An excerpt from Blue Like Jazz. Something I think all church leadership should read.

Like most guys, I fear commitment, and that is probably why I don't read books. I feel like if I start something, then I have to finish it, even if it stinks. This is something I'm trying to over-come, and I'm trying my darndest to finish Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. I actually really like most of this book, and so far I'm on page 140 and the book has 242 pages.

Like most guys, I do a lot of reading on the pot. Today I came across a great section of the book that I would like to share, found on pages 131-132.

And yet another thing about the churches I went to: They seemed to be parrots for the Republican Party. Do we have to tow the party line on every single issue. Are the Republicans that perfect? I just felt like, in order to be part of the church family, had to think George W. Bush was Jesus. And I didn't. I didn't think that Jesus really agreed with a lot of the policies of the Republican Party or for that matter the Democratic Party. I felt like Jesus was a religious figure, not a political figure. I heard my pastor say once, when there were only a few of us standing around, that he hated Bill Clinton. I can understand not liking Clinton's policies, but I wanted my spirituality to rid me of hate, not give me a reason for it. I couldn't deal with that. That is one of the main reasons I walked away. I felt like, by going to this particular church, I was a pawn for the Republicans. Meanwhile, the Republicans did not give a crap about the causes of Christ.

Only one more thing bugged me, then I will shut up about it. War metaphor. The churches I attended would embrace war metaphor. They would talk about how we are in a battle, and I agreed with them, only they wouldn't clarify that we were battling poverty and hate and injustice and pride and the powers of darkness. They left us thinking that our war was against liberals and homosexuals. Their teaching would have me believe I was the good person in the world and the liberals were the bad people in the world. The truth is we are supposed to love the hippies, the liberals, and even the Democrats, and that God wants us to think of them as more important than ourselves. Anything short of this is not true to the teachings of Jesus.

People I would like to have dinner with (living).

David Letterman
Bono
Billy Graham
Bill Clinton
Jon Stewart.

Yeah, I know, they are all white-males and I didn't include any diversity in my list. But at least Jon Stewart is Jewish.

Combining Chess and Boxing

Four minutes of chess followed by two minutes of boxing. Read the story here.

I never knew

that the Count on Sesame Street's real name is "Count von Count." I always thought it was just 'The Count.'

I was reading a Dooce posting yesterday and it referenced 'The Count' and provided a link to the Wikipedia page dedicated to him.
Other stuff that I discovered:

• "Interestingly, some traditional vampire myths depict vampires as having a similar obsession with counting small objects, providing a means of distracting them by tossing a handful of seeds or salt on the ground."
  
  Huh, and I just thought it was a pun regarding his name or nobility title.
  
  This also reminded me of the vampire episode of The X-Files named "Bad Blood," probably my favorite X-Files episode. This one had Luke Wilson and the chubby red-headed kid from The Sandlot. It wasn't until I saw this episode that I learned the theme song from "Shaft." (They say this cat Shaft is a bad mother-SHUT YOUR MOUTH! Just talking about Shaft.)
  
  
• "Originally, following a counting session, the Count would laugh maniacally, "AH! AH! AH!" as thunder roared overhead and lightning flashed. This practice, however, has been discontinued, as it scared some young children."
  
  I say bring back the thunder! If a kid can't take the thunder, the kid isn't worth keeping.
  
  
• The Count has had two girlfriends:
  Countess Von Backwards
  
  
  and Countess Dahling Von Dahling.
  
  Personally, I think this Vamp-gigalo can do better.
  

Sometimes life just isn't fair

I'm on a Chuch Norris kick - almost everything he does makes me laugh

News about one of my favorite shows

"NBC is moving the comedies My Name Is Earl and The Office to Thursday nights. Now it will be paired with Will and Grace and the new Seth Green comedy Four Kings (Joey and The Apprentice will return after the Olympics). The new lineup premieres January 5."


And guess who has their own blog.

PM Archives: WORST-CASE SCENARIOS

Some high lights:

• How To Find Your Way When Lost In The Woods
• How To Cross A Piranha-Infested River
• How To Survive A Volcanic Eruption
• How To Navigate A Minefield
• How To Foil An Alien Abduction
• How To Jump From Rooftop To Rooftop
  

My kind of luck

Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

FRANKLIN, Pa. -- A man's body was apparently mistaken for a dead deer along a state highway, police said.

The body was lying along State Route 157 for as long as three days, authorities said. He was wearing tan clothing, which apparently led passing motorists to assume it was a dead deer. Continued . . .

ChewByNumbers Kits - Make Your Own GumArt

These kits allow kids to create vibrant artwork by chewing tasty wads of gum and spreading the chewed gum onto the ChewByNumbers art board. Each kit teaches project planning skills and helps develop fine motor skills, concentration, and creativity. Meanwhile, kids enjoy every step of the artistic process. Art has never tasted this good.

Chew and spread gum for fun by trying a ChewByNumbers GumArt kit today!!!

Napoleon Dynamite Mosaic from Bulk LEGO Bricks

It's on eBay.

Take gaming to another level with VirtuSphere

With the creation of the VirtuSphere™, Virtual Reality technology has developed sufficiently to permit users to leave behind the keyboard or mouse and immerse in this exciting new medium. The VirtuSphere is currently the only technology in the world, which permits the user to move about in virtual space through the most natural movement of all – by walking.

Break through into immersive Virtual Reality with VirtuSphere™ - the unique simulation platform that allows lifelike movements in cyberspace.

6 degrees of freedom – move in any direction. Walk, crawl, run over virtually unlimited distances.

VirtuSphere can be compatible with all computer based simulations. It is versatile. Need to change the purpose of use? Just reload the software.

Learn more about what makes VirtuSphere the best solution for fullness of immersion and simplicity - for your simulation and training needs.

I would like to introduce you to the Official Little Pastor Blog

http://littlepastor.blogspot.com/

And you can contact him at anonymouspastor@gmail.com.

I find this sad, very very sad.

Atheist Agenda, an atheist group at U Texas San Antonio, staged a "Porno for Bibles" event, where they gave free pornography to people who traded in religious scripture.



Here is the news story.

Here is the link for their website.

Make sure to add them to your prayer list.

Need a fact? Use the CIA

Visit the CIA World Factbook.

For instance, I found out that Vietnam is slightly larger than New Mexico.

A fun Snowstorm Game

Your job is to drive your snowplow in the parking lots and clear as much of the snow as possible.

With trees and cars buried under the snow this task is not that easy. You have to plan carefully to clear the entire lot. Remember that you can't pile up a lot of snow, but you can move the piles around and make space for your movement. After you clear the minimum quota of snow Left Click on the cup symbol at the top to proceed to the next level.

Click here to play.

Goldman Sachs would be a great place to work

The well-heeled bankers of Goldman Sachs will be buying the biggest turkeys on Wall Street this year as the investment bank has saved more than $US11 billion ($14.9 billion) to share among its 22,000 employees.The annual bonuses will not be limited to top brass and even the lowliest first-year banking associate can expect at least $US70,000 in his or her stocking this Christmas, enough to double their entry-level salaries.

Read the rest here.

What a great idea Habitat for Humanity of Toronto has

Join us at the third annual Gingerbread Build. Every sweet home that you decorate helps to build 'home sweet home' for a family in need! More info here.

Check out the World's Largest Diamond Mine

This diamond mine in eastern Siberia (Mirny, to be exact) is so deep that the surrounding "air zone... is closed for helicopters" after "a few accidents when they were 'sucked in' by downward air flow..." More stuff about it here.

LegoLand People Caught Worshiping False Idol

Doggie-Panda

A dog named 'Columbo', a cross-breed between a poodle and a Maltese and dyed to look like a panda, sits on a chair in Tokyo November 30, 2005. The owner dyed the originally white coloured dog, with a special hair dye to cover up stains around its eyes which was conspicuous when he was first found abandoned. As a result, the panda look-alike became the most popular dog in the neighbourhood and the owner said he hopes Columbo's popularity will help rescue other abandoned dogs like Columbo, where in Tokyo last year, 700 of them were put to sleep.

The medals for the Winter Olympics look like donuts

The medals are actually meant to represent the open space of an Italian piazza, or city square. Read more about them here.

Maybe Dunkin' Donuts or Krispy Kreme should consider being a sponsor?

BagofNothing.com should end anywhere from year 2044-2066

Of course, the Death Clock doesn't take into account spitting contests

Man Falls To Death During Spitting Contest

CHICAGO -- A 23-year-old man suffered fatal injuries when he fell from his Mt. Prospect balcony during a spitting contest with his friends, police in northwest suburb said Tuesday. Continued . . .

Animation of all flight movements tracked by FlightAware during a 24-hour period in September, 2005. 1 frame per 5 minutes; 12 frames per second.

Be sure to watch the whole thing. I think it's neat how it slows down and starts back up again.
Click the pic to watch.

A message to my buddy Gabe

Happy Birthday

and welcome to the

Three Decade Club.

When I was a kid I couldn't wait for the Sears Wishbook.

Someone decided to scan a 1979 edition. View it here.

Some great costumes - More Than Meets The Eye!

View all the pics here.

Some people just throw away vacuum-bag dust. Maria Adelaida Lopez uses it to make art.

Click here to view her website.

Fark had a Photoshop contest that I thought was pretty clever

If modern movies had smaller budgets...










Those were my favorites, you can view the rest here.

Apple + Grape = Grapple

SisterGeeding and I was in Tom Thumb today and she pointed out to me the Grapple.

One very friendly worker of the grocery store cut one open for us, and I was impressed.

Curious, I decided to check out the company's website and this is what I found:

Grāpple® brand apples begin as a Washington Extra Fancy Fuji Apple. Of all apples this is the one that takes on the grape flavor best. This Patent Pending process is complex and the ingredient mix primarily includes concentrated grape flavor and pure water. All ingredients are USDA and FDA approved and the process has been licensed by the Washington State Department of Agriculture.

There is nothing but flavor being infused into the Fuji apple. The apple takes on no additional sugars or calories. They are not genetically altered in any way.
-----------------------------------

My only complaint, they are about $1.25 a piece.

Elisabeth Shue and Kristy Swanson

I was on IMDB.com trying to find out if Elisabeth Shue was in a certain movie. Turns out I confused her with Kristy Swanson.

Here are two things I didn't know about her that is listed on Elisabeth Shue's trivia page:

• Has unusually large feet for her height (5'2") - size 8 1/2.
• Named her son after her late brother, William, who died at the family's summer home on Block Island, NY (off Long Island) when the tire swing he was on broke and he fell onto a broken tree branch. He was impaled and died while his siblings looked on helplessly.

Here is someting I didn't know or realize about Kristy Swanson:

• Has co-starred with Charlie Sheen in 3 films: Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), Hot Shots! (1991), and The Chase (1994). I really don't remember her in Ferris or Hot Shots!

A little about my least favorite Christmas song

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - The price tag of the shopping list laid out in the classic holiday song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is sharply higher this year, hit by such modern-day woes as higher energy and gold prices and concerns about the avian flu, according to an annual survey unveiled Monday.

I've heard of a rubber-band ball, but not of a rubber-band cube

WARNING: HOT SPORTS OPINION

The Upward Sports Ministry is like Communism. It's a great idea on paper but it just won't fly. By Keith Geeding

I have a friend at work named 'Jerry.' Jerry is a great guy and you know he totally loves his kids with all his heart and he does what he can to rear them up in a Christ-centered home, but when he told me about the basketball league his son is participating in, I'm afraid he may be sheltering them too much.

His son is in the 4th grade and is participating in the Upward Basketball league, and I believe First Baptist Grapevine is organizing the whole thing.

This is what Upward is all about:
Upward offers an evangelistic sports ministry specifically designed for kindergarten through sixth grade boys and girls that promotes salvation, character, and self-esteem in every child.

What can be bad about that? Nothing at first glace. It's great stuff to promote and instill these values, but I think Upward is going about it the wrong way, even for a 'learning league.'

The Upward website lists some rules, but Jerry told me that the rules differ slightly. Here is what I was told:

• Each player on a team is color-coded by a wristband or some other way of easily detectable identification. The color identifies a player's skill level. Each player can only guard an opposing player with like color.
  
  I'm not sure I'm down with 'labeling' kids.' It's not like they can't figure out if they are exceptional or stink at basketball on their own.
  
  
• No scores are kept, and there are no league standings. "Such standings add unnecessary pressure and intensity."
  
  I guess I'm OK with this, it is a 'learning league,' but I think there is something important regarding teaching youth healthy competition and how to deal with not always winning or acheiving a desired goal. It's like that news story I read a while back where teachers are encouraged to grade papers in a purple ink because red ink is such a discouragement. Personally, I think the younger kids are taught how to deal with disappointment and over-coming obstacles, the better. But then again, I'm not a parent.
  
  
• Each child gets to play equal time, and all will have a chance to be in the starting lineup. There are two 18 minute halves, and substitutions are made every six minutes.
  
  I have no problem with this, especially in a 'learning league.'
  
  
• "Because the end of a six-minute segment does not signal a change of possession, the team with possession at the end of the six-minute segment will retain possession. As such, there is no need for an “end-of-the-period” shot."
  
  I can also deal with this one, but I think the 'last second shot' is part of the mistique of basketball.
  
  
• Regardless of performance or outcome, each player is given an award at the end of the game. It is encourage for coaches to make sure each player at the end of the season has a mixed amount of awards.
  
  Not everyone should go home happy. Sometimes you have to realize you did not play well and you have to go home and work on something. Also, if some kid starts to curse and hits another player, this kid would still get an award. 'Best Defense' I guess. Just seems wrong. I'm not a fan of giving everyone an award, because it cheapens accomplishment and devalues hard work. I'm also not a fan of kindergarten graduation - celebrating one year of school at the easiest level. What an accomplishment.

The overall concept of a 'learning league' in a Christian atmosphere is a good idea, but I think this should be done without color-coding players and nothing but pat-on-the-backs and awarding players for doing nothing other than showing up. Any who, just my two cents.

Snowing in the Desert

DUBAI (AFP) - Under the scorching desert sun of the Arabian city of Dubai, a new indoor Alpine ski resort has risen up complete with the world's first indoor black-run, glacial winds, icicles and not an avalanche in sight. Continued . . .

Dude loves his TV: Man gets 5,000+ channels on 12 dishes for FREE

Man beams 5,000 radio, TV channels with a dozen satellite receivers.
Read the story here.

When The Other Woman's An Xbox

MTV has an article up on a support group started at Kansas State University called “Girlfriends Against Video Games.” They offer plenty of anecdotal evidence of a growing divide between the mostly male gamers and their ignored girlfriends.

Read about it here.

World's First "Smart Arm-Wrestling Robot" Unveiled.

Read about it here.

The Karate Midget

This dude can totally kick Ralph Machio's rear end.

View the video here.

Jeff Goldblum is watching

Jeff Goldblum fans click here.

Working in the cold down under . . . Antarctica

If you have ever wondered what it is like living and working in one of the harshest environments in the world, you can now read Simon Coggins' blog, 75 Degrees South, and learn about what life is like in Antarctica.

If anything, you should check out the Gallery page. I particularly like this picture of the Aurora Australis (or Southern Lights).

Another reason to lose weight

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Fatter rear ends are causing many drug injections to miss their mark, requiring longer needles to reach buttock muscle, researchers said on Monday.

Standard-sized needles failed to reach the buttock muscle in 23 out of 25 women whose rears were examined after what was supposed to be an intramuscular injection of a drug.

Two-thirds of the 50 patients in the study did not receive the full dosage of the drug, which instead lodged in the fat tissue of their buttocks continued . . .

Bono, God, and Wake Up Dead Man - Mainly just a message to my friend Tim.

You may remember me mentioning Tim from yesterday's post regarding the hockey game. At the end of the evening as I was pulling into my driveway, we got into an interesting conversation about Bono because the song "Wake Up Dead Man" was playing. Tim mentioned something to the effect that he wanted to know the words of this song. I told him a little something about it, but told him there was a good Rolling Stone interview of Bono talking about this song and I would get back to him. I think I also mentioned something about Bono being asked by his father about his faith and I was impressed by his answer.

I know I could have simply sent him an email, but I found some interesting stuff I thought I would share with all my readers in hope that it would provide a little insight about Paul 'Bono' Hewson and maybe a little something about Christian faith in general.

So this is a two part post regarding the song 'Wake Up Deadman' and a small excerpt from the book 'Bono In Conversation with Michka Assayas." I really hope you take the time to read this.

Wake Up Deadman

This comes from a Rolling Stone interview.

The music that really turns me on is either running toward God or away from God. Both recognize the pivot, that God is at the center of the jaunt. So the blues, on one hand -- running away; gospel, the Mighty Clouds of Joy -- running towards. And later you came to analyze it and figure it out.

The blues are like the Psalms of David. Here was this character, living in a cave, whose outbursts were as much criticism as praise. There's David singing, "Oh, God -- where are you when I need you?/You call yourself God?" And you go, this is the blues.

Both deal with the relationship with God. That's really it. I've since realized that anger with God is very valid. We wrote a song about that on the Pop album -- people were confused by it -- "Wake Up Dead Man": "Jesus, help me/I'm alone in this world/And a fucked-up world it is, too/Tell me, tell me the story /The one about eternity/And the way it's all gonna be/Wake up, dead man."

I don't think he is saying having anger with God is the right thing to do or that it is just, but it is valid because some people are genuinely angry with The Almighty, and unfortunately this is how some expresses his or her anger. Kinda like Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump. The individual in this song uses the F-Bomb towards God to express wordly anger just as Lieutenant Dan used GD a plethora of times during that hurricane. And yes, I know Bono curses on a regular basis.

Listen to the song here or you can read the lyrics.

Wake Up Dead Man (lyrics)
Jesus, Jesus help me
I'm alone in this world
And a fucked-up world it is too.

Tell me, tell me the story
The one about eternity
And the way it's all gonna be.

Wake up, wake up dead man
Wake up, wake up dead man.

Jesus, I'm waiting here, boss
I know you're looking out for us
But maybe your hands aren't free.

Your Father, He made the world in seven
He's in charge of heaven.
Will you put a word in for me?

Wake up, wake up dead man
Wake up, wake up dead man.

Listen to the words they'll tell you what to do
Listen over the rhythm that's confusing you
Listen to the reed in the saxophone
Listen over the hum of the radio
Listen over the sound of blades in rotation
Listen through the traffic and circulation
Listen as hope and peace try to rhyme
Listen over marching bands playing out their time.

Wake up, wake up dead man
Wake up, wake up dead man.

Jesus, were you just around the corner?
Did you think to try and warn her?
Were you working on something new?
If there's an order in all of this disorder
Is it like a tape recorder?
Can we rewind it just once more?

Wake up, wake up dead man
Wake up, wake up dead man.
Wake up, wake up dead man.

From the book "Bono In Conversation"
On page 25

My father said: "You do seem to have a relationship with God."
And I said: "Didn't you ever have one?"
He said: "No." And I said: "But you have been a Catholic for most of your life."-"Yeah, lots of people are Catholic, It was a one-way conversation...You seem to hear something back from the silence!"
I said: "That's true, I do."
And he said: "How do you feel it?"
I said: "I hear it in some sort of instinctive way, I feel a response to a prayer, or I feel led in a direction. Or if I'm studying the Scriptures, they become alive in an odd way, and they make sense to the moment I'm in, they're no longer a historical document." He was mind-blown by this.

-- So . . . did he find you pious?

I wish I could live the life of someone you could describe as pious. I couldn't preach because I couldn't practice. It's plain to see I'm not a good advertisement for God. Artists are selfish people.

Feel free to post your thoughts or share with others. Just food for thought for all.

My friend and old roommate DJ Gililland just got engaged. When asked how much he loved Andrea, this was his response:

www.bagofnothing.com/DJLovesAndrea.gif

Congrats, D.J.

Planet Christmas has some great pictures of decorated houses

Click here to view all of the pics. Tis the season.

Bowling Goof

Click pic to play video

Play your favorite 80's video games for free

I can't believe how bad my Frogger skills have deminished.
http://www.1980-games.com/us/

But I'm still pretty OK at Donkey Kong and Pac-Man.



I'm happy to report you can play

and

It's your turn to be a cruel taxi driver

Speed up, slam on the breaks, and take sharp turns with your keyboard for some good laughs.
Click on the pic to play.

In case you ever wanted to see someone light a fart.

Don't worry, there is no nudity.
View it here.

The grunting and facial expression crack me up.

Hockey, Turkey, and Football

Wednesday night one of my oldest friends came into town. It was really nice seeing Tim, who is a college minister in Abilene. He has one kid and another in the oven, so we don't get to see him often. It's funny how some friends can get together and it's as if you haven't been apart at all and can just start off where you left off. I consider that a huge blessing. Hope he felt the same way.

Jimi was nice enough to get a total of four tickets to the Dallas Stars game against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. So now all of us old college friends can hang out in style. Bone must have really enjoyed this as he is a huge hockey fan and the tickets were about 12 rows from the ice on the lower level. I'm not sure how he is able to pull this sort of stuff off so often, but it was a real blessing.

Here are some pics of the game. Just click to enlarge.


This is Tim. Here is another pic of Tim with a weird reflection.


Daryl "Razor" Reaugh, color commentator for the Stars. I was surprised he didn't look up when I took this. Here is another pic of me posing with him, sorta.

Modano during warm-ups. This makes Kimwise very happy.

We also saw former Dallas Cowboy and current NFL on Fox analyst Daryl 'Moose' Johnston and his family at the game. I think it's cute how he and his son have the same expression on their face.

I was trying to snag a picture for my friend Jimi, since he is fond of Diane Johnston's work you can see here and here. Evidently she no longer likes people taking pictures of her and the family, as she gave me a 'go to hell' look.


Modano introduction. This would make Kimwise very happy.






Turco defending our goal.





























Just in case you are still craving for more hockey pics, you can view them here:

Thursday was an awesome Thanksgiving, other than the Cowboys game. It was the best kind of food I ever had on TurkeyDay. Turkey of course, but we had best side dishes ever. Ate so much I fell right asleep and missed that Lions/Falcons game . . . thankfully.

The only other thing I can remember about the Cowboys game was the halftime show with Sheryl Crow. Here is a recap in case you missed it.