Well, today was supposed to be the first day of my participation in StoryADay September, in which I post an original fiction piece each weekday this month. Well, today’s Labor Day, so not many people will be on the internet, and even fewer will be on it for long enough to want to read a “full” piece. So, I will follow today’s writing prompt suggestion of the StoryADay founder to write “Twitter fiction”: a story in 140 characters of less. Check back soon for that piece (or pieces if I’m feeling really creative), and come back tomorrow for my first “full length” piece. Oh, and while you’re at it, bookmark the dedicated page of the blog for this. Thanks.
Just for Fun
Leonardo diCaprio & Kirk Cameron: BFFs (Laugh of the Day) [casual fri]
The other day, I wrote a pretty serious and in-depth post on the place of the darker things of this world in art, especially profanities. in the middle of the post, I put two rather intense videos as demonstrations of my point. They were both videos from films depicting serious husband/wife fighting. One was from Kirk Cameron’s “Christian” movie Fireproof, and the other was from the film Revolutionary Road, in which Leonardo diCaprio plays the husband. Adding to the irony, both of these movies came out in the same year.
It wasn’t until later that I was reminded by a friend that these two actually worked together early in their careers, on the TV Show Growing Pains. If you want some weird contrasts that can’t help but make you laugh pretty hard, feel free to re-watch the two clips below, as well as this clip of the two of these guys doing a scene from Growing Pains. In hindsight, it’s pretty hilarious.
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My annual beach business trip is here. So what’s changed?
Almost exactly a year ago, I wrote about how my job was paying me to accompany some clients to the beach at Ocean City, Maryland for the week to help them grow in socialization and relaxation skills. If you remember, I wrote about sex and insanity that week (and that post caused some interesting problems for me later). On the beach reading front, at the time, I posted this picture:
Well, we’re back there again right now, and just yesterday, I found myself taking this picture without much thought:
Haha. I’m ridiculous. But at least I have good taste in over-sized classic books, right?
hardly my ideal of family life
At the Philadelphia Art Museum yesterday, I ran across this painting by William Winner, called Domestic Felicity, where the artist depicts a “romanticized group portrait of the artist with his family (here’s a clearer version of the picture).” Really? Definitely not my idea of felicitous domesticity. Happy weekend!
Here I am leading a Port Wine tasting with Fluffer-Nutter Sandwiches [VIDEO]
Last night, some of my best friends threw a wine-tasting and food pairing party. Some of the people closest to me presented wine and food pairings that blew my mind. I had no idea that wine could do all of that. It was the perfect way to end a very busy summer.
Above, you will find a video of me presenting my wine and pairing. I led a tasting of a Tawny Port wine and paired it with Fluffer-Nutter sandwiches (my new obsession). I hope you enjoy it and learn some things.
You can see the videos of the other wine-presenters, as well as other highlights of our evening here.
Thanks go to Paul and Natanya Ma for hosting us, and specifically to Paul for taking and posting these videos.
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The Best Bible Resource I’ve Ever Read [casual fri]
To do this Bible Class that has consumed the past few months of my life (and this blog–I swear I’ll stop talking about it soon), I had to read a lot of stuff, including these (as well as their New testament counterparts). I checked out stuff from the Philadelphia library, and watched a bunch of lectures from iTunesU (especially these). I looked through commentaries and websites and articles and handbooks and sermons.
In other words, I at least glanced over a lot.
But there was one resource that I found more helpful, clear, and amazing than any other Bible resource I’ve ever found. No exaggeration. No hyperbole. I’m serious.
It’s a pair of textbooks (one on the Old Testament, one on the New, one combined with both) written by a theologian I had never heard of before. his name is John Drane (here’s his painfully poor-designed website as well). Yes, textbooks. And I read most of the Old Testament one and all of the New Testament one.
Join Us for a Tour of Biblical History at the Penn Museum this Saturday!
As a fitting conclusion to the six-week Bible Survey Class I’ve been teaching at my church, I’ll be leading a tour of The University of Pennsylvania’s Museum of Archaeology of Anthropology, focusing on much of the Biblical History we covered in the class. The museum has a very rich collection of items from the regions and eras in which most all of Biblical History unfolds. We will be following the unfolding storyline of the Bible as we travel to each section, learning the context and the history that set the stage for the faith many of us now call our own.
If you’re interested, meet us at 10am this Saturday, August 25th in the courtyard in front of the main entrance (pictured above). Note: There’s a smaller entrance at street level some may confuse as the main entrance. We will be up the steps where the main fountain is.
The cost is $12 for adults and $8 for students (and well worth the price). The museum is located at 33rd and Spruce (map), right across the South St bridge. (Parking advice: park on the east side of the South St bridge in the Graduate Hospital area and then walk over the bridge). See you there!
according to Klout, everyone’s mom needs to look out for me [casual fri]
As you can see in the screenshot below, according to my profile on Klout, the website that monitors your “influence” online, I am by far more influential about moms than I am any other topic. A while ago, when “crazy home sex” was the main search term leading people to this site, I had a theory. This time, I’m absolutely stumped. Anyone else have any ideas?
my coffee brewing is about to get real… [casual fri]
Friends know that I’m a coffee snob. Real coffee snobs know I’m only a wanna-be coffee snob. I myself know that the latter group is probably more right, but nevertheless, this doesn’t prevent from trying to edge ever closer to my dream of being a real coffee connoisseur.
To that end, I recently invested in the above materials, and I wanted to share them with you on this Casual Friday.
- Hario Mini Mill Slim Coffee Hand Grinder
- Bee House Ceramic Coffee Dripper (and filters)
- Hario Mizudashi Cold Brew Coffee Pot
- American Weight Digital Pocket Scale (if you purchase this, don’t forget the 500 Gram Calibration Weight)
- We also can’t forget my favorite coffee (see right).
I love hand grinding the coffee beans each morning, and this particular cold brew method creates some of my favorite iced coffee around. Being able to weigh the beans has made a big difference as well. The only things missing? Well, a proper kettle like this one. Currently, I’m using our regular ol’ tea pot, which isn’t able to offer as much control as I’d like.
But maybe, someday, I can earn my coffee snob badge.
Well, Willard, that appeal to Ron Paul fans backfired…[Casual Fri]
Yesterday, I ran across this tweet from Willard “Mitt” Romney, as he was shamefully trying to woo and court supporters of Ron Paul, after Paul himself retweeted it:
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These are all the replies that tweet has received. I couldn’t help but laugh and share (forgive the language):
https://twitter.com/mrboetel/status/225744624772329472 https://twitter.com/popfreeradio/status/225742673892503553 https://twitter.com/martinthegrate/status/225742379066470400For Theology Nerds: a satirical dictionary (don’t miss this!) [casual fri]
Andrew Wilson, over at The Theology Forum has done us a great service my creating this “Brief A–Z of Theological Jargon”, and it is great. Everyone gets some elbows in the ribs. Check it out. You don’t want to miss it. Here are some of my favorites:
Complementarianism
1. The belief that men and women are complementary.
2. The antiquated and repressive notion that wives should submit to their husbands, and women should not teach or have authority over men.
3. The attempt to disguise (2) by referring to (1).Egalitarianism
1. The belief that men and women are equal.
2. The modern and liberating notion that women can do everything a man can, sister, including wearing trousers, leading the home, leading churches and teaching and having authority over men.
3. The assumption that (1) necessitates (2).Roman Catholicism
The belief that the church is universal, apart from Anglicans, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, and pretty much everyone except Roman Catholics.
i’m back.
I took June off from writing on the blog to re-evaluate priorities. I’m back, but it’ll probably be a lot of short posts and links to other things for a while.
I’m spending most of my time reading, researching, and writing for a Bible Survey Class I’m doing at my church. Follow along with free recordings and the lecture manuscripts here. The first one will be up soon.
Let’s party. Again.
What makes a Bible geek’s day?
Philly Beer Lovers: get very, very excited.
From the article “Pennsylvania debates new beer flow” in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer:
States have adopted various strategies in the 79-year effort to prevent pre-Prohibition alcohol abuses, but Pennsylvania has been particularly idiosyncratic, said Eric Shepard, longtime editor of Beer Marketer’s Insights in Suffern, N.Y.
“Pennsylvania is unique,” he said. “You are by far the weirdest state.”
The bill under consideration, introduced by state House Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R., Allegheny) with Gov. Corbett’s backing, is just the latest effort to get the state out of the liquor business. But Turzai’s new twist would permit beer distributors and other businesses that could afford a license to sell beer in any quantity, along with wine and liquor.
In short, one-stop shopping for alcohol buyers, a la New Jersey.
Also, be sure to contact your local representative to support this bill.
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Uh-oh (a Post-Script to my previous post on Moses)
I just reached this part in the book I referenced in my post earlier on Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch. This book was somewhat challenging the Documentary Hypothesis in my mind. I thought this book, in its recounting of Documentarians, was pretty fair and not too blindly fundamentalistic. But, now that he has turned from documenting the development of the field to laying out his own thoughts, I see I was wrong. Crap.
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the long way home 
