Friday, May 30, 2008

It Changes Everything

'It' meaning where you come down on the age of the Earth.

I looked at today's Lutheran Tidbit of the Day in the sidebar-
"Luther said, 'Don't argue with the Devil...he has had five thousand years of experience. He has tried out all his tricks on Adam, Abraham, and David, and he knows exactly the weak spots.'"

Now, if Luther had lived in our day, would he have said the same thing? I hypothesize yes.

I have to believe he took scripture to literally mean what it says, unless the context is obviously a metaphor or prophecy. Meaning, if alive right now, he still wouldn't have problems writing 5000 years of experience.

That's right. I'm claiming Luther as a creationist.

Otherwise, if he weren't, he'd have to write:
'Don't argue with the Devil...he has had thousands (or millions or billions, who knows?) years of experience. He has tried out all his tricks on Adam, Abraham, and David, and he knows exactly the weak spots. He even may have tried his tricks out on Mr. Neanderthal and Rhodesian Man before that, and look what happened to them."

I'm sorry, I just don't see those sentences happening.

I just don't know what you do with anything and everything if the timeline in Genesis is not correct. I believe the whole thing starts to unravel.

I know what science says about the origins of life. And I can imagine what science would say about the Real Presence . But in either case, I don't think we have the option of Biblical unbelief.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

CC: The President

Dear NASA:

When I read of the toileting troubles of the International Space Station, my thoughts could turn nowhere but to this problem, especially after it was mentioned again later on PTI's opening segment. I think it not random happenstance, but divine providence, that on the very day I learned of the current dilemma, I would learn about this via the Jim Rome Show.

Please take the time to equip all shuttles, and the space station, with the UroClub. Golf and space travel have a long association, dating back to the 1970s. Heck, Alan Shepherd might have had one of these on the moon when he was playing. So this is a natural fit. Although reportedly his was a 6-iron.

I am so happy to hear the "solid waste collector" is functioning properly. Otherwise I might have been up all night worrying about whether you were getting low and wearing helmets, as Tony Kornheiser pointed out.

Since a shuttle launch is scheduled soon, I thought you might want to order about a thousand of these things for the trip and keep them stored on board. This way, I don't ever have to read, hear, watch or otherwise be educated about space sewage. For the rest of my life

Don't ask me how such contingencies got overlooked after all these years. I'm just glad I was here to do my patriotic duty. But the next time I hear the words "Emergency Shuttle Launch", I'm not buying it if you claim that it's not toilet-related.

Oh, and don't forget to throw in a box of those "privacy shields."

You're welcome.

Sincerely,


Scottius Maximus
Spaceman

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

It Was Meant In A Good Way, Of Course

Am I THAT bad?!!!

This is great (read comment #2)! And even better, I got to be associated with Reclaim News and Pastor Cascione. I must be doing something right, although sometimes that is hard to see.

Maybe I should incorporate "nasty little beast" into my profile.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

You Had Me At Hello


That's my favorite line, uttered by Charlie Steiner, from those great ESPN "This Is Sportscenter" commercials. I seem to recall it from someplace else, although I'm not sure about that. A little help?

At any rate, there are some songs that hook me right at the beginning, although not every song I love has a raucous start. In fact, some of my favorite songs start off slow before enmeshing you in a web of musicianship from which you cannot escape.

Along those lines, Led Zeppelin, usually who I consider my favorite band, is represented only four times on the following list. Yet, Guns N Roses, a band I don't consider myself to be a great fan of, has some very crafty song beginnings, and has 3 entries on my list. Weird. But alas, that is a subject for another post.

The songs I want to honor with this post are those songs that hook me from the instant I hear them. They don't necessarily have to end great, or even middle (?) great, although most do. Songs instantly recognizable, such that, unless there is some dire emergency, I'll stop to listen to whether I'm flipping the stations or just riding along in the car. Even if I only listen until the end of the song's beginning. That was a confusing sentence to write.

After a lot of thought, the following are what I believe to be the songs with the greatest beginnings. Notice a lot of these songs have strong guitar openings. Seems to be a theme for me.

I'm sure I've forgotten several, so let me know what I've omitted. And if I'm wrong about any of these, then argue your point in the comments.

My favorite song beginning? Number 10 on the playlist.

By the way, I've noticed some technical difficulties with this post. If you cannot see the player, click on "pop out player" and it will take you to the playing list.





Could It Be?

Is it possible?

That this is related to this?



"Easy Ange, I'll handle this one."

Thursday, May 01, 2008

For Anyone Who Has A Blog

Warning- don't click the link until you read this post.

If you have a blog, and you are not offended by certain words (including a definite misuse of the Lord's name), you might want to watch this.

It aired Tuesday on Bob Costas' HBO program. This was a "round table" discussion of sports and sports blogs. Will Leitch, who posts on Deadspin, Buzz Bissinger, a traditional sportswriter, and Braylon Edwards, modern athlete, have a "discussion", supposedly "moderated" by Costas.

I don't have HBO, and the only reason I know about this is a local sports editor mentioned it as a guest on a local morning radio program Tuesday. He was promoting the Costas program, mostly because he and the host of that program don't like blogs. This definitely got my attention, because it sounded like potential fireworks in the making.

Although I've heard of it, I did not read Deadspin before the show aired. It's a little out there for me.

But listening to this Buzz guy, who wrote the Tony LaRussa book "Three Nights in August", by the way, made me get a little defensive. I'm a blogger, and I don't like seeing bloggers disparaged just because we're not professional writers or part of the main-stream media.

What an angry little man Bissinger appears to be. This guy totally comes unglued on national TV. He obviously does not see the irony in his speech and appearance on this show- that while trying to make bloggers out to be unprofessional, juvenile miscreants, he himself is acting like an unprofessional, foul-mouthed juvenile. Mr. Leitch ended up looking like the professional due to the real professional's(Bissinger's) behavior.

But this is what most journalists must think of bloggers. They just don't get it. It has happened time and again. True, there are bad people blogging, just as there are bad people who have radio programs, TV programs, and sadly, newspaper columns. But some of us do try to be careful about what we write, how we phrase a thought, how grammatically correct we are, and how well we spell.

I also love how Costas doesn't seem to be able to differentiate a "post" from a "comment".

I don't think these guys get it. How 'bout you? It looked less like a round table, and more like a set-up to "get Leitch", and therefore bloggers.

So if you have 18 minutes, take a look. But again, this is definitely not safe for work. Or if children are around. You've been warned.