Happiness For Blessing

Christianity
This feature story, like the people in it, is conflicted. Sure, Christians are supposed to forgive, but to what extent? Also, are you a profiteer if you're a convicted murderer and you use your testimony to draw people to your mega-church?

Sports
One spring evening about two years ago in Clyde, Texas, I found myself in a very scary situation. I was umpiring a little league game, and a comebacker up the middle hit the pitcher square in the chest. It was a solid 10 seconds (or was it? The way time moves in these situations, it was hard to tell) before the kid caught his breath. I had heard all kinds of arguments against children using metal bats, but had never before been forced to deal with it on a personal level. We used metal bats as kids, and nothing ever happened to any of us. My experience as an umpire forced me to reevaluate my stance. These bat companies are increasingly making metal bats more dangerous for anybody of any age to use - better for performance, yes, but also more dangerous. The issue is examined more deeply here. A couple days after finding that article, I came across one that makes a similar case against maple bats in the MLB.

Some thoughts about literature and baseball. A great read if you love either. Lots of stuff for Rangers fans in there.

Film
A no-frills (some might argue no-substance) preview of this summer's upcoming movies.

TV
Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse (the creators and head writers of Lost) answer questions about the direction of the show. Lindelof: "I think our hope is that looking back on the entire run of the show, that people remember the EXPERIENCE of watching it — what it actually felt like to be mystified and frustrated and surprised — as opposed to just where it landed storywise." Um, Damon? I'm worried about where it ends up storywise.

The Written Word
Walter Benn Michaels apparently espouses a fairly narrow-minded view about setting in contemporary fiction. Still, it sparks an interesting debate.

Games
This tone matrix doesn't fit the technical definition of "game," but it's fun to play with, so it counts.

Technology
Jason Kottke weighs in on the ever-growing Twitter debate. If you've decided to side with Jason, here's how to get started.

The New York Times profiles a team that's trying to beat the land speed record. Pretty cool.

Dallas
The new Parkland is going to be green.

Texas
Rick Perry started a controversy a couple of weeks ago when he "asserted Texas' right to secede." (Aside: Two years ago, Perry was calling Bush-haters "unpatriotic." Really?) Turns out, he was wrong.

U.S. Politics
It's kind of hard to believe, but the waterboarding debate has resurfaced. I don't see how anybody can say this is not torture. The act suffocates the detainee and simulates drowning. Nevertheless, there is a contingent that supports the use of it in the name of national security. I don't understand this. If another nation violated the Geneva Convention so blatantly and then tried to justify it by redefining the act through dubious memos, we would probably carpet bomb that nation anyway. Lest we get too serious, here is a light-hearted (or perhaps heavily sarcastic? Let's opt for that) look at a recent DOJ memo:


We can't separate pain and suffering? The justification machine is running on all cylinders.

Sean Hannity has offered to be waterboarded to prove that it's not torture. The Huffington Post says here that Keith Olbermann has "called his bluff" and offered to pay $1000 to charity for each second he can last. I wouldn't go as far as HuffPo goes in its praise of Olbermann - this is just one blowhard trying to outshout another blowhard - but he raises a good point. This debate is serious, and it sure seems like one side is just trying to justify it so their former leader won't look so bad. Lost in all this is the fact that neither one of them has actually done what they say they're willing to do. These days, I guess it takes a Playboy reporter to do the real journalism. This clip has some language, but power through. It's worth it.



I found what the soldier said interesting - waterboarding isn't torture because it "invokes an existing fear of drowning." I have a fear of being whipped to death. If you whip me almost to the point of death, is that torture?

Finally, this story just came out about a soldier who killed herself after refusing to participate in torture in Iraq.

Switching gears: The Hurricane Katrina flooding trial against the Army Corps of Engineers has begun.

World News
Front page photos rarely startle me, but this one from Friday made me look twice for some reason:



The U.S. has declared a public health emergency. Three cases have been identified (sort of) in Dallas.

The Economy
Some time last week, the front page of the Dallas Morning News started to look a little bit more optimistic. Headlines wondered aloud if the economy could be starting to turn. Not so fast, says The Economist. Recommend that you skip this if you're already the slightest bit depressed.

Humor
I've always been dissatisfied with the idea that Paper covers Rock. Following a very lame flip of a "coin" to make a decision this morning, Ira, Jodi, and I spent some significant (read: way too much) time trying to unpack exactly what kind of covering Paper is doing that defeats Rock so. Unable to come up with a satisfactory explanation, we turned to Wikipedia. The official answer? Um, nobody knows. Finding this to be a terrible oversight (who decided on these three "weapons," anyway?), we have now begun a quest to find the perfect rochambeau. Luckily, the same Wikipedia page is a great starting point. Jodi is partial to the "cat-tinfoil-microwave" variation, while I want to further explore the "earwig-human-elephant" variant. Also contained within the article is a hilarious idea that fire and water be added to the original three, with the caveat that "a player may only throw (fire) once in his entire lifetime." What say you, readers? Any good RPS alternatives?

Video of the Week

One of the best of these kind of videos I've seen.



Movie Trailer of the Week

I haven't seen Earth yet, but I'm already pumped for Oceans. Release date: Earth Day 2010.



Image of the Week

Check out this heart-breaking gallery.

Christianity
I know I'm about a week late on this, but Slate (!) ran an opinion piece on passion plays during Easter week.

The Dallas Morning News profiled the Cowboy Church movement.

Sports
On Thursday, Ian Kinsler of the Rangers hit for the cycle and collected 6 hits at the same time, becoming the first player in the modern era to do so. He was a triple and home run away from the "bicycle." The next day, the Rangers got themselves beat down by the Kansas City Royals. Evan Grant says Ron Washington surrendered the game, and all but called for his firing. Consider me on that bandwagon.

Film/TV
2015 is still six years away, but apparently we're close enough to evaluate predictions made in Back to the Future, Part II.
What it got right and
What it got wrong
No examination of the $50 Pepsi can. I call shenanigans.

Music
I just discovered this pretty cool site that aggregates rankings from social networks, music blogs, etc.

The Written Word
Someone has resurrected an essay from the February 1960 issue of Harpers about billboards. The author, Howard Gossage, argues that billboards are an invasion of privacy. This is a fascinating read, and the style kind of reminds me of the giant video boards of Fahrenheit 451.

Also, I just stumbled across an on-going feature from The Guardian: Digested Classics, which is just what it sounds like. Beloved literary works are retold in 700 words or less. Here is one of my favorite books, Lord of the Flies.

Games
After I received my new computer, it wasn't long before I found my way to Minesweeper. I was surprised to see that the design had changed, and my curiosity about it led me to Wikipedia. What I found was a whole bunch of theory on how to play. Minesweeper is supposed to be mindless fun, people!

Technology
Speaking of Back to the Future, apparently we're not really that much closer on the flying cars, either.

Dallas
The war between Dallas and Arlington continues as the two cities find themselves outbidding each other for a museum that hasn't even announced a desire to relocate: The College Football Hall of Fame.

Politics/World News
I don't usually condone paying attention to idiots on the internet, but take a look at the comments on this story. (Read the story while you're at it.) The response reminds me of several tragedies throughout history, perhaps most notably the internment of Japanese people during World War II. Disgusting.

The Texas Senate has rejected Rick Perry's attempt to play politics with money that could be helping people that need it. Good for them.

The Economy
So we all know by now that the housing bubble caused this whole crisis, whatever that means. So why didn't the technology bubble do the same thing?

Humor
Last week's story had to do with flatulence. Why mess with a good thing? Also, this is creepy.

Youtube
This is the worst thing I've ever seen. (Okay, that's an exaggeration.) Most of these kind of videos look staged, but the best man's horror is anything but manufactured.



Movie Trailers of the Week
Our first trailer reminds me of both 2001 and Solaris. I have high hopes for this. Release date: June 12.



Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince looks epic. This is my favorite book in the series and the only one of the movies I've been excited about seeing. Release date: July 17.



Image of the Week
I've mentioned before that I think The Big Picture is the best site on the internet. It's now got competition: Life has opened their photo galleries.

This week's image is much sillier than all that. Blow this image up and post it in your time machine. As always, click to enlarge.

Christianity
A reflection on Easter.

Sports
We've started posting short recaps of every Rangers game on Odd Man Rush.

Film/TV
The Simpsons are getting their own stamps.

Music
*Ahem* U2 will be playing at the new Cowboys stadium on October 12. Tickets go on sale on April 20, and will likely sell out that same day.

The Written Word
Roger Ebert thinks about Twitter culture.

Games
This site poses the question, "What if Criterion released video games?"

Dallas
As I noted before, the Dallas police officer that stopped Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats received some national attention for his lack of professionalism during the stop. Here's a positive story about an officer that ran last week.

Politics/World News
The Economist has a report on the gap between the rich and the poor. An interesting read, especially in light of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.

Humor
A soccer player was given a yellow card for, um, distracting a shooter.

Youtube
I've never noticed this before, but of course I've never paid THAT much attention to Disney movies.

Movie Trailer of the Week
Two adaptations of children's books I have fond memories of are coming out soon. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs drops on September 18, and Where the Wild Things Are will be released on October 16.





Image of the Week

(click to enlarge)



President Obama hosted a traditional Seder dinner in the White House on Thursday night.

Thank you to everyone who checked up on me following my camping trip in Arkansas. It was great, but I'm glad to be back. This week's IBTH is abbreviated as a result.

Film/TV
Did you know that there's a site where you can watch every episode of The Simpsons ever made? I just wasted a whole lot of time...

Dallas
I never would have heard of this had I not gone back through the Dallas Morning News archive after returning home, but apparently this story gained national attention last week:

NFL Running Back Ryan Moats, who grew up in Oak Cliff, was involved in a controversial altercation with Dallas Police Officer Robert Powell. Moats was on his way to attend to his dying mother-in-law at Baylor Regional Medical Center in Plano when he ran a red light, prompting a chase by Powell, who then proceeded to be the world's biggest jerk, despite Moats' repeated pleas to let him simply go inside the hospital. The entire altercation was caught on Powell's in-dash camera, which is shown unedited here. Probably the most appalling part of the video (and there's plenty there to choose from) is when the nurse comes outside and informs the officer of the situation. His reaction is to snap back, "I'm almost finished here." Powell has since apologized, but apparently public backlash hasn't waned. This editorial lauds Moats' reaction, and I have to agree. It would have been easy for him to lose his cool, but he didn't raise his voice, curse, or act insubordinate in any way. Hopefully Ryan can transform his new-found (unwanted) fame into something positive, and I'm sure he will.

Politics/World News
In 2003, the Republican Party in Texas, led by Tom DeLay and Rick Perry, gerrymandered US Congressional Districts in a move that ranks among the worst abuses of political power in recent memory. Among many other things, the Abilene area (historically bipartisan) was lumped in with ultra-conservative Lubbock. As a result, Charlie Stenholm, a conservative Democrat who wasn't afraid to reach across the aisle, lost his seat in 2004. Stenholm served 13 terms as Representative from the Abilene area, and he was on several influential committees. He was replaced by Randy Neugebauer, a rookie who has since voted with the Republican delegation 98% of the time. Stenholm wasn't the only one to lose his seat.

Now, the Texas Senate has approved a measure that ensures that any future redistricting will be handled by a bi-partisan committee. The measure passed 19-12, with the only "no" votes coming from Republicans. The bill now has to go through the incredibly partisan House of Representatives. If there is any justice, it will pass, but I am not holding my breath.

Humor
A pub in London was recently evacuated after a replica "Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch" was mistaken for a real explosive device.

Youtube
Fans of Arrested Development should recognize this face:

There will be no Weekend Links next weekend, or any posts at all for the the next week. I leave for Arkansas tomorrow. We'll be kayaking the Buffalo River and backpacking along various trails along the way. I'll take pictures when I can and post a recap sometime next week. Enjoy this week's entry.

Christianity
Kudos to the Christian Book Expo, which ends today in Dallas, for reaching out to those with different viewpoints. These types of authentic discussions are what the Church should be about.

Sports
I heard about this on the radio this morning: If the Texas Rangers win their first 4 regular season games and the New York Yankees lose their first 4, every Honda bought at Vandergriff Honda in Arlington within a certain timeframe (the radio ad said the deadline was today, this article says differently) will be paid off by the dealership. Quite a gamble. The Rangers play 3 at home against the Indians, then travel to Detroit to face the Tigers. I'll be at the opener. Meanwhile, the Yankees play four on the road, but the opponents are cupcakes: The Orioles and Royals. I think the odds are stacked in the dealership's favor.

Film/TV
If you didn't watch the series premiere of Kings last Sunday (and based on the ratings, you probably didn't), you should. It's an hour and half long on Hulu, but totally worth the time investment. The show is a modern retelling of the Biblical story of David and Saul, and it is very intelligent and well-acted. Watch it, tell everyone you know, and then watch the second episode tomorrow night. This show needs to air, but there are already rumors of cancellation if the numbers don't improve.

Music
A medley of hip hop songs that sounds like it comes from an NES game.

The Written Word
The Seattle Public Library is hosting a debate today that's sure to cause (or reveal?) all kinds of teen angst: Which is better: Harry Potter or Twilight? Luckily, they're talking about the book series, not the movies.

Games
You think you're good at Tetris? See how long it takes you to fill a single line in this mega-size Tetris game. I left it running - with the spacebar pressed down, which makes the pieces move superfast - and it still took 1 hour, 20 minutes, and 18 seconds for the board to fill up. (Click on image to enlarge)


Dallas
The Hard Rock Cafe is returning to Dallas, this time in Victory Park.

Politics/World News
My major complaint about the Anti-Gay Marriage Crowd is that the same people who claim to be defenders of the sanctity of marriage don't have a lot to say about divorce. It's become an accepted part of society, a necessary evil. Well, Texas State Representative Warren Chisum of Pampa has proposed some legislation that will make it harder to obtain a divorce. I wonder about the logistics though: the proposal essentially places a $150 tax on divorce, which may be an obstacle for poor people in abusive relationships. I still feel uncomfortable about legislating morality. Marriage is an institution where the line between church and state has been obliterated, which makes this legislation still seem hypocritical - if you want to deny marriage to homosexuals on religious grounds, shouldn't you also want to ban divorce altogether? And just what is the role of government in marriage anyway?

Humor
This portrait featuring Sean Connery - sort of - is more bizarre and creepy than humorous (though it is that). So many questions come to mind, but the most important one may be "Why?"

Youtube
A cool graphic representation of the metamorphosis of the Batman logo over time.


Movie Trailer of the Week
Another selection from the AFI Dallas International Film Festival. Lymelife will show on Monday, March 30 at 10:15 pm at Landmark's Magnolia. If you'll be in Dallas the week of the festival, I'd love to have you join me at some of these movies. I've written a note on Facebook with all the details.



Image of the Week

(Click on image to enlarge)
This week's image is taken from a Big Picture post about the recession. The newspaper stand graveyard is a metaphor not only for the state of the economy, but the impending death of the print media.

Three notes before we dive in:

1. I stated that a clever name for this weekly feature is coming. I've come up with a few, but they're just a little too...inadequate. Until I come up with one I'm really satisfied with, we'll stick with the vanilla title. If you have any suggestions, please share them in the comments.
2. I changed "Books" to "The Written Word." This gives me flexibility to link to items such as the one featured this week.
3. I fully realize that the links posts are the only items I've produced for this site recently. This will likely continue to be the case until I get a new computer to replace my poor, poor laptop.

Christianity
Michael Spencer of the Christian Science Monitor, an evangelical, posits that the evangelical community is on the verge of a "major collapse." Rod Dreher, apparently an orthodox blogger on conservative politics and religion (his little logo makes me sick to my stomach), responds.

I'll simply pull a couple of interesting quotes from Spencer's article, with the caveat that I want to explore this thesis more thoroughly in its own independent post. (Or in the comments - come on guys.)

1. "Evangelicals have identified their movement with the culture war and with political conservatism. This will prove to be a very costly mistake...We fell for the trap of believing in a cause more than a faith."

2. "Expect evangelicalism to look more like the pragmatic, therapeutic, church-growth oriented megachurches that have defined success. Emphasis will shift from doctrine to relevance, motivation, and personal success – resulting in churches further compromised and weakened in their ability to pass on the faith."

3. "A small band will work hard to rescue the movement from its demise through theological renewal. This is an attractive, innovative, and tireless community with outstanding media, publishing, and leadership development...We can rejoice that in the ruins, new forms of Christian vitality and ministry will be born. I expect to see a vital and growing house church movement"

4. Despite all of these challenges, it is impossible not to be hopeful. As one commenter has already said, "Christianity loves a crumbling empire."

Sports
Fighting has come under fire recently in hockey. Mike Heika, who covers the Stars for the Dallas Morning News, takes a look at the honor code that players follow when fighting. Take a look at this video after you read the story.

Now comes news that the NHL is thinking about adding ten-minute game misconduct penalties for "staged fights" - fights that occur immediately after face-offs, like in the video above. Scott Burnside, who writes this opinion piece, thinks that this won't be much of a deterrent to staged fighting, but I think that, if passed, we will see reduced fighting as a result of this rule. Coaches can get fined if too many game misconduct penalties are assessed or if they happen at the wrong time. I hope to write a more in-depth post about fighting in hockey at a later point.

Film/TV
The New Yorker profiles screenwriter Tony Gilroy, who wrote and directed the upcoming Duplicity. The piece is supposed to be flattering, and it is in parts, but I think Gilroy comes out looking like an arrogant jerk. Most notably, Gilroy, who wrote all three movies in the Bourne Trilogy, completely trashes the Robert Ludlum novels on which the films are based, as well as the readers who have enjoyed them over the years. Note to Tony: I loved your movies, but they were nowhere near as good as the books. Gilroy still remains compelling for me, however, and I now have a desire to see Duplicity that I didn't have before.

Music
The A.V. Club takes a look back at Johnny Cash's American Recordings. Contains audio.

The Written Word
It is my humble opinion that Calvin and Hobbes is by far the best comic strip ever produced. Bill Watterson stopped writing it much too early, in 1995. Calvin was perpetually 6 years old throughout the life of the strip, and some artists have imagined what a teenage Calvin would look like. At the bottom of the page you can find a fictional final strip that reveals the end of Calvin's and Hobbes' relationship as we know it. The actual final strip was full of optimism, and it is the image at the top of this post.

Games
Leonardo Notarbartolo is being released from prison this week. The April issue of Wired details his exploits as mastermind behind the World's Biggest Diamond Heist. How many screenwriters do you think have taken notice of this story?

Dallas
A follow-up to last week's post about the DART: Now they're talking about raising rates. Yeah, because the people who need to be shouldering the financial burden right now are the ones who depend on public transportation. What about the stimulus package? Incidentally, if the DART is going to start raking in some extra dough, how about figuring out a way to provide transportation to the Ballpark in Arlington?

Politics/World News
Texas Governor Rick Perry is trying to reject $556 million of the $16 billion dollars Texas is due to receive from the stimulus package. At best, this irresponsible, and at worst, it is a grave injustice to jobless people. More than likely, it is a publicity stunt designed to give Perry ammo against KBH in the 2010 governor's race. Governor Perry, Texans pay taxes too. You may be against the stimulus package, but it has passed. Do not give our tax dollars to California.

Humor
It appears that a Japanese baseball team may have shaken its own unique curse involving Colonel Sanders. You can't make this stuff up.

Youtube
And now, something completely silly.

Movie Trailer of the Week
This week's trailer comes from a movie that will be shown at AFI Dallas International Film Festival on Wednesday, April 1. Sugar is the story of a 19 year-old Dominican baseball player trying to break into the big leagues.

This week I deleted the "Internet" category and added "Games." I also split "Humor" into "Humor" and "Youtube." Don't forget to set your clocks forward!

Christianity
A perspective on Lent from someone who used to be in the Church of Christ.

Sports
The World Baseball Classic has started! I'm starting to get excited for the "real" baseball season, but until then, there's always the US to cheer for. Schedule

Film/TV
This theory on "Lost" has been around a while, but it's recently gained credibility due to the events of recent episodes. There are only 26 episodes left in the whole series, so expect more and more theories like this to pop up as time goes on (See what I did there?), although I'm sure something will happen at the end of Season 5 to throw everybody off track.

Music
Not only is Guitar Hero: Metallica coming out on March 29, but the band recently announced that they'll be releasing a 163-track digital box set on iTunes two days later. I guess Metallica will be making a lot of money that week. Oh yeah: they get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 4 as well.

Books
Mike Sacks announced this week that he's releasing "And Here's The Kicker" in July. The book contains interviews with 21 humor writers about their craft.

Games
Rock Band announced that they're basing a game around the Beatles, similar to what Guitar Hero has done with Aerosmith and Metallica. The release date? 09/09/09. I can just see the commercials now: Number 9, Number 9, Number 9...

Dallas
The DART is looking to expand. Plans call for a "Green Line," which runs northwest to southeast along I-35E, and an "Orange Line," which will wind its way from Union Station and other downtown stops to the DFW Airport. However, recent developments about a $45 million shortfall, followed by news about receiving Stimulus Package money, and now some possible reneging by transportation officials who asked for this in the first place have thrown everything in to question. Everything, that is, except for the Green Line, which is now confirmed to open in September, just in time for the State Fair.

Politics/World News
I don't want to pile on the Bush Presidency, but...well, here we go. We all know the Bush Administration used 9/11 to justify all kinds of things that would have never flied before. On Monday, the Obama Administration, as part of the initiative to bring more transparency to government, released 9 memos detailing just how far Bush and company tried to go. Chilling.

A quote from the AP article: "Too often over the past decade, the fight against terrorism has been viewed as a zero-sum battle with our civil liberties," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a speech as the documents were being prepared for release. "Not only is that school of thought misguided, I fear that in actuality it does more harm than good."

A quote from Benjamin Franklin: "People willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both."

Humor
Nerd Humor Alert!

Youtube
Somebody went and found a bunch of videos of people playing instruments on Youtube and remixed them to form 7 different songs. This is a lot better than you think, and it's actually pretty fun if you've ever come across any of the originals before. The guy that looks like Dirk with a backwards hat in the first song does some pretty cool instructional videos for acoustic guitar.

Movie Trailer of the Week
The trailer for Public Enemies was released this week. PE stars Johnny Depp and Christian Bale and reminds me of Catch Me If You Can in some ways.

This is my first installment of Weekend Links. It's pretty simple: I'll provide one link for each of the categories below. The categories will probably be fluid for the next couple of weeks until I figure out what's going to work best for me. Enjoy!

Christianity
My sister-in-law Rachel has a great blog that chronicles the adventures of those three crazy boys I call my nephews. This week, she made a plea for help purchasing Bibles for their children's class at the church plant they're a part of in Burleson.

The Internet
Roger Ebert, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite contemporary writers, was especially put off by the level of snark exhibited by viewers of this year's Academy Awards show. His response sums up what I've been trying to articulate in my head for quite some time.

Sports
In light of Alex Rodriguez's recent steroid confession, Rick Reilly reassesses past MVP awards now considered tainted and awards them to the rightful winners.

Film/TV
The March issue of Vanity Fair includes a behind-the-scenes look of how The Godfather movie came to be. The story of how Marlon Brando was cast is particularly fascinating.

Music
U2's 12th studio album, No Line on the Horizon, drops Tuesday. It's currently streaming on their Myspace page.

Books
The Amazon Kindle 2 was released this week. Jodi got hers in the mail today and I have to say, it's pretty sweet.

Dallas
Tickets for the AFI International Film Festival go on sale on Wednesday. Anybody want to go to a movie or two?

Politics/World News
The Internet's best site, The Big Picture, let me know once again how ignorant I am of what's going on in the world. The feature is about the conflict in Congo, which has been raging for over 15 years. The pictures are poignant, and the stories are even more touching. #33 is the saddest thing I've heard in quite a while.

Humor
Music videos are often an exercise in ridiculousness. The folks at Funny or Die have started a series where they redub old music videos with a literal "translation" of what's going on on-screen. On the internet, it's rare to find such a great idea executed so well.

Movie Trailer of the Week
Explicit Ills has all the makings of a powerful message about poverty in contemporary America. It opens on March 6, and I will be in line to see it.