Archive for March, 2009
A Blue Like Jazz Movie?
I had no idea a movie was being made about the book, but Donald Miller provides an update on it on his blog.
I guess when LifeWay decides to sell the DVD, they’ll have to put disclaimer on it telling customers to “watch with discernment.” However, when I search their website for “Donald Miller” and “Blue Like Jazz” and “Velvet Elvis” I got zero results, so I guess they no longer sell his book, and the link I provided on an earlier post to their Read With Discernment page is no longer up – so I guess they have changed some policies.
Interesting.
Perhaps this is a step in the right direction, as it seemed odd to me for a business built on strong ethical and moral standards to be selling a product and reaping the profits in which they felt wasn’t align with scripture or their core values.
Update: I found they have a new Read With Discernment page that appears different from their original and has a slightly modified URL and it mentions that certain titles are available through a third-party. I searched through their FAQ’s and there wasn’t a mention of Donald Miller, but I did notice they still sell The Shack that has it’s own Read With Discernment page.
It’s interesting to read the reader reveiws of the book – lots of one star ratings.
Comments on Newspaper Articles is Older Than I Thought
I love watching CBS Sunday Morning, I always feel enlightened and smarter after each episode.
In this segment, I leaned what’s new is really not so new after all.
The concept of reading newspapers online and being able to comment on an article was something that I thought was a genius idea, but I didn’t know it went as far back as the 1690’s . . . well, not the online part.
For all the Chick-fil-A Lovers
WifeGeeding lovers her some Chick-fil-A, and can’t wait to be reunited after Lent is over.
Calling All Local Sports Fans
Back in January I made a post about fellow half-Asian Hans Steiniger, who has a website that tracks his quest to attend a game in all of the stadiums in the NFL. Ever since I made that post, he’s become a fan of BagOfNothing and has been following almost daily.
Yesterday he sent an email, and here’s part of it:
I’m working on some things for the site and was wondering if you might be able to help me out. One of the things I’d really like to do for my website is collect some information on each NFL city, so visitors to each city can take it in like a true local. Wondering if you might help me fill in my list of bests and sport resources. Would you know the answers to the following in regards to Dallas?
- Top three Tourist attractions – things every tourist has to see.
- Top three local restaurants / eating spots – typically Dallas. The three spots a visitor to Dallas has to go to get some great local food.
- Top three locally brewed beers.
- Top three local foods
- Best places to tailgate for a Cowboys game
- Best Local Newspaper(s)
- Best Local SportsTalk Radio Station(s)
- Anything else a visitor to the Dallas has to check out before leaving …
Keep up the great work man, love the bag of randomness section … really good stuff there. I’ll continue to pad my resume to work toward selection into the half-Asian Hall.
So this is where you come in. Rather just have me represent all of the DFW sports scene, I thought I would open it up to my readers, and he can use your feedback for his site; but I’ll go ahead and answer, feel free to agree or disagree or add or take away from it . . .
Top Three Tourist Attractions
I really don’t think DFW is a fun touristy kind of place, but if you are looking for something pretty Texan, then you may want to go to the Stockyards in Fort Worth. The only other thing I think that sets this area apart from the rest is Dealey Plaza, the grassy knoll, and the Sixth Floor Museum. You can even take a picture on the white X that marks the spot where JFK was shot, just like this guy. Yeah, it’s not an upbeat sort of thing to visit, but it’s historic. Not too far from that area is Victory Park which is just outside the American Airlines Center, it’s kinda cool looking. Oh, and our baseball stadium isn’t too bad.
Top Three Local Restaurants
For the best chicken-fried steak and creamed corn in the entire universe you have to eat at Babe’s Fried Chicken. Sure, your heart is going to struggle to beat afterwards, but it’s well worth it. Besides, what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, right? I think the best BBQ in the area is Mike Anderson’s, but most folks would probably steer you to the Original Sonny Bryans. I’m trying to think of the best Tex-Mex in the area, but none are coming to mind.
Top Three Locally Brewed Beers
I don’t drink, so I can’t help you here. But I hear Esparza’s has the best margaritas in the area.
Top Three Local Foods
Since you asked about restaurants earlier, I think you are asking for some of the best cheap/fast-food in the area. Try Whataburger (lots of locations), Freebirds (a great big burrito), and . . . I can’t think of another. But maybe you are asking about food itself – so there’s BBQ, Tex-Mex, and chicken-fried steak. Oh, breakfast burritos are good in the area as well, and you can get those at Whataburger from 11 PM to 10 AM.
Best Places to Tailgate for a Cowboys Game
I really don’t know, and I’m don’t think Dallas lives up to the tailgating that you see in other places like Green Bay.
Best Local Newspapers
There’s obviously the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star Telegram, but I really can’t think of a third best paper. Maybe the Dallas Observer.
Best Local Sports Talk Radio Stations
There are only three sports radio stations. By far the best of them all is KTCK 1310 The Ticket. All of of sports fans (namely you, Nathan S!) will tell you to steer clear because they don’t always talk sports, but that’s why so many of us love The Ticket, it’s sports and all that may apply – which means a bunch of guy talk about pop-culture. The hard part is trying to figure out which show to listen to – I think most would recommend the morning show because everyone loves the Fake Jerry and Fake Wade. You can hear the most recent Fake Jerry and Fake Wade Phillips speak here. The other two sports stations are ESPN Radio 103.3 and The Fan 105.3 which is now the Cowboys station.
Well, that’s my two cents . . . readers – please weigh in.
Pennsylvania girl wins Jif contest with Peanut Butter Cheesesteak
A Pennsylvania girl is the winner of the seventh annnual “Jif Most Creative Peanut Butter Sandwich Contest,” the peanut butter maker announced.
Jordyn Boyer, 10, of Lebanon, Lebanon County, was inspired by an authentic Louisiana sandwich to create her Po’ Boy Peanut Butter Chicken Cheesesteak Sandwich.
Her sandwich is made with Jif Creamy Peanut Butter, chicken, peppers, onions and mozzarella cheese. For added flavor, she created a dipping sauce of Jif peanut butter, Worcestershire sauce, honey and honey mustard. Jif awarded Jordyn a $25,000 scholarship fund.
Beer, Jewish Kids, and Arkansas
The title of this post sounds like a Carnac punchline.
Legislation allowing underage Jews to drink beer during religious ceremonies has sparked widespread support in the Arkansas Legislature and puzzlement, even laughter, in the Jewish community.
“I can’t think of any religion, off the top of my head, that uses beer sacramentally,” said a chuckling David Gilner, director of libraries at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati.
“I have never heard of this,” agreed David Kraemer, a professor of Talmud and rabbinics at The Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City.
Arkansas already allows children to receive wine as part of a “religious ceremony or rite in any established church or religion.”
But House Bill 2151 would expand the exemption to include beer. The state House of Representatives passed the legislation 71-17 on March 19, and the Senate’s State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee recommended passage on Tuesday. It’s now awaiting a vote in the Senate.
How Much is Inside Cheetos?
Cheetos puffs are filled with delicious cheese flavor.. and air. Not only is the bag sealed with plenty of cushioning air, the puffs themselves are packed with air.
But how much air? The bag would have you believe that each one contains a “puff”, but is that really true? How much is inside Cheetos? On Friday night, we decided to find out.
But it was this part that cracked me up the most:
Because this orange powder is Essense of Cheetos, a.k.a. flavor incarnate, it is excellent for use as a seasoning. I transferred some into a salt shaker for later use on french fries, pancakes, oatmeal, pizza, salmon, other Cheetos and in marijuana cigarettes.
Bag of Randomness
- A study Bible wins Christian Book of the Year. Should any other book beat out the Bible in a Christian Book of the Year award?
- With the economy in turmoil you don’t hear a lot of “privatizing Social Security” talk.
- On my drive to work the other morning I saw a truck that had a back windshield sticker of a cowboy and his horse on one knee in front of a cross. I then looked down at the trailer hitch where a pair of rubber testicles were hanging. I was almost tempted to provide a link to that product, but I’ll leave it up to yourself to Google it.
- I remember back in the day when you could only buy seeded grapes – at least I think I do.
- I really like what President Obama did yesterday with his online town hall, and I hope future presidents do the same. In short, people could submit questions via the web they would like the president to answer, and other viewers to WhiteHouse.gov had the opportunity to rank the questions. It’s great that the public gets to ask questions in a public forum rather than just have the journalists ask the questions for us. And props to him for not dodging the most popular question that dealt with legalizing marijuana.
- In terms of being an affective communicator, he has to work on that, but in terms of effort of trying to communicate with the public I have to give him a high mark.
- I think he’s going to start some sort or expand on the whole get your student loans paid off by doing public service stuff. I hated that feeling of coming out of college with so much in student loan debt, that I would have loved the opportunity to take advantage of that, rather than the alternative of joining the military or border patrol.
- Here’s an interesting Hong Kong picture, be sure to move your mouse up and down the picture.
- WifeGeeding made the following statement during a conversation last night that made me chuckle, ” Would a protein shake be good for me, because I don’t work out that long, just an hour?” And here I am struggling working our for half an hour. But hey, she’s got the abs to prove it.
- D Magazine sent a reporter to 42 used car dealerships and to write and rank them.
- So when I heard that the Red River was flooding way up north, I had to research to see if that’s the same Red River that’s about an hour north of me . . . turns out there’s more than one Red River. Thank you Wikipedia.
- Metroplex Atheists are trying to raise funds for billboards, in their words: This billboard message challenges the accepted social status quo without coming across as deliberately offensive. It has a message of inclusiveness (“You are not alone.”) vs. the divisiveness of religion.
- Kim Kardashian’s un-photoshoped photo.
- I’m not a fan of when the local news put comments from viewers that drop little comments on their website and then put them on TV. It just seems silly. You see something like “CowboyFan75 thinks that Dallas police chief is a coward for not backing his boys in blue.” And they always like throwing the two most oppossing and extreme comments out there – blerg. Just report the news, please, pretty please. I don’t need to see the news sensationalize and turn into a local tabloid blog.
- And now a few Lost thoughts . . . you know the drill:
- So Sayid popped a cap in Little Ben . . . but that doesn’t men Ben’s dead. Remember how Locke was shot a season or two back and lived? This might just be what’s happening with Little Ben – the Island doesn’t want him to die.
- But I have a feeling we’ll see Workman Jack turn into Dr Jack and save his life, which will mean that’s twice he’s saved Ben.
- So Sayid killed the last of Widmore’s clan, can that war actually be over?
- It’s going to be a matter of time until we learn more and see scenes from Ann Arbor.
- Didn’t Sayid’s flashback with his brother and chicken killing remind you of Mr Eko’s flashback with his brother? Remember, Yemi couldn’t kill an unarmed man, so Eko stepped in and did the deed to save his brother.
Tough Call
I always wondered what would happen if I had to rush to the hospital to see a loved one before he or she passes only to be followed by a cop. Would I stop and explain the situation? Would I continue to drive to the hospital and then talk? How would the officer react? Would the police think that I’m lying?
In the story below, an NFL player rushed his family to the hospital to be with his mother-in-law before she passes. He ran a red light and didn’t pull over until he got to the hospital, and he stayed behind to talk to the officer as his family rushed in. Nurses came out to try to persuade the officer to let the man inside, but the officer didn’t budge, and he missed his mother-in-law’s passing.
Read the story here – it even includes the dash-cam video where you can hear both men talk.
I wonder if this would even be news if this guy wasn’t a “celebrity.”
On a side note, I remember rushing to the hospital to be with my mother before she passed. This one guy in a tan Chevy just wouldn’t let me over or pass him. He had no idea I’m sure of why I was trying to get by him, but that moment still sticks in my mind, and it has made me a bit more of a sensitive driver because I have no idea what’s going on in someone’s head as they drive – I just give them the benefit of the doubt.
Forgive him Father for he knows not what he has done.
Greggo’s Top 20 Burgers in the Metroplex
Greggo, or Greg ‘The Hammer’ Williams, formerly of Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket and now current local ESPN radio personality recently did a burger rating that you can find here.
Quick thoughts:
- I totally agree with his assessment that Kincaid’s is #1.
- I totally agree that Snuffers is over-rated, but I do recall a story one of my readers told me about U2 eating there once.
- Whataburger makes the list.
- Fat Daddy’s makes the list. He only noted the Garland Road location. I’ve eaten at a Fat Daddy’s in Coppell, and that burger was very spare.
- I bet he didn’t try Mooyah, that’s a darn fine burger.
- I’m glad Chips made the list.
- Funny he made this list after his thumb stomach surgery.
- WifeGeeding prefers Fuddruckers.
- My list would have somehow included Braums.
- I’ve only eaten at six of these burgers. How much longer until Lent is over?
Books and Music That Make You Dumb
This person took each college’s most frequent “favorite books” that was reported on Facebook, compared them with each college’s average SAT/ACT scores, and then ranked the books from dumbest to smartest. You the link below to view the entire chart, but here’s a sample.
He even took the time to break it down per school. I’m sure your school is on the list, because my school even made the list. Link
Here are some favorite books from a collection of universities of my readership:
- Hardin-Simmons (aka the Harvard of the South): The Bible, The Lord of The Rings, The Giver, Blue Like Jazz
- University of Texas at Austin: Harry Potter, 1984, The Bible
- Baylor: The Bible, Harry Potter, To Kill A Mockingbird
- Texas A&M: The Bible, Harry Potter, Pride and Prejudice
- Princeton: Harry Potter, The Great Gatsby, Pride and Prejudice
I found this to be a very intriguing site, as you can click on each book and check out the stats on it.
Not to be outdone, there’s also Music That Makes You Dumb.
And the schools.
- Hardin-Simmons : Switchfoot, Green Day, Third Eye Blind, The Fray
- University of Texas at Austin: Coldplay, Jack Johnson, The Beatles
- Baylor: Coldplay, Jack Johnson, John Mayer
- Texas A&M: Jack Johnson, Country, The Fray
- Princeton: Coldplay, U2, Radiohead
I should have attended Yale, Penn, Columbia, Georgetown, Davidson, or Wheaton – these are a few that had U2 at number one. But I did earn an MBA from the University of Dallas which also had U2 at number one.
Christians call foul on baseball’s Opening Day; it’s on Good Friday
Bill Ferris hasn’t always been in church from noon to 3 p.m. on Good Friday, but he’s always found a quiet place for reflection, and he’s refrained from eating meat on the most somber day in the Christian calendar.
It’ll be harder this year.
A devoted Tigers fan, Ferris, 34, of Troy won’t miss Opening Day at Comerica Park — even though it’s on Good Friday.
“I can get around the meat thing,” said Ferris, a member of St. Anastasia Catholic Church in Troy.
“I’ll just stick to peanuts and popcorn because I don’t think there are too many seafood options at the stadium. But I’m not sure I can find a quiet place on the concourse at Comerica.”
But for some Catholics and other Christians in southeast Michigan, the Detroit Tigers’ home opener this year will be off-limits. The 1:05 p.m. game against the Texas Rangers is on April 10 — Good Friday and one of the holiest days on the Christian calendar.
That’s the day for somber reflection, personal sacrifice, church services that run from noon to 3 p.m. and a no-meat pledge, which doesn’t lend itself to downing a hot dog or two at the game.
While all 30 Major League teams are playing that day, only the Tigers are taking the field during the Christian holy hours. It’s a schedule that keeps the weather and tradition in mind, said Tigers’ spokesman Ron Colangelo.
