Thursday, June 23, 2011

Do You Wiffle?


My friend and good man GoThrow sent me this link to a Wall Street Journal story on one of the great American tradions: wiffle. Click to read the story about a game that's been around for 58 years, all because in 1953, an out-of-work farmer made his son and his boy's friends a toy...

I am so proud...

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Monday, June 20, 2011

What Up With THAT?! ...

Some man had lunch with my wife Monday ...

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

We Have Men On The Scene...

...at Ebbets.com and at the Ebbets Field Flannels facebook page.



One of my favorite stores is having a contest. Here my friend Scooters flashes the New Orleans Pelicans old-school flannel. He is holding his leadoff hitter, Hadley, who loves to be in the company of flannel wearers and appreciaters.

The Ebbets Field Flannels people are looking for pictures of folks wearing their merchandise, for a contest. Check it out. You will not look as good as these men, but you should still enter, just for the fun of it.

Smoke 'em high and tight.

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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

I Had The German In 6

Just sayin...

Good for the Mavs. Have not been that interested or that entertained in the Finals since Celtics-Lakers (last year, and 20-plus years ago. Oh, and the Jazz-Bulls Finals.)

I thank you.

Cowboys now the third best pro team, at best, in the town. In just that one town! That has to hurt...

Again, thank you Mavs and Heat. SO fun to watch...

Monday, June 13, 2011

'Super 8" ... Neg. I'd Give It A Super 4, At Best



This is the weekend's No. 1 boxoffice draw. Was anxious to see it. Set my expectorations too high, what with Speilbert's name attached and whatnot. Easy entertainment. I probably wanted "ET" or "JAWS" or "Close Encounters" so my bad.

You don't get to see the 'monster' for a long time, same as in 'Jurassic Park' and "JAWS" and all, but once you do, sort of a letdown. At least for me.

Wish I'd just seen it on HBO. And the main boy and the little girl were very good, my opinion. And it was not awful by any stretch. On a scale of 1 to 8, I'd give it a Super 4.

BUT, did see good previews. Me and mine aim to go see the Apes movie, the war movie ("Captain America"!), and I think some other movie but i can't think of it right now. Maybe Green Lantern too.

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Sunday, June 12, 2011

The literary boys and girls of summer

(From today's Times and Monroe News-Star)


My stepdaughter has to read "Lord of the Flies” this summer for school in the fall.

Good luck with that!

Back in the day we did not have Required Summer Reading, but I read anyway because I was strange that way and still am. If you are stalled and need to jumpstart your summer reading program, I have suggestions.

First suggestion: Don’t read “Lord of the Flies” unless you have to. Read “The Princess Bride” by William Goldman instead. Second suggestion: Follow my suggestions.

Here are the best books I’ve read since January. Each comes with a glowing recommendation:

“Water For Elephants” by Sara Gruen. I was slow to the party but glad I got there; (I am also late to the party for “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett, but it’s “in my pile” and I hope to read it before the movie’s August release;

“The Devil in the White City” by Erik Larson;

“The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien. Of the four Vietnam War-related O’Brien books I’ve read, this is the one I’m most thankful for. “First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha, a junior at Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey. They were not love letters, but Lieutenant Cross was hoping…” And on like that;

“Lit” by Mary Karr, a later-in-life memoir by “The Liars’ Club” author. The title itself has three different meanings. And you get sentences like this: “How little we ever wanted, the creatures in my family, and how hard we struggled in one another’s company not to get it”;

“The Pastor” by Eugene Peterson, translator of “The Message”;

“King’s Cross” by Timothy Keller;

“Popular Crime” by Bill James, author of the “Baseball Abstracts,” is a passionately researched and presented look at the phenomenon of popular crime stories in America since the 1600s, and how these stories have made an impact on our country’s history and society without our even realizing it. James knows trends, cause and effect; for decades he’s used his fascination for baseball’s numbers to alter the way we think of the game, and he does the same here with crime. His goal is to use the phenomenon of Popular Crime to first inform and then hopefully involve the public to the point that we’ll change the criminal justice system and not “abandon the criminal justice system to the lawyers – which will result in a justice system that works well for the lawyers…”;

“The Onion Field” by Joseph Wambaugh is from 1973 but still excellent for an odor of procedural law of the time and the absolute mess that became of a police officer’s murder. (Young actors Ted Danson and James Woods star in the movie);

I could have done without reading “Cutting For Stone” by Abraham Verghese and “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot, though I admire both ambitious efforts. Moving on…

Right now I’m reading “Joe DiMaggio: The Hero’s Life” by Pulitzer winner Richard Ben Cramer, who writes with beauty. I feel safe recommending it along with the others in my SRPP (Summer Reading Partial Pile):

“The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood” and “Sandy Kofax,” both by Jane Leavy; “Leaving Church” by Barbara Brown Taylor; “A Bright Shining Lie” by Neil Sheehan (about Vietnam); the new Dick Van Dyke memoir and, always, some John MacDonald (me and Travis McGee are up to “Dress Her in Indigo.”)

Thursday, June 9, 2011

We Have A Man On The Scene...

...in the St. Augustine, Florida area.



These are my vacationing friends Ben and Jake ... or, as I like to call them, "Steak 'n' Shake: The Next Generation." The franchise is in good hands.

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Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Hey Jude: Identity (First in Jude series)

(My notes from Sunday night's sermon from Dr. Chris Craig, FBC Ruston)

Author of Jude is the (half) brother of Jesus

v. 1: Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,
To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:

WHO ARE YOU IN CHRIST?

1. A slave for Jesus
W.A. Tozer: To live as a Christian means to 'live with an eternal preoccupation with God."

2. A called people
invited to be His own
The christian should never have esteem issues; God calls you His child.

3. Loved by God the Father
It's not about how I feel; God loves me regardless of how i FEEL

4. Kept Eternally Safe
kept = guarded, by Christ and the Father
John 10: 28-29 "...no one can snatch them out of my hand..."

Don't let anyone diminish your identity in Christ
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Monday, June 6, 2011

God's Calling (1st in Romans series)

(My notes from Sunday's sermon from Dr. Chris Craig at FBC Ruston)

Romans 1: 1-6
1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in powerby his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. 6 And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

The book of Romans was written to the (mostly Gentile) church at Rome, by Paul, most likely from Corinth, about 20-25 years after the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ.

God is Calling You ...

1. To Salvation
Romans in summary: Humans have a terrible problem; God has a wonderful solution.
vs 5-6: "called" -- invited to a feast
Matthew 22:14 -- "...many are invited, few are chosen..." Few enter into the feast on the groom's terms
John 1:12 ' "To all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."

2. To a Mission
v. 1 -- to be a servant/slave, to lose your will in the will of another.
This is an honored position under God's will
2 Cor. 5:20 .. "We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God."

Paul's life is an example of what a life in God's will can become. He was a Pharisee, a Green Beret of religious heirarchy, but became Jesus' greatest apostle.
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Friday, June 3, 2011

The 'Hurts Me' Files: James Arness



Dead today at age 88. Gunsmoke. 1955-75. Ohhhh Miss Kitty....

I loved me some Matt. Dodge City. Doc.

Momma's favorite TV character ever? Festus. No one else is even close.

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