Archive for November, 2009

Bad Big Idea

I may or may not have said the following line this week:

Take that plunger off your brother’s head!

Thanks a lot, Big Idea Productions.

Next time you need to create a superhero character, please make his accessory thingy something cleaner, more hygienic. Remember that thousands, even millions, of children will be watching that character and some will try to copy him.

picture of typical Larryboy

Why plungers? Why something that is so unsanitary? And why on his head, of all places?

Why not toothbrushes?
Or foaming-soap dispensers?

Think of how he could clean up crime or scrub out injustice.

a person who touches any such shall be unclean until evening, and shall not eat of the holy gifts unless he has bathed his body in water.

Leviticus 22:6

Feeble Tebow

Watching the Florida-Florida State football game earlier today, I was pleased that the television announcers recognized Tim Tebow’s habit of putting Bible verses on his eye black.

A little background here for those who may need it:
Florida Gators are a college football team. Tim Tebow (also known as TimTebowTimTebowTimTebow to some people) is the quarterback of said team. Tebow has decided to take advantage of the national attention that being a leader of a high-profile team brings – he puts scripture references on the black stickers that athletes put under their eyes to reduce the glare from the sunlight.

He apparently figured that, as long as cameras were going to be featuring his face during games, he might as well make use of it. He changes the verse every week, and this week it was Hebrews 12:1-2. Here is the picture of Tebow just before the game (he’s a little teary because it was his last home game).

Florida Gator Time Tebow with the Bible verse Hebrews 12:1-2 on his eye black

Side Note: Regular readers of Some Blog Site will notice the similarity between Tebow’s different-verse-for-every-game habit and SBS’ different-verse-for-every-blog-post habit. Please note that SBS was doing this before Tebow started doing this, so I appreciate the flattery. Anyone who wants to promote Bible verses in everyday life is more than welcome.

Back to topic: Tebow’s verses have gathered so much attention that the game’s announcers mentioned his verse this week, just as part of their normal conversation during the game. Hmm…it seems that anything Tebow does gathers much attention and is reported on the TV, but let’s stick to the topic.

The announcers noted it was Hebrews 12, they looked it up, and they read the verse.
On the air.
Out loud and everything.

I was quite impressed that they did that (kudos to CBS), and I was pleased that Tebow’s plan to increase the Bible knowledge of the general public actually worked.

I mentioned these events to my wife. She tried to recall Hebrews 12:1-2 from memory, but it didn’t sound like what the announcers had read, so I looked it up. No, not to correct my wife, because her version sounded more familiar than the announcers’ version.

The announcers had read Hebrews 12:12 on the air:

Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble

But Tebow had written Hebrews 12:1-2. That’s read as Hebrews twelve, verses one and two. Not Hebrews twelve, verse twelve.

It looks like Bible literacy still has a ways to go.

At least Tebow is doing something, and at least the announcers tried. If you just look at the verse, it does seem to make sense in the context of a sporting event. It could be good to use, but it is not what Tim had hoped they would read.

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:1-2

Red Friday

I was talking to a co-worker who was born and raised in an Eastern Bloc country – one of the old communist countries next to Russia. He said that he, and everyone else he knows from there who is now in the US, cannot understand why Black Friday is so popular.

People wake up so early and stand in line just to get a good deal on a gift! Why is that fun?

He will not do that. He said that for so many years that was daily life. His family had to stand in line and wait just for their needs – bread, milk, eggs, etc. – so now that he is in the US he appreciates the availability of things.

Standing in line for shopping is a bad thing and a sign of bad government / oppression / etc. and he will not do that just to save a few dollars. The country was communist while he was there, and standing in line for goods is not a pleasant memory for him.

I thought that was rather enlightening.

Remember that when you’re doing your Christmas shopping and you are waiting in line voluntarily – there are plenty of people who are waiting in line for their survival. Appreciate your freedom and your prosperity – something for which you can be thankful.

But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?

1 John 3:17

Coordination T. Cornpone

What is the point of developing hand-eye coordination?

I was thinking about that while on vacation with my extended family. My nephew and I were playing Guitar Hero, and I thought “Why does it matter how good I get at this game? Sure, it’s fun to play, but why should I spend hours practicing pushing little plastic buttons?

No, I don’t actually spend hours practicing Guitar Hero, as I don’t have the game. That was just a hypothetical question. And yes, it is fun to play and one can create lasting memories playing games with people. But it’s the interactions and relationships with people that really makes the memories, not the game itself.

It would be one thing to spend that time practicing a real guitar, a guitar that I could take places and entertain people. Come to think of it, it can be pretty entertaining watching some people play Guitar Hero. But I have no aspirations of becoming a singer/songwriter, so that’s why I don’t spend time on a real guitar.

For a long time, the best rationalization people had for spending timing gaming was that it develops hand-eye coordination. I suppose a minimum level of that skill is necessary, but after some point there can’t be much added benefit.

In your normal life, how much precision hand-eye coordination is required? Once you get the basics down, you should be good. Why not work on your walking skills or breathing skills?

Maybe someone wants to become a skilled surgeon – that would require good hand-eye coordination. What would be a better use of your time – staring at a screen and pressing pieces of plastic with your thumbs or maybe knitting or sewing something?

Playing something is one thing; practicing it is another. You should practice what you want to do. If watching a screen and pressing buttons very quickly is what you want to do, then go for it.

Let every skillful man among you come, and make all that the LORD has commanded:

Exodus 35:10

Bubble, Bubble, Sniff and Trouble

Alpha was taking a bath and, as is standard for just about every child, wanted bubbles. A little while later, he called for me to come into the bathroom. He wanted me to see that he had put a bunch of bubbles on his face and was pretending to be Santa Claus.

I complimented him on his nice beard.

The bubbles must have tickled his nose, but he didn’t want to itch it and disturb the bubbles so he sniffed.

Bad choice – to inhale sharply through one’s nose when bubbles are directly under one’s nose

I noticed that he got a funny look on his face. I figured he didn’t like the feeling of bubbles in his nose. But I was wrong. After I saw him spit out bubbles, I realized he didn’t like the taste of bubbles.

That was our biology lesson for the day – how the nasal cavity connects to the mouth and throat.

When they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah.

Exodus 15:23

X-Men: Rivals

In case you haven’t been paying attention to the ads: there is a new X-Men movie opening this Saturday.

It is called X-Men Rivals.
Here is a shot of the title:

X-Men Rivals / Wolverine title

And here is a cut from the comic book upon which the movie is based (click on the image to see a full-size version) :

X-Men Rivals / Wolverine comic

Here is the text, in case your browser has trouble with images:
Wolverine: My worst enemy …
Wolverine: Not even my claws can penetrate his thick skull
(last frame shows Brutus Buckeye)

I have seen that every labor and every skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a man and his neighbor This too is vanity and striving after wind.

Ecclesiastes 4:4

Not Mine Monday, November 2009 Edition

In a shameless spoof of MckMama’s Not Me Monday, I am posting a Not Mine Monday.

  • It was not my children who stuck their drinking straws into a bowl of sprinkles (that were supposed to go on their ice cream) and were trying to drink as many sprinkles as they could. Nope, my children know that straws are for their drinks only, and they know not to play with or make games of their food.
  • Our son did not let out one of the longest, loudest yawns he could, just after the last hymn, while the pastor was getting ready to say something but hadn’t quite started so it was very quiet in the church. But if he had done that, the whole congregation, including the pastor, would have laughed.

And to make things official, here’s a Not Me entry:

  • I did not give the kids straws so they could drink the sugar water light syrup out of the fruit cup containers before they ate the fruit. Nope, I know that they don’t need the sugar and I always drain the fruit cup first. And rinse the fruit. Yeah, that’s it.

Then he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet There He made for them a statute and regulation, and there He tested them.

Exodus 15:25