Perhaps the last update on The Beach Picayune...

So I'm leaning towards not updating The Beach Picayune anymore.
Here's perhaps the last thing I'll post on here.

December's Brew is here. I just posted the 'Sacred' editorial on The Brew.

Get Divorced For The Kids on The Brew

I just posted the last Divorce Brew tonight. Yet another new author Steve Konet wrote "When Not To Get A Divorce" on The Brew. It's a different take on when parents should get divorced.

Growing Up With Divorce on The Brew...

I just posted another new author, Shaun Zempke's, article "Divorce II: Son of Schism" on The Brew. It's a look at youngsters growing up with divorced parents and the effects divorce can have on kids.

No More milkmanskid ?

So I'm thinking not keeping up this blog anymore. I've got three others still and it's getting time consuming to keep up 4 blogs.

If anyone reads these regularly, let me know. Or start keeping up with me on Xanga, Myspace or Facebook.

Fearing Divorce on The Brew...

I just posted new author Kacie Mann's "A Healthy Fear of Divorce" on The Brew. It's a good way to think about divorce, if you're married.

Another Specialty Brew...

I just posted The Brew's Creative Editor Libby Parker's Specialty Brew "There Are Things."

New Specialty Brew,,,

I just posted new author Kelley Thielen's Specialty Brew, "A Long Road, Bleak or Bright" on The Brew.

Be watching closely this week, as there will be a new piece posted every day. We had many submissions and not as much time to publish them all.

Thanks for reading.

That Lovin' Feelin' on The Brew

I just posted Dan Burnham's article "When You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" on The Brew.

It's a great look at...feelings.

Headline News

I like this format of giving just headlines of what's going on so I think I'll stick with it.

I went to both the counselor and the chiropractor this week. I'll let you all draw the spiritual applications from this.

I discovered how great SuperTargets are today. You can buy individual bottles of beer there, as well as frozen corn dogs and cheap six packs of Lever 2000 soap.

I'm constantly amazed at The Brew. I've already had two new writers referred to me this month(one by my brother and another by the biggest cheerleader The Brew has: Mishraile.) The Brew truly is a dream come true and perhaps the culmination of so many other life experiences that didn't necessarily make sense until now.

Had such an encouraging conversation with a grad school student who wanted to run by me how much to share about his life during a discipleship group that we're both in at my church.

My grocery shopping trip to SuperTarget made me love being a bachelor. Here's what I bought: three apples; a bottle of Pete's Wicked Ale; a bottle of Sol (a Mexican beer); baked potato chips flavored with chicken, thyme and lemon; a six-pack of frozen corn dogs; some healthy whey protein shake flavored like cappuccino; Cheerios and a can of soup.

Interpol is the perfect soundtrack for this moment of blogging.

For some reason, I found it funny to look hrough my shelf of the food pantry in my apartment. Here's what made me laugh (this being before my grocery trip): Foreman grill; coffee grinder; French press; 1/4 lb Arabian Mocha Sanani coffee beans; 1 pound of organic, Peruvian coffee beans; 1/2 jar of Jiff; 1/4 a bottle of Crown Royal.

What To Do After Divorce on The Brew

I just published Lonnie Smith's article "What Do You Do After The End?" on The Brew.
It's heartbreaking but also offers a different take on what Paul has to say about divorcees in I Corinthians.

That Video..

So I mentioned a SNL skit with Natalie Portman and Jamba Juice in my last post. YouTube had to get rid of it but it survives on MySpace Video.
Here it is.

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=578939

Funny...

So I went to get my hair cut at a Sports Clips chain. This is chain of stores meant for men, with TVs at every chair and all kinds of sports memorabilia around. I've gotten good haircuts here in the past. This is probably the middle of the road spot between Great Clips and Knockouts, another men's barber shop that transplants Hooters waitresses here and has them cut your hair instead of serve you wings.

So I go in to a newer location and a frumpy, middle-aged woman cuts my hair. I was a little worried at first because she had a lazy eye. Some could say this would be comparable to having a one-eye pirate cut your hair, but that seemed to me be a little much. The hair cut was great but during the process I was a little uncomfortable. Mainly because this hair stylist was...um...a...um...little...um...buxom. So whenever she had to reach up and over to cut different parts of my hair... um... her ...um ...buxomness was right in my face.

Something else that I found was another SNL clip where Natalie Portman works the counter at a Jamba Juice. All the jokes are so easily transferable to the Coffee Chain That Shall Remain Nameless. ...Well, I was going to but the vid got pulled off YouTube and it's not readily available at NBC.com either. If anyone can find it, let me know.

Single Guy and Divorce

I just posted my article "My Generational, Somewhat Committed, Apathetical View on Divorce" on The Brew. It's what a Millennial, single male might think about divorce.

Camping

So over the weekend, I took seven college students to work at a camp near Tyler, TX. We worked in the kitchen at the Bluffs camp at Pine Cove and did meal set up and tear down. It was pretty cool.

I hadn't been to a camp since high school, and the camps I remember back then don't leave a good taste in my mouth today. What I grew up with were more fundamentalistic/legalistic type camps that I might even blame for my own legalism in the past.

But naturally, this camp was different. Or at least it was different working there rather than being run through the programs. There were various women's groups (usually middle-aged) that we served this weekend. I probably made one too many comments about feeling like I'm still at The Coffee Chain That Shall Remain Nameless when some of the older ladies had annoying or involved requests ('Do you have cranberry juice?'). But I enjoyed the weekend, in spite of this small, piddly stuff.

Something I never thought I'd do again is sit around a campfire and sing worship songs. We had some S'mores and then I made some kind of transitional comment to lead into how everyone should use this weekend to reflect a little bit. I asked someone to bring a guitar for the weekend, knowing that this would be part of the camping trip experience. And there I was singing three worship songs around a campfire.

No one threw any rededicational sticks in any recommitmental fires or had any shattering revelations of how sinful they were. We just sang a couple songs. And I think this was good for me. I can look at it and see it as perhaps how worships songs at a campfire can be good. No drama or tears, just a little time to remember why we were serving that weekend. Maybe I've matured past all my cynicism to see the good in all that I think is bad about evangelicalism.

A highlight was getting to ride some horses on Saturday. I did a trail ride on 'Goliad,' a slow and steady horse who was pretty obedient. Later on, we did some trotting practice in an arena. For this, I rode 'Pistol,' a spunky, stubborn horse who would stop moving altogether just to try to show me who's boss. I did a lot of kicking and squeezing to get Pistol to trot a few times and had to turn him in circles just to try to show him who's boss.

November Brew - Divorce

I just posted November's editorial on The Brew.

Headline News

I know it's been a while but here's the long and short of it:

I began going to counseling again this week. It knocks the wind out of me (luckily I'll only be going twice a month).

I'm taking seven of the college group members from my church to a camp to serve in the kitchen this weekend.

I made a peanut butter and jelly frappuccinno at work tonight (minus the bread). Good stuff.

I went to a wedding this past weekend but I couldn't stop thinking about divorce (only because I have to write about it this month on The Brew, not because of any opinions I have about the couple getting married).

I had three shots mixed with a little eggnog before starting work today (beginning tomorrow you can too). Good stuff.

Had a conversation with one of my roommates that ended up with us both saying how we had told our friends what a blessing it was to be living with the other one.

I flipped the bird to Dallas and it's 'Must Drive Everywhere Mentality/City Setup' when I walked to Wendy's one night for a burger that kind of sizzled.

I 'bought' Radiohead's new album off their website, which lets you pay whatever you want for the album. 'Reckoner' is an amazing track.

Last Election on The Brew

I just posted new author Scott Duplisea's article, "Mudslinging and Straw Polls in Junior High" on The Brew.
It's great stuff.

Old Brew is New Again!

I reposted the May and April Brews over the weekend.
It's great to read back over what makes The Brew so good.

For example: Dan Morgan's "From Love To Lust" article from April's Two by 4 issue. Or Jon Reisinger's "The MySpace-ination of Community" from May's Space issue.

Single Guy Adjusts, Becomes Token Person

I went back to the chiropractor today after getting rid of one intern at the chiropractic school who was messing up my back rather than fixing it. The new intern (gives adjustments for about $25 a pop) was great. She took the wind out of me with the first crack of my back. The other adjustments were just as shocking but also soothing after the initial pain of the adjustment went away.

I came out of the office feeling a little euphoric. There was one adjustment (somewhere in the neck region) that's famous for making people feel high. "We'll ease into that one," the intern said. They also want to do some test to find out if I'm diabetic. This would mean me fasting for 12-14 hours, sucking down some glucose and then testing my blood six times over three hours to see what happens.

Yeah, I'm bring a book for that one.

Over the weekend, one of the small groups from my church asked me to be the emcee for a "Newlyweds Game." I felt honored until I realized that they had already asked my roommate (one of only a few single 20something guys in my church) already. But I already knew half of the couples in the group well so I went for it. And as usual, the token single guy comes home with half of the desserts from whatever meal they had (though I'm not complaining).

The Oldest Election on The Brew

I just posted Kevin Schwartz's "The Oldest Election" on The Brew. It's a not so obvious look at the idea of election in the Old Testament.

Thanks for reading and being patient as we continue to work out the kinks on The Brew.

A Tour of Texas

I had a pretty extensive tour of Texas on Saturday.

It began when I met up with a buddy of mine at a farmer’s market in Coppell, TX (a NW suburb of Dallas) that morning. We met there to go to on our road trip to see where Dr. Pepper first began.

But while I was there, I chewed the cud with an organic coffee roaster, or more accurately, tasted the brew. After a great conversation that would surely amaze or bore someone not so into coffee, I bought about a pound and a half of some Peruvian coffee. It was great stuff: strong, natural cinnamon, chocolate and caramel flavors in the coffee. The variety of flavors blew away the beans from the Coffee Chain That Shall Remain Nameless because the beans I sell on a daily basis are roasted to fit one specific taste profile. The beans I bought at the market are roasted with the flavor profile left up in the air, like the sweet smells and smoke of roasted coffee. It’s a little more adventurous.

So anyway, two other guys and I drove a couple hours to Hico, TX (just next door to our final destination in Texas terms). Our destination: The Koffee Kup Family Restaurant. They had pies with mile-high meringue and tasty chicken fried steak, but the main reason we went there was the infamy this café used to have. The retired title of restaurant was: Koffee Kup Kafe. The infamy comes from the alliterated title and what the first letter of each of those words mean when lined up next to each other (KKK). No joke. This is Texas, mind you.

Then we set off to Dublin, TX, where Dr. Pepper was invented and is still bottled to this day. What makes this plant (more accurately a small building on a corner in a town of 3,000) unique is that the Dr. Pepper made here still uses the original recipe of Imperial cane sugar, rather than corn syrup. This gives the pop a much crisper taste and is just plain awesome. I took a tour of the ancient glass bottling machine that is only used once a month, due to the lack of bottles and the ancient nature of the parts in the machine.

In the soda fountain shop next door, I had an old fashioned Dr. Pepper, made by adding carbonated water to syrup. Ooooooohhhh yeeeeaaaahhhhh. Then I bought 8 six packs to savor for a while.

And a couple days later, back in Dallas, TX, I hit up a happy hour at a local microbrewery and tasted their ‘chili’ beer, made with jalapeños. Let me just say: jalapeno beer = awesomeness.

Badgers and my influence

One of my roommates showed me some pretty good car insurance commercials. They involve badgers and that's all you need to know.


via videosift.com

On a different note, I'm realizing how much influence I can have one people. The college kids from my church went out and bought a coffee grinder and a French press. And some of them are now quoting The Big Lebowski.

Morals and Election on The Brew

October's first Election article was posted on The Brew. Daniel Burnham wrote on "Why Morals Can Be Dangerous During Elections." It's a powder keg of an article and very worth reading.

Flashback: Take some time to check out Ian North's "Christploitation!" article from June's Film Brew. It's great look at lesser-known, more obscure genre of film.

Ocotober Brew

I just posted October's editorial on Election on The Brew.
This is the beginning of a challenging month, but also the end of the first year of The Brew.

It's crazy to think that it's been going for a year already.

Company Values

So I heard about a "Blend Off" contest at work this week, where employees of The Coffee Chain That Shall Remain Nameless can create their own blend of coffee.

This event was in the works for a while, though my store manager felt like it was one too many things to make working for the company 'fun.' I heard about the event an hour before it took place and tried to get something low-key together.

So I put together a blend of coffees, which consisted of 60% Guatemalan and 40% Kenyan beans. Both coffees have really distinct flavors that work well together and pair well with orange and chocolate. I used dark chocolate orange-flavored Hershey Kisses to go with the blend.

At the meeting, I snickered at the elaborate presentations others made of their blends, though this was to create enthusiasm for our livelihood and a passion for coffee. Some had pencil-drawn logos for their blend and a brief description of the coffee, it's name and it's purpose. I had merely a French Press of my blend, along with a description and a name I pulled out of the air.

My store manager and I snickered to ourselves when one guy took ten minutes just to explain the name of his blend; it consisted of some Italian music terms, references to Shakespeare and the word 'gestalt'. Then he had a medium-sized paste board to feature his logo: a large, abstract painting where it seemed every swatch of color meant something. With all coffee shop stereotypes aside, it's still easy to pick out the art school grads or dropouts.

This guy also had a tray with an elaborate spread of pound cakes and chocolates to go with his blend, which was so many parts this coffee, two parts this other coffee and still more parts of another coffee.

I laughed at this guy because he was enthusiastic and he was taking himself seriously. I saw this meeting as a way to get out of my store for a bit and to be a little creative with coffee. It made me think about how I viewed the company I work for: as a means to an end.

I love coffee as much as the next person but I can't say that it's my life and or that I can't picture myself doing anything else. The uber presenter won the district taste test and is going on to the regional contest on Friday. I guess I'm happy for him but I don't think I could see myself doing the same.

My Education in Chicago on The Brew; Crickets

I just posted my article "Where Education and Experience Blur" on The Brew.
It's just a little anecdotal piece about journalism, Chicago and experience.

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I felt like I was in some bad horror movie the other night when I went to Kohl's around 9:30 p.m.

I parked my car and got out and saw hundreds of little black things all over the pavement. I took a few steps in my flip flops, trying to avoid the black things, which I figured out were crickets.

Once I realized that they were crickets, the black things jumping all around made more sense. I felt many of them bump into my legs and one almost fell in between my foot and my flip flops.

I got into the store without feeling anything squish or crunch underfoot. But it was just weird. I'd never seen so many of them in one spot before, let alone on a cement parking lot. Trippy.

Education Debate on The Brew; MilkyWay Greenbacks

So...yeah. It's been a while. And I didn't blog. Sorry.

But a debate has begun on The Brew on traditional vs. non-traditional education. The first article by Luke Raad, was posted earlier this week. The second article, by Trent Starnes, was posted today. Each author will also be writing a rebuttal to the other's article. Watch for it and for my 'education' article.

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So I'm part of a writing group at my church. I wrote a little short story for it that turned out like this:

“Hey, Rob. What’s going on?” John asked as one the store’s star employees walked in.

“Not much,” Rob said, taking a nostalgic look around the coffee shop, like he would never see it again. “Who’s working this morning?”

“You, me, Jose and Toni,” John said.

“Awesome,” Rob said, relieved. Neither of the managers were working this morning. He dropped his stuff off in the back and put on his brown apron that featured their company’s logo at chest level. He clocked in and walked behind the counter.

“Hey, could I just work the bar this morning?” Rob asked.

John thought silently for a minute and said, “Sure. Why not?”

“Sweet, thanks a bunch.” Rob thought for a moment. “I kinda just feel like making drinks this morning.”

“Sure, no prob. Hey, so what are you going to do with that new inheritance you just got?”

“Well, I’m not too sure, yet,” Rob said. “I might take some time off to figure it all out. Maybe travel a little.” He paused. “I might just make it up as I go.”

The next hour passed as the other employees came into work and took their spots at the registers. The morning rush customers began to flow in, looking like zombies out of some bad ‘50s horror movie.

The employees at the registers began calling drinks to Rob, who wrote drinks down and prepared the syrups for John, who also had taken a spot at the espresso bar.

Rob saw one customer whom he particularly could not stand walk into the store and get in line. She was more than a little overweight and made a large fuss to insure that her drink was made with skim milk but also insisted that there was extra whip cream on top. This customer soon reached the register.

“Welcome to MilkyWayGreenbacks’s Coffee,” the person at the register greete the woman. “How are you today?”

“Fine,” the woman said impatiently.

“Could I interest you in a delicious chocolate peanut butter almond muffin this morning?”

“No,” the woman said curtly.

“Okay,” the employee said, trained to be unfazed by any amount of unpleasantness. “Well how about a pound of our new Palpitations Roas..?”

“No,” the woman said, cutting him off. She turned to Rob and said, “Large, skim, caramel, almond white mocha with a dome lid and extra, extra whipped cream.”

“Large, Who-Am-I-Kidding’ White Mocha,” Rob called back to confirm that he had received the order.

Time didn’t stop when Rob called out this nickname for the drink because time doesn’t stop for coffee-hungry customers during the morning rush hour and a half. A slight pause was felt by everyone in the small store. Some customers in the back of the line snickered to themselves or chuckled with their associates who were in line with them.

John chuckled, but then shot Rob a look between steaming milk and topping cups with whipped cream and lids.

“Excuse me?!” the woman belted out to Rob.

“I’m sorry, maam,” Rob said. “But you’re not kidding anyone when you get that drink. You might was well shove a couple Snickers down your throat.”

“Well, I never!” she responded.

“Well, maam, it looks like you do pretty often.”

“Hey, you know better than that,” John said. “I know I don’t have to tell you about customer service.”

“You don’t,” Rob said. “I’m being truthful in my customer service. I care about this woman so I don’t want her to go on thinking that her drink is anywhere near healthy.”

A young man in a nice business suit was next. “Medium skim, sugar-free vanilla latte,” was called out.

“Medium Soccer Mom,” Rob called back.

“What?!” the man yelled out.

“This drink must be for your wife, right?” Rob responded. “Next?”

The line kept moving because people didn’t have time to stop and talk to this punk kid who was probably taking grad classes at some art institute. Time waited for no man, especially at a coffee shop. All the customers had to get to work on time and their coffee was the one thing that would help them do so. And besides, there were plenty of other MilkyWayGreenbacks around the city. There was no reason to come back to this one, especially if that non-conformist lackey worked here.

“Are you crazy?” John said. “You can’t keep doing this.”

“You guys couldn’t survive this rush without a fourth person here,” Rob retorted.

“Why are you doing this?” John asked.

They were interrupted with another drink: “Large, half-soy, half skim, two pump almond, three pump mocha with organic whipped cream latte.”

“Large schizo-tree-hugger latte,” Rob called back.

“I think people should appreciate the people who help them through their days,” Rob said to John. “Anyone in the service industry is taken for granted so often these days. I mean, what would happen if coffee chain employees weren’t paid to act like they care about customers?”

The normal coffee shop din continued as the effeminate man who wanted the organic whipped cream stood dumbstruck at Rob’s audacity. Cash drawers opened and closed; milk swished and splattered in the steaming pitchers; whipped cream canisters sputtered as they spat out creamy goodness. The shocked customer was passive aggressively shoved out of the way by the next customer in line, who was already barking out a drink order. There wasn’t time for customers to respond.

Another drink was called out: “Large seven shot latte.”

“Large crackhead latte,” Rob called back.

Audible gasps could be heard in the café, namely that of the slender woman who ordered the drink. “What did you call me?” the woman shouted at Rob.

But the next drink was already called out and other customers were pressing in from behind the woman, forcing her away from the registers and Rob.

“Now that’s it,” said John. “No more drink calling for you. You’re doing the milk and drink hand off station. Now!”

Rob obeyed with a smile, satisfied with himself.

Brew Reconstruction; Quick Recovery; Soul Coughing

So The Brew is under construction. We're working out some technological kinks I'll be reposting August and July this month, and hopefully two more months in October.

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So I had pretty stressful day today at the Coffee Chain That Shall Remain Nameless. Afterwards, I wanted to get some booze, go home, and take a nap. I had overslept and was late to work that morning. So many other things happened to make the day trying: someone not showing up for work; more crazy yuppies wanting their coffee earlier on a Saturday morning; people wanting lots of boxes and 2.5 gallon cambros of coffee; etc.

I was able to manage everything pretty well. People didn't have to wait a ridiculous amount of time for coffee or their cambros. Trouble employees weren't as much trouble during the day. We avoided major blunders and still had our wits about us. The store was still standing when I left in the early afternoon.

And I was okay. I didn't have as much of a need to drink half a six-pack and then doze off on the couch when I got back to my apartment. So instead, I got a couple shots of Crown Royal on the rocks and finished watching Collateral. When the movie ended, I was pleasingly calm and somewhat refreshed.

This seemed to be one of the quickest recoveries from a stressful day I've ever had. I didn't want to lounge around anymore or even have more Crown Royal. One of the first thoughts I had was to do some more writing. Maybe finish that short story about a barista enjoying his last day working at a coffee chain named MilkyWayGreenbacks. I could write another scene in that novel. I could work on another piece for the writing group at my church.

It's cool to realize that you can recover better than you thought. It makes you feel more mature and well-adjusted.

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I've been discovering Soul Coughing, a now defunct alt band from the 90s, though frontman Mike Doughty is still doing solo work. They've got some great, random, obscure songs, like the Coffee Song and Buddha Rhubarb Butter. Tried to find vids on YouTube but with no luck. They're still worth listening too.

Why Teach? on The Brew; Scary liquor stores; Seraphim Falls

I just posted September's first article, "Why I'm Still A Teacher" by new author Gayle Amato. It's a great look at what education really is and where The Brew fits in in the educational process.

There are still a few kinks to get worked out, as you may notice when you look for September's editorial, which has disappeared. Such is the joy of Internet publishing. But fear not, for my editorial writing prowess will be able to be viewed once again (and will make look Gayle's article look all the better) when this one of many hiccups is fed a good spoonful of peanut butter.

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I've come to love scary-looking liquor stores. I went to one in a predominately Hispanic neighborhood in Dallas where two black men were sitting outside and asking for money and beer. An Asian and a Phillipino man manned the counter inside. When I walked in, looking as white as can be in cargo shorts and a polo, I think I did my part to celebrate racial diversity. Or is it unity? All races are brought together through a liquor store?

To make it even more ethnic, I was on a mission for Gallo beer, which is made in Guatemala. I found this beer at a store similar to the one mentioned above while living in Chicago. I knew that my only hope would be to check out random, ramshackle stores which might carry it.

I was let down when I didn't see Gallo. But instead I found Tona (there should be an 'enye' in that name but this blog couldn't translate that symbol), a beer from Nicaragua.

Oh, man. I almost forgot about Gallo when I downed this smooth but somehow crisp delight. My curiosity was rewarded and now I'm not so sure if Gallo is the best Latin American beer I've had.

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I watched Seraphim Falls this weekend and was wowed as James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) was chased through the southwest by Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson). Both played ex-Civil War generals who had some unfinished business. Great cat and mouse film with some very surprising moments.

Brosnan should get an award for best use of a horse as a cloaking device in this film. That's all I'm gonna say about that, otherwise, I'll spoil the best surprise of the movie.

Continuous Learning On The Brew; Talledega what?!

I posted September's editorial on The Brew. Read it and feel more educated.

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I watched Talladega Nights last night. I guess I was expecting more laughs. I laughed at the intro of Will Ferrel's character but then didn't laugh until the commercial interruption of the longest crash ever.

I was amazed at what a huge production the movie was. But then I realized that every second of film time was prime time for product placement. And boy, did they ever place products. Now the elaborate crash sequences and numerous cameos began to make more financial sense. Even Fig Newtons got in on the action (I chuckled at that joke).

Another Round of The Brew; Jogging the Mind and Useless Knowledge

So The Brew is finally back up! We'll be working to repost all past articles over the next few months as well as move into September's Education Issue.

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So I was running today around my expansive apartment complex when running towards me was a guy I was an RA with while at Moody in Chicago. Now, being a Bible school graduate and still running in Christian circles, it's a reality that I'll always run into people who will jog my memory of college. So this was no surprise for me.

This may have been a surprise for this guy, who noticed me but may not have recognized me. Perhaps his mind had been sprinting through his workout and didn't have time to stop for a breather to remember way back when. I didn't become short of breath when I realized that he wouldn't say 'Hey' so I said, "How's it going?" as he ran by.

No response.
No biggie. I wasn't on any marathon to get every person I ever went to school with to remember me.

On a different note, I had some boosts and edits when it comes to my useless movie knowledge.

I went to a midnight showing of Pulp Fiction at a sort of artsy theater near my new store. I figured most of my friends wouldn't have been able to handle going to a midnight movie, much less Pulp Fiction at midnight, so I went with some friends from the Coffee Chain That Shall Remain Nameless.

Before the film, which didn't get over till 2:45 a.m., they had some trivia for free movie passes and for a collector's edition DVD of the movie. While I was debating if I wanted a copy of the film that made Quentin Tarantino famous, they started the trivia.

"Which three Tarantino films feature characters eating Big Kahuna burgers?" People started raising their hands and belting out all of the movies. Four people got the answer wrong and, by this time, seeing that Tarantino only has around six or seven major films out there, someone else figured it out pretty quickly.

I was lost on this, and the next question. "Vincent Vega's character in Pulp Fiction is related to which character in Reservoir Dogs?" I've yet to see Dogs so I had to let someone else get the DVD.

But the next day, I was playing Scene It with the college group from my church and am a little ashamed to say that I dominated there. I picked out a picture of Sigourney Weaver from Ghostbusters and picked the movie Silence of The Lambs from these three clues: Size 16 dress, fava beans, and Clarice.

And now I'm also in a race against two other guys from my college group on Facebook's Never-Ending Movie Quiz.

All this makes me wonder what I would do if I didn't have all this useless movie knowledge.

Call PR!; The King

So I had a legendary moment while working at the Coffee Chain That Shall Remain Nameless today.

The new Fall promotion began today, and so did the push for employees to sell more whole bean coffee. All the machines were also marked down to closeout prices. I happened to be wearing my newly re-acquired Coffee Master apron, which if I were writing a PR piece, would be a symbol of my hard work and dedication to the Coffee Chain's values and beliefs.

Throughout my morning shift, I sold three pounds of coffee to various customers. Now I could attribute this to my looking like I knew something about coffee with the aforementioned apron, which is fancier than normal aprons and black. And I could write how I was setting the example of coffee excellence by not only wearing the Coffee Master Apron, but also selling more than my fair share of beans in one day. Or I could attribute it to being at the right place at the right time, namely behind a register.

Later on in the day, a customer called asking if my store had a pricey espresso machine (normally $1,400 but marked down to $449). I happily said, "Well, yes, I think we do. I can put it aside for you..."

That was very good news to my ears and to the customer's. Apparently, she had to call around to four different stores to find the machine. She and others had chipped in to buy the machine as a wedding present for some happy newlywed couple that would be so happy to have the machine. I helped the customer out to her car with the machine (it's probably 20 lbs or so) and she told me how happy she was to find this. After I put the machine in her car.

She was elated and then gave me a hug before she drove away. Now if this were some puff piece, I might say that I was proud to wear that black apron today. I could say that this was all in a day's work for a Coffee Chain That Shall Remain Nameless Coffee Master. Maybe I could speculate as to how my would not have been as good if I had not worn that apron.

But luckily, for you, this isn't a PR fluff article, and this is the end of the story.

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I watched The King over the weekend.

Very disturbing. I guess it was a very accurate portrayal of evil? I'm not sure how to take this film. Don't know if there's anything here besides good acting and style that's redeemable.

A Real Blog Update; Interesting News

Since The Brew is still down, I've some extra time on my hands. And so I thought, why not produce a real blog update? So here's some of the banal stuff I never put up on here when I have more important things to post.

The Brew is still down.

My new running shoes (bought before the car sucked all my money away) are working great. Ran about a mile and a half this afternoon around White Rock Lake (a beautiful lake and park in east Dallas) and loved it. I didn't do more because it was 95 degrees while I ran.

My two new roommates are both teachers at a small Christian school and are back to an early to bed, early to rise schedule. Whenever I close at The Coffee Chain That Shall Remain Nameless, I get up too late to see them (7:30 a.m.) and come home too late to see them (9:30-10 p.m.). It's like I've got a two bedroom all to myself.

I tried the new blueberries and cream 'beverage' with shots of espresso blended in. I woulda thought it'd be nasty, but I'm hooked now. It's really good.

I'm reading through The Man Who Was Thursday by Chesterton for the classics club at my church. It's great. When The Brew gets back to normal, I'll refer you to a great article about this book in the January issue by my bud Kevin.

I ate black beans and rice for dinner tonight. I'll probably eat the same thing tomorrow night again, since I have a new, my-car-sucked-all-my-money-away budget.

I can't go see Muse when they come to Dallas in September (again, the budget). But, MuteMath will be back here in November at the smoke-free House Of Blues. Hoorah.

My family decided to host another exchange student this year. So when I go home for Thanksgiving, I'll have a 16-year-old brother from China named Teng.

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Here's some interesting news stories I found this last week:

Aquafina bottled water comes straight from the tap.

Some messiness where TV journalism crosses the line into invasion of privacy and why NBC's Dateline program is in hot water because of their 'To Catch a Predator' series.

Tears of Joy

So I nearly cried during church this morning. I think it was for a couple of reasons.
There was a lot of stuff happening that had built to a climax and it just came together during one of the most refreshing worship services I’ve been to in a long time.

That service was at my church but was different than usual because the associate pastor, who was recently put in charge of structuring the worship service, preached today. In all honesty, this associate pastor is one of the main reasons that I stayed at my church. It was great to worship in the service he put together and then also hear him preach. And that last sentence might be the first time I’ve used ‘worship’ to describe something that I’ve done, rather than some nebulous concept.

What made this moment so encouraging and humbling was my past week. Earlier in the week, some hackers broke into the server that hosts The Brew, my online magazine, and did some royal technical damage (Here is what it looks like now). My friend, who takes care of the technical side of The Brew, told me that we might have to restart the magazine. This could mean that I would have to repost and re-enter all the articles and author profiles from the last ten months. We’d be pretty much starting over.

About the same time, my ’99 Hyundai Elantra decided to start overheating. I had some people from church check it out and we tried some small solutions to fix it, though they ultimately didn’t work. So I took my car, which has survived three 1,000-mile, cross country drives, in to the shop to get fixed. They told me that I needed a new water pump and thermostat. They also needed to replace my timing belt, which they said they had to replace after removing it (in order to replace the water pump). The boss at the Meineke store I took my car to told me that he would eat the cost of the belt (including the labor, which was over $70/hr) because he had already had to call me once to add on more parts/charges.

More than $600 later, my car was working, but I had to adjust my plans for a ‘mystery outing’ for the college group that I help out with. I cancelled the dinner I had planned and instead planned to go to a coffee house that had bad coffee but good live music. And for a while, I wasn’t sure anyone would come, because I hadn’t heard any response. I was almost ready to have no one show up and be ready to do something else that night.
But lo and behold, at the set time, they show up and we have a very cool night.

I got to thinking about all the problems that came up this week and the some of the wrong thoughts that came up. A good friend of mine kept calling throughout the week to see how I was doing because he knew of my past with depression. And then I realized how all the strife of this week could have crippled me or sent me into a depressive state. I could have thought that I was overwhelmed with all that was going wrong. I could have thought that I was stuck and helpless to do anything.

But what happened instead: people from my church were very willing to help me with my car. Guys from a church-less Bible study I go to kept checking on me to see how I was doing and offer encouragement. I saw how community works. I saw how the church should work. And I saw how car troubles or magazine glitches didn’t set me off like they could have.

So I guess that is rolling with the punches. Or maturing. Or getting even further down the road from things that could bring back depression.

And that is definitely something that warrants tears of joy.

Brouhaha on The Brew; Texas Heat

So someone hacked into the server that hosts The Brew, which is currently unable to be viewed. Our large technical staff of 1 is working to move The Brew onto a different server and fix whatever problems happened when the hacks hacked in. We should have it all back together pretty soon.

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The full force of a Texas summer is here. So far, most of this summer has been cooler, due to almost constant rain showers. But the showers have cleared up and let in the heat, bringing the temps back to normal, with highs of 104 and 105 (without the heat index).

So I'm getting used to sweating through most of my clothes and having to wash them all the more.

The heat is also taking it's toll on my car, conditioned in the icy winters of Illinois. This week my '99 Hyundai decided to start overheating. I'm pretty sure it's something with the engine coolant system because I keep shoving water and coolant into my car, with no visible effects.

Luckily, I mass texted people I knew down here and found out someone from church knows cars (and also bought a new Hyundai recently). The guy is coming by today to check it out. I'm hoping it's not a big thing like a water pump or compressor. But time will tell.

The Living Conflict; Soup Kitchen; Fellowship Church

I just posted new author Daniel Burnham's "The Living Conflict" on The Brew. It's a look at the continuous conflict for anyone who believes in Christ.

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There’s nothing like serving in a run-down, grimy soup kitchen to get your mind off your own depressed, narcissistic self.

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Fellowship Church in Grapevine, TX

Saturday night I went to this church with my friend Trent and his wife, Sarah. We do this periodically to see what all is out in the DFW area. We both have our own smaller churches that we’re committed to but enjoy experiencing other churches and then discussing them.

So we thought we’d tackle the mega-churches, which is why we went to Fellowship, perhaps the largest mega-church in DFW, or possibly Texas. Ed Young is the pastor, but he was on vacation this week. We’re all naturally cynical, having gone to Bible school and having experienced what we would consider to be ‘real’ church at our smaller congregations. We tried to be fair, but we couldn’t get away from being skeptics.

The best way to describe it may be to just write about some glimpses.

I visited the restroom and was treated to “Now is The Time” by Delirious? playing through speakers. I thought, it’d been a while since I heard them.

There were five Grapevine cops in and around the church, watching the crowds or directing traffic.

The kid’s wing of the church was a friggin’ amusement park, with a Sea World-lookin walkway, classrooms entrances that looked like rollercoaster waiting lines. There was a fifty-foot tall enchanted castle with a waterfall flowing down the middle. There was enough sensory overload to hook a kid, and drive them to bug their parents until the parents brought the kid back.

The worship service used only one familiar song, while the others seemed to be just ways for the worship team to perform. And did they ever. It was a slick production and impressive. At the beginning of the set, the worship leader, who looked like a mix between Prince and Seal, said, “Look around you at the beautiful people all around you.” This was the lead in to have everyone greet each other.

The spookiest part was as we were leaving, and had Silversun Pickups playing was we left the parking lot. A song played and the lyrics started off like this:

“So much for the light show
pissing on while pissing off
sucking in a smokescreen
selling of a loose knit dream”

It was hard to not compare the lyrics to what we had just experienced. That was trippy.

African Conflicts on The Brew; No News

I just posted Kevin Schwartz's "An African Conflict Even Witch Doctors Stay Away From" on The Brew. It's a humbling look at church conflicts in Africa and how it is resolved.

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I've been thinking of what to blog about. I had a similar problem while talking to someone on the phone today. They asked what's up. I had to think for a while. Most everything has been going pretty well. Church is good. The Coffee Chain That Shall Remain Nameless is good. The Brew is exceeding my expectations. My roommates are cool.

I guess no news is good news.

Blog-fighting on The Brew; Kierkegaard on Adventure

I just posted new author Dale Harris' "Theology, The Internet and Conflict-Loving Conservatives" article, which is a great example of the dark side of online community.

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I read Kierkegaard again and was very encouraged by his ideas about venturing out in faith. I thought about these quotes and how they made so much sense when I thought of well The Brew is doing.

"We delude ourselves into thinking that to refrain from venturing is modesty, and that it must please God as humility. No,no! Not to venture means to make a fool of God--because all he is waiting for is that you go forth."

"A person can distress the spirit by venturing too much. Yet there is comfort in knowing that discipline will surely come and will help him if he honestly humbles himself under it. But a person can also distress the spirit by venturing too little. Alas, but this comes home to him only after a long time, perhaps after many years when he is living in the security he sought by avoiding danger. Now he must experience the truth that he was untrue to himself. Perhaps it does not come until old age, perhaps not until eternity. In any case, the thing to do about venturing too little is to admit humbly before God that you are coddling yourself.

Unless you do this, you will begin to imagine that what you are doing is mighty clever--alas, for then you are lost forever. At that very moment the eternal flickers out, our relationship with God closes up, the truth in you dies, and you become untrue. If, on the other hand, you make the humble admission--perhaps you are sick and therefore despondent, perhaps you are too hard in judging yourself--you at least preserve your relationship to God. Your admission will keep you awake and alert, and will not permit you to become happy in a clearly purchased security, distanced from danger. Perhaps tomorrow, perhaps in a year, faith and confident boldness will rise up in you and you will once again be able to venture."

August's Brew

August's Brew has begun. I posted this month's editorial on conflict on The Brew today.

New Brews; Film Faux Pauxs

Over the weekend and today, I posted Jane Does'"When SHE Struggles"and Lonnie Smith's "Talk To Your Kids About Sex, Dammit!".

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So I went to two movies on Sunday. And each time, I made some kind of mistake that was pretty stinking funny.

The first happened when I purchased a ticket at a automated kiosk. I went through the process of picking which movie (You Kill Me at 4 p.m.) but then I came to the type of ticket I wanted. I wasn’t watching too closely and got a senior citizens discount ticket.
And then all of sudden the ticket popped out of the machine with ‘senior’ printed under the movie title.

The ticket taker did a double-take at the ticket but didn’t say anything. I was more than willing to explain the mistake, but I guessed I passed for over 65.

At the next movie, I got another ticket from an automated kiosk. This time I picked the regular price and the right showtime (The Simpsons Movie at 7:10). But I didn’t realize the ticket taker standing a few feet from the kiosk. So I walked right on by the taker, not even noticing that I blew by her. I didn’t realize what I did till I sat down in my seat in the theater and saw that I had both halves of my ticket.

Both movies were great, by the way. You Kill Me was a great, dark, dry humor movie about a alcoholic hit man, Sir Ben Kingsley, who starts going to AA. And The Simpsons Movie was pretty funny throughout.

Why The Renaissance is Sexier, etc.; One Punk Under God

I posted Georgie Lee Fledderjohn's "Why The Renaissance is Sexier" article on The Brew; it's a look at other fantastical ideas about sex and what is sexy.

Be watching through the end of the month for more articles. I won't be blogging about every single one, since there will be many over the next few days.
Next up is another Jane Doe article on female sexual struggles; then Lonnie Smith's "Talk to Your Kids About Sex, Dammit!". The last one is pretty self-explanatory.

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I love Jay Bakker. I empathize with him. But he is also my hero. He survived a religious catastrophe that never really stopped. He survived a faith that could have surely killed someone else. I could almost say that he survived the church, evangelicalism, the dark side of Christianity, etc.

I moved this DVD to the front of my Netflix queue when I heard that Jay’s mom, Tammy Faye Messner, died from cancer earlier this week. After watching the portions of the series with her in it, it truly is a miracle that she lasted so long. There weren’t many details of how bad the cancer was but what I saw of Tammy Faye disturbed me. Doctors said in the one of the episodes that any day that she keeps living is a miracle. The series was probably filmed last summer, so that could mean that Tammy Faye lasted another year on a who knows how many pills, a portable oxygen machine and Hospice care. And perhaps prayer and faith.

It’s hard to care about someone’s eccentricities when you literally see them dying before your eyes. And that is what you’ll see in One Punk Under God.

You’ll also see Jay do what he can to have a relationship with his dad. This was so hard to watch. The only way that either Bakker was able to communicate to the other was when they were preaching or doing a TV show. Now, naturally, Jay took a lot of initiative to foster a relationship with his famous father, Jim Bakker; but both were so similar in that they almost needed an audience in order to be genuine, open and honest.

I’m always fascinated by anyone’s struggle with their religious identity. I can relate to that. I empathize with that because I do the same. It’s easy for me to over dramatize my struggle for faith, my relationship with my parents or anything else that might be considered hard or traumatic. I’m surely no where near what someone like Jay Bakker has experienced.

But I was completely moved when his dad came to visit the new church Jay started after moving to New York City. I cried when I heard his father say that he was so proud of his son and that Jay was doing what Jim couldn’t do. That was just beautiful.

Homosexuality and The Church on The Brew; Expensive Coffee

I posted part one of an anonymously written article entitled "Homosexuality and The Church" on The Brew. It's one woman's encounter with homosexuality and then the right and wrong ways to respond (Pt. 2 which will be posted tomorrow).

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So The Coffee Chain That Remains Nameless is raising it's prices for the second time in less than a year (the first was this past fall). Here's a short blurb on it. Coffee and barista-made drinks will go up by .09 on July 31.

The funny thing is that I heard this from regulars at my new store, rather than from someone inside the company.

A New View Of Purity on The Brew

I just posted Dan Morgan's "Entering the Forbidden Garden: A New View Of Purity" on The Brew. It's a damn good article that shows the beauty of purity, without the puritanical downsides.

Enjoy.

Connections on The Brew; Exploration; Undertow

I posted new author Jay Friesen's "Connection: Sex and Praise and Worship" on The Brew.
Jay looks at the longing for connection in music and in the desire for sex.

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I went to meet a good friend at a place called Tipperary Inn in Dallas' Lakewood neighborhood yesterday. I got there a little early so I walked around and explored a little was well rewarded.

I found a little hole in the wall coffee shop called Coffee Co. The entire store was about the size of my apartment living room but looked like a farmer's market/mercantile in the middle of a coffee shop. There were only about two tables in the small place, possibly due to the coffee roaster that took up the front part of the store.

When I walked in, the owner was roasting some Columbian beans and it smelled amazing and slightly nutty. My first thought was, 'How does this guy stay in business?' I looked at his list of coffee beans and saw the prices were slightly higher. But he did have Jamaican Blue Mountain beans (one of the most expensive beans, next to the Hawaian Kona beans and the silly Asian-monkey-digested coffee beans). I thought I'd support the little guy so I bought a 1/4 pound of the Jamaican beans ($13).

By that time, my buddy showed up to the Irish 'snug' for a beer or two. They apparently call it a 'snug' because, unlike the more open pubs, this place had partitions between seats to give privacy to the patrons. Two seats at the bar had partitions with stained glass on either side to separate them from the other bar stools.

I had a Boddingtons (really flavorful and complex) and a some other kind (can't remember the name) that had 1776 in the title.

Either I had an empty stomach before hand or the two beers I had were pretty potent. So I walked over to a used bookstore, Paperbacks Plus. I refrained from buying anything, mostly because I'd already bought two books last weekend at another used bookstore (Blue Blood, a memoir by a New York City cop, and Attack Upon Christendom by Kierkegaard). But it was great to smell that used book smell when I walked in the door. It was good to follow the maze of bookshelf hallways and find so many books that you think you might read.

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I watched Undertow last night. Great style; has a choppy, unfinished look that seems to imitate the look and feel of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre films (though Undertow is not a horror movie). Great Southern gothic tale. Not as dark and menacing as I thought it was going to be.

My Take on Tommy Nelson on The Brew; How To Become Outgoing

I just posted my article "Sex? Well, Duh! (A Look at
Tommy Nelson)" on The Brew. It's
my 'sex columnist' look at Tommy Nelson and his Song
Of Solomon series.

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So I realized that I'm becoming more of an extrovert (or maybe just an introvert that's coming to process more of everything verbally). My journaling has dwindled to a month's time between each short entry.

And I've spent a lot more time on friends' front porches, plowing through a six pack of Pacifico or Bass while also plowing through talk about friends, church and everything else.

God has blessed me with some great drinking buddies (one is a good bud from Moody and another graduated from Pensacola, but has since experienced grace) who have become my support system down here in Texas. They've taken the place of all the other Moody alum who stick around Chicago and help their fellow grads figure out life after Moody.

And I think that this is the first time in a long time that I've actually used the phrase "Life After Moody." It's like there's no need to use Moody as some descriptor or designator of time anymore. It's like it's just "Life."

Tommy Nelson For Females on The Brew; Goodbye Mall Stores and New Milk

I just posted Kennedy Lewis' article "Nelson Hits The Mark With Series On Sex", a female perspective on Tommy Nelson's Song of Solomon sermon series, on The Brew.

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I worked my last day at the mall store of The Coffee Chain That Shall Remain Nameless. There were some cool people working there and I prayed that my last day there would not leave me cursing North Park Mall; I prayed that somehow working at this store could be a good experience.

I lost hope of that when the person who was to open up the store that morning was 45 minutes late. Then plenty of other small things not finished the night before compounded the lateness, effectively destroying my hopes of this being a good day.

But then the day went on and a good crew of people came in to work. As the store got busier, the crew worked well together and I could direct people around to slide the rush through the drink process and erase the line out the door.

The last two hours of constant traffic were enjoyable, and turned the tables on my mood. So I left happy and satisfied. I guess that's an answer to prayer.

And the Coffee Chain found yet another way to improve efficiency yet again. A co-worker (who laughed long and hard about this discovery) blogged about a new way of labeling milk. Check it out.

SATC on The Brew; No Cable

I just posted new author Georgia Lee Fledderjohn's "What Carried Bradshaw Did (And Did Not Do) For Us" on The Brew. It's G-Fled's funny review of the series Sex and the City.

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Life without cable TV is awesome, though I slightly miss being able to watch Law and Order any time of the day and also Dirty Jobs.

Cinematic Sex On The Brew; Hell At The Coffee Chain That. Shall Remain Nameless

To kick off the sex issue of The Brew is Trent Starnes' article "Cinematic Sex: The Build Up And Let Down". It'll help ground your expectations of sex in the real rather than reel world.

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Helplessness, Hopelessness and Hell at The Coffee Chain That Shall Remain Nameless

So I’m working at a mall location of The Coffee Chain That Shall Remain for two weeks. I was spared working either the night of July 3rd or at all on the 4th. But today, Saturday, I worked the opening shift, which became a fill-in/afternoon shift.

This particular store is always understaffed, unstable and undesirable. Something about the store stinks and many partners (as this Coffee Chain communistically calls its employees) have sniffed that stench and stay away. The store has burned through three store managers in its less than 12-month run (with one walking out in the middle of a shift) and is currently being run by a guy hired from outside the company, whose resume includes being some sort of manager for Wal-Mart (probably the second-most demonized company in America).

Located in a semi-hidden corner of the mall behind the entrance to an AMC Movie Theater, the store is a place of refuge from the busyness of the mall, states the store’s district manager during his pitch to recruit me for this failing store. There is only one supervisor to run shifts during the day; the store manager, who really is a nice guy, also runs shifts but neither he nor the sole supervisor can cover all the shifts.

Such is the environment that I have to work in for two weeks (the reason why has to do with me working over the aforementioned district manager and the store being at a close, convenient location). Shifts during the week were easier than expected, with much of the normal work getting done. But weekends is where partners can experience Hell on earth.

Friday night was survivable. We had enough people to handle the rushes of people coming and going from the movies. But the store seemed sadly understaffed all day Saturday. From around 2:45 p.m. until I left at 5:15, there was a nearly constant stream of people into the store. All that transpired during these 2.5 hours was the stuff of a barista’s nightmare: people keep coming into the store; all sorts of products run out; the café area is trashed; half of the customers don’t know what they ordered and wanted something different from what you put in front of them, etc.

I stayed an extra hour and 15 minutes because the night crew wouldn’t be able to take lunch breaks if I didn’t. During uncontrolled chaos of those two hours, I became helpless to fix the problems all around me (‘You’re out of napkins and iced coffee’; ‘I ordered a drink before that person…’). The Coffee Chain’s idea of legendary service was trampled to death by the high volume and the five of us working during that rush couldn’t change that.

Anyone getting their drink quickly or made correctly was hopeless. The people working were hopeless to fix anything since no other warm bodies were coming to help. There wasn’t time to step away from the espresso machine to fix any of the problems. There wasn’t any way to make the customers happy or to keep many of them from stepping out of line in frustration and leaving the store.

You just stop caring and trying to rush around so much. It’s hopeless that things will let up and you’re helpless to do anything but continue trotting on, doing what you can to appease whichever customer makes the most immediate fuss (‘I asked for a glass of water ten minutes ago!’).

And then I realized that this kind of resignation is a powerful and accurate description of depression. I won’t make all the connections for ya but give this whole thing another read with that in mind. And if you have no idea what depression is about, this should give you a glimpse.

Sex on The Brew; Kierkegaard Always Amazes

So begins the July issue of The Brew, where we talk about sex. I just posted July's editorial today.
And since most of this month's articles are on the serious side, I wanted to post something that wasn't as serious. So in keeping with July's topic, here's a song to keep things a little lighter. It's 'Business Time' by Flight of the Conchords.

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I'm still working through Provocations by Keirkegaard. The chapter on his collected works on 'Spiritual Trial' is just constantly amazing.

Here's two of the more challenging quotes that I couldn't get out of my head.

"In the case of temptation the right thing to do may be to fight it by avoiding it. In the case of spiritual trial, however, one must go through it. Temptation should be avoided? Temptation is best fought by running away? But this does not work with thoughts that try the spirit, for they pursue you. If it is spiritual trial, go straight toward it, trusting in God and Christ. When you are weak, he is strong."

And here's a great prayer for spiritual trial:
"From your hand, oh God, we are willing to receive everything. And even if it seems that your arm is shortened, increase our faith and our trust so that we might still hold on to you. And if at times it seems that you draw your hand away from us, oh, then we know it is only because you close it only to save the more abundant blessing in it, that you close it only to open it again and satisfy with blessing everything that lives."

Chick Fliks on The Brew

I just posted Kennedy Lewis' article, "Are Chick Flicks = To Porn?" on The Brew.

Enjoy.

Oscar Critique Wraps up on The Brew; Depressed Music

I just posted Keith Ever's second part of "And The Winner Is..." on The Brew.

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So I'm in a semi-depressed state after one of those unavoidable times in life. Here's what I've been listening to (though none of the songs accurately reflect that life experience. They just provide the right kind of mood to sail through that kind of time):

Radiohead's OK Computer album
"Hang Me Out To Dry", "Hospital Bed", and "Rubidoux" by The Cold War Kids
"Dekota", "Long Way Around", and "Nothing Compares To You" (Cover) by Stereophonics
"Underground", "Philosophy", "Song For The Dumped", and "Battle Of Who Could Care Less" by Ben Folds Five
The Black Holes and Revelations album by Muse

The Oscars On The Brew

I posted the first part of Keith Ever's "And The Winner Is...", a critique of the Oscars, on The Brew.
Watch for Part 2 on Monday.

Cohen Brothers on The Brew

I posted my short overview of Cohen Brothers' films on The Brew.
Enjoy.

Acting on The Brew; A Christian Will Ferrell; So Many Songs, So Many Issues

I posted Shannon Neffendorf's critique of acting, "Acting To Shatter The Soul" on The Brew.

Watch for more this month. There's still plenty to come.

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I watched Winter Passing last night was amazed. Will Ferrel does another restrained turn (like in Stranger Than Fiction), this time playing a bassist from a Christian rock band, Punching Pilate. His character is so nuanced and subtle, but is the most accurate and sympathetic portrayal of a Christian I've ever seen.

The rest of the movie is a pretty good indie drama. There's some great literary one-liners and great acting. Though, some might be disturbed by a scene where a dying kitten is euthanized (nothing graphic).

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So I bought a subscription to a music service (and am quietly proud to not use I-Tunes) and am obtaining music more legally.

I'm amazed to find the most random tracks ("Super Bon Bon" by the defunct Soul Coughing and a spooky piano and distorted guitar track from the 28 Days Later SDTRK). I also can't believe the wealth of music that is out there. I can get just about anything I can think of (though I'm having some trouble finding some older Christian rock songs: Bleach, Silage, etc.).

I'm also reading through Ecclesiastes with some guys I'm in a Bible study with. I'm digesting the expected "Life if meaningless" and "Only God can provide meaning" ideas. And then I'm seeing those idea apply to my music downloading.

I can download all the music that my laptop can hold, but will it really make me happy? And if I do download all that I can think of, God can add meaning to it all and use it for good.

Oh, the joys of having such a dualistic and complicated faith. But I don't think I would have it be any less complicated.

Hope On The Brew

I posted Lonnie Smith's article on Alphonso Cuaron's film Children of Men on The Brew.

Enjoy.

Christploitation On The Brew; MuteMath and Transformers

Yeah, there's such a word; and such a genre of film. New author Ian North explains it on The Brew.

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I found out MuteMath did the theme song for the new Transformers movie. Don't know what to think of it.

The Brew Goes Across The Pond; Freedom To Fellowship

I posted new author David Wright's "Director Michael Apted's Look At Life, Every 7 Years" on The Brew.
The article explores British director Apted's look at a group of people every 7 years.

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I was journaling the other day (something I’ve started doing less and less).
I wrote a lot about freedom, independence and then on to community and fellowship.

It got me thinking in these big-concept kind of words that seemed like they would make a good one-word-a-line poem. So here is my first attempt at poetry in a long, long time.

Freedom
Independence
Individuality
Interaction
Commonality
Community
Submission
Similarities
Sharing
Fellowship

The Brew Goes To the Movies; Murder Mystery Dinner

I posted the first film article "The State Of Film in America" by Keith Evers (new author) on The Brew.

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Murder Mystery Dinner

So I went to a murder mystery dinner at the Cattleman’s Steakhouse in Dallas for my birthday.

It was pretty cool and not too cheesy. A few actors were mixed in with the sixty or so other dinner guests and slowly died off during dinner.

The guests quickly became just as entertaining as the show throughout the night.
There was a drunk dad there with his two teenage boys. The dad would joke around, scream and yell, “He did it!” while pointing at someone at random. And then he got into an argument with an Indian guy and asked him to step outside with him (the emcees stopped anything from happening).

Then my date and I shared a table with a lesbian couple. They were celebrating their 5th anniversary in Dallas. An ex-husband of one of them was best friends with the other and that is apparently how they met.

During a short time where all the dinner guests were instructed to look around the room for clues to a murder that took place during our salads, some thought they might find a clue in my date’s purse (which she had left hanging on the back of her chair at the table).
She realized that she left it there two or three minutes into the search of the room. The purse was open and sitting on the floor when we got back to the table. Talk about truly frightening.

To make the night interactive, regular guests were made to stand up and be interrogated by the actor playing a detective (other actors mixed in with the crowd were the actual victims and murderers in the show). Because it was my birthday, someone gave the people in charge of the show some dirt on me.

Here’s how my interrogation went:

Detective: “So, I hear you used to be a criminal reporter in Chicago.”
Me: “Yes.”
D: “And you moved around a lot. Sounds like you’re a little shifty.”
E: “Uh, yeah.”
D: “So it seems like you might have a good means and background to be able to kill someone.”
E: “Sure (There was a gasp, some chuckles, and a “That’s a confession!” heard among the other dinner guests.).”

I met an older couple in their 50s who were missionaries in Romania with Christ for the Nations (which is headquartered in south Dallas). It was also the husband’s birthday and he was wearing a bow-tie.

So Many Brews: Clean Sopranos; A Real Post

This week was busy at The Brew. I had three articles that I had to squeeze in in three days. The two I hadn't linked to yet are Lonnie Smith's "Space Between Teeth"; and then my own "4 Easy Steps To Putting Space Between Yourself and an Unhealthy Faith".

I also posted June's editorial on Film.

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If the PAX TV network ever aired The Sopranos, it would look something like this.

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I feel like I haven't been putting out any real posts (as in something with a real topic) and just filler. This last week was pretty busy but maybe next week I can put something together.

Another new Brew author...

The first of three upcoming, quickly-posted articles is new author Shannon Neffendorf's "True Freedom Found In Eliminating Space." Check it out.

Specialty Brew; Weird News; Camp Songs and Anglicanism

A new section of The Brew, Specialty Brews, will be featuring more creative pieces. I posted new author Travis Theiszen's poem "The Southern Inquisition" on The Brew.

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Burger wars and name calling: Hardee's upset over Jack In The Box accusation (or misspelling) that their burgers are made from 'anus' (rather than angus) meat.

An ice cream truck that got sold some herbal ice cream. I'm a little upset because I blogged about this years ago while living in Chicago. I'm suing for patent issues.

Massachusetts short, fat people to get more rights. For real.

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I visited Christ Church of Plano last night. I was moved and will probably go back to their Saturday night service again sometime.

The church recently broke away from it's Episcopal connections and runs like an independent Bible church, though they are Anglican (as far as a person who doesn't go there and has only heard secondhand about their history can know).

During the traditional liturgy service, they sang "Shine, Jesus Shine". This was a trip. That song brings back so many adolescent nights spent sitting on dirty logs around a campfire, watching sparks fly up into the air. "Shine" was always sung, sticks were always thrown into the fire in dedication.

But the use of "Shine" in a liturgy is illustrative of the unique character of the church, I hear. The officient made it all connect to Day of Pentecost (which is today, I think, in the church calendar) somehow and it worked into the liturgy pretty well.

Adjustments to Delirious? Interview; New Brew; Progress

I had to take down the last two posts that featured my interview with Delirious? bassist John Thatcher, because the article won't be published until July in Veritasse magazine.
I'm a little used to more of the start-up mentality with it comes to publishing things, where you can publish about anything.
But come July, after I get permission to reprint the interview from the magazine editor, I'll re-post it here. So you can wait till then or go out and buy Veritasse at a Barnes and Noble or Borders.

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On those previous posts (which I had to delete), I linked to Dan Morgan's article. If you missed it, here it is again.

I also just posted Kevin Schwartz's article "Creating Space For Home," which runs a long a similar vein thematically as Dan's.

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Had an encouraging conversation with a friend of mine about progress. We had a common bond of both suffering from depression, either now or in the past. So the idea of progress means a lot.

While talking, I realized that I've made a lot of progress in dealing with depression. I've been able to deal with depression as it comes and still get on with my life. I can say that I have a healthier faith and am probably optimistic when it comes to thinking about faith (probably still not so much about humanity).

Some of the things that help me are: staying busy; not trying to do much when I am depressed; get a good night's sleep when I am depressed and start over the next day. Use films as an outlet of expression or let them be a healthy distraction (Film is the Brew's topic for June, also).

It's funny that I realized this now. Because I could probably say that I'm one of those people I used to look at and think, "Wow. I know that they struggled with depression. And look at them now. They're getting married. They have a good job. They're not holed up in some apartment somewhere, unable to do anything." Those people gave me hope.

New Brew; Crazy News; Christian Music

I just posted new author Dave Fischer's article "Arrival, Departure and Places In-Between" on The Brew.

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More Crazy News:

A Japanese idea to deal with overpopulation.

How a little suburban Dallas town is dealing with illegal immigration.

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During the last week and half I immersed myself in everything Delirious? to get ready to interview them on Wednesday. I haven't been a big fan of worship music, and I usually gravitate toward most anything darker or edgier. But Delirious? grew on me, especially their most recent album The Mission Bell. There's plenty of edgier and darker songs on the album and a good friend of mine describe the album as probing the dark side of worship.

This made me realize that I recently had somehow been more willing to listen to Christian music. I even went to a LifeWay store and bought 4 of the clearance CDs: Glo by Delirious?; Drawing Black Lines by Project 86; the untitled debut album by The Benjamin Gate; and a remix cd of John Ruben hits.

Maybe I'm not outright dismissing Christian music as much as I used to. I'd always give lip service to the 'real' artists out there and how they're not becoming products of the record labels desperately trying to keep up with pop culture. But now I'm actually turning to the Christian rock station more often and keeping my radio there.

Maybe it was seeing MuteMath live. Maybe it was the Delirious? binge. Maybe it was Toby Mac's new over-produced-but-catchier-than-classic-Newsboys song "Boomin." If you haven't heard 'Boomin' yet, you've got to check it out for it's sheer audacity and attitude.

New Brew; Jesus Camp

I posted Lonnie's article on Isaac Asimov's view of space on The Brew.

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I viewed one of the most disturbing and possibly enraging films of all times: Jesus Camp.

I had the college group from church over for a movie and discussion night to watch it. A friend said he felt sick after watching it. I was left perplexed, but for a different reason than you might think.

Now, naturally, people wanting to make a documentary about a fiery, flamboyant, and fundamentalist church camp don’t have to look too far for material. There is plenty of naturally disturbing footage that needs nothing added to shock.

But I was a little more distracted by the style and other technical details. The documentary follows three kids who attend camp leader Becky Fischer’s “Kids on Fire Summer Camp.” Though one of the three, a little girl who likes to dance to Christian hardcore music, disappears more as the film progresses. I wondered if she wasn’t vibrant or dramatic enough to merit further inclusion.

The last half of the film follows the other two kids as they listen to a sermon by Ted Haggard at New Life Church in Colorado Springs and then later protest in Washington, D.C. (The filmmakers surely had no idea how damning or ironic their footage of Haggard would become. There is a very interesting response here by the filmmakers to Haggard’s accusation that they had an agenda). At this point, the film seemed to be more about the fundamentalist movement rather than about the camp or Becky Fischer. The praying, singing and protesting in our capital seemed to be the climax rather than kids returning home from camp.

Other segments in the film also rubbed me the wrong way for how they seemed staged. (For an example of documentary staging, watch anything by Michael Moore). A radio talk show featured throughout the film seemed ultra-staged, especially when Fischer called in to try to defend herself.

The first half-hour of the film is sufficient to disturb everyone and also accomplishes what the filmmakers wanted to communicate. The remaining 50 minutes seems to take on a different purpose, or, dare I say, agenda.

I wondered more after watching Camp if any kind of documentary could truly be unbiased. Conceptually, a documentary’s aim is usually just to tape reality as it is, with no agenda. But then, you can’t show an entire fundamentalist church service and would have to do some editing. And it seems that in the editing, the temptation to stage some great shots that would so compliment the service would creep in. And then you get to thinking how you could add in some voice-overs from a different interview or some other clip that might realistically fit in with the original church service. And then you could re-shoot some altar call and tell some little girl to hold out letting go of those tears just a little longer.
Hmmmmmmmm. Stuff to think about.

New Brew; Movie Quickies; Disturbing 70s Evangelical Video

I just posted part 2 of Kevin Davis' "The Truth in Words and Spaces" on The Brew.

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Here's some quick reviews on some movies I saw recently.

Spiderman 3 (as can be expected): Good effects. Nutin' else.

Zodiac: Great movie that's more about obsessive people following the case than about the serial killer.

Breach: The most thrilling movie with the least amount of action.

Hot Fuzz: Genius send-up of action movies by the Brits who made Shaun Of The Dead. A must see if only to see Timothy Dalton ( a former Bond) as a grocery store owner.

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Scary evangelical video from some 70s fundamentalist preacher. Be warned: It is disturbing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1paYhEDFQIw

New Brew; MuteMath

I posted two articles on The Brew today. The first is the newest article for May's Space issue: "The Truth in Words and Spaces" by new author Kevin Davis. The second is an article submitted for the April Issue which I somehow completely missed. But with the magic of the Internet and a time machine, I posted the article as it should be: classified under the April Issue with the rest of the 2 x 4 articles. (Or if you want the easy route, it's right here.) It's Lonnie's "Leadership At Work," perfect for anyone who has worked in a cubicle.

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I went to go see MuteMath on Friday so this is the post where I tell you how awesome they are (because they were). The energy the 4-person band han was indescribable.

Frenetic would be an understatement. The lead singer jumped, clapped, and mosched all over the stage. At one point, he did handstands on the piano he was pounding, and then began climbing on the wall of lights at the back of the stage.

The drummer was so animated that he had to duct-tap his headphones onto his head.

Here's a clip that was pretty equivalent to the show I saw (including the breaking of the light wall).

New Brew; E-news (without the celeberties)

I just posted "The MySpace-ination of Community" on The Brew by new author Jon Reisinger.

Also posted was the May editorial, which I forgot to link to earlier. The Brew's new look will feature each month's editorial at the top of the page, making it (and the the month's theme) more easily accessible.

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I found some very interesting news on how crazy the new online world can be and how even the military is trying to keep up with it.

A Wired story about the military previewing all kinds of electronic transmissions from soldiers on the field.

The Obama campaign conquers a MySpace page originally designed to support the candidate.

The Last Of The Satire Brew (for now)...

The Mystery of The Holy Trinity Revealed on The Brew.

New Brew; A Great Satirist

The Coffee Chain That Shall Remain Nameless gets creative in where to place 20,000 more stores in the U.S. on The Brew.

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Since the month of satire on The Brew is coming to a close, I thought I'd post a little something by a great satirist that maybe not be as widely known: Kierkegaard.
Here's some great quips on preaching and proclamation.

"Pastor: You must die to the world -- that will be ten dollars.

Novice: Well, if I must die to the world, renounce all the things of this world, I certainly understand that I will have to put out more than ten dollars for the sake of the cause, but there is just one question: Who gets the ten dollars?

Pastor: I do, of course; it is my wages. After all, I and my family have to make a living you know. It is a very cheap price, and very soon much more will have to be charged. If you are fair, you yourself will understand that it takes a lot out of a man to proclaim that one must die to the world if the proclamation is made with earnestness and zeal. And that is also why it is very necessary for me and my family to spend the summer in the country in order to recuperate."

"The punishment I should like the clergy to have is a tenfold increase in salary. I am afraid that neither the world nor the clergy would understand this punishment."

"A speech expert is just a suitable for proclaiming Christianity as a deaf-mute for being a musician."

Stuff Worth Reading....

I've found some interesting stuff in the news over the last few weeks.

This is an article suggesting, stock- and business-wise, why The Coffee Chain That Shall Remain Nameless should swallow up Caribou Coffee.

Here's an article looking into that Coffee Chain's current promotions and how it's founder wants to save the company's soul, all the while opening more stores and tripling the store's profits.

Then I found some other news about Christianity's messy relationship with the public, the legal system and prisons.

The Dallas Observer had an article this week about an evangelical prison, somewhat based on Chuck Colson's PFM,in Houston that may be in legal trouble if an Iowa lawsuit goes through.

I saw my roommate reading this article from last year about Dallas mega-church Watermark in legal trouble over a church discipline matter. Here is the most recent update I could find on it.

New Brew; Word Pictures

A New Method Of Evangelism on The Brew.
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Word Pictures

So I had a pretty sweet road trip and men’s retreat with guys of all ages from my church.

The easiest way to describe it would be to paint some word pictures of the early morning trip to Graceland and then to the Shepherd of the Ozarks retreat center in Arkansas.

Graceland gift shops sold 100% organic, fair trade coffee: the ‘Silent Night’ Decaf blend and Evis’s House blend.

An entire exhibit displayed at least 50 of Elvis’ jumpsuits, ranging from the simple and white to the ‘Red Dragon’ be-jeweled.

A TV room in the Graceland mansion looked as if it was pulled out of the Thunderball or Diamonds Are Forever sets. A living room, entitled the ‘jungle room’, featured tiki chairs, couches and shag carpet on the ceiling.

I had BBQ nachos and a BBQ sandwich Memphis-style (with coleslaw on top) at a place called “Showboat Barbeque.” A chalk menu board in the store featured the daily specials; but all were below the words “Jesus is Lord” written in chalk on the top of the board.

I stayed in a lodge set deep in a valley of the Ozark Mountains, with high cliffs, bluffs and mountains surrounding the cabin. A family of mountain goats walked in and around the cliffs in the evening.

To end a great couple of hours of paintball during the retreat, two guys had an old-fashioned duel. They each took ten steps away from each other, turned and then let rip whatever paintballs they had left.

I went down in flames while trying to play “Heart-Shaped Box” on Guitar Hero for the PS2 during one night of the retreat. I did equally horrible while attempting “Crazy in Love” by Beyonce on Karaoke Hero. I almost redeemed myself while attempting “American Woman” but was booed off of the video game stage.

New Brew

Obama's Face On A Tortilla! The Brew

New Brew; YouTube Finds; Lent Results

NEW BREW

I just posted Dan Morgan's look at why people should change their vocabulary from Love to Lust on The Brew.

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YOUTUBE FINDS

Found some great stuff on YouTube last night.
Alanis Morrisette's cover of "My Humps." Hilarious.
MadTV skit of The Terminator meeting Jesus.
MadTV skit somehow putting Iraq together with Apple Computers. Pretty creative.
The best of Ralph Wiggum from The Simpsons.

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LENT RESULTS

So here’s what happened after my ‘no TV’ Lent.

I finished six books: To Own a Dragon, and Searching For God Knows What by Donald Miller; The Book Of The Dun Cow, and The Book Of Sorrows by Walter Wangerin, Jr.; Blessed Assurance by Randall Balmer; The Devil In The White City by Erik Larson.

I also got out of the habit of passively watching TV (spending most of a Sunday afternoon or a late night channel surfing). I watched the few shows I was truly into (Lost and The Office) but was left slightly wanting after each episode. Neither seemed as good as I remembered them being.

I might go so far as to say the desire to blow some time watching TV went away. Kind of like curing yourself of some bad habit or desire.

A friend told me he began reading Piper’s Future Grace. I read it back in college but was only looking for one certain thing during that time of life (some kind of relief from depression). But Piper’s idea of prizing the pleasure of God so much that you would loose the desire to cling to some lesser thing, say some sin or something, came back to me.

I feel like I kind of did this during the Lent season. It reminded me of how someone can take initiative to improve their faith, their spirituality or their relationship with God. I haven’t done that kind of thing in a while, though I now feel like I can.

So I’m going to re-read Grace and see what happens. Maybe it’ll be another step back into the faith that I’m re-entering.

New Brew

You'll never believe it: Thomas Kinkade, Painter of Light, finished art school! The Brew

So Funny...

A pretty good rant on the the Coffee Chain That Shall Remain Nameless.

New Brew; The Funny Pages

I posted a release about an upcoming Al Gore film on penguins baking in the sun on The Brew.
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Funny Pages

So there was just a lot of funny stuff happening to me lately.
So here’s some of it.

License plates I’ve seen at my church: XRAY MAN; GRUMPZ.

A solution to the Chick-fil-A problem: A friend’s Dad suggested this: Have those Moroccans start wearing turbans when they park in the lot. Have them take pictures of the restaurant when the employees come out. And then say, “Hey, I’ve got to run to the bank. But if my Land Rover starts smoking….Well, never mind.”

I went to check out The Village church in suburban DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) with a good buddy of mine and his wife. We went to a Mexican restaurant beforehand and ate; and we drank.
I had a Amaretto Meltdown. And I was a little melted afterwards. The drink was more potent than I thought. So I was pretty happy when I sat down in the double-wide chair in The Village sanctuary. The music seemed a little loud and pounding.

A Sonic ad board read: “Loosen your belts. We’ve got double patty melts.”

I saw plastic eggs in an Easter egg hunt painted camouflage and hidden in the grass and bushes.

My church had a dramatic reading of parts of the gospel of John on Good Friday. Naturally, those involved wore all black. A song popped into my head that I didn’t tell anyone about. The song was “Back in Black” by ACDC.

New Brew

I just posted an saddening article on The Brew about how gangs are taking over our octogenarians in South Dallas. Read it a weep.

The Dump....

So I always end up finding lots of interesting crap while I'm online. Here's some of the more stand-out stories.

A Caffeinated Donut.

Time magazine trying to be clever with Albert Mohler when he is diagnosed with cancer.

Rueters reports on a mental health bill working through congress that would make insurance companies add coverage for mental health issues.

Two clowns (no joke) shot dead at a circus in Columbia.

Borat a human rights victim?

The Worst of the Worst Movie Awards on Rotten Tomatoes.

Obama as Christ?

This last one brought back memories for me. A videographer from San Francisco is reportedly 'soon to be released' after being jailed for almost a year on charges of contempt for not releasing a video of a San Fran cop getting injured during an Anarchist Action rally. The video, though long, shows an anarchist's rally in San Fran. The section in question comes towards the end, when a cop has to subdue a protester and someone thrusts what looks like a pole at the officer.
The video brought back memories for me of when I covered a huge anti-war rally in Chicago. This video of the San Fran equivalent is interesting to watch if you've never experienced a protest rally.

Enjoy.