Blogger Play

The world is blogging. And here are the pictures.

Apparently they've been watching for years in the blogger offices but now they've let the rest of us in on it. Be careful...it's strangely addictive.

http://play.blogger.com/

Blogger Play will show you a never-ending stream of images that were just uploaded to public Blogger blogs.

What a commercial should be...

This is one top-notch commercial. For fans of Phil Collins. And monkeys. And chocolate.

Halfbakery

So I just found this site while searching for games to play with a 4' earth ball. Just perused it for a second but it seems pretty amusing. Cracked, brilliant ideas. I love it.





Halfbakery.com

Oh...and if you're jealous that part of my job is to look up and make up games to play with an earth ball...5 words: na, na, na, na, na.

What other job do you get to spend time reading holy scriptures, buy tickets to a Fall Festival, and search the internet for games?

For the record, my favorite so far is "Death Ball."

I did eat cereal off of Blades of Glory

So I'm proofreading my paper on Bill Hybel's book Too Busy Not to Pray & for whatever reason I couldn't help thinking of this quote from Chazz Michael Michaels (Will Ferrell):

"They laughed at Louis Armstrong when he said he was gonna go to the moon. Now he's up there, laughing at them."

Why did I think of this? I have no idea. Other than we watched the movie Monday night.

For the record ... Blades of Glory ... B. Hilarious moments but not classic like a Tommy Boy or something like that. Without Will Ferrell it would have been and F--.

I'd definitely eat cereal off of this...

An absurdly accurate re-creation of the Bill Buckner debacle in Shea via RBI Baseball and Vin Scully's radio broadcast. This is long, but is absolutely genius.

Watch it here.

Admire vs. Follow

Here's another installment of a bit of Kierkegaard:

"...is it not true that the more someone makes assurances, while his life still remains unchanged, the more he is only making a fool of himself?...The difference between and admirer and a follower still remains, no matter where you are. The admirer never makes any true sacrifices. He always plays it safe. Though in words, phrases, songs, he is exhaustible about how highly he prizes Christ, he renounces nothing, gives up nothing, will not reconstruct his life, will not be what he admires, and will not let his life express what it is he supposedly admires...And because of the follower's life, it will become evident who the admirers are, for the admirers will become agitated with him."

In his book story Steven James says: "Jesus didn't want a fan club. He wanted a spiritual revolution."

The Grit Winter Stew

Delicious Grit Winter Stew. Mmmm...tis the season. Almost. Obviously all the stuff doesn't have to be vegan if you're not particular and all that. And sometimes we've added more potato, etc.

It actually makes you warm when you eat it. I typically sweat. Sorry, that's gross.

1 medium parsnip, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1 medium boiling or Yukon Gold potato, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch cubes
5 cups water
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon onion powder
1/4 cup Guinness Stout or other stout beer
2 tablespoons vegan Worchestershire sauce
4 tablespoons vegan margarine
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled and thinly chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 medium leek
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
very small pinch of nutmeg
1 bay leaf
Pinch of sage
Pinch of rosemary
Pinch of thyme
1/2 cup corn
1 cup soy milk

Boil parsnip and potato in a blend of water, soy sauce, onion powder, beer and Worchestershire sauce until barely tender; set aside.

Melt margarine in a large stock pot and add onion, carrot, celery and leek. Saute until vegetables are tender. Add flour, yeast, salt, black pepper, dry mustard, nutmeg and herbs and cook over gentle heat for 5 minutes. Increase heat and gradually stir in boiled parsnip and potato mixture. Simmer, stirring frequently, for 15 to 20 minutes. Add corn and soy milk and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaf. Serve immediately in warmed bowls.

Yields 6 to 8 servings.

"I'd eat cereal on that..."

I think it's a well known fact that the ferry's love their cereal. I'm partial to granola or Kashi Mighty Bites these days but there was a time when the 3 of us would either (1) fight each other over the good stuff or (2) get up early and eat the whole box so the others couldn't have any.

So as I was winding up my job of cleaning out the shed, which was nasty and cluttered by the way though I only found one mouse carcass, I said, "It's better but I wouldn't eat cereal in it." So...that's the new expression. You can apply it to anything like Brent's "...like the wolf" ala. Duran Duran. Patient like the wolf, tired as the wolf, sick as the wolf, etc.

So when something is clean you can say: "I'd eat cereal on that" of "off of that" whichever you'd prefer. If you agree with something said: "I'll eat cereal to that!" You get the idea. How will you use this expression and help it take off all over the world? Add it in the comments as well as your favorite cereal.

Scott's Fantasy Team

Here's another Ferry's fantasy roster, The Bane of Your Existence. I should note, by the way, that I got smoked this week.

The Bane of Your Existence
Quarterbacks Runningbacks Wide Receivers Tight Ends Kicker Defense

D. McNabb V. Young

F. Gore T. Henry J. Norwood V. Morency C. Dawson

L. Evans T. Holt R. Brown B. Berrian G. Jennings

V. Davis

J. Scobee

Bengals

Random Muppet T

So this T showed up in the mail addressed to me. I have no idea who sent it but (1) they obviously know me fairly well to know I am a Muppetphile (2) they read the Onion because it's an Onion T (3) they must have intended it to be anonymous.

This is the first time a T has shown up like this. Pretty cool.

For whoever sent it...THANK YOU!

By the way, Meka and I were watching the Muppet show the other night and she started to cry, freaked out by a weird German group called the Mummenshanz (sp?). I thought it was kind of funny though I vaguely recall being scared of these cats myself when I was little.

And for the record, the Muppet show Season 2 is out on DVD and will be on my Christmas list!

Our Fantasy Teams

So here are the ferrys' fantasy teams:

The Extremely Manly Ferry Tigers
Quarterbacks Runningbacks Wide Receivers Tight Ends Kicker Defense

P Manning C Pennington

T Bell L Betts E James

R Moss T Perry D Branch M Muhammad R Wayne

T Scheffler A Crumpler

J Hanson

D Jaguars

Meka's Monkeys
Quarterbacks Runningbacks Wide Receivers Tight Ends Kicker Defense

P Rivers B Favre

C Brown W Parker R Bush V Morency M Barber

P Burress D Jackson D.J. Hackett D Henderson

V Davis

J Brown

D Chargers

My Fantasy Manning

So we're playing in a Fantasy Football league with our Life Group and it's pretty sweet. Fantasy Football may be the most brilliant interest raising marketing thingy ever. I am SIGNIFICANTLY more interested in any and all games since I have players from quite a few. I don't know if the NFL did it deliberately but it's brilliant.

Anyway...I picked Peyton Manning in the first round for my team, the Extremely Manly Ferry Tigers. We'll see how it works out. Last night he earned me 29 points, which I'm not really even sure how great that is but it sounds good, with these numbers: 288 PaYd, 3 PaTD (27,28,45).

The Ballad of the Kingsmen

Alright...I beg to differ, the blog ain't dead. Not even close. Here's my excuse: it was August and in Cincinnati it was too hot to blog. It was too hot to do anything. Almost too hot to continue existing.

Anyway...

Check out this Todd Snider song that I've been listening to & enjoying:

The Ballad of the Kingsmen



Here's an exerpt of the lyrics:

"You know, every ten years or so our country and some other little country,
We start firing all of our newest weapons
At each other for some reason or another, right or wrong,
Like it or not, it happens, and when it happens
People get shot and when people get shot,
They show it on tv a lot, every night at six o clock
And you don't even have to be eighteen to see it
you don't even have to be in first grade,
First grade where they teach the kid pride
They tell him he'll need to thrive,
In a world where only the strong will survive,
So he's taught the art of more
To compare to and to keep score Monday thru Friday while
He stares at the floor til' Sunday they make him go to
School once more only this time they make him wear a suit and a tie
And listen to some guy who claims to know Where people go
When they die tell him that only the meek are gonna inherit the earth
Well shit, by this time the kid doesn't know what anything
Is worth, now brothers and sisters I am only one guy
And I don't even know the words to that song Louie, Louie
but I can tell you right now without batting an eye
That the next time some latchkey kid goes wrong
It aint gonna be cause that Eminem gets to say the word faggot in his song
And I'm not trying to preach to you either,
I'm just trying to sing to you too, you know string a few words together...
Hey kids...Lets get it on..."

By the way, the Polyphonic Spree is on Austin City Limits that we're watching right now and here's a few observations:

(1) I liked them better the first time when they were the Flaming Lips
(2) Is it just me or does every song sound like something from Jesus Christ Superstar?
(3) The multi-colored robe bit they have makes them look like a cult.
(4) Nobody has ever or will ever use the theramin as effectively as the Beach Boys in Good Vibrations so everyone should just stop trying and leave it to B-grade monster movies.
(5) Tim Delaughter is a bit of a megalomaniac, but not necessarily more than all of us human beings.

Michigan: The Mediocre Lakes States

It's fair to say this here blog is almost dead, I guess, but here's a mild attempt at resuscitation.
I am now settling into Ann Arbor, which as a whole is settling into being worse than Appalachian State. Just for the record, it's a sweet place. Expensive, yes, but very cool.

It's true what you hear about the Michigan economy, though. It's not so good.

So that's that there. No reason to drag that out.

Now, I have been wondering what Republican presidential candidates people like nowadays, as I don't really see a whole lot of difference. Luckily the New York Times found it fit print an article about that. It's utterly depressing, really, that these are the type of people that choose the president.

Provocations

So I've been reading a book of Kierkegaard's writing on spirituality. Some of it is confusing, some I don't get, most of it is challenging. Here's a bit from the other day...

...it is not the obscue passages in Scripture that bind you once you understand. With these you comply at once. If you understood only one passage in all of Scripture, well, then you must do that first of all. ...God's word is given in order that you shall act according to it, not that you gain expertise in interpreting it.

WARNING: Foul, Todd appropriate, language!

This Gap Sweater Is F*&@#$% Awesome

Extreme Makeover: Meka Edition II

Harsen's Island Vacation 2007

reasons #246, 247, & 248 to visit tennessee

the williamson county fair contained, among other things, an elvis impersonator contest, country clog dancing, and carnival rides. oh, and i tried my first deep fried oreo there...heaven.

grizzly adams

in case it wasn't clear that sabrina and i are sinking into the nerdom of becoming crazy rabbit enthusiasts, recently sabrina nursed a wild baby rabbit back to health. his name is grizzly adams. she found him and released him at the botanical gardens where she works. helluva nice fella. you'd like him. isn't his beard glorious? it reminds me of a beard i have seen before but can't quite place. a beard on someone i kno-...um, scott...have you been pimpin near any rabbit warrens?

Domata Peko // All Heart All the Time

Not only is his name fun to say but he sounds like a killer guy and a fantastic player.

CLICK HERE

Who-dey!

Meka & Dylan in a Steel Cage Match

Midlake // The Trials of Van Occupanther

In competition with Oprah, Brent's "Book Club" has some rules, one of which is "Always judge a book by its cover." Applied to albus as well that is how he found Hem's Rabbit Songs which turned out to be a gem. The band has sense become one of my favorite contemporary music making ensembles. Arrangements from sparse to full orchestral sweeps, instruments from the guitar and piano to the glockenspiel and french horn. Anyway...I love Hem and have always wanted to have my own album cover based discovery.

In todays day of digitlized music sometimes we don't even see the album cover but on emusic I saw the cover for Midlake's The Trials of Van Occupanther and was super intrigued.

Who the heck is Van Occupanther?

So I listened to a 10 second snipit and was hooked.

Upon getting the album I can hardly stop listening to it. I keep coming back to it.

Midlake has an ability to have lush arrangements without over doing it and also preserving the melody, which is often quite strong and often haunting.

The dynamic nature of the music makes it interesting. They can rock but also bring it down. The lyrics are cryptic and interesting like bits of stories parachuted in from Colin Meloy's Moleskine and storytelling harkening back to the Band's Weight and The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down. You get some evocative details without the entire narrative. But it makes for enjoyable repeated listening.

Another interesting element to the music is the prog-rock-esque electronic sounds. You find yourself wondering whether that's a flute or a synth; that is when you're wondering about Roscoe born in 1891 or who the heck is Van Occupanther?

I take special enjoyment in the fact that I "found" them serendipitiously on emusic by the cover of their album and they turned out to be good; in the same way Brent "found" the gem Hem. Scotty hadn't even heard of them. By the way Scott, I expect your two cents on the album. Andy by the way...you ought to throw down some short stories and record reviews on the blog here. I'm just saying...

Anyway...if you have a face and any portion of a brain that enjoys music...buy this album.

Extreme Makeover: Meka Edition

So with the incoming baby we set ourselves a Labor Day deadline for Meka's new room to be ready.

Phase 1 was moving all the music gear and music crud out of the room and into Neumann & Neumann storage.

Phase 2 was paint and prep; including finding a bed and other furniture. We decided on some paint, gender pigeon holing pink; a design, a wavy stripe which was an idea nicked from some random website and white furniture found via Craigslist and Brent & Erica's garage.

Phase 3 was and is assembling said room.

Phase 4 will be moving Meka in for a good night's sleep. We need to get bed rails before that happens.

Here are some photos of the room including the way we kidized Brent and Erica's dresser. (Thanks for letting us trash that, guys!)