The Coffee Shop Times

The Scottish Wildcat

2011-02-26T14:40:00.007-06:00

I'd never heard of this wildcat of Scotland until some random surfing through Wikipedia yesterday. This particular strain of wild feline predates today's domesticated cats. There are only 400 left in the wild, according to estimates.

The one pictured here looks quite a bit like my Maine Coon who passed away a year or so ago. But these wildcats are said to be untamable.

Christian Non-Violence

2011-02-25T09:01:00.009-06:00

On Veterans Days, Memorial Days, etc., (especially at a time like this, when our country is at war) it's not uncommon for Americans to make a point of expressing their sincere thanks to the memories of U.S. soldiers who have paid "the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom" -- that is, those soldiers who have died on the battlefield.

It's the most natural thing in the world for a citizen to feel indebted to the sacrifice of a soldier. And, on its surface, the phrase "the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom" seems a most fitting description for such an act.

But, in recent years, I've noticed how some politicians are quick to conflate this secular and patriotic use of the term "freedom" with the Christian understanding of spiritualfreedom.

For instance, I've often heard George W. Bush declare that "God's greatest gift to mankind is freedom." The implication being that God's gift of spiritual freedom is very much the same as the physical and worldly freedom a government might provide its citizens -- or a soldier might die for.

But, as a Christian, I can't go there.

In the early history of the Church (the first 300 years or so), I don't see Christian communities seeking to secure physical freedoms.

No, they endured prison, peacefully lived under oppressive governments, and even accepted martyrdom. Indeed, their lack of concern for physical freedom was conspicuous.

To add familiar context: It would be accurate to say the Roman government "taxed them without representation." Yet they paid those taxes, regardless of whether the Roman government had an unrighteous or sinful purpose in store for their tax money. Regardless of whether the government unjustly executed their brothers or sisters.

Theirs was the path of Jesus.

An imitation of His life.

That meant a life without violence, and in some cases, to bear His cross in the strictest sense, it meant a laying down of one's life. Peacefully.

That's God's idea of "the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom."

Dobson & Obama

2008-06-28T11:04:00.004-05:00

Two years ago, Barack Obama gave a speech on politics and religion. Two years later, James Dobson attacked it.

It's tempting to go along with BeliefNet's Brian McLaren, who defends Obama. McLaren calls Dobson on several points. Among them: his logical inconsistencies; his name-calling and mockery; his confusion of democracy with theocracy; and his misrepresentation of Obama's views.

But, to me, David Kuo, another BeliefNet blogger, has cut through to the deeper issue. Dobson and Obama are more alike than they know (or would like to admit:

Both men see their religious faith as one of their primary political weapons. They take that faith and move in opposite directions, but their philosophy, their spirituality is very similar.

Dr. Dobson attacked Sen. Obama for having a flawed view - a deliberately skewed view - of Biblical theology "deliberately distorting the Bible," "dragging biblical understanding through the gutter," "willfully trying to confuse people," and having a "fruitcake interpretation of the Constitution." Obama responded by saying Dobson either hadn't read his speech (at a Sojourners event on poverty) or was just trying to score political points.

That back and forth, however, is simply the exchange of men who long ago decided that their faith was a tool for material ends.

It is a common mistake, a common temptation - the temptation to take the very hard work of the spiritual life - living humbly, loving your enemies, putting others first, forgiving always - and replace it with the easy work of politics - the promise that this policy or plan will bring about a sort of spiritual nirvana.

That is what unites Obama and Dobson. That they take those politics in different directions is incidental.

Seeing The Bright Side Of Four-Dollar Gas

2008-06-22T12:40:00.007-05:00

In his autobiography, Surprised By Joy, C.S. Lewis writes:

I number it among my blessings that my father had no car, while yet most of my friends had, and sometimes took me for a drive. This meant that all these distant objects could be visited just enough to clothe them with memories and not impossible desires, while yet they remained ordinarily as inaccessible as the Moon. The deadly power of rushing about wherever I pleased had not been given me. I measured distance by the standard of man, man walking on his two feet, not by the standard of the internal combustion engine. I had not been allowed to deflower the very idea of distance; in return I possessed "infinite riches" in what would have been to motorists "a little room." The truest and most horrible claim made for modern transport is that it "annihilates space." It does. It annihilates one of the most glorious gifts we have been given. It is a vile inflation which lowers the value of distance, so that a modern boy travels a hundred miles with less sense of liberation and pilgrimage and adventure than his grandfather got from traveling ten. Of course if a man hates space and wants it to be annihilated, that is another matter. Why not creep into his coffin at once? There is little enough space there.

Published in 1955, and from a northern latitude.

Religious Fumblings On Marriage

2008-03-26T11:32:00.010-05:00

In mid-December, blogger Andrew Sullivan called for Mike Huckabee to confirm whether he stands by his support for a 1998 USA Today ad that included the following:

"A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ."

Huckabee signed the ad, along with other leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention. Within the last week or so, I came across an interesting passage in Henry Chadwick's book, The Early Church (pages 58-59 of Penguin's paperback edition):

Christianity [in its first few centuries] seems to have been especially successful among women. It was often through the wives that it penetrated the upper classes of society in the first instance. Christians believed in the equality of men and women before God, and found in the New Testament commands that husbands should treat their wives with such considerations and love as Christ manifested for his Church. Christian teaching about the sanctity of marriage offered a powerful safeguard to married women. The Christian sex ethic differed from the conventional standards of pagan society in that it regarded unchastity in a husband as no less serious a breach of loyalty and trust than unfaithfulness in a wife.

So here, as in so many cases in the New Testament, we find much needed context for Jesus' teachings. This illustrates the importance of understanding the state of the culture at the time Jesus entered history -- before we apply those teachings to our modern culture.

I can't speak for the intended (or imagined) purpose behind the Southern Baptist Convention's full-page ad in USA Today. But it left Andrew Sullivan (in my opinion, a fair-minded observer of religious news and views) with the impression that it was a Christian-sponsored attack on the role of women in our society.

The very Gospel that liberated women in one culture has now been packaged in a way that seems to force them back into a less-than-equal societal (even Christian!) role today.

In fairness, in my one-on-one conversations with Christians who approve of the USA Today ad, they are quick to point out that the ad goes on to explain a man's role in marriage as characterized by that of Christ's -- specifically, his role as suffering servant for the Church.

A fair point! But I would also say that the Christian teaching on the man's role in marriage needs no 1st century cultural context before it can be accurately understood by modern readers.

The same can't be said for the Christian teaching regarding wives.

Moral to the story? A secular newpaper is a poor forum for publishing bare-boned, hit-and-run excerpts from a broader theology. Especially when, in the case of Christian marriage, most Christians need a healthy dose of contextual background provided before they can fully understand the teaching themselves!

Winter Daydream

2008-02-28T11:25:00.001-06:00

Living in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, where the temperature reached 90 degrees a couple of days ago (before a cold front -- thankfully -- blew through later in the day), I'm in no hurry to say goodbye to the cooler weather of winter.

But when I come across a story like this in The New York Times, I can't deny there's a part of me ready to fast forward to the outdoor swimming season. And, as a lover of natural pools, like Barton Springs in Austin, I'm not surprised that surfing pics of the saltwater rock pools of Sidney, Australia, has been my choice of time-waste in the last 48 hours.

My favs? How about: The Ross Jones Memorial Pool. The Newcastle Bogey Hole. And... the Whale Beach Rock Pool. (Make sure to click on the pics for larger versions...!)

Disasters And God

2008-02-19T12:01:00.002-06:00

Hurricane Katrina. The 2005 Tsunami. 9/11. The Virginia Tech Shootings. When large scale, disastrous events transpire, whether they are natural or human in origin, the mainstream media usually seek explanations from religious people for how a merciful, loving God--if He is indeed all that merciful and loving--allows such pain and suffering.

Depending on which religious leader you ask, you may discover that these events are judgments against sinful cultures; or that they are cleansing agents for the world; or that they are catalysts whose purpose is to thrust charities and giving hearts into the limelight.

If you're like me, these explanations aren't too satisfying. At the least, they seem incomplete or insufficient. And maybe they're on the wrong track altogether.

So I'm going to refer you to Rev. Greg Boyd of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. This was Greg's first sermon of 2005, and it was delivered in response to the devastating tsunami that had just hit shorelines throughout the Indian Ocean. The sermon is titled "Being the Kingdom in a Groaning Creation," and you'll find it at the top of this link.

You can listen to it on an mp3 player, on your computer; or you can burn it to a CD. For those of you with iPod FM transmitters, I've taken this sermon and turned up its volume. My file will be easier to hear via an iPod transmitter on your car radio.

After hearing Greg's explanation for disasters in God's creation, I was finally able to step back and say, "Now that makes sense." If only The New York Times would set aside some op-ed space for Greg after a tragic event.

I hope you'll take the time to give Greg Boyd a listen.

Amazon History

2007-05-04T12:08:00.000-05:00

Via the latest Wilson Quarterly, a mention of an interesting piece in Conservation magazine. In it Fred Pearce wonders how much of the Amazon rainforest is virgin. Today's Amazon explorers are finding evidence that pre-European civilizations had done some serious forest clearing of their own. Euro diseases probably led to the collapse of those civilizations, and, in the hundreds of years since, the forest has re-grown. But what percentage of today's forest is virgin?

Surely in the Amazon, the greatest rainforest on the planet, virginity can be discovered—nature red in tooth and claw? That's what everyone thought until an American oil prospector named Kenneth Lee first climbed aboard a beach buggy and bounced across the grassy lowlands of Baures in the Bolivian Amazon in the early 1980s. After a while, Lee began to wonder why he was bouncing so much in the grass.

On closer inspection, the landscape appeared to be corrugated. It was composed of a remarkably symmetrical series ofridges and trenches stretching as far as the eye could see. From time to time, he came across higher ridges that looked like roads, and wider depressions that seemed as if they might once have been canals. (Subscription required)

Transmitting Your iPod

2007-05-04T12:00:00.000-05:00

A useful article comparing the many FM transmitters available for your iPod. Looks to me like this guy, and this one over here, are your best options. And, by best options, I mean that they seem to transmit clean audio to your FM radio. Most transmitters deliver disappointing signals.

Father Of American Wine?

2007-05-04T11:58:00.000-05:00

Who deserves this title? Maybe Thomas Jefferson. (Again, via Wilson Quarterly)

Incident At Mid-State Office

2007-05-03T12:31:00.000-05:00

The end of an era at The Onion? Was this the H-Dog's final column?

His offering from November 1998 will always be dear to me: "Human-Resources B-----s Be Makin' Me Take Vacation Days." An absurdly devoted worker, the H-Dog is introduced to the concept of vacation days--and that he must take them or lose them. In response to the HR rep who delivered this news, our H-Dog responds:

...I just laughs at tha fool. "You payin' me to chill?" I says. "Man, that's some straight-up wack s--t, sucka."

The full Herbert Kornfeld archive here.

Geek Porn

2007-04-27T12:40:00.000-05:00

The Making of Star Wars looks like an interesting book. And did you know that George Lucas considered Freddie “Boom Boom” Washington for the part of Han Solo? A nice review by Ain't It Cool News here.

Brain Study

2007-04-27T12:10:00.000-05:00

Slate presents a fascinating series on brain science. Score one for online journalism.

Bald Eagle Cam

2007-04-24T12:44:00.000-05:00

Check out the incredibly crisp video quality of this Web Cam from National Geographic. You can see the ripples in the water down below the eagles' nest (and maybe you'll catch an eagle at home). Sadly, the young eagle chicks died in the recent nor'easter that blasted coastal Maine.

Video iPod Word-Of-Mouth

2007-04-24T12:30:00.000-05:00

If you own a video iPod, I recommend a great little piece of freeware called HandBrake. It allows you to convert your DVD collection to iPod movie format. Easy instructions here.

"One-In-A-Million Shot"

2007-04-20T12:48:00.000-05:00

As I continue playing catch-up after an extended blog-break, I bring you a photo from National Wildlife Magazine's 2006 reader photo contest:

From the pic's caption:

“This was a one-in-a-million shot,” says [Steve]Irving, who photographed a male calliope hummingbird (left) attempting to chase a female rufous hummingbird away from a feeding flower. The retired business owner made the digital image using a 70-200mm zoom lens while attending a photography workshop in British Columbia last year. “I’ve taken many photos of fighting hummingbirds,” he says. “Usually all I get is wings or a blur, or nothing at all.”

Gun Safety Gone Wrong

2007-04-20T12:40:00.000-05:00

The Plank's write-up sets the scene. Then follow their link to The Smoking Gun's video.

Funny, Funny

2007-04-20T12:15:00.002-05:00

One more from The Plank. Plankster Isaac Chotiner catches this beauty from a New York Times write-up on Rich Little, who will headline the White House Correspondent's Association dinner on Saturday night:

His promotional biography says, "He's particularly fond of
[imitating] Alan Ladd and other stars no longer typically remembered."

Yep. Nice use of "typically."

Beach Boys News

2007-04-20T12:02:00.000-05:00

A new Beach Boys CD hits stores on May 22nd. No new music, of course. BUT... if I've gathered my info correctly... there are five songs released for the first time in stereo. And a sixth, "Wendy," has been re-polished into modern stereo.

My sources say these are the newly available stereo tracks: "All Summer Long," "You're So Good To Me," "Then I Kissed Her," "Please Let Me Wonder," "Let Him Run Wild," and "Wendy."

I've obtained a copy of "All Summer Long." I can't speak for the other tracks--yet--but "All Summer Long" is a mix of mono vocals with stereo instrumentals. I expect "Wendy," at least, to have stereo vocals, but we'll see.

Bee Mystery

2007-04-15T13:08:00.000-05:00

Are bee colonies really collapsing? Are cell phones the cause? It's a theory--with holes--as this story points out:

No one knows why it is happening. Theories involving mites, pesticides, global warming and GM crops have been proposed, but all have
drawbacks.

German research has long shown that bees' behaviour changes near power lines.

Now a limited study at Landau University has found that bees refuse to return to their hives when mobile phones are placed nearby. Dr Jochen Kuhn, who carried it out, said this could provide a "hint" to a possible cause.

Very disturbing. Above and to the right is a pic of a bee colony that took up residence in a bricked fence post at the back of my yard. Last summer, we hired an exterminator who rid us of the "problem." However, over the winter, fissures have developed in the the caulk he used to seal the post--and the bees are back.

If there is indeed something causing a decline in bee populations, I guess I'll leave my colony to its own devices for now.

Imus... Out

2007-04-14T13:20:00.000-05:00

I guess I'm just a little bit surprised that CBS fired Don Imus. Not because he didn't deserve to be. And not because most other companies wouldn't have done the same.

But having worked for CBS Radio myself, I've just never felt the corporate office was one that allowed principle to trump money interests. And, of course, maybe it didn't. My gut tells me an autonomous CBS Radio would never have fired Imus. The radio division has been a poor performer since well before Howard Stern left the building. And after an extremely tough year following Stern's exit, the last thing CBS Radio needed was to lose its other franchise talent. No, I think it took CBS proper, the parent, to read the political winds properly and to conclude that Imus had become dead weight--that it wasn't worth diverting the company's resources to his defense.

But back to the broader Imus story: Of the many postmortems I've come across, I think Andrew Sullivan's best sums up the crime:

The culture has changed since Imus started in radio. White straight men don't control everything any more, and they don't get to set the rules for public discourse with the same finality they once did. What we've seen here is, I think, a genuine reflection of the new American mainstream. Most Americans simply find the spectacle of a rich white bigot beating up on young black female achievers after a crushing tournament loss to be gratuitously cruel and unfair. Punishing someone for calling college women "whores" - especially those who have beaten the odds and are role models for other black girls and women - is not a new step in political correctness. It's applying a very old American standard of fairness and decency, which now applies to all Americans, regardless of race or gender. This was the voice of mainstream America speaking. It's not what it once was. I wonder whether many of Imus's buddies realize that yet.

"The Lost Tomb of Jesus"

2007-04-14T13:15:00.000-05:00

This is old news, but Greg Boyd offers a thorough rebuttal of James Cameron's Discovery Channel doc here.

Imus

2007-04-12T13:29:00.000-05:00

Well, after a long, long bloggy lay-off, this Imus stuff has motivated me to get my blog on again. Imus' career deserves to be in jeopardy. He deserved to be sacked by MSNBC. And I can see CBS Radio going either way.

Certainly, the two-week radio suspension is too short. I'll be shocked if, at the least, the suspension isn't greatly lengthened.

But my real motivation for this post is HRC. Hillary made a point yesterday of declaring that, not only does she never intend to go on an Imus-hosted show in the future, she's never been the least bit interested in the past. That's rich. As if she's always avoided Imus for noble or ethical reasons. Honestly, both Clintons have always avoided most all (even mildly) difficult interview environments. For two well-educated people who are widely perceived to be blessed with formidable intellects, they've always seemed terrified of having to think on their feet and of having to defend themselves on the fly.

Anyone have a link to a transcript of Hillary's "Pink Press Conference"?

Great Easter Sermon

2007-04-12T13:15:00.000-05:00

I heartily recommend Greg Boyd's April 8, 2007, sermon titled "The Jesus Legend." It provides a nice, brief defense and explanation of the origins of Christianity. Greg is a fun (and funny) preacher. My iPod contains a playlist devoted to his sermons.

My Day Job

2007-04-12T13:00:00.000-05:00

If you have any interest in my professional outputs, you might consider visiting the iTunes store and checking out a Podcast titled Talkin' Cowboys. (an iTunes search for "Dallas Cowboys" will bring it up.)

This NFL off-season I've written and produced a couple of audio highlights montages for that Podcast: The Best of Terrell Owens and The Best of Marion Barber III. It's free to subscribe and free to download. I think of them as "audio football cards" for fans of those players. Veteran broadcaster Bill Jones narrates.

Happy Holidays

2006-12-13T13:37:00.000-06:00

What can I say... things continue to be busy for me at my day gig. So I've had no time for blogging. But I've come up with a couple of quick holiday items to share. First, a shot I took of the Christmas parade in downtown Dallas a couple of Saturdays ago:

Happy Holidays II

2006-12-13T13:30:00.000-06:00

And then there's this pleasant surprise from the folks at NBC. Studio 60's Christmas episode featured a group of displaced jazz musicians from New Orleans. They performed a beautiful arrangement of "Oh Holy Night," and NBC has posted an mp3 of it for FREE.

Fighting The Good Fight

2006-12-13T13:00:00.000-06:00

I urge you to raise your glasses to Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), who is trying to keep a constructive eye on the FCC.

"We write to request detailed information on the Federal
Communications Commission's plans regarding recently-announced studies to be conducted as part of the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on media ownership," Hinchey and his House colleagues wrote to Martin. "We are certainly pleased to see that the Commission is moving forward with these studies. However, we are concerned about the lack of information that has been released thus far regarding these endeavors.

"The ten FCC-commissioned studies are focused on: 1) How People Get News and Information; 2) Ownership Structure and Robustness of Media; 3) Effect of Ownership Structure and Robustness on the Quantity and Quality of TV Programming; 4) News Operations; 5) Station Ownership and Programming in Radio; 6) News Coverage of Cross-Owned Newspapers and Television Stations; 7 & 8) Minority Ownership; 9) Vertical Integration; 10) Radio Industry Review: Trends in Ownership, Format, and Finance.

Among other things, Hinchey and his six House colleagues are seeking answers from the FCC regarding: how the topics were selected; the backgrounds of the authors assigned to each of the studies; whether the agency took appropriate steps to prevent any conflicts of interests that could impact the outcome of the studies; the cost of the studies; and how the peer review process for the studies will work.

In 2003, with a Bush-appointed chairman, the FCC sought to further weaken local TV ownership limits, national TV ownership caps, and newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership rules. If those rules had been enacted, a single corporation would have been allowed to acquire
as many as three television stations, eight radio stations, and the only daily newspaper in a single media market. The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals agreed that the FCC was overstepping its bounds, rejected the new rules, and remanded the issue back to the Commission, which is now reviewing the rules once again. The Court also criticized the FCC for failing to disclose parts of the new rules for public comment.

We do not need Corporate America tightening its hold on our Media. The Republican led FCC (thanks to plenty of help from Telecommunications Acts signed by Clinton and the first Bush in the 90's) will harm Democracy if left unchecked.

Another Look At "The Face On Mars"

2006-10-05T13:51:00.000-05:00

The European Space Agency has provided us with the clearest pictures yet of "The Face On Mars." Always worth a look.

Two Books On I.F. Stone

2006-10-05T13:40:00.000-05:00

The guy who went journalistically solo decades before the blogosphere booted into existence, I.F. Stone, is the subject of a couple of new books.

Filling Space

2006-08-15T14:46:00.000-05:00

This is my busiest time of year--when I'm slammed with audio production work for the the first games of the season for The Dallas Cowboys Radio Network. So my blogging has been non-existent. To fill space, I thought I'd post a recent photo I took in downtown Garland, Tx. It's a little depot for the Kansas City Southern railroad line (with Photoshop enhancements):

Jurassic Park-ish

2006-08-15T14:20:00.000-05:00

Scientists, using frozen mammoth sperm found in Siberia, hope to resurrect half a mammoth:

The mammoth is a close genetic cousin of the modern Asian elephant, and scientists think that the two may be capable of interbreeding.

The frozen mammoth sperm could be injected into elephant eggs, producing offspring that would be 50 per cent mammoth.

The Word And The World

2006-07-30T15:03:00.000-05:00

When blogger Andrew Sullivan comes across politicians who make a standard practice of fusing their ideologies with the Christian Gospels, he labels them Christianists. The term is an intentional play on Islamist--a common label for the violent individuals at the heart of radical Islam.

A few weeks back, Sully commented on a particularly heinous display of Christianist activity--at Ken Lay's funeral:

In the funeral for corporate thief and crook, Ken Lay, we
have a spectacular display of what is wrong with contemporary Republicanism. We have the famiglia paying their respects to a loyal money-man - Bush senior, Baker, Mosbacher. And we have the exoneration of malfeasance by the Christianist doctrine that if you're on our side, you can do no wrong. Ken Lay up there with Jesus and Martin Luther King Jr? And the amazing thing is that this is sincere. Christianist spiritual hubris - fused with political and financial power - is phariseeism remade.

Which brings me to today's pleasant surprise. A preacher I love to listen to via the Internet is the subject of a piece in today's New York Times. His name is Greg Boyd. I first encountered him in Lee Strobel's The Case for Christ.

Boyd's an interesting and brilliant character, and I eventually looked him up on the Internet and began listening to his sermons online. More than once over the past few years I've had questions about interpretations of Scripture, and I've e-mailed Greg Boyd with those questions. He has always gotten back to me with extremely helpful thoughts.

One of Boyd's cautionary bits of advice to today's Christian Church is to watch carefully how we mix our politics with our message to the World. His worry is that our message can only be hurt by such a blending. A quote from today's Times piece:

In his six sermons [titled, "The Cross and the Sword"], Mr. Boyd laid out a broad argument that the role of Christians was not to seek “power over” others — by controlling governments, passing legislation or
fighting wars. Christians should instead seek to have “power under” others — “winning people’s hearts” by sacrificing for those in need, as Jesus did, Mr. Boyd said.

“America wasn't founded as a theocracy,” he said. “America was
founded by people trying to escape theocracies. Never in history have we had a Christian theocracy where it wasn't bloody and barbaric. That's why our Constitution wisely put in a separation of church and state.

“I am sorry to tell you,” he continued, “that America is not the light of the world and the hope of the world. The light of the world and the hope of the world is Jesus Christ.”

Mr. Boyd lambasted the “hypocrisy and pettiness” of Christians who focus on “sexual issues” like homosexuality, abortion or Janet Jackson’s breast-revealing performance at the Super Bowl halftime show. He said Christians these days were constantly outraged about sex and perceived violations of their rights to display their faith in public.

“Those are the two buttons to push if you want to get Christians to act,” he said. “And those are the two buttons Jesus never pushed.”

Greg Boyd's sermons can be heard online here.

Cheers To The Honey Badger

2006-07-27T15:13:00.000-05:00

You've gotta love a little animal that, without so much as an opposable thumb, makes dinner out of some of the world's most dangerous snakes. According to a two-year-old story in National Geographic, he'll chase a cobra up a tree or square off eye-to-eye with a puff adder--and come out the victor:

One night we saw a young male collapse. He'd been struck in the face by a puff adder just before he bit its head off. We expected that he would die. But after two hours he woke up, groggily finished his meal,and later trotted off into the sunrise. We witnessed other encounters in which honey badgers appeared resistant to even the most potent venoms, though we don't yet understand the physiology that protects them.

Here's to you, Mr. Honey Badger. Mammals everywhere--especially those with snake phobias brought on by Animal Planet viewing binges--salute you.

In The Matrix

2006-07-27T15:00:00.000-05:00

Our guy Myers Dupuy cracks me up. CST readers know him from a few of his humorous observation pieces like: Free Fallin' with Haagen-Dazs; and A Triathlon Story (or Voodoo Brine for the Soul).

Yesterday, Myers zapped me an e-mail pointing out one of the lesser known benefits of ping pong:

I play some daily ping pong with a guy here at the office, and while it's not a work out, that “sport” does wonders for the reflexes. I find myself catching things that fall off a desk, like a cup of water before it tips and spills. I imagine as I move through my day that I'm in my own Matrix movie just looking for little reflexive miracles of no material consequence that yet fill my day with joy.

I get this stuff from Myers all the time. When they start writing the sequel to Office Space, they need to follow Myers around for a few weeks and gather in the gold. Seriously.

Back To The Future

2006-07-26T15:22:00.000-05:00

I was recently given a box of old radio and television industry magazines. I'll probably scan quite a few of my discoveries over the coming months and share them here on the CST Blog.

The first item that caught my eye is from the February 1961 edition of Radio-Electronics magazine. The author of the article, Manfred von Ardenne, speculated that, for safety reasons, cars of the future would be driven backwards! The driver would face the rear of the automobile and would enjoy full head-to-foot shock absorption safety as well as a 210-degree view of the road ahead via a closed-circuit television camera system. The cameras would even boast infrared filters for improved vision in the fog; and, in the event of camera failure, an emergency periscope would be available to the driver.

In an effort to tip his hat to his target demographic, Ardenne was careful to note:

It is quite understandable that [this] solution [to auto safety] has been suggested, not by someone in the automotive field, but by an electronics engineer closely associated with the television industry.

Indeed.

True, True

2006-07-26T15:10:00.000-05:00

Slate's Dave Jamieson laments the Death of the Baseball Card.

Beautiful Old Radios

2006-07-22T15:29:00.000-05:00

A few years back, I decided to restore my late great grandmother's antique Truetone floor radio that had been sitting in my parents' garage for well over a decade. Now I'm working on my wife's great grandmother's Emerson table radio. I don't know that two projects makes a hobby, but I'm definitely heading that direction.

The radio to the top right is not one of my projects. That's expert work, and I'm a novice at best. But I thought I'd link to RadioAge.com, where radios like the above can be viewed and purchased. I haven't come across an online vendor with a more beautiful selection of old wooden, plastic, and bakelite radios.

You'll find a lot of radio fans who love the sound of an old tube radio tuned to an AM music station (Big Band or Jazz, for instance). Many old radios offer a warm and bassy sound. Unfortunately, the new HD Radio technology for the AM dial causes a good bit of interference on old radios. So some owners and collectors of antique radios choose to buy low power AM transmitters to send music from their iPods, stereos, or computers to their old radios. I haven't yet done this with an AM transmitter, but I understand the sound is terrific!

Maybe the best little transmitter for this purpose is the "Alfredo Lite" made by Chris Cuff. It's roughly the size of a Walkman and costs around $125. The "Alfredo Lite" is specifically made to broadcast in C-Quam AM Stereo; however, it's also ideal for sending an extremely hi-fi AM signal to your antique radio.

Interesting Visuals In My Backyard

2006-07-20T15:34:00.000-05:00

It's not every day that you look out into your suburban backyard and see a grey fox sniffing around...

Gold Rush

2006-06-21T15:37:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow, the U.S. Mint will issue its first ever 24-karat coin. It's called the American Buffalo and is based on James Earle Fraser's Buffalo nickel. Quite beautiful.

When In Rome

2006-06-21T15:25:00.000-05:00

I'm a sucker for cool online features. Right now, NationalGeographic.com is focusing on ancient Roman ruins under Rome.

Charity For Iraqi Children

2006-06-21T15:15:00.000-05:00

Here's a pretty direct way of injecting fun into the lives of children in a war-torn country. For $10 a pop, you can send soccer balls to children in Iraq.

Follow-Up

2006-06-21T15:00:00.000-05:00

With the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album turning 40, this handy blog is on the beat.

Reunion

2006-06-16T15:46:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday, the surviving members of The Beach Boys got together for the first time in 10 years. They met on the roof of Capitol Records to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their Pet Sounds album (and in recognition of a recent compilation CD going double platinum).

But for serious fans, maybe the most interesting news is that a cleaner recording of "Good Vibrations" has been discovered in the Capitol Records vaults. That cut is set to be re-released as a deluxe CD single. I should add that, though cleaner, it wasn't the lost stereo master that was found. "Good Vibrations" remains mono.

Oh, one more treat: An anniversary edition of Pet Sounds is being released as a double vinyl record. Nice.

Interesting

2006-06-14T15:50:00.000-05:00

Trying to be green? Or just looking for another fun ride? Be the first on your block to own a solar-powered trike bike.

Soccer Humor

2006-06-13T15:53:00.000-05:00

The other day, Slate excerpted from The Thinking Fan's Guide To The World Cup. At one point, an explanation is given for soccer's popularity with American youth:

The beauty of soccer for very young people is that, to
create a simulacrum of the game, it requires very little skill. There is no other sport that can bear such incompetence. With soccer, 22 kids can be running around, most of them aimlessly, or picking weeds by the sidelines, or crying for no apparent reason, and yet the game can have the general appearance of an actual soccer match. If there are three or four coordinated kids among the 22 flailing bodies, there will actually be dribbling, a few legal throw-ins, and a couple of times when the ball stretches the back of the net. It will be soccer, more or less.

Who hasn't witnessed this? Later in the excerpt, you'll find an excellent critique of the injury theatrics in soccer.

Cool Collections

2006-06-09T15:57:00.000-05:00

When I was at The University of Texas, the Harry Ransom Center was a bit of a well-kept secret. I'm thinking the purchase of Woodward & Bernstein's Watergate notes has changed that.

From the Gutenberg Bible to the costumes worn by Vivien Leigh in Gone With The Wind, there are worthy rewards for even the briefest visits.

Now, another cool addition to its collections: The personal film-related materials of Robert De Niro:

The costume portion of the collection ... includes more than 3,000 individual costume items, props from many of De Niro’s films and a full body cast used in the 1994 production of “Frankenstein.”

That's the mug from De Niro's New York City Taxi Driver's License above and to the right. For those of us outside of Austin, the online exhibits will have to do for now.

Range Creek

2006-06-06T16:07:00.000-05:00

Utah rancher Waldo Wilcox and his family kept this archaeological site secret for 50 years.

He sold the land to a non-profit organization in 2001, and, in 2004, the story became public. From the March Smithsonian magazine:

Part of the excitement rests on hopes that Range Creek may help explain what happened to the Fremont. Along the canyon floor, traces of large villages indicate a flourishing settlement, while pit houses and granaries built high in the cliffs suggest a defensive retreat. "We’ve seen places where people were living in knife-edge ridges, 900 to 1,000 feet above the valley floor, which means to get a jug of water you’d have to send someone on a big long hike and back up," says Jones. "These people were afraid of something. They were obviously trying to protect their food, and it wasn’t from mice."

Cool story. More here (with nice photos).

Funny Video

2006-06-06T16:00:00.000-05:00

Here's William Shatner before he realized he had a comedy bit on his hands. If you stick with the video, he'll reward you with a super cool Captain Kirk 70's dance.

Blogging The Bible

2006-06-04T16:18:00.000-05:00

Over at Slate, David Plotz is "Blogging the Bible." A self-described "lax but well-educated" Jew, here's part of the preface to his latest blogging project:

My goal is pretty simple. I want to find out what happens
when an ignorant person actually reads the book on which his religion is based. I think I'm in the same position as many other lazy but faithful people (Christians, Jews, Moslems, Hindus). I love Judaism; I love (most of) the lessons it has taught me about how to live in the world; and yet I realized I am fundamentally ignorant about its foundation, its essential document. So, what will happen if I approach my Bible empty, unmediated by teachers or rabbis or parents? What will delight and horrify me? How will the Bible relate to the religion I practice, and the lessons I thought I learned in synagogue and Hebrew School?

An interesting project, and probably a common start to many spiritual journeys. I've been there myself. Today, roughly six years after that similar moment in my own life, I'm 5 years a convert to Christianity.

As of today, Mr. Plotz is eight entries deep into Blogging the Bible; but, to cut to the chase, I'd like to go back to his second day of blogging:

Yesterday, I wrote that God's warning to Adam and Eve about eating the tree of knowledge—"for as soon as you eat of it, you shall die"—seemed like lax parenting by the Lord, since in fact Adam and Eve don't die when they eat it, but are merely punished.

Lots of readers wrote in to critique my reading, and offer another interpretation. They point out that until this point in Creation, death didn't exist in Eden. There was no reason to think that Adam and Eve would ever die. By eating from the tree, Adam and Eve bring death into the world. God does not promise to kill them if they eat the fruit, he just promises that they shall die. And in fact, they do die. My quibble with this interpretation: It ignores, "as soon as you eat of it." Adam and Eve don't die for hundreds of years.

Plotz's readers refer to a common interpretation of the Fruit Story: That Adam and Eve (that is, Humanity) became mortal at the very moment they tasted of the fruit. Like many passages in the Bible, there are several levels on which you can find lessons and meaning. And I happen to believe that we are to understand that they did become mortal at that moment.

But the Christian explanation goes further in at least one important regard. A constant theme in Jesus' teachings is that he is offering Life to his followers--Life, because they are Dead; or, to put it another way: they are living apart from God. When Adam and Eve chose to eat the fruit, they chose to separate themselves from God; and that, in Biblical terms, is Death. And, yes, to answer Plotz's "quibble," that "Death" was immediate.

By definition, sins are choices we make which further separate us from God. The eating of the fruit was literally (or symbolically, if you prefer an allegorical interpretation of Genesis) the first sin, the Fall, Mankind's first decision which separated it from its Creator.

In Jesus' teachings--in Christianity--we are told how to narrow that separation--how to draw closer to our Creator once again. And so, when one converts to Christianity, and invites God's Holy Spirit into his heart, he begins to enter true Life--the Life Adam & Eve chose to leave. As Jesus says in the Gospel of John 6:32-35:

"...Moses didn't give [bread] to [the Hebrew people in the Wilderness]. My Father did. And now he offers you true Bread from heaven. The true Bread is a Person--the one sent by God from heaven, and he gives life to the world." (my emphasis in bold)

With Jesus, Genesis comes full circle. By accepting Him as our Messiah, we are given a means to mend our separation from God.

Vintage Star Wars

2006-06-03T16:52:00.000-05:00

There are Star Wars purists out there who have been clamoring for the original Star Wars trilogy to be released on DVD. By original, they mean the versions first seen in theaters--not the digitally touched up and "improved" versions George Lucas made available in recent years. Apparently, Lucas is giving them what they want... sort of.

Above, from The Empire Strikes Back, is just one of the many modifications to the Trilogy made by Lucas. For my part, I think I like having access to both.

Compare & Contrast

2006-06-03T16:00:00.000-05:00

Here's a pretty thorough listing of the changes made to the Star Wars trilogy over the years. There were even differences between the 70mm and 35mm theatrical versions!

Animal Planet

2006-06-02T16:59:00.000-05:00

And then there was the time this guy rented a car and thought someone had thrown a rubber snake across the dash:

[Dan] McBride got into his car ... and saw the snake draped across the console. McBride said he thought it was a rubber snake someone put there as a joke. McBride even gave the snake a pat and put the car into drive. Then, as McBride drove toward the exit, the snake lifted its head.

Police determined the snake was harmless and lured the thing out with a baton. Luckily for everyone involved, the snake was typical of its breed: a

Ball Python.

Henson On Exhibit

2006-05-30T17:05:00.000-05:00

That's an extremely young Jim Henson to the right--with an early Kermit puppet.

A friend of mine owns the entire Muppet Show library on VHS tape. A little over a year ago, he lent me some of the tapes, and, now, my three-year-old daughter is a huge Muppets fan. And with last year's release of the Muppet Show's first season on DVD, I would imagine a new generation of young fans is in the making.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Muppets, the post office has issued a page of commemorative stamps, and The National Museum of American History in Washington D.C., is currently showcasing a Henson exhibit.

Airbag Justice

2006-02-02T12:11:00.000-06:00

Could have been staged. Hope it wasn't.

Coach Humor

2006-01-22T12:05:00.003-06:00

Slate's Timothy Noah recently asked readers to submit stories of coaches past. If true, this one's a dandy:

The single best coach story I heard concerned a college football coach who purportedly made his players run wind sprints while each one held a single grape between the cheeks of his buttocks. The unfortunate soul who came in last had to eat the grapes. Haunting though this story is, I can't verify it.

Of course, it may not be true. Follow the above link and check Noah's update to the story to judge for yourself.

Ain't It Orange News

2006-01-22T12:02:00.001-06:00

I can't not post this.

Austin's world famous movie review Web site, AintItCoolNews.com, has created the animated gif of the year. Harry Knowles-in-a-suit on the UT Tower. Clever. Creative. And so true, true.

"Hook 'Em 2006" rolls on... : )

Hook 'Em 2006 Continues

2006-01-07T12:24:00.001-06:00

My blogging has been pretty light over the past two or three weeks. The reason: my full-time gig has kept me extremely busy. But now that the Cowboys' season is over, I should be getting my blog back on soon enough. In the meantime, a couple of National Championship follow-ups.

If you're not in Austin, you can still enjoy the UT Tower's nightly tribute to the football team's National Championship via the University Co-op's TOWERCAM. The Tower's special lighting configuration will continue through the end of this weekend. And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, here's an explanation.

Elsewhere, undoubtedly many of you noticed that the Texas players were given National Championship ball caps and T-shirts immediately after the game. So what happened to the boxes of USC gear that went unused? Slate has the answer.

Hook 'Em 2006: The Day After

2006-01-05T12:29:00.000-06:00

This is fun! I remember watching the Texas-OU game a couple of years ago when Vince Young was put in the game as a freshman. Oklahoma ran away with that game, but Vince Young was amazing--more amazing than any freshman had a right to be versus a team that would appear in the National Championship Game later that season. Witnessing his talent for the first time allowed me to remove myself from the moment--another loss to OU--and know that it was only a matter of time before Young would make it possible for Texas to end its losing streak in the Red River Shoot Out.

Of course, I only thought in terms of the Texas/OU game that day. I never considered a National Championship would be in reach. But damn if Vince hasn't made that happen, too.

And I'm no college football expert (my loyalties lie with the NFL), but I wonder how many schedules have been as difficult as this season's Longhorn schedule. Based on the final AP rankings, Texas beat the number two team on a semi-neutral field (USC), the number four team on the road (Ohio State); plus a couple of Top 25 teams: Texas Tech (20), and Oklahoma (22).

Damn it feels good to be a Longhorn!

Happy New Year

2006-01-01T12:34:00.001-06:00

I came down with a sinus infection a couple of days ago, so I was far too medicated and fatigued to make it to midnight last night. However my dad, who also lives here in Garland, TX, stayed up and recorded audio of the celebratory gun fire traditionally heard in these parts to mark the transition to the new year.

A good reason to stay inside, since: What goes up, must come down.

Belated Merry Christmas

2005-12-29T12:36:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone found a tasty meal, or received a thoughtful present, or just spent a bit of time relaxing over the Christmas weekend. Can't beat the simplest pleasures in Life.

And I pray that you all took a step closer to God. Being blessed with His peace in your heart is a gift beyond measure. Here is the Way to this peace.

The Rose Bowl

2005-12-29T12:25:00.000-06:00

I was invited by DallasNews.com to make a Rose Bowl prediction. I went with: Texas 41, USC 34. My explanation here.

Never Been To Spain Re-Mix

2005-12-23T12:40:00.001-06:00

A few weeks back I posted a re-mix of The Beach Boys' "Wouldn't It Be Nice."

I thought everyone might enjoy another re-mix that John Summers and I put together this year. It combines a live performance by Elvis with a relatively recent recording from Three Dog Night. It's been so popular with our radio station's audience that it's been put into normal rotation on our play list.

Enjoy: "Never Been To Spain."

Ridiculous Toy

2005-12-17T12:44:00.001-06:00

Just humor me for a moment and follow along:

Three kids are looking for something fun to do one afternoon. The first suggests they play hide-and-seek. The second thinks a game of tag would be fun.

The third says, "Let's play Patriot Act!"

Old Christmas Card

2005-12-17T12:30:00.000-06:00

This from a story seen on a local newscast here in Dallas. Timely and interesting. The Bridwell Library at SMU holds one of the first (maybe the first) mass-produced Christmas cards.

The card caused a bit of a stir at the time, because it portrayed a child drinking from a wine glass. The Bridwell press release...

Harry Potter Theory

2005-12-13T12:49:00.004-06:00

Okay, fair warning. Spoilers follow. If you've never read Half-Blood Prince, but you intend to... then stop here.

Otherwise, here we go.

Many of you have come across the site, DumbledoreIsNotDead.com. If you're clinging to the hope that J.K. Rowling hasn't really killed off one of her most endearing non-Harry characters, then you'll find hope at DumbledoreIsNotDead.com.

Some background: Long before the release of Half-Blood Prince I had come across a post on J.K Rowling's official web site that led me to believe Dumbledore was destined to die (or appear to die) and later return. In an answer to an "F.A.Q. Poll" Rowling writes:

"...as many of you have deduced, Dumbledore's Patronus is indeed a phoenix."

At that point, I decided Dumbledore's character, his very identity, was so entangled with the phoenix symbol that Rowling must intend to kill him off and then bring him back. (Also consider the title, Order of the Phoenix: Just as Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince can be read as Harry Potter and Snape, I think you can read the former as the Order of Dumbledore. It's his order, he's the "Phoenix.")

So from the moment in Book 6 when Dumbledore began throwing down helpings of potion, I began preparing for an Albus death scene. Sure enough, in reasonably short order (no pun intended) Rowling took care of that sad business.

So... to my theory.

DumbledoreIsNotDead.com includes a section titled, "The Flying Avada Kedavra." Dave Haber, the author of that site, notes that, in other instances in which Avada Kedavra is used in the HP canon, the victim immediately slumps or falls to the ground--and is dead before hitting the turf. In Dumbledore's case, however, Snape's spell blasts him into the air and back over the castle's battlements. Haber finds this suspicious, and so do I. As Haber points out, either Snape did not "mean" his unforgiveable curse (check Bellatrix's explanation of unforgiveable curses at the end of Order of the Phoenix), or he was thinking a different spell than he seemed to be verbally casting.

The purpose of my post today is to add to Haber's theory. I've found a precedent for Snape saying one spell while casting another. In fact, this precedent is so perfect, I actually think I'm on to something.

In Chamber of Secrets, Snape and Lockhart put on a duel for the students. When Snape casts the Expelliarmus spell at Lockhart--a spell that should only cause the victim's wand to fly out of his hand--Lockhart is shot up and backwards. Sound familiar?

From the context of this scene, we know that Snape appears to be furious with Lockhart. Seeing the look on Snape's face before the mock duel, Harry thinks that, if he were in Lockhart's shoes, he'd run. I think Harry's Spidey senses were on target. Snape was pissed. And so I'm guessing that Snape ostensibly used Expelliarmus, but nonverbally cast something with a bit more power to rough up Lockhart.

And thus, I think, we have an important precedent for Dave Haber's theory that Snape was thinking something other than Avada Kedavra when he sent Dumbledore flying off the castle.

On the other hand, maybe Rowling simply thought Dumbledore's death deserved more drama than did the average bear's. And who could blame her?

Republican Stereotype

2005-12-12T12:58:00.000-06:00

When I think of the worst of Republican stereotypes, this is the sort of story that comes to mind--brought to us by Idaho's Republican Senator Larry Craig. A stooge of Big Business who treats Nature like something to be scraped off of the bottom of his shoe.

Christmas Tune-age

2005-12-05T13:06:00.000-06:00

Top 5 Christmas song recommendations, as this season's CD burning gets underway:

1. It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas (Pine Cones & Holly Berries), The Osmonds.
2. It Must Have Been The Mistletoe, Barbara Mandrell.
3. Christmas in Hollis, RUN-DMC.
4. The Man With All The Toys, The Beach Boys.
5. All I Want For Christmas Is You, Vince Vance And The Valiants (featuring Lisa Layne).

Honorable Mentions:
-- Happy XMas (War Is Over), John Lennon.
-- Christmas Time Is Here (Vocal), Vince Guaraldi Trio (A Charlie Brown Christmas).

Album Pick:
-- Sing We Christmas, Chanticleer.

Perfume Donations

2005-11-29T13:19:00.000-06:00

Over the Thanksgiving holiday my family took a trip to Glen Rose, Tx, where we camped at Dinosaur Valley State Park and took a drive through Fossil Rim Wildlife Center.

An interesting side note to the trip: The male ocelot pictured to the right lives in a pen near the Fossil Rim visitors center. Texas ocelots are endangered--maybe 100 or so live in the wild. So he's a special guy.

Like many animals this ocelot likes to disguise his scent. And his keepers have discovered that he considers animal pelts doused with old perfume and cologne to be perfect for the job. The keepers apply the perfume or cologne to a pelt, leave it in his pen, and he rubs against it until he feels his scent is adequately "disguised."

Perfume doesn't grow on trees. We were told by a Fossil Rim employee that old perfume and cologne donations are gladly accepted.

Beach Boys Re-Mix

2005-11-28T13:22:00.000-06:00

If you've read my bio page, then you know I work in radio. I'm a Broadcast Journalist by degree, but I do thoroughly enjoy the music side of the radio industry. Recently I decided I'd try to take an a cappella version of the Beach Boys hit "Wouldn't It Be Nice," and mix it with the original single version. Of the many a cappella tracks available on various Beach Boys boxed sets and special releases, I think "Wouldn't It Be Nice" offers the cleanest and most beautiful harmonies.

A friend of mine at the station, John Summers, also sat in on this project and deserves co-producer credit.

For your listening enjoyment, here's an mp3 of the result.

A Loss For Dallas Radio

2005-11-21T13:30:00.000-06:00

Glenn Mitchell, the host of a general interest talk show on our local NPR affiliate, died in his sleep over the weekend. He was a local radio treasure.

I only met Glenn once--when he called me up out of the blue to see if he could come by the station and get a bit of Dallas Cowboys-related audio for his show. So I talked to him very briefly in the KLUV-FM parking lot as I handed him the tape.

But I've always been a fan of his show. I don't know how anyone could blend Public Radio with Talk Radio and do it better (and so effortlessly!).

If by some chance Glenn had originated from a New York or a Washington D.C. public radio station, I have no doubt that he'd have been given a national show.

He was one of those people who just sounded interesting. Whatever it was--his manner of speaking, the distinctiveness of his voice--if you happened upon him while channel surfing, you'd likely stay and listen.

My prayers are with his wife and family.

Katrina's Environmental Impact

2005-11-14T13:33:00.000-06:00

I linked to this last week on the front page of The Coffee Shop Times. When I think of sandhill cranes, I seem to remember that they are used to reintroduce endangered whooping cranes into the wild. I had no idea that a subspecies of sandhill crane numbers around 100 individuals in the wild--less than the 300 or so wild whooping cranes. Unlike other sandhill subspecies, this particular group doesn't migrate and calls a wildlife refuge in southern Mississippi home. And then came Katrina. The human population in that area is having a tough enough time dealing with post-Katrina conditions, so the overall health of the sandhill colony is not yet known.