap).

Well, I solved that problem in about 5 minutes.


I stopped by Home Depot (I wasn't sure where to go but I got lucky) and bought a small, 96¢ neoprene rubber grommet. When I got back to the office, I measured the case with my phone inside, took a hole punch and made a hole. I inserted the grommet and voilá!





I'm super pleased with how easy this modification was. As long you have a quality hole puncher, you could do this to backpacks, arm bands, fanny packs, or anything else that could hold an iPod but lacks the necessary headphones access.

Random Thoughts 5/7/10

• JaMarcus Russell was cut yesterday. The Raiders will have paid him $39 million to be the biggest draft bust in history. Once again: I… Told… You… So.
  
• I still can't believe someone stole our kids' bikes Wednesday night.
• So how is the recruiting going for next year's basketball season (the signing period ends May 19)? Here's the rankings from Rivals.com which has their #1 recruit (Josh Selby) going to Kansas but ranks the recruiting class at #23 overall. KU missed out on PF Terrence Jones, who announced last week that he'd stay in Washington state. Personally, I'd like to see them add another forward or center to develop behind the great front line KU already has. This team seems really guard heavy, even after losing Collins and Henry.
• We had a great deacons' meeting last night. Those are good men, all around, and we had some fantastic discussions. I know I'm biased but I feel like we're blessed with more earnest, spiritually mature and humble men than a church our size deserves.
• Only 39% of voters would re-elect President Obama if the elections were held today. Welcome to the reality of governing (versus the lollipop and rainbow land of academia and campaigning), Mr. President.
• I'm really fascinated by Eugene Sledge's book on his WW2 experiences, With the Old Breed. Wow.
• I don't have an iPad… yet. I'm probably more of a 2nd generation guy. But this website gallery of full size screen shots is kinda perty.
  

Another Liberal Sees the Light

Here's a great little testimony of a former liberal, awakening from her academia-induced stupor to greet the light of day. It was written a week ago to note the communist holiday (irony noted) of May Day, but it's a good read any time of the year.

More of Robin's posts here.

115,000 Hits

We passed 115,000 hits sometime yesterday.

Thanks for reading! 99% of my hits are from family, church family and personal friends. Thanks for checking in on my random ramblings.

Note: I'm only blogging a milestone post in increments in 5,000 now.

Bike Thieves

You've got to be kidding.

Somebody stole our kids' bicycles during the night. Specifically, they took four children's bikes, a tricycle and a scooter. Some were out front but the others were in our garage (which makes it burglary).

Why?!

Nothing else was taken but now our kids, who ride their bikes daily, are without their bikes!!! We called the police, talked to our neighbors, etc. I just can't believe someone would steal from children. And we have so many questions:

• Was this a random event or were we targeted?
• Why our bicycles and not our other property?
• Why our bicycles and not any of the others in the neighborhood, including several in our neighbors' front yards?
• Will the thieves come back?
  
• Are we safe?
• Do we have to lock up all of our stuff now? (Our neighborhood generally doesn't)

Lessons learned:

• Write down the serial numbers on the bikes.
• More lights. More dogs.
• Bicycle locks.
• Let the "Momma Bear" pack heat.
  

Random Thoughts 5/5/10

• Happy "France-Suffers-Another-Embarrassing-Loss" Day.
• I've been a political, social, and fiscal conservative my whole life and racism just isn't something I ever encounter. I bet its been twenty years since I heard someone earnestly advocate a racist position. The conservatives I know are proudly of the party of Lincoln.
• The largest airline in the world is the new United Airlines, the product of the merger between United and Continental. Here's what their new logo and brand identity look like.
• Tim Tebow has the best selling jersey in the NFL.
• Shannon has been a busy bee lately. Check out what she did to my garage… er, barn. Finishing touches here.
• Why is HTML5 replacing Flash in your future? Read here, computer geeks.
  

Grandma's New Computer

Unlikable Heroes

I recently finished the book A Helmet for My Pillow by Robert Leckie, the war memoir of a WW2 Marine and (in part) the basis for HBO's new war series, "The Pacific." In reading it I realized that I don't like the guy, which is frustrating because I so admire veterans. As I wrote on Facebook:

Me: "I'm reading Helmet For My Pillow (Leckie) and With The Old Breed (Sledge) now."

Facebook Friend: "Jared... I need to read both of those books too. How are they so far?"

Me: "I'm realizing I don't like Leckie, as a person or as an author (reminds me a lot of David Kenyon Webster of Band of Brothers fame, whose book & personality is snobby, lazy, selfish, ignoble). But Sledge's book is one of the best war memoirs ever written."

Leckie is a self-described brig-rat (repeated thrown in jail while in the Marines) and a chronic thief; he disobeys orders, goes AWOL, avoids fighting, and avoids responsibility at all costs. He doesn't seem sorry at all for giving such a poor effort.

I remember when I read Webster's book how disappointed I was that one of the "Band of Brothers" men was purposefully dragging his feet. You might recall that Harvard educated "Web" got lightly wounded in Holland, was slow returning to Easy Company, missed the Battle of the Bulge, and was received coldly by his remaining comrades. In his book he openly talks about avoiding responsibility and deliberately being difficult.

Leckie had him beat by a country mile.

On the other hand, both of these men (Leckie and Webster) volunteered to fight and engaged the enemy. They both were intelligent authors who cast themselves in the unfavorable light of their own books. I guess they both still deserve our respect; it's just hard to see heroes act in a way anything less than heroic.

Cross Walk

My dad came up with a design and lead a small crew that built a walkway between buildings at Mission Lake Christian Camp.

Good job, Dad!

More Hobbits in 2012

So it seems that the folks at MGM are not believers in the 2012 Dooms Day predictions (though the company may not survive 2010)…

The Hobbit, which is being made into two movies by Peter Jackson (directed by the talented Guillermo del Toro), has an official release date: December 2012 for the first movie and December 2013 for part two.

So that's a little more than 18 months until we get more Tolkien on the big screen. I can't wait!

Random Thoughts 4/29/10

• Our sweet Elijah turned six yesterday. If that kid controls his anger, his charm and magnetism will be dangerous.
• Jon Stewart jokes about Apple and the missing iPhone prototype, here. Warning: Stewart is a smug, crude, potty-mouth that gets bleeped a lot.
• Two Comedy Central videos in one day? Yup; here's Gregg Easterbrook not getting to finish a single sentence while being interviewed by Stephen Colbert.
• Planned Parenthood is about the most disgusting organization on the planet. You have to wonder when an organization with a racist, eugenic background encourages sexual liberty among the HIV infected, if there isn't a sinister motive here.
• I didn't get to buy that bicycle I was wanting as the contest I was in didn't pay out near like I expected. But I am saving my money, hoping to buy a bike sometime later this summer perhaps.
• According to this study, watching R-rated movies as a child leads to increased rates of alcohol use, early smoking, sex at a young age, and violent behavior.
• I'm currently reading (among other things) Robert Leckie's book A Helmet for my Pillow about WW2. This is one of the book's that the HBO series "The Pacific" is based on. Next up: Eugene Sledge's With the Old Breed.
  

Dilbert and iPhone Prototype

Cartoonist Scott Adams, of Dilbert fame, drew a few cartoons about that lost iPhone prototype in the news.

Funny stuff!

Random Thoughts 4/26/10

• Failed Raiders QB JaMarcus Russell has reportedly ballooned up to 300 pounds and will soon be released. Here it comes: I told you so.
• Our son, "brown bear" Elijah, turns 6 on Wednesday. He's getting the Nintendo DS for which he's been asking for six months.
• Jay Leno is not doing any better than Conan O'Brien and this chart proves it. Personally, I'm still boycotting the Tonight Show.
• Get old Bible commentaries from College Press for free. Available as PDFs here.
• Great quote on Limbaugh's show today: "The problem with socialism is socialism. The problem with capitalism is capitalists."
• I'm having trouble getting into American Idol. We watch it each season but I just don't seem to care about this season. We've watched a few episodes this year on fast forward, especially the results shows, watching an hour episode in about five minutes.
• The Chiefs picked up eleven rookie free agents yesterday. Nobody very noteworthy but you never know. At least there will be more warm bodies to take reps in training camp.
• The evil Wall Street types like Goldman Sachs give way more money to the Democrats than they do the Republicans and they always have.
  

Favoritism Sermon

Here's my sermon from this morning on James chapter 2.

Random Thoughts 4/23/10

• Shannon went to the women's retreat at Ozark Christian College. You can see her updates at her blog.
• Drew Brees is the next potential victim of the Madden Curse. Good luck, buddy.
• The Chiefs took the highly touted safety, Eric Berry, instead of an offensive lineman in the first round of the draft. Hmmm… I hope Berry's a probowler but I'm not sure if that will have the same impact as a solid offensive line.
• Here's a great article about the space robot that the Air Force launched yesterday.
• Pixar's upcoming films schedule has been updated to include a Monsters, Inc. sequel in 2012.
• Nine of the 32 players drafted in the first round of the NFL draft were from the Big XII, including four from Oklahoma.
• Have you seen the new $100 bill? More here.
  

Happy Earth Day!

Yummy, yummy Earth Day.




Go celebrate by exercising some dominion over the Earth. Shoot or burn something. I have wonderful steak-flavored smoke wafting over my house as I type this.

Your dirt-worshipping, tree-hugging commie friends will thank you!

Kansas City and TWA

I found this great art print online of Kansas City's old airport with a TWA DC-3 featured. I would so frame this and hang it my office or my home. Or better yet, hang it at my dad's place since he was a Kansas City-based TWA employee for most of his adult life.

My Sermon Slide

Though two weeks late, I was really pleased with this sermon slide I made for the church website. I took the picture with my iPhone, added some effects in iPhoto and then used a second program to crop and add the annotation. The picture is of my Greek New Testament, opened to James chapter 2, which I'm preaching on this week.

Random Thoughts 4/19/10

• Seen on a t-shirt: "A cat will blink when struck by a hammer."
• The NFL draft is this week, starting Thursday night. The Chiefs pick 5th overall, with eight picks in the first five rounds (and none in rounds six and seven). Hopefully the Chiefs draft an offensive lineman in the first round but, honestly, any position on the team could stand to be improved.
• I'm shopping for a mountain bike. After doing a bunch of research, I'm pretty sure I know what I want that's in my price range but I'm also sure that cycling snobs will laugh at my budget. Some hardcore cyclists spend more their bikes than their cars.
• KU announced yesterday that 6-2, 5-star point guard Josh Selby has signed to play basketball for Bill Self. And don't forget 6-3 guard Royce Woolridge. Even with three departures (Collins, Aldrich, and Henry), the Kansas team will be a crowded place to find playing time next season.
• Still listening to Ozark Christian College sermons on my iPhone. What a encouragement these sermons are. By the way, the direct link to my sermon from this last Sunday (4/18) is here.
  

The NBA Pipe Dream

Each year I watch the list of underclassmen heading to the NBA draft. With the deadline coming up next Sunday, 58 underclassmen have declared, many of them permanently forfeiting their college eligibility.

Note that there are only 60 spots to be shared among all of the graduating seniors, international players and these underclassmen. But the numbers game is actually worse than it first appears: Of the 60 drafted each year, only a portion of those will achieve their dream of financial security in the NBA. Some will be sent to developmental leagues, traded, cut, injured or otherwise forgotten. After you factor in taxes, agents, and the brevity of the average NBA career, many will barely sniff the millions of dollars they've longed for.

So far two Jayhawks (Cole Aldrich and Xavier Henry), four Kentucky Wildcats, and eight total from the Big XII are among those who have declared early. I understand Aldrich (and Wall and Cousins from Kentucky) but I just don't see what Henry gains by jumping now versus a year or two from now.

Hopefully a good chunk of the 58 underclassmen will pull out without hiring an agent and return to college basketball where they belong. But that's not likely.

Dates to watch:
April 25 - Deadline to declare
May 8 - Deadline to un-declare, as long as you haven't hired an agent
June 24 - NBA draft

Basket Cat

The "basement cat" was looking to break the monotony and try something new…

Basement cat says, "Don't judge me."

Tea Party On

I made it over, briefly, to Community America Ballpark for the first hour of the Tea Party events. I saw a few friends, got a handful of fliers, and heard a few speakers but I was more interested by what I didn't see.

I did NOT see:

• Counter-protesters
• Ugly, racist, gun-toting rednecks
• A monochrome crowd (but it was probably 90% white, middle-class when I was there)
  
• A big crowd (but people were still streaming in when I left at 4:15)

The main show started after I left, but here's a few pics of the first hour:

Random Thoughts 4/15/10

• I'm very tempted to go to the Tea Party rally over at the T-Bones ballpark. I'm trying to finish up as much work as possible here in the office; I'd love to go over there for a few hours…
• Why would the Navy and Air Force be looking to buy prop planes? Because the Super Tucano is a highly-regarded observational platform. As information becomes almost as more important than speed and firepower, slow flying drones and observation aircraft that can fire a missile or two are more valuable than the costly, high-speed super fighters.
• One of television's greatest writers, Joss Whedon, is being hired to polish the script of Marvel's Captain America movie and to direct their Avengers movie. These two movies just got instantly better.
• The president of the Royal Statistical Society says the global warming "hockey stick" graph is exaggerated. Really? I'm shocked.
• The iPad's major design elements have been out in the open for a couple of years now, according to this article. Hmmm… interesting.
• Of all the large, public gatherings you could go to, the Tea Party rallies sure seem like safe places to go.
  

My Wishlist

I was walking through the house the other day and spied a stack of books. Nice books. Books I recognized but haven't read. Books from my wish list! Jackpot!!!

"What are these?" I asked as I eagerly scooped them up, checking their condition and imagining a spot on my office bookshelves for them.

Shannon replied, "Oh, those are mine. Jane gave them to us. I'm going to read them; you can't have them yet."

That's what she thinks.

I'm a hopeless bibliophile. I love to collect books even more than I love to read them… and I love reading. Apart from the floor to ceiling bookshelves, I keep a stack of books in my office that I'm reading or re-reading. I have a similar stack at home and usually a book or two in my vehicle (warning: books left in cars tend to fall apart).

I've been keeping an Amazon wish list of (mostly) books that I update all the time (even from my phone). The new stack of books from our friend included three books from this list, which I gladly amended to reflect the new arrivals.

I enjoy seeing people's reading lists. Books are so formative and then they reflect back so much of who we are. I have books for work, books for fun, books to improve me, and books to inform me.

I'm desperate for my children to learn to love to read. I think Brennan and Tanner are slowly getting there.

Freedom Starts at 9 and a Half

We realized a few months back that it didn't make sense anymore for our nine year old, Brennan, to have a bedtime at 8:30 along with his younger siblings. As he gets older he should get to stay up later and, Brennan especially, seems to need less sleep than some of our other children.

As big believers in consistency and predictability in our parenting, we glanced at the calendar and found that we were nearer to the halfway point between Brennan's birthdays than anything else, so we made our call. Starting with Brennan, when the kids reach 9 and a half years old they can stay up until 10pm*. Brennan is now three weeks into his new late night independence.

Tanner is already counting down the days until June 18, 2011, just as Elijah is eying October 28, 2013. Graham's emancipation isn't until September of 2015 and Anneliese won't see anything past 8:30 until September 12, 2018, when Brennan is nearly 18 years old.

I also heard of a rule from another family whereby a child can obtain an extra 30 minutes before bed, as long as they are reading. Hmmm…


*We always reserve the right to tell the kids to go to bed as early as necessary depending on the next day's schedule.

Sunday's Sermon 4/11/10

Here's yesterday's sermon, starting a new series in the book of James. And, yes, that's my brother on the piano and singing at the end.

Can you stand the test? Can you persevere?

Random Thoughts 4/10/10

• A 500-sheet ream of 20-pound paper weighs how much? Five pounds. Naturally.
• I go to Bing just to see the pretty pictures.
• I subscribed to the sermon podcasts of Ozark Christian College. Mmmm… that's good preaching. Search for Ozark in iTunes or go here.
• Xavier Henry's unremarkable freshmen year was the same or a little less, statistically, than Brandon Rush's first year at KU. Good luck in the NBA, kid. It's just a shame I can't remember a single clutch game-winning performance while you were here. Oh, well.
• The first CV-22 Osprey crashed this week in Afghanistan killing four people.
• I don't know if anyone is a fan of graphic novels (i.e. long, serious comic books) or if anyone is a history buff, like me, but Jacques Tardi's World War 1 graphic novel It Was War in the Trenches has a 10 page free preview available dripping in mud, blood, and jaded cynicism.
• The Polish President, First Lady, several generals, senators, and various other significant leaders and dignitaries from Poland all died in a plane crash this morning. How are that many important people all on the same plane?
  

Illustrating Big Numbers

Here's a video that puts into perspective the kinds of numbers our national budget is dealing with. It's hard to picture millions, billions, and trillions of dollars… but this helps.

[Thanks, Chad]

iPad First Impressions

I dropped by the Apple Store in Leawood today and played with an iPad tablet computer for a few minutes.

My first impressions, hands-on:


Good:

• Off-the-charts coolness.
• Zippy fast and responsive.
• Bright and loud, even in the bright light and noise of the busy Apple Store.
• The reading app, iBooks, was jaw-dropping. It made me want to sit down and read; the best reading experience on a computer ever.
• Web browsing looked fantastic.
• I tried a few games (like Flight Control HD) and the productivity apps (Pages and Numbers) and they look better than I had anticipated.
  

Not so Good:

• First thought: "this feels drop-able". My iPhone is saved from my clumsiness because I can wrap my fingers over the edge of more than one side, but the iPad is too big for that. I wouldn't want to walk around while using it (like a doctor or a salesperson might) but this could be fixed with the right case or skin.
  
• Just a little too heavy, especially for a child or an older person with arthritis. A case would make this worse. Instructions should read: Sit down before using. Hence…
  
• No comfortable way to use it while standing. This would rock if it were resting on your lap or on a table in front of you… but standing, chin tucked to my chest, holding it with one hand while tapping with the other just felt awkward to me.
• Typing with one finger: ugh; the keyboard is too big. Typing with two hands: cramped but doable; the keyboard is too small. I would definitely want one of the physical keyboards if I had to do any significant amount of typing to do. but you could probably get fast with a two-index-finger henpecking technique.
  

Conclusion:
I'll be looking to replace my laptop this summer… with another laptop. This first version of the iPad gets 85% of the way there toward replacing my laptop; almost but not quite. Maybe the second or third generation will be right for me.

On the other hand, I could see this being the ultimate home-school student device. Mom has a computer with an iTunes account while the children each have an iPad for reading, research, tests, homework, etc. The versatile iPad ($499) is cheaper than a laptop ($600-1,200) and could also replace handheld gaming devices (Nintendo DSi, $170; Sony PSP, $250).

Sweet 16 (2010) Rounds 5 and 6

• Congrats, Bryan, on winning this year's competition with 354 out of 477 points. He had all four of the Final Four teams in his list.
• Dad, Mike, and Dustin finished within four points of each other, with Mike winning second place in the competition.
• Dustin had Duke ranked the highest (his 15-point team). Duke alone supplied over 27% of Dustin's points. Most of us only got 21-23% out of our best team.
• Nobody had Butler ranked better than a 4-pointer.
• Kyle had neither Duke nor Butler in his Sweet 16.
• This was an especially tough year, with two 5-seeds making the final four. If you play strictly the favorites, you'd have no 5-seeds in your Sweet 16 at all.

Here's the final spreadsheet:

Wow, That Was Horrible

I'm just getting back on my feet from a 36-hour bug… or was it food poisoning? I walked home (2 miles) on a beautiful Thursday evening, ate a wonderful dinner, and then promptly got violently ill. Over and over again. For almost two days.

No one else got sick, and I'm getting back to normal this afternoon, but what in the world?!

Random Thoughts 4/1/10

• This is the furthest I've gotten into April Fool's Day without hearing some goofball news story or seeing some practical joke gone wrong. Hmmm…
• "The A-Team" movie? Really? That can't possibly be good, could it?
• Actor Neal McDonough (of Band of Brothers fame) just lost a major part (he was actually cast, fired, and then the part was re-cast) because he wouldn't compromise his Christian values. McDonough was canned because he wouldn't participate in a sex scene. At least someone in Hollywood has at least a little bit of integrity left.
  
• The latest NBA fad: lowtops.
• The Apple iPad is almost here. I'm just almost sold on the concept of a tablet replacing your laptop. I could even see using it while teaching a class or counseling. I may not be a first generation adopter but I'm keenly interested.
  
• …nevermind about that April Fool's Day goofiness: