The Beloit College Mindset List for the Class of 2014

Each August since 1998, Beloit College has released the Beloit College Mindset List. It provides a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college this fall. The creation of Beloit’s Keefer Professor of the Humanities Tom McBride and former Public Affairs Director Ron Nief, it was originally created as a reminder to faculty to be aware of dated references, and quickly became a catalog of the rapidly changing worldview of each new generation.

Read the full list here but below is a sample:

  • Few in the class know how to write in cursive.
  • John McEnroe has never played professional tennis.
  • Clint Eastwood is better known as a sensitive director than as Dirty Harry.
  • Korean cars have always been a staple on American highways.
  • Computers have never lacked a CD-ROM disk drive.
  • American companies have always done business in Vietnam.
  • Russians and Americans have always been living together in space.
  • Toothpaste tubes have always stood up on their caps.
Posted in Interesting, Pop Culture | 1 Comment

Moonlight Football Practice Because of Ramadan

DEARBORN, Michigan (AP) — Illuminated by the night lights on the football field, Adnan Restum joined a scrum of teammates at the end-zone water fountain, taking a break from a grueling preseason workout to guzzle a drink.

In just a few hours, he wouldn’t be able to take a sip. But the 17-year-old defensive tackle could rehydrate guilt-free during the 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. practice, and succumb to tempting boxes full of granola bars and chocolate milk, too.

The moonlight practice is tailored for Restum and fellow Muslim teammates who make up a majority of the Fordson High School squad in the large Muslim community in Dearborn, Mich. It’s a way for the players to practice football and their faith, and balance the fasting common during the 30-day holy month of Ramadan that started last week.

Full Article

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Disappointed Cat

Language Warning – one s-bomb at the beginning.

Posted in Cute, Goofy | Comments Off on Disappointed Cat

Bag of Randomness

  • I wonder how many times a person the Star Wars trilogy has been re-bought.  I was talking to a friend who mentioned he bought them on VHS, the the remastered version on VHS, then on DVD, and now he has them on Blu-ray.
  • I’ve noticed that more and more Mexican food restaurants do not provide cheese with their fajitas and once you ask for cheese, you are charged for this.  Yesterday I ate a new place and was charged a whopping $2.25, and the waiter wasn’t even nice enough to give me a warning of such charge.
  • Maybe it’s just a regional thing but when movies portray summer camp it seems like something the kids participate in all summer.  It’s like parents are just dropping off kids to have a kid free summer or something.  Here in Texas, I don’t think I recall anyone ever leaving for a camp that is longer than five days.  I mention this because of a CBS Sunday Morning segment about a book in which kids write home from summer camp complaining and just how innocent yet funny those letters are.  More about the book here.
  • I always thought it was a bit weird how the U.S. sells military weapons such as fighter jets to other countries.  I understand how it benefits us economically, but not knowing who could potentially become a threat years or decades later or what they may do with those weapons against one of our allies, it just seems a bit strange to sell a weapon of mass destruction.  Heck, it seems weird to let someone else get or a more level playing field then us.  You’d never see Microsoft allowing its products on Apple computers.  What, they do?  Oh, OK, that’s a bad example and now I’m just rambling.
  • I’ve loved the first two seasons of Mad Men but so far I’m pretty disappointed in the first two episodes of the fourth season.  Perhaps it’s building up to something.
  • The Texas heat has never really bothered me and I would take it any day over a winter in the north east.
  • Red Velvet Fried Chicken
  • I was working with a D&M Leasing guy recently but decided not to go the route of leasing a car, but someone I got on the guy’s email distribution list of awkward Christian email forwards.  Funny think, but I never shared my faith with him, so I’m guessing this is form of witnessing to him; but for a salesman, I don’t think that’s a good strategy.
  • It all started in Marshall, TX – Man Scrawls World’s Biggest Message With GPS ‘Pen’
  • For my fellow Jon Stewart and Star Wars fans, this is greatness.
  • Vader vs Cat
  • Full size TIE Interceptor
  • 20 Facts About Pet Ownership in America
  • My friend Andy recently encourage his readers to take the BeliefNet Spirituality Quiz, which is also known as the Belief-O-Matic.  I took this quiz years ago, but since that time I’ve done a lot more research and studying, and I would like to think that I’ve matured in my faith.  The quiz took about 10-15 minutes, so I encourage you to take it yourself if nothing more than just to question what and why you may believe the way that you do.  Feel free to share your results, below are my top three:
    1. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (100%)
    2. Liberal Quakers (91%)
    3. Unitarian Universalism (88%)
  • For those of you that took time to read yesterday, THANK YOU.
Posted in Personal | 8 Comments