Junior misc

Some odds n' ends to wrap up Friday...

"Friends" is on Thursdays
No no no, not that rank TV show, I mean live friends.

Started off with an unexpected phone call, which led to some serious business and finally Beaning with McCoy.

A little while later a frantic phone call from Jolley had me on the receiving end of a blistering, old fashioned behind-the-woodshed lashing from Paul M.

After a quick follow-up with Ken, the day wrapped up with a racous spaghetti outdoor dinner-on-the-deck at The Jolley House with Jamie, Emily and, unfortunately, 4-legged Squirt.

Squirt actually bit me; that hamster/squirrel mix Moorheads convinced dj is actually a dog only weighs 10 ounces ... but 9 of those are teeth and bad Wish-I-Was-Bigger attitude.

Still, it's all good ... that furry, yapping cross-eyed pagan sock of a so-called canine broke off two teeth clamping down on my knuckle ... and couldn't even break the skin (this afternoon while dj's out running errands, I'm gonna swing by the house and teach Squirt how to swim).

I enjoyed spending practically all day with friends ... and just now realized I know every one of them because of church.

Good deal.

So Unattractive

This is interesting. "So Unattractive" was ready to post early this morning, then Blogger started timing-out every time I tried to upload ...

This morning I saw YouTube-superstar Brookers' new video Cell Block Tango (it's already racked up 2.366 million viewers). Whatever she's trying to do say with this video, it is so unattractive.

It makes we wanna throw the mouse at the screen and start screaming, "Ya know what? It's kinda hard to get focused on a girl when her focus is aimed backwards and inwards."

Sounds like poor Brookers is having some man-trouble. Bless her heart, she must be the only one ... but I guess self-torture and suffering keeps her both popular and amused with herself.

By now, the rest of the post seems irrelevant.

Witness This

Sometimes I feel like I'm living in-between two worlds.

One world's cluttered with aggravations like minivans, checkout lines and software upgrades; the other revolves around struggling to shut up and pay attention to the Holy Spirit.

Here's what keeps me focused on the second: Christ's resurrection from the dead was a BIG DEAL.

Bigger than Columbus running into North America, bigger than the Super Bowl, bigger than the moon landing, bigger than any headline about Iran, Iraq, or North Korea.

Christ's resurrection was Huge.

What makes the resurrection so critical is either it literally happened as the scriptures describe, or it didn't. There can be no in-between, no gray area or "well, maybe" about it.

The word "hard" doesn't come close to describing how difficult it is, even for believers, to grasp the significance of Christ's resurrection. That Jesus's literal return from the dead stands alone as the single most significant headline-making event in human history, period.

Was there ever a religion in all of recorded history to claim their spiritual leader promised eternal life through grace, got murdered for his trouble, and came back from the dead preaching love and forgiveness against his killers? Can we even pretend human beings could fabricate such an outrageous tale?

Nobody would believe it. Not unless there were eye-witnesses to the event who went into the world and shared what they'd seen with others ... witnesses whose actions and sacrifices proved that seeing the resurrected messiah had changed their lives forever.

I'm guessing that seeing a dead man brought back to life will do that.

The resurrection proved Christ was who he claimed to be: the only son of the living God.

Maybe for the first time the apostles understood there's no way to be a part-time follower of Christ. That there's no way to ignore the parts of scripture we disagree with. That Christ's sacrifice on the cross only applies on Sunday mornings between 11:00 am and noon.

We don't have the option of sinning "just a little bit" or of "doing the minimum" to serve God. It's gotta be full-time, all the time, everytime.

Christ Offers Eternal Life is the biggest, most important headline anywhere in the universe. And the news ought to show and be re-told daily throughout our lives ... not just when the minivan drivers stay home and it's all green lights ahead.

How Big's That Hole In Your Hull?

Last year I added a monster 2200 gallon-per-hour emergency bilge pump to Ben's engine compartment as a backup for the standard 600 gph unit (bilge pumps are installed at the lowest point of the hull and pump out rainwater and anything that splashes in over the sides).

Seemed like a smart decision, since punching a hole in the hull and sinking could quickly become distinctly unpleasant.

Then the other day I found a chart indicating that even a tiny 2-inch hole located just one foot below the waterline floods at a staggering 4740 gallons per hour ... more than twice my pump's capacity under lab-perfect conditions.

Adding more pumps isn't an option, because then there'd be no room for the engine ... which you really need.

Shoot, I could gouge a 2" hole in the hull quicker than some folks in the checkout line whip out their credit cards at Big Box ... just by bumping into a slow-moving duck.

Hmmm.

Yesterday I heard that the average college senior graduates with almost $3000 in credit card debt.

Making a $40 minimum payment at an 18% interest rate will take 50 years to pay off and eventually cost $18,188.22 in interest ... for a total of $21,088 on a $2900 credit card debt. And that's not including fees for "membership" or late payments.

Calculate what your credit cards are actually costing you here.

Your last credit card purchase should be for these:


The real problem with credit cards is spiritual: we become debt slaves to banks, credit card and finance companies to purchase the things we want today, Right Now! ... instead of waiting to be blessed according to God's plan and direction.

Sources:
The average overall debt among college graduates has nearly doubled to $16,928 from 1999, according to a national study of post-secondary student aid from the Department of Education.
-www.phoenix.swarthmore.edu/2006-02-16/news/15821

In 2000, undergraduates carried an average balance of $2,748 while graduate students carried an average balance of $4,776. Nellie Mae also found that of the 78% of undergraduates with a card; 32% have four or more cards; 13% have credit card debt between $3000-$7000; and 9% have credit card debt greater than $7,000 (Nellie Mae, 2000).

Besides financial considerations, excessive debt can lead to psychological problems such as stress, and in extreme cases even suicide. Highly publicized cases of students who committed suicide apparently due to the anxiety related to their unmanageable credit card debt have forced lawmakers, consumer groups, and colleges to take a closer look at this issue. (See Hoover, 2001; Loyal, 2002). -www.ericdigests.org/2003-2/credit.html

Marital Discord?

Tom over at Adrenaline e-mailed me this photo with the caption, A Small Bump In A Loving Marriage.

I can't tell who was driving the blue pickup ... whether it was the husband or the wife.

But I do know that's a Prancing Pony on the little red car's tailgate.

Ouch, honey.

Even When It Breaks, Only Ferrari Is Ferrari

As though to prove The Blue Book wrong [see Oct 1 post Xang Schumacher Ya], yesterday Spain's Fernando Alonso claimed victory in the Grand Prix of Japan after Michael Schumacher's Ferrari blew its engine with just 13 laps to go in the race.

The catastrophic failure of the usually bullet-proof Ferrari engine was the manufacturer's first in-race failure in six years. The failure will likely cost the 37-year old Schumacher, who's scheduled to retire after this season, a record 8th F1 championship title.


Schumacher watched helplessly from the sidelines as Renault's Fernando Alonso claimed the win. The victory gave Alonso a 10-point lead in The World Driver's Championship with just one race remaining in the 2006 series, The Grand Prix of Brazil on October 22.

Afterwards, Schumacher demonstrated typical Teutonic stoicness in defeat:


The Blue Book's Bonus Points Question Department:
Is Kimi Raikkonen's Mercedes-McLaren the most gorgeous F1 car you've ever seen?






Answer: Incorrect!
If it's not Ferrari, it's a sardine can.

But that's okay, because next year Rikkonen will be driving for The House That Enzo Built ... coincidentally replacing Michael Schumacher.

-photos from BBC Motorsport

After yesterday's win, Alonso jumps for joy. I guess.

Go Go GO!!! - updated

Last year I got in the habit of waking up between 3:30-4:00 AM on Sunday mornings.

I didn't need to be at NS until 6:00 AM but even with an alarm clock I was always tense about over-sleeping, and provoking Jake into beating me silly.

But since you slept late, had lunch and will feel rested after falling asleep during Talladega, be sure not to miss the six.

Really.

The 6 PM Possee's horses all seem to be running in different directions. Never mind that I miss seeing ya'll (you know who you are ... and don't make me have to drive over there. Whooo!).

But you're missing another good'un.

The Problem with Jolley

I'm not gonna name names, but I got a problem with dj.

Last week he moved into the neighborhood, between me and TCBS. Figured I'd give him a few days to settle in, but then ...

He's yet to have me over for coffee. Hasn't taken me to lunch. Hasn't offered to cook dinner.

May as well be living in Spartanburg, for as un-neighborly as he's been. "Welcome to my world" (can't remember who always says that ... hmmm).


Ok, seriously. I cut up with absurd stuff here at The Blue Book and hope it's entertaining (and that you recognize I'm doing it :-).

But I realized yesterday afternoon, despite schizoid boat wiring dilemas and Luke occasionally having a bad hair day, I ought to point out that with faith in Christ we really don't have any problems ... no matter what life throws at us today, we've still got his future to think about.

To be The Best ...

You gotta beat the best.

Some things take so long - very Updated

Isn't it a shame? ...

A week ago I was looking down on the tops of clouds and seemed just one foot away from living off the hook at Zombie. Ah well.

At least youtube, like Domino's, delivers:
I've Been Loving You Too Long

Hmmm. How Many More Times?
Can't believe Led Zeppelin did this live. Without the studio, LZ sounds a lot like Free.
Memo to self: ask McD about Jimmy Page's guitar

Yes I am a pirate ...
A Pirate Looks At Forty

I Only Have Eyes for
You

You got what it takes ... yeah.

ZZ Top Medley
Waitin' for the Bus (my bike)
I'm Nationwide


Grow up on a sailboat, write good songs
Maybe

Well, I hear my train a comin'

Yeah baby

That's what I'm talkin' about ...

There's a married couple, two kids, their dog, a brand new SUV ... and half the copper in the Andes in this picture.

disgusted - updated Oct 8 - 7:44pm

I need to read this post from the lb every day. First thing in the morning. Before getting out of bed.

Then tape it across the monitor.

After fiddling with blogger, myspace, flickr and gmail this morning, three hours had vaporized ... time I coulda spent doing something productive. Like cramming my head upside down behind a marine electric panel.

Or getting a tattoo.

Talked to Flip this morning. It's gonna happen, 'cause Flip is The Man.

ORP, motorcycles, Mike, trawlers and Texas prom queens - UPDATED with photos

I like Orp.

We've known each other since the days when grocery shopping meant actually having the option of paper or plastic.

She was either the fifth or sixth person to invite me ... but either way Orp was singularly responsible for me showing up that first time at New Spring and seeing my life changed forever. (Never give up on inviting someone just one more time.)

Thank you Orp, I will always owe you.
---

Orp told me this afternoon she wasn't quite sure about living on a boat.

About three weeks ago Juju's husband Mike The Original Bagel Man hinted pretty much the same thing.

Boats are much smaller and more cramped than houses, they bob up and down even when tied to the dock ... and let's face it, there's something unsettling at first about trying to fall asleep knowing there's 100 feet of water under your head.
---

One year while I was living in Colorado I used my two-week vacation to drive my motorcycle down to Key West.

I followed a narrow two-lane state highway through northwest Texas on the way back, and got an erroneous speeding warning from a Texas State Trooper for doing 90 in a 55.

I know it was his mistake, because I'd been clocking closer to 120 for over an hour .... which put me in the middle of a 4-block-long town in the middle of a desert at dusk on a Saturday night.

Prom night.

The sky was turning purple while I sat at the red light watching girls in formal gowns stumble across the street in heels while the wind kicked up dust and steered cotton bale-sized tumbleweeds, as though hurtling interference, between them and their crew-cut, tuxedoed dates.

In another minute the light turned green, the stars came out and that peculiar vignette was a light-year away ... but the strangeness of that tableaux has never left me.


Piloting small airplanes cross-country is great, but it's awfully introspective.
Motorcyles have a way of placing you inside the scene.

Seems like Bruce Springstein's "Born to Run" and Eddie Money's "Two Tickets to Paradise" were The Playlist back then.
---

Last year, incredibly, I saw my Suzuki GS1000E for sale behind a chainlink fence at a used car lot not four blocks from my house. And even thought about buying it.

Three days later it was gone.
---

Relationships? What a mind-bending hassle.
Material success? There's never enough ... besides being a waste.
---

Could I live onboard a boat? Yeah, I like the changing view through the helm window and feeling the engine pulsing through my shoes.
---

I've had some good friends, and I can remember some of their names, but I've never had more important friends than I do now.
---

Here's one I got in Utah for doing 65 in a 55 ... I never believed the radar gun picked me out among all the cars and RVs doing 80.

With a court appearance as it turns out, scheduled for yesterday October 6.

LOST meets Starbucks?

Only the Beginning

I'm not sure the impact of the past few weeks has settled in:

8200 people in attendance.

Last Sunday 413 people were baptized.

And the week before ... 214 people were saved in one day.

But that's not even 6% of the 3814 names left on the altar.

The city of Anderson has a population of 25,514 (2000 Census).
The county has a population of 172,988. -source

We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.
-1 Thessalonians 3:5 (NIV)

Ken does not look like ...

This guy.


And certainly not like the fellow on the left.


There's no chance of confusing Ken with ...


But then, on the other hand ...

LOST Loser - Very UPDATED

After all the waiting, the hoopla and the big build-up, LOST Season 3 finally debuted last night on ABC.

Did I drive over to Lee Dial's house after First Wednesday and preserve my AVCLUB membership? Aw, heck no.

So I must've watched S3 E1 live here at the house, right? Nope, not that either.

I ended up taping The Show because I was on the phone with The Dollhouse (and learned 66% of The 6 PM Possee is mustering up for the 6th on the 8th) ... then pretty much LOST (sorry) interest within 45 minutes after I got around to watching. Still haven't seen the last 15 minutes.

Maybe more later ... check out McD's post "He Stoops to Conquer"

It's NOT My Pastor

That big guy ... what's his name, you know the one I'm talking about, the one who does the preaching. It's not him, it's the Holy Spirit speaking through him ... but doggone it the Wednesday night message rang like the Liberty Bell being hit with a sledge hammer.

Maria Full of Grace (2004)

Last night I watched Maria Full of Grace courtesy of NetFlix.

Maria is the story of a pregnant Columbian teenager who becomes a drug mule, smuggling narcotics into the US, to earn money for her family.

Long before Maria arrives in the US the movie's tension becomes harrowing, and had me squirming uncomfortably in my seat through to the end. The story has little to do with drugs and concentrates instead on Maria's character. Highly recommended.

IMDB User Rating: 7.7/10 (8,313 votes)

Solaris (2002)

Since 2004 I've probably re-watched Steven Soderbergh's Solaris (an Americanized remake of Andrei Tarkovsky's 1972 original Solyaris) more than any other film ... you wouldn't believe me if I said 20-25 times, but Chris W. would probably shrug and point out that the actual number is at least twice as high.

I was thrilled this morning to read that Ken and Meg watched "Solaris" last night, and rapaciously devoured Ken's review.

Coincidentally, LOST Season 3 starts tonight ... and there's more than a few similarities between LOST and "Solaris"

Is "Solaris" destined to be remembered as a great movie treasure? There's no way. Was it even necessary to repackage a classic like "Solyaris" for American audiences, by turning it into a romance? Not at all.

Then why watch it so many times?

'Cause I don't know the answer to this: how far would any of us go, and how much could we overlook, to have a second chance?

Imagine you were madly in love with a person, but then something you did in anger that you should have controlled resulted in that person's death. What would you do to have another chance, and make that pain go away?

If you could, wouldn't you want to have that person back?

But what would your reason be? To give that person another chance at life ... or to give yourself another chance at life with someone who looks, acts and even feels identical to the person you loved ... except that this "new" person is only playing a role you created, with no memories of their own except yours.

Would that really be the same as having a second chance?

There's more to say, but right now I gotta find out who's making all that racket in the kitchen ...