Appalling
It’s appalling that a few seconds makes all the difference between legal procedure and homicide:
Take me out AT the Ball Game!
Last night, Angela, Andrew and I met some friends at the Bricktown Ballpark for a Redhawks game. We love going there (especially when the tickets are free. Haven’t bought a ticket yet in 5 years of frequent attendace :). An added bonus last night was that it was Thirsy Thursday, meaning all drinks are only $1 (if you don’t mind the tiny cups ;).
It was over 100 degrees, and we had been there a while, so I decided that it was time to take advantage of the drink promotion, so up the stairs, pretty oblivious to what was going on. As I walked up the steps, I noticed everyone looking up at me in horror when I realized that it probably wasn’t me they were looking at. Right about that time, something struck me pretty solidly on my left shoulder and bounced away. Yup. They weren’t looking at me but the foul ball about to hit me, which it did with passion. Luckily, it hit the muscle on my shoulder and not a bone, so it didn’t hurt too badly. Even this morning, it’s just a little tender with no sign of a bruise yet. Kind of funny.
I am able to take away two things from the event, though: a good story, and a very good reminder not to get up and walk around while someone is at bat. 🙂
Contemporary Mormon Music?
Mormon apologists and missionaries often assert that Mormonism and Christianity are compatible, if not basically the same, when even a cursory examination of the major tenets of both show that not only are they not the same, they’re not even compatible. At any rate, and on a more light-hearted note, I recently got to thinking what Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) were Mormon (or, CMM):
- Steven Curtis Chapman might sing, “God is God, and I’m not yet…”
- Third Day might sing of “The Planet of God”
- Aaron Shust would surely croon “My savior loves, my savior lives / My savior was once a man like me / A man he was, a God now is / A God some day I’m gonna be “
- Degarmo and Key’s classic song of triumph might be “We are destined to reign”
- Hymnals might read “We’re marching up to Zion, that beautiful city in Missouri. or Utah.”
I could go on and on. Anyhoo, they’re great songs, all of them. I should contact a copyright lawyer and get ready to rake in the bucks!
One of my best, I thought
Last night, I made what I thought was one of my best jokes in a while, but it was not met with the mirth I had expected. We were sitting in church waiting for the service to start and chatting with some friends. I saw in the bulletin that the meal this Wednesday night will be meatloaf, at which point I noted the menu for the others in the conversation, and stated,
“I would do anything for dinner, but I won’t do that.”
Dead silence.
Wow
This guy makes me ashamed to call myself a bassist:
Integrity really hurts sometimes
For certain values of “hurt,” given the context:
* Two Players Dismissed
* Report: Oklahoma dismisses starting QB Bomar
Why in the world would you do something that stupid (Bomar, not Stoops)? He had the world in the palm of his hands. All he had to do was keep working and getting better, and he had a better than average chance of a lucrative NFL career. Despite all that, he throws it away for a few extra bucks now. That’s insane.
Better Late Than Never
President Bush picked a good time to exercise his veto power: Bush Vetoes Embryonic Stem Cell Research Bill
On Barking Dogs and Hills Worth Dying For
I’ve done a lot of thinking recently about political discourse. Out of some recent discussions, I’ve come to a pretty big decision: I think I’m going to bow out of and avoid most political discussions.1
Bush Bashing
I appears that one of the more popular activities among the Left and Those Who Don’t Consider Themselves Part of the Left but Certainly Aren’t on the Right is to bash President Bush. I’ll readily grant that he’s worthy of criticism on a number of issues. There is a difference, though, I think, between criticizing and bashing, and many arm-chair pundits have crossed that line. Rather than a reasoned discussion of policies, it has become fashionable to constantly mock and scorn the way he comes across. Whether it’s comparing him to a chimpanzee, ridiculing his pronunciation of “nuclear”, cackling at his dropping the “s-bomb” in discussions of the fighting in the Middle East, or heehawing at his ranch vacations’ activities, many Bush detractors* have lowered themselves to the level of a third grade bully, and it makes political discourse tiresome and predictable.
* I am aware that there were likely those under Clinton doing the same thing, but that hardly changes anything. “Well, he did it first” is that same third grade bully’s defense.
Teetotal Legalism
This morning, during the midst of jury duty discussion, I mentioned at work that I’d not have a problem with a law banning alcoholic drinks. Others in the conversation were a mix of Believers and non-Believers. After the converstaion ended (shortly after my mostly tongue-in-cheek comment), I was accused of legalism and “not doing the Gospel any good” with my remark. Both interesting claims. Let’s dig in.
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