2009-03-31

Renewed

And there was great rejoicing.

Friday Night Lights has been renewed for two additional seasons!

Each season will be filmed back to back, and the season will first be aired on the DirectTV channel before NBC.  I suppose I can live with that. 

Now the interesting news will have to be which characters will be returning, as many of them should be graduating and heading off to college.  What I don’t want to see is a Saved By The Bell situation.  I don’t want one of these seasons to be the team working at the beach resort during the off season.

Financial Rock, Paper, Sissors

“If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will help him straighten out almost every other area of his life.” – Billy Graham

 

If I could sit at the feet of one preacher today it wouldn’t be Mark Driscoll, Rob Bell, Rick Warren or Bill Hybels.  Not that I don’t listen to all their podcast on a weekly basis.  However, if I could sit under one man’s weekly teaching it would be Jon Weece.  Jon is the preaching pastor at Southland Christian Church in Lexington, KY. 

Jon graduated from Ozark Christian College, and I first heard him my second year there.  At the time he was serving at an orphanage in Haiti.  I thought four years at Ozark would transform me into a preacher like Jon (or like Kyle Idleman, preaching pastor at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY, who graduated my freshman year), I was wrong.  Some people were born to preach and teach and lead.  Jon is one of them.

 

I say all that to share this resource by Jon and his team.  Unfortunately I couldn’t embed it here for you, but if you have about 30 minutes, Jon has an excellent presentation accompanied with easy to use curriculum concerning your finances.  Especially you finances in this current economy.

 

In my own life my finances have been a struggle.  I’m no financial wiz.  And despite math being a strong subject for me in high school, I wasn’t required one math or finance class for my Bible education, and now financial numbers just make my head spin.  I often tell people I want to marry a woman who’s rich or a financial planner.

 

Anyways.  Check out Jon and his presentation.  Well worth it. 

2009-03-27

Quote - Trueblood

"At the profoundest depths of life, men talk not about God but with Him." - Elton Trueblood

Wow. In light of this quote, I have to confess to having a shallow life on most days. Maybe someday I just might learn to include You in my every conversation.

Thanks

2009-03-24

In The News..

Now this is hard hitting journalism, tough on crime law enforcement and an all around better education system.

Student suspended for passing gas on bus

Hilarious…because it’s sad…and because I’ve wanted to send kids home from church for the same reason.

2009-03-19

I Read Vanity Fair (but only for the pictures)

Sometimes I'll puruse through a Vanity Fair issue.
I suppose occasionaly there might be an article or interview that catches my attention. But I really like the photography that is in it. Not to be careful, sometimes they have some pictures that would definitely be innappropriate, but for the a large part there is some really interesting work done by some very talent photographers.

I say all that to share the photos below. I think it's in the current issue that photographer Mark Seliger gathered numerous young Hollywood talent together and recreated some scenes from the movie/play West Side Story.
I remember I had to watch the movie several years in a row during my middle school days. It was standard in every music class offered, of which we required to take at least once a year.
I think they are great and thought you should see them. Here are a few but you should go see all of them by CLICKing HERE

That's Jennifer Lopez portraying Anita and Camilla Belle (from 10,000 B.C., who I remember thinking throughout the movie had gorgeous eyes and really white teeth for a cave woman).

Notice all the talent that was involved in these photos. Surprisingly, and especially for how young many of them still are, several of them were able to put aside ego and able to be involved in this project even as a "lesser role".

Here is who is in the above photo. Camilla Belle, Ben Barnes (Prince Caspian), J.Lo., Rodrigo Santoro (Behind the Sun), Chris Evans (Fantastic Four), Ashley Tisdale (HSM), Minka Kelly (Friday Night Lights), Jay Hernandez (lots of stuff), Natalie Martinez (Death Race), Brandon Jackson (Tropic Thunder), Melonie Diaz (A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints), Sean Faris (Never Back Down), Shane Lynch (an up and comer), Robert Patterson (Twilight), Cam Gigandet (Twilight), Trilby Glover (88 Minutes), Brittany Snow (Hairspray), Drake Bell (Drake & Josh)

2009-03-16

Mac is Back

Quick!  Give him your hair clip, shoe laces and a stick of gum.  MacGyver is coming to the big screen

 

Does anyone remember his first name?  I think they told us in an episode once.  But to be honest with you I haven’t seen an episode since it’s gone off the air.

 

Still I think I’m excited about this.  I’m somewhat hesitant in that it could really bad too.  Mission Impossible-s have been done well.  Miami Vice, no so much.

 

2009-03-15

Friday Night LIghts

I caught up on some Friday Night Lights tonight.
Such a pretty show. And not just because of the cast, although there is no doubt the ladies are gorgeous, and I hear the guys are too. But just how they film the show is beautiful. It captures why Texas can be such a beautiful place sometimes.
And while the show does suffer some poor scripting sometimes (Principal Taylor has gone, in just three seasons, from full time home maker, to school counselor, to principal?), it still has the ability to draw you into the characters lives forgetting it's shortcomings.
I've been watching it since it first came on, and hope this isn't it's last season.
Do you watch this show?
What do you think about it?

Bambi Lives

Tonight I almost killed Bambi as she tried to cross the road. (Was Bambi a she?)
The deer sat in the road staring at me like...um...well...a deer in the headlights.
I used my ridiculously quick reflexes and slowed down time to Matrix levels to avoid the deer.
I first week left, but so did the deer. So I began to turn the vehicle right, up until the deer swung his head that direction. Finally, with inches to spare, I maneuvered left barely circling the young doe.
I think the car behind me avoid her too, but I can't be certain of that.

2009-03-14

Sport of the Arts

Tonight I ventured into a world I have never encountered before. Well let me try and not be so dramatic. Tonight I ventured into a world, that outside of a high school football game's half time entertainment, I have never encountered before.
One of my students asked me to attend her colorguard competition.
It was like a the world of illegal street racing before the movie The Fast and The Furious.
Or the world of competitive video gaming before the movie Fist Full of Quarters.
Or Canada.
You've heard of these places, and you kinda want to believe they're real, but honestly...how could they be?
The first thing that took me by surprise was that it cost money to get in. People actually pay to watch young ladies (and occasionally young men) twirl flags around and prance around.
But now that I think about it maybe that's not such a big shocker. Our society being what it is, I suppose this makes sense. But no social commentary tonight.
The next thing I notice was that there is, to my astonishment, a lot of people who watch these colorguard competitions. The stands were full.
And they don't preform on the football field, but the compete in the gym. It was so out of place. It was if the basketball team decided to host their games on the fenced in, black surfaced courts in the middle of the park. Yeah it works, but it ain't right.
I don't remember colorguard at my high school. But then again I wasn't the most involved with school social events. I attended some football games, but to my credit, I spent half time trying to impress the ladies...a lady...okay, okay...any lady.
But these young gals tonight took this stuff seriously. And there was all sorts of colorguard audience etiquette that I was just not aware of; there needs me be a helpful handout.
And I feel I must point out how awkward that lone guy on the squad must feel, or how the squad feels, or at least the crowd watching feels. Not that I think a young man shouldn't follow his passion of dancing before large crowds with wooden guns and flags; and I'm certainly not going to assume a sexual stereotype just because of his extracurricular activities. But I do see how that might become a distraction on some level. Like when a young lady joins the wrestling team.
There was however a team this evening with at least half it's squad being males (10 out of 2o dancers). This did not have the awkwardness of the the team with the lone male. What was unfortunate was this team choose a urban image that often allows for suggestive labeling. Where was the coach in that decision making process?
Or worse, there was the squad that was dressing in black leather pants, and fish net tops (over red a red shirt). This outfit definitely suggested that these young ladies would have a future in the dancing industry; unfortunately the football field wouldn't be their stage.
The announcer, before each team would start, would ask the judges if they were ready (and the judges were a trip too), then ask the team's captain if they were ready, and finally he would give permission for the team to "take the floor in competition". It for some reason reminded me of the big karate meet in the Karate Kid. But instead of people actually kicking each other it was the even more painful world of teenage mean girls.
Finally it was time for the trophies to be handed out. The hosting school's music director played the National Anthem on his saxophone and completely hit a wrong note at the end of the song. He tried to play it off as if he meant to by dragging out the wrong note in a way that saxophonist can do, only he didn't do it well.
Nevertheless I rooted on my student and cheered even when the came in second (They so totally should have won. The team that was horrible.)

2009-03-09

The Neverending Story

I heard some awesome news today.
Apparently Leonardo DiCaprio's production company is planning a remake of this '80s classic.
This means a new look, but hopefully they can recapture that same old Falcor, The Luckdragon, magic.

A Distant Love Story

Check out this Flickr account.
This couple, he in America - she in England, take a photo and photoshop themselves into a single photo together.
That's how love conquer distant in our world today.
Ain't it sweet?

2009-03-08

Social Claustrophobia

Friday I had a uncomfortable reunion with family I was meeting for the first time.
It was an awkward evening.  Not the reunions, but the circumstance around the reunion.  I have a cousin who was married on Saturday, which was the cause for the gathering on Friday evening.  And several out of town guest had all gathered at one home.
Which leads me to my confession.
I have social claustrophobia.

I don't enjoy large parties.  Especially large parties in small rooms.  For some reason I don't function well.  I don't open up completely.  Even if it's in a group of people that I've known for years.  My elbows seem to always be floating up, and I feel like my personal space is being more crowded (why is that?).
I end up hovering to the edges of the room and watching people.  I don't quite break out into cold sweats, but my palms do get clammy.  
Being surrounded frustrates me.  
I don't care for crowded restaurants, amusement parks, theaters, clothing stores, grocery stores, house parties, cars, airplanes, caves....you get the picture.

There is something very physical to my social claustrophobia, but there is also something else.  I don't even act myself.  
I lose my self-confidence.  
I lose my sense of humor.  
My personality crawls into a shell.  
I'm not sure why.

But I have also noticed a couple of exceptions to those.  
First: I love being in the crowd root, root, rooting for the home team.  Getting caught up in a baseball game with a crowd is an exhilarating experience.
Second: A large church gathering.  I may still try to push myself to the edges, but there is joy in worshipping with others, and it is worth the uncomfortableness.  

Any other social claustrophobiacs (sp? claustrophobians?) out there?

"Hello, I'm Trevor"

This past Friday I met several relatives that I have never met before or had not seen in over 25 years, included my biological father.  
I spent much of the evening saying "Hello, I'm Trevor" to wide-eyed faces of relatives, shocked to see me after so many years.
I'm still trying to work through my thoughts on the whole event.  I don't process well.  Maybe some day I'll be able to articulate it all clearer.  
Aunts and uncles and cousins and of course my father...er...dad...um...I don't know how to quickly reference him.  Maybe just Mondo.  That's his name.
Severaly close people to me have felt that I needed this reunion and that I have deep seeded emotional issues because of the lack of this relationship.  
I don't know about that.
I do know I went to this reunion, not necessarily for myself.  I don't have that deep longing inside of me to know these relationships.  I can understand my older brothers though who sought these family members out.  I just honestly don't.  And maybe that's a problem.  
I might someday grow to love them.  
Several times throughout the night I was told, "Trevor this is your family."
I might someday grow to believe that.
I went to this reunion, because ultimately I felt that I would have been holding something back that others needed.  These people needed to see me and have a chance to know me.   
I went so I didn't feel guilty for failing to serve someone, when all that would be requied is a simple "showing up".
I'll try to share more as I think about it.
Also there are pictures out there.  If I find them I'll post them too.

2009-03-05

GDrive

Have you heard about the nex step in the ever increasing dominion of Google?
Soon to be released is Google's GDrive.
Here is what is being said about it:

Google Drive, or Gdrive as it is better known, has to be the most anticipated Google product so far. When it arrives, Gdrive will likely cause a major paradigm shift in how we use computers and bring Google one step closer to dethroning Windows on your desktop. The service has the potential to eclipse even Gmail, Google's second best-known product after their google.com search engine.

I'm looking forward to this.
If Google had a flag I'd salute it.

2009-03-04

The New Yankee Stadium

Check out these photos of the new Yankee Stadium. Click HERE for more. I'm not a Yankee fan (although I'm in awe of their legend) but even I can appreciate this beautiful building.

2009-03-01

Vintage Modern

I'm appreciate Vintage Modern. What's your personal style. Find out HERE.