My old blog

Bum bum be-dum bum bum be-dum bum

2008-08-09T09:04:00.002-05:00

Tic-Tac-Toe Tips

2008-06-01T17:25:00.002-05:00

Since I am the greatest tic-tac-toe player in the world (actually tied with thousands for that title), I thought I'd write up a basic strategy for the game, whose secrets I cracked in high school study hall.

The Board & Basics

There are nine spaces or boxes in tic-tac-toe that can be played. They can be grouped into three categories:

The center square (5)
Corner squares (1,3,7,9)
Edge squares (2,4,6,8)

The goal as most know, is to get three of your symbol in a row. The only way this can be done, without counting on a silly oversight by your opponent, is to move in such a way that there becomes 2 ways for you to win - thus creating a situation where your opponent cannot block both of them.

Going First

If you have the first move, you should be playing to win. Although it is impossible for anyone to win if the opponent has optimum strategy (every game between two perfect players is a draw), many do not. You may think that with the first move you have nine spaces to choose from. You would be wrong. In reality, you only have three choices: center, corner, or edge. All the squares in a category are actually the same for the first move. Simply rotating the game board can prove this.

Corner Strategy

My preferred first move against an inexperienced opponent is to choose one of the corner squares. As mentioned above, it doesn't matter which one.

Non-Center Square Opponent Move

If your opponent does not then select the center square with their first square, you will win, your opponent can no longer stop you if you employ proper strategy. (The strategies listed are not necessary the only successful ones for the scenario, but are sufficiently unstoppable). When I say "guarantee your win" this means that you have set up a scenario where on your next turn you will have at least 2 ways to win, and your opponent can't stop both of them. Being forced to move somewhere means that you (or the opponent) must select a certain space to prevent a win.

For example if your first move was square 1:

and you opponent selects square 2, then play square 7. When your opponent is forced to play square 4, then play square 3, 5, or 9 to guarantee your win.

… selects square 3, then play square 7. When your opponent is forced to play square 4, then play square 9 to guarantee your win.

… selects square 4, then play square 3. When your opponent is forced to play square 2, then play square 5 or 9 to guarantee your win.

… selects square 6, the play square 3. When your opponent is forced to play square 2, then play square 5 or 7 to guarantee your win.

… selects square 7, then play square 3. When your opponent is forced to play square 2, then play square 9 to guarantee your win.

… selects square 8, then play square 7. When your opponent is forced to play square 4, then play square 3 or 5 to guarantee your win.

… selects square 9, then play square 3. When your opponent is forced to play square 2, then play square 7 to guarantee your win.

The scenarios for your corner moves starting in 3, 7, or 9 are, as you would expect, remarkably similar and are left as an exercise to the reader.

Center Square Opponent Move

If your opponent makes his first move in the center square (remember this after you have moved in a corner square), you will have a much tougher time winning. In fact your only chance for a guaranteed win, barring a catastrophic blunder from your opponent, is to make your next move in the opposite corner and hope your opponent then selects another corner for his second move.

That is, if your select square 1, your opponent selects square 5, then you should select square 9. If you opponent then selects either 3 or 7 you can select the remaining corner square and guarantee your win.

Center Square Strategy

As an alterative to the corner first strategy, you may want to consider selecting the center square with your first move. This offers fewer chances to win then the corner first strategy, but is a nice mix-up to someone who is becoming wise to the corner first strategy.

Edge Square Opponent Move

If in response to your center square selection, your opponent selects an edge square, you can be certain of victory. Assuming you use correct strategy of course. Once again, the strategies listed are not necessary the only successful ones for the scenario, but are sufficiently unstoppable.

For example if your first move was square 5:

and you opponent selects square 2, then play square 3. When your opponent is forced to play square 7, then play square 6 or 9 to guarantee your win.

… selects square 4, then play square 1. When your opponent is forced to play square 9, then play square 3 or 7 to guarantee your win.

… selects square 6, then play square 9. When your opponent is forced to play square 1, then play square 7 or 8 to guarantee your win.

… selects square 8, then play square 7. When your opponent is forced to play square 3, hen play 1 or 4 to guarantee your win.

Corner Square Opponent Move

If in response to your center square selection, your opponent selects a corner square, you will have a much harder time wining. In fact your only chance for a guaranteed win, barring a catastrophic blunder from your opponent, is to make your next move in the opposite corner of your opponents move, and then hope your opponent selects an edge square with their second selection.
For example, if you select square 5 with the first move, and your opponent selects square 1, and in response you select square 9, then if

you opponent selects square 2, then you are forced to play square 3, and this gives you a guaranteed win.

… plays square 4, then you are forced to play square 7, and this gives you a guaranteed win.

… plays square 6, then you play square 8, giving yourself a guaranteed win.

… plays square 8, then you play square 6, giving yourself a guaranteed win.

The scenarios for the opponent's first move in a corner other than square 1 are, as you would expect, remarkably similar and are left as an exercise to the reader.

Edge Square Strategy

Your other option when making the first selection is to select an edge square. As this is the weakest first move, it is not recommended for beginning players.

Going Second

Of course, you do not always get to go first. When you are playing second, your goal should be to force a cat game (that is, a draw) because you cannot win unless your opponent makes a very grievous mistake.

The golden rule of going second is this: If your opponent doesn't take the center square, you must take it. And if your opponent does take the center square, you must take a corner square. This solves approximately 90% of the problems of going second. All you have to do from there is to avoid the secondary pitfalls. Most of these can be determined from the going first section, just put yourself and the place of the opponent.

Good night and good luck.

Not that luck is a factor in tic-tac-toe.

I thought I saw a rat in my apartment

2008-03-06T00:29:00.000-06:00

On closer examination in proved to be a giant cockroach!

And yes, I killed it. Never had to resort to using a shoe to kill a cockroach before.

BIg Thumbs Down to Mavs Trade

2008-02-13T19:21:00.003-06:00

The deal looks like:

Jason Kidd and Malik Allen

for

Devin Harris and DeSagana Diop and Jerry Stackhouse and Devean George and Maurice Ager and the Mavs' 2008 1st round pick and the Mavs' 2010 1st round pick and $3 million.

Stackhouse may be cut be New Jersey for money reasons and may come back to Dallas. Allen is probably a meaningless throw in so the Mavs can meet roster requirements.

I think this is a horrible trade for the Mavs. Consider that stat averages:

Jason Kidd - 37 minutes, 11.3 points, 10.4 assists, 3.6 turnovers, 36.6% shooting.

Devin Harris - 30 minutes, 14.4 points 5.3 assists, 2.4 turnovers, 48.3% shooting.

Kidd is the superstar he once was. Even so Kidd is still a first rate ball distributor, especially in the full court. Kidd is also an excellent rebounder for a point guard, although this will probably drop in Dallas as Howard, Nowitzki, and Dampier will clear the defensive boards nicely. He's also got experience.

However, Kidd has lost a step defensively, it appears from such examples as Gary Payton that defense is the first thing to go for old point guards. Harris is one of the top defensive point guards in the league, many consider him the best. With the possible meeting up with Steve Nash, Tony Parker, and Chris Paul in the playoffs this could be crucial.

Compared to Kidd, Harris is so much of a better shooter it isn't even funny. He's also the only Maverick to show to the ability to drive to the basket with anything approaching regularity (which is the Mavs biggest problem - settling for jump shots).

The advantage of Kidd over Harris this season isn't as great as supposed. Throw in Diop and it's a trade I probably wouldn't make even if it was just for this season. Diop has struggled somewhat this season, but he's crucial to the Mavs dual center set-up of Dampier and Diop. With the Lakers adding Gasol, and the Suns adding Shaq, and Duncan and Yao still in the West, the Mavs badly need both of the centers.

This is supposed to be a future for now trade, where the Mavs give up some future assets for being better now. I'm not at all convinced that this trade makes the Mavs better this season. Factor in the future, Kidd's age against Kidd's and Diop's and the draft picks given up it's just a horrible trade. It is certain to make them worse in the future and doesn't make them better now.

American Gladiators

2008-01-29T21:07:00.000-06:00

It doesn't capture the magic of the original, but it's not bad. My favorite gladiators so far are Justice, who appears to be the most competent of the male gladiators and isn't overly gimmicky, and Crush, for a more obvious reason.

The most annoying thing is the increase in the number of commercials and jabbering that combine to decrease the number of events that the contestants get to do. This is followed closely by some problems with the Eliminator.

A look at the events:

Assault: The changes to this event are bad ones. Having to load the weapons and the silly digging in the sand for an arrow make things take to long for the contestants.

Earthquake: This event is ok, but I don't like how the ropes come into play so much. All and all, I'd rather have Breakthrough and Conquer back.

Gauntlet: Nice to see this one back.

Hang Tough: It has less rings than the original version, I'm undecided as to the question if it is an improvement or not.

Hit & Run: Lame. Is it the lamest event ever? It does have competition with Swingshot and Sky Track.

Joust: Perhaps my favorite, but the gladiators need to step it up.

Powerball: One of my favorites. The change to make the opening on the scoring containers bigger is a good one, but perhaps overdone just a little.

Pyramid: Another event (with Gauntlet) that wasn't on every season of the original series that it's good to see back.

The Wall: The Wall is the Wall, never one of my favorites.

Which brings us to the Eliminator. The Eliminator was always the deciding event, but in the new version it is decisive to the point that the first four events have basically not mattered. Even worse, it one aspect of the eliminator that has decide 75% of the contests - the treadmill. In addition, there's no longer a time penalty for falling of the hand bike. It would have been better for half the men and almost all the women to fall off on purpose at the start. This is a something that needs to be changed. Hopefully these factors will not be as decisive in the 2nd round of competition.

An Announcement

2008-01-20T17:13:00.000-06:00

I am now officially caffeinated and carbonated beverage free.

Now I can be a Mormon ;-)

2008-01-17T01:23:00.000-06:00

Someone quoted what I was going to, so instead I'll have to quote something thoroughly depressing.

Pj Harvey - Who Will Love Me Now

In the forest, is a monster
It has done terrible things
So in the wood, it's hiding
And this is the song it sings

Who will love me now?
Who will ever love me?
Who will say to me
"You are my desire, I set you free?"

(Who will love me now?)

Who will forgive and make me live again?
Who will bring me back to the world again?

In the forest, is a monster
And it looks so very much like me
Will someone hear me singing?
Please save me, please rescue me

Who will love me now?
Who will ever love me?
Who will say to me
"You are my desire, I set you free?"

Who will love me now?
Who will ever love me?
Who will say to me
"You are my desire, I set you free?"

(Who will love me now?)
(Who will ever love me?)

Who will love me now?
Who will ever love me?
Who will love me now?
Who will ever love me?
Who will love me now?
Who will ever love me?

Conference Data Update

2008-01-08T23:32:00.000-06:00

Here's an update taking into account the bowl games.

Check here for an explanation of the data.

The Pac-10 still appears to be the top conference, with the best record and the best margin of victory. A case could be made for the SEC with it's tougher schedule. The one match up between the two saw California beat Tennessee. I still saying the Pac-10 has been the best conference in games between BCS conferences.

After the top two, it looks safe to say the Big 12's impressive bowl run has brought it up to third place. The Big East gets fourth - because of the Big 10's (fifth place) still favorable schedule. The ACC looks to be locked in the cellar.

A Time to Brag, Part 2

2007-12-31T17:01:00.000-06:00

Sure, I could mention how I won my fantasy football league...

Or, how I was in the top 6% picking games against the line. (Only 53.1% correct though, which is only barely over break even because of the vig - which goes to show that most people should never bet real money on sports).

But what I really what to mention is how I successfully completed 17 weeks of the Eliminator challenge (also called a suicide pool or survivor). I was one of only 447 of about 150,000 that managed that on ESPN's game.

Since this is a bragging thread comments that are deemed insufficiently praiseworthy of my prowess will be deleted.

Note: my picture storage is having problems so this thread is less awesome than I had hoped for.

Hmmm....

2007-12-20T05:08:00.001-06:00

A different new record

2007-12-12T18:09:00.000-06:00

Someone posted a link to my previous post (the conference analysis) on an ESPN forum, which resulted in me receiving 36 unique visitors in a single day.

Also, I've finally updated my ZFT Article links (on the sidebar) to link to my review of Decision Making & the Will of God.

College Football - An Analysis of the BCS Conferences

2007-12-04T23:21:00.000-06:00

A standard issue for debate amongst college football fans is the relative strength of conferences. It can generate alot of heat, but the argument is seldom accompanied by much in the way of actual facts.

For some fans, it's not enough for others to admit that their conferences has been perhaps the strongest over the last decade. No, their conference has to be the best every single year. And not only the best, it has to be acknowledged as clearly the best. This is particularly true for fans of one conference in particular. You know who you are.

So, here are some actual facts for the debate this season. My apologies for the small size.

This table displays:

1. The name of a conference. The 6 major conferences are included.

2. Their record against teams from the other 5 major conferences.

3. Their total points for and total points against in said games, as well as the average margin of victory (or defeat in those games).

4. The relative schedule difficulty for the conference in said games. Note: a negative score means their opponents have had better conference records than they themselves had, and a positive score means the opposite. For instance, if the average ACC team playing a team from major conference had a ACC record of 4-4, then their average opponent had a 4.55-3.45 record and their conference.

5. The conference's record in games as a favorite. Favorite is defined as their team having a conference record one game or more better than their opponent's conference record in their conference. For example, Ohio St. at (7-1) in the Big 10, vs. Washington at (2-7) in the PAC-10 counts as a favorite game for the Big 10.

6. The conference's record in games that are even match-ups. Even match-ups are defined as games in which the teams have identical conference records, or in which the teams have conference records that are within a half game of each other. For example, Virginia at (6-2) in the ACC vs. Connecticut at (5-2) in the Big East counts as an even game for both conferences.

7. The conference's record in games as an underdog. Underdog is defined as their team having a conference record one game or more worse than their opponent's conference record in their conference. For example, Ohio St. at (7-1) in the Big 10, vs. Washington at (2-7) in the PAC-10 counts as a underdog game for the PAC
10.

Notes:

1. Conference championship games are not counted in determining a team's conference record. This is because a conference championship game artificially strengthens a conference vs. a conference that does not have one (by giving a top team an additional conference loss, which is more significant than a top team getting an additional win, it would lower the expectation of the loser in out-of-conference play more than it would raise the winner's).

2. Although it may look like the the PAC-10 is ducking other conferences more than other conferences are doing, it has to be remembered that the PAC-10 plays an extra conference game than other conferences (two more than the Big East), in effect giving them another 10 games against BCS level opponents that other conferences don't play. Also, the Big East plays one less conference game than the other conferences (two less than the PAC 10), in effect giving them 8 less games against BCS level competition than other conferences.

3. This is obviously an attempt to compare conferences based on how they fared in games against each other. It is not perfect for two reasons. The first is obvious, teams do not always play at the same level, they have better games and worse games. This is an unavoidable problem for any way of analysis (polls or anything else) and can't be fixed by any method.

The second is that the ACC, Big 10, Big 12, and SEC have unbalanced schedules. That is, a team in those conferences does not play every other team in that conference. This somewhat balances itself out. It could be fixed by treating separate schedules as separate conferences, i.e. the group of teams Kansas played (also including Kansas) could be labeled Big 12a, and the group of teams Oklahoma played (also including Oklahoma) could be labeled Big 12b, and so on. However, this would be horribly complicated and it would be difficult to speak of a conference as a single entity.

Another possible solution would be to treat the two divisions of conferences as separate conferences, with the games between schools in different divisions not counting or counting as out of conference games. Either way, you would have to speak of the conference as 2 entities and not 1 (which is necessary for the purpose of this analysis). In addition, this approach would not work for the Big 10, which does not have divisions but does have an unbalanced schedule.

4. Notre Dame (and hence games against Notre Dame) are not included in this study, even though they are an independent BCS level team (albeit a poor one this season). This is because it would be unfair to do so when some conferences have played games against Notre Dame and others haven't.

It could also be misleading including Notre Dame and not other schools from mid-majors that are nevertheless of major conference quality, such as Hawaii and BYU (meaning that they could compete with major conference schools better than Baylor or Mississippi, not that they would have their same record if they played in a major conference). This study looks solely at games between schools from the 6 major (BCS) conferences.

The conferences ranked by the various means:

Winning Percentage:

1. PAC 10: .625
2. Big 10: .556
3. SEC: .500
4. ACC: .474
5. Big East: .467
6. Big 12: .455

Scoring Margin:

1. Big 10: 6.00
2. PAC 10: 5.25
3. SEC: 3.79
4. Big East: 1.07
5. Big 12: -3.00
6. ACC: -6.95

Schedule Difficulty:

1. PAC 10: -0.63
2. ACC: -0.55
3. SEC: -0.29
4. Big 12: -0.18
5. Big East: 0.1
6. Big 10: 2.22

Winning Percentage as Favorite:

1. Big East: 1.00
2. SEC: .800
3. Big 12: .750
4. PAC 10: .667
5. ACC: .600
6. Big 10: .571

Winning Percentage as Even:

1. Big 10: 1.00*
1. PAC 10: 1.00*
3. ACC: .667
4. SEC: .500
5. Big East: .286
6. Big 12: .000*

Winning Percentage as Underdog:

1. PAC 10: .500
2. Big 12: .333
3. ACC: .250
3. Big East: .250
5. SEC: .200
6. Big 10: .000*

* - donates that the conference only played one game in that category

An attempt to form a semi-objective synthesis:

Adding the ranks of winning percentage, scoring margin, and schedule difficulty gives:

1. PAC 10: 4
2. Big 10: 9
2. SEC: 9
4. ACC: 12
5. Big East: 14
6. Big 12: 15

A second attempt to form a semi-objective synthesis:

The formula is the same as above, however winning percentage is replaced by the average ranks of the winning percentage in the 3 categories (favorite, even, and underdog).

1. PAC 10: 5.17
2. SEC: 9.67
3. Big 10: 11.5
4. ACC: 11.83
5. Big East: 12.17
6. Big 12: 12.67

Criticism of the attempts to form a semi-objective synthesis:

First, it makes the classic analyst error of giving categories equal weight. However, there is no reason to conclude that the categories should be weighted equally. Secondly, the ranks are evenly spaced, but the actual data is not. For example, the difference between the schedule difficulties of first and second place is smaller than the difference between second and third place, but the difference between their ranks is not. Thirdly, the categories are not mutually exclusive, but the extent to which they are related is not possible to determine (although one might be able to make an approximation if you had access to all the data in a supercomputer).

The second attempt has an additional criticism. In two categories there are conferences that only played one game. But who is to say that the PAC-10's 1-0 record in even games is more impressive than the ACC's 4-2 record. An alternative may be to take games over or above .500, but this creates other problems.

My subjective rankings:

1. PAC-10: They had the best overall record, and it was against the toughest average match-ups of any conference. They also had the 2nd best average scoring margin. They are the obvious top pick for the best conference in games between major conference teams.

2. SEC: In some ways they seem merely a perfectly average conference. A 7-7 record, a perfect mirror - 4-1 as a favorite, 2-2 as evens, and 1-4 as underdogs. However, they did this with a positive scoring margin and a unfavorable average match-up, thus earning my second spot.

After these two, deciding between the conferences gets really difficult. There is simply no way to account for the Big 10's amazingly favorable match-ups, their strength of schedule number is the most unique number in the whole study. This makes evaluated the conference virtually impossible.

The average Big 10 team playing a non-conference game had a conference record of 4.89-3.11, whereas their opponents average conference record was 2.67-5.33. What this means is that the Big 10's top teams played more games against other major conferences than their bottom teams did, and they almost invariably played against the bottom half of other conferences. Of their 9 games against other major conference teams, their were favored (by respective conference records) in 7 of them, and only a underdog in one. Despite having an overall record of 5-4, and having the highest margin of victory, they had the worse record of any conference as a favorite at 4-3, and only played one game in the other two categories, which makes forming a conclusion about those categories difficult.

Compare this to the ACC which went 9-10 overall and had the worst scoring margin, but faced the second toughest match-ups and had arguably the best performance in even match-ups. Therefore, I'm wussing out and making a tie for third.

3. ACC
3. Big 10
5. Big East - Despite their 2-5 record in even games, their impressive 4-0 record as favorites, and their positive score margin gives them the nod to avoid the cellar.
6. Big 12 - My pick for last, the combination of the worst record and second worse scoring margin puts them in the basement.

The Bottom Line

In conclusion, the thing that stands out the most is how even the conferences are. There's decent arguments for having the 3rd-6th conferences in any order, and even the PAC-10 was only one game from falling back to the pack (horrible pun intended). The claims of homer fans of a certain conference (once again, you know who you are) that their conference is far and away the best are unfounded.

College Football Rankings 12-2

2007-12-02T00:19:00.000-06:00

This is probably the craziest season ever. And we need a playoff.

Anyways, I've rethought things a bit.

1. Ohio St. (11-1) - Had finished their season.

2. LSU (11-2) - Beat Tennessee for the SEC Championship. They had a bunch of close games, but those did include their 2 loses. The early season win over Virginia Tech puts them over the top for the 2 spot.

3. USC (10-2) - Beat UCLA. I think they're better than LSU, but they lost to Stanford, and you just can't do that.

4. Oklahoma (11-2) - Beat Missouri for the Big 12 Championship. So they can play at neutral sites, even if they never proved they can play on the road.

5. Virginia Tech (11-2) - Beat Boston College for the ACC Championship.

6. Georgia (10-2) - Had finished their season.

7. Missouri (11-2) - Lost to Oklahoma. They don't have the defense or the power running game in the red zone needed to hang with the top teams.

8. Arizona St. (10-2) - Beat Arizona. An overlooked team.

9. Kansas (11-1) - Had finished their season. They drop significantly though. Since Missouri was the only really good team they played, their ranking is tied heavily to Missouri's performance.

10. West Virginia (10-2) - Loss to Pittsburgh. Sorry, but QB injuries are part of the game. Just ask Oregon or California or Oklahoma or USC... Maybe this spot should go to Florida.

A New Record

2007-11-30T21:31:00.000-06:00

I used 131 of my anytime minutes this last monthly period. Note, that doesn't even include mights and weekends.

(I should probably mention that the above is a record high, not a record low).

College Football Rankings 11-25

2007-11-24T23:10:00.000-06:00

My #1 goes down for the third straight week. I guarantee it won't happen next week though.

And I must say I whole-heartily approve of the increase use of the triple option that seems to be creeping up.

1. Ohio St. (11-1) - Their (regular) season is finished.

2. Missouri (11-1) - Beat Kansas, but the defense is a concern. A chance to revenge their only loss next week and perhaps gain my #1 spot.

3. Kansas (11-1) - Looked overwhelmed in the first half, but outplayed Missouri in the 2nd. Could have been right there if it wasn't for the missed field goals. Their best wins are at Colorado and at Texas A+M.

4. West Virginia (10-1) - Trounced an overmatched UConn team. They've lost to a worse team than Kansas (South Florida) and their best wins (at Mississippi St and at Cincinnati) do not seem any more impressive than Kansas'.

5. USC (9-2) - Impressive win at Arizona St. They've got it back together and might be the favorite if there was a playoff. UCLA next.

6. LSU (10-2) - Lost in triple OT to Arkansas. They had a phantom holding call that cost them a TD in regulation (and thus perhaps the game), but frankly they deserved to lose one like that after their victories over Auburn and Florida. Tennessee in the SEC Championship next.

7. Oklahoma (10-2) - Soundly defeated in state rival OSU. Next up Missouri in the Big 12 Championship.

8. Virginia Tech (10-2) - Good win at Virginia. And now they have a chance to revenge their ridiculous loss to Boston College.

9. Georgia (10-2) - Beat Georgia Tech. Right now, perhaps they're the best team in the SEC.

10. Arizona St. (9-2) - Loss to USC. They narrowly edge Florida for the last spot, they may not have beaten as many good teams as Florida (debatable), but they've lost to one less.

College Football Rankings 11-18

2007-11-18T19:12:00.000-06:00

1. LSU (10-1) - Won (rather unimpressively) at Mississippi. But someone has to be number 1.

2. Ohio St. (11-1) - Dominated Michigan defensively.

3. Missouri (10-1) - Won at Kansas St. Showdown with at Kansas next.

4. Arizona St (9-1) - Idle. Gets USC on Thanksgiving.

5. Kansas (11-0) - Looked great against Iowa St, but can they beat a good team?

6. West Virginia (9-1) - Won at Cincinnati, another team with a weak schedule.

7. Oregon (8-2) - QB injury victim #1. Lost to Arizona. Could have won though if they hadn't given up a defensive and a special teams touchdown.

8. Oklahoma (9-2) - QB injury victim #2. Lost at Texas Tech. Their offense didn't look good even before, but I would have expected more success running even with the back-up QB. Still haven't showed they can win on the road - but no road games left.

9. Virginia Tech (9-2) - Pounded Miami. A road game at ranked rival Virginia next.

10. USC (8-2) - Idle. Yes, they're ranked instead of Georgia. I'm calling the SEC overrated.

College Football Rankings 11-11

2007-11-11T04:45:00.000-06:00

1. Oregon (8-1) - Idle Oregon team moves to number 1. In my mind the obvious #1.

2. LSU (9-1) - Beat Louisiana Tech. Despite numerous close calls, they have played an impressive schedule and the drubbing of Virginia Tech is one of the best non-conference wins of the year.

2. Oklahoma (9-1) - Beat Baylor. A tie for #2 might seem a coup out, but I can't really separate them. My gut says LSU would win if they played, but my rankings ae mostly based on past results, not future prediction. Oklahoma hasn't played as tough a schedule, but they've largely taken care of business better than LSU has. LSU's defense performance is an issue, but Oklahoma has shown very little on the road.

4. Ohio St (10-1) - Loss to Illinois. It's a better loss than Oklahoma's and probably LSU's. But their wins against Penn St and Wisconsin don't match Oklahoma's over Missouri and Texas, or LSU's list.

5. Missouri (9-1) - Beat Texas A+M. Loss at OU and which they played fairly well is one of the best losses of the season, but Illinois is the only good team they've beaten.

6. Arizona St (8-1) - Beat a UCLA team that often plays up to their competition. Idle, than a showdown with USC.

7. West Virginia (8-1) - Lackluster win against Louisville.

8. USC (8-2) - Beat California. Would be ranked #2 if we could pretend that Stanford game didn't happen.

9. Kansas (10-0) - Beat Oklahoma St. I'm getting a strong Boston College vibe here, but they can stay here for now.

10. Georgia (8-2) - Wore black jerseys. Beat Auburn. Had a blackout. Did I mention they wore black jerseys? The announcers only did 6761570 times (that's an estimate - but I probably only watched half of it with the channel flipping).

10. Virginia Tech (8-2) - Beat Florida St. A tie for the 10th spot is a tricky way to actually rank 11 teams. I've been slow to recognize them, but overall body of work is pretty good, got stomped by LSU, other loss was against Boston College, a game they should have won. Can't anyone cover onside kicks anymore? And how ridiculous was it that an on-side kick recovery made Boston College's QB the leading Heisman candidate for a week?

Down Goes Ennis!

2007-11-09T22:43:00.000-06:00

Waxahachie Hail to thee,
We will ever loyal be
As we loud thy praises tell
Noble school we love so well
Green and white our banners fly
Raise them proudly to the sky,
Glorious memories never die
Hail to thee, Hail to thee
Waxahachie High

Breaking News: Sandwich Price Update!

2007-11-05T15:43:00.000-06:00

As previously reported the costs of different types of sandwiches were:

Peanut Butter & Jelly - 11.4¢
Grilled Cheese - 16.9¢
Turkey - 64.3¢

However, a cheaper source of cheese has been found: 15 slices for $1.

This reduces the cost of cheese per sandwich to 6.7¢. Which brings the cost of Grilled Cheese to 12¢ a sandwich. Since this is within the margin of error for the wild guesstimate for the cost of cooking spray, the Grilled Cheese has now pulled into a virtual dead heat with Peanut Butter & Jelly.

College Football Rankings 11-4

2007-11-04T13:33:00.000-06:00

1. Ohio St (10-0) - Not much problem with facing Wisconsin.

2. Oregon (8-1) - Took care of previously unbeaten Arizona St.

3. Oklahoma (8-1) - Dominating performance over poor Texas A+M team.

4. LSU (8-1) - Beat Alabama on the road. Supposedly great defense appears to be missing.

5. Missouri (8-1) - Torched Colorado on the road.

6. West Virginia (7-1) - Idle.

7. Arizona St (8-1) - The offense was good at Oregon at least.

8. USC (7-2) - Back on track, games against California and Arizona St to come.

9. Kansas (9-0) - They are undefeated, and have played well against weak competition.

10. Georgia (7-2) - No one really deserves the 10 spot, so Georgia gets it despite an unimpressive win over Troy.

Anchors Aweigh!

2007-11-03T17:40:00.000-05:00

Stand Navy down the field,
Sails set to the sky,
We'll never change our course,
So Army you steer shy-y-y-y
Roll up the score Navy,
Anchors Aweigh,
Stand Navy down the field,
And SINK the Army, SINK the Army grey!

College Football Rankings 10-28

2007-10-28T12:37:00.000-05:00

Finally, a semi-sane week.

1. Ohio St (9-0) - Looked good at Penn St.

2. Oregon (8-1) - My only concern with Oregon is the get all their toughest Pac-10 opponents at home. They do have the stomping of Michigan on the road however.

3. Arizona St (8-0) - Showdown at Oregon next week.

4. Oklahoma (7-1) - Was idle. Wins over Texas and Missouri can no longer be passed off as worth less than LSU's SEC wins.

5. LSU (7-1) - Was idle. Their strength of schedule took a pounding this week, with Virginia Tech, South Carolina, Florida, and Kentucky (embarrassingly so) all losing. Rather than he SEC having multiple elite teams, they probably have none (then again, there might not be a truly elite team in college football this season).

6. West Virginia (7-1) - On a roll, is a title game threat if they can get some help.

7. Boston College (7-0) - They did win, in this season I've had to be more lenient than normal with close wins. But I draw the line at having to recover an outside kick.

8. Missouri (7-1) - Uninspiring win against Iowa St.

Tie 9-15. Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee. Seriously, give me something to work with guys.

College Football Rankings 10/21

2007-10-21T15:41:00.000-05:00

Let's have a playoff!

1. Ohio St. (8-0) - Late mistakes make the score against Michigan St look much closer than it was. Finally get to the top half of the Big 10 in their next 4 games.

2. Oregon (6-1) - Defense exposed against Washington?

3. LSU (7-1) - Likes playing close games apparently, but they have been against very good competition.

4. Arizona St. (7-0) - Games against California and Oregon loom.

5. Oklahoma (7-1) - Poor showing at one-win Iowa St. Have been very unimpressive in road games, fortunately their schedule is favorable.

6. West Virginia (6-1) - Have been solid since loss at South Florida - in which it has to be remembered that their star QB was injured in the 2nd Quarter.

7. Missouri (6-1) - Impressive defensive performance against Texas Tech.

8. Boston College (7-0) - Can prove they're for real with good showing at Virginia Tech.

9. Florida (5-2) - How much punishment can Tebow take, and why won't Meyer use a running back to run the ball?

10. South Florida (6-1) - Close loss at Rutgers not end of the world.

College Football Rankings 10-14

2007-10-14T14:23:00.000-05:00

This has easily been the hardest season in recent memory to rank the top 10.

1. Ohio St. (7-0) - It's true their schedule has been pretty weak up to this point, but they've won all of their games easily, right now that's enough to be #1.

2. Oregon (5-1) - Took care of business against Washington St.

3. LSU (6-1) - As far as losses go, a OT loss at Kentucky isn't a bad one. They need more from the QB.

4. South Florida (6-0) - Back on track after iffy game against Florida Atlantic.

5. Oklahoma (6-1) - I'm still not convinced they're really that good, Missouri outplayed them in Norman except for the turnovers.

6. Arizona St. (7-0) - Idle, and then games against Cal and Oregon loom.

7. Boston College (7-0) - Well, they are undefeated and that counts for something (Unless you're Kansas or especially Hawaii).

8. California (5-1) - Not the same team without their starting QB.

9. Missouri (5-1) - Good showing at OU, all things considered.

10. Kentucky (6-1) - Impressive 2nd half against LSU.

College Football Rankings 10-7

2007-10-07T16:52:00.000-05:00

I thought USC might be over-hyped, too bad I'd didn't rank them that way.

And I cheated and ranked 11 teams.

1. LSU (6-0) - Close call against Florida, but the bottom line is they won and no one else really deserves to be ranked #1. And sometimes to get to a title (or title game) you need some breaks, such as USC's illegal push by Bush, Colorado's fifth down, and Nebraska ridiculous kicked ball reception. LSU's win only required going 5 for 5 on 4th downs.

2. California (5-0) - Was idle. Them at least I did have ahead of USC last week.

3. Ohio St (6-0) - Nice rebuilding year.

4. Florida (4-2) - So what they have two losses, they're as talented as anyone in the country. Will they keep playing hard now that they're out of the title picture?

5. Oregon (4-1) - Idle.

6. Oklahoma (5-1) - Moves up by default as they didn't look that good against Texas.

7. Missouri (5-0) - Blowout win over Nebraska. Their early win over Illinois looks nice now. How will they fare at OU?

8. South Florida (5-0) - Nearly a classic let-down game loss against Florida Atlantic.

9. South Carolina (5-1) - Defense handled the nation's best passer pretty nicely.

10t. Arizona St (6-0) - Close call at Washington St not a good sign.

10t. West Virginia (5-1) - Nice bounce back after loss to South Florida.

College Football Rankings 9-30

2007-09-30T15:05:00.000-05:00

This week saw a big shake up, and I'm not just talking about Minnesota's new uniforms, which finally gives Oregon's all-yellow uniform some competition for the worst uniform ever.

1. LSU (5-0) - Took the first half off, but is still the best team in the country.

2. California (5-0) - Good road win at Oregon.

3. USC (4-0) - Did everything wrong but still beat Washington. Can they beat a team with a good pass offense?

4. Ohio St. (5-0) - Taking care of business.

5. Oregon (4-1) - Gave California all they could ask for.

6. Arizona St. (5-0) - Is overlooked in a tough looking Pac 10.

7. Oklahoma (4-1) - Caught looking ahead, or simply not that good outside the state?

8. South Florida (4-0) - Close win at Auburn looks better now.

9. Florida (4-1) - Can they be competitive at LSU?

10. Wisconsin (5-0) - Not impressive, but they beat out follow unbeatens Boston College, Kentucky, Hawaii, Missouri, Cincinnati, Purdue, and Connecticut.

College Football Rankings 9-24

2007-09-24T16:41:00.000-05:00

1. LSU - Won, but has left the door open to be passed by another team.

2. Oklahoma - Yet to play outside the state.

3. USC - Hurt by Nebraska's poor showing.

4. Florida - Likes to play down to the competition.

5. West Virginia - Can they avenge last season's loss to South Florida?

6. Ohio St - Now everyone thinks that they are the class of the Big 10. I told you that last week.

7. California - Is the defense good enough?

8. Oregon - Behind Stanford until late, but no one else was good enough to pass them.

9. South Carolina - Showed alot at LSU.

10. Cincinnati - Has played well against weak competition.

Watch List: Arizona St, Boston College, Kentucky, Michigan St

Zeal For Truth Links Updated

2007-09-20T14:44:00.001-05:00

Ok, so I've been slow to update the links to the articles I've written for Zeal For Truth. They are now updated and can be found here.

The group blog has been a bigger success so far than anticipated.

College Football Rankings 9-18

2007-09-18T18:22:00.000-05:00

After only 3 weeks, the top teams have already sorted themselves out. Even the pollsters have caught on.

The Top 4

1. LSU - Have only given up 7 points all season.

2. USC - Has the best win (at Nebraska) of the top teams.

3. Oklahoma - Impressive offense, have yet to play on the road. With Texas floundering, likely won't face an elite team all season.

4. Florida - The defending champs have looked good, but defense was iffy vs. Troy.

The Rest

5. West Virginia - Suspect defense will doom them again.

6. Ohio St. - Looking like the class of the conference in a down year for the Big 10.

7. Oregon - A contender in the Pac 10?

8. California - Close call at Colorado St.

9. Boston College - Good win at Georgia Tech.

10. Kentucky - Someone has to be 10th, and they've earned it on the field as much as anyone. But don't expect them to stick around too long.

Watch list: Rutgers, Penn St, Wisconsin, South Carolina

Look who got a data cord and software for his cell phone...

2007-09-13T15:10:00.000-05:00

What, you don't see a picture of me?

I guess I should have asked for the type of software that actually works.

Fans who say "we"

2007-09-06T09:29:00.000-05:00

Mikey's Sister says that blogs are "used for pet peeves," so I thought I'd fill people in on a pet peeve of mine. It's fans who say "we."

As in: "I hope we play better tomorrow," "I hope we sign so-and-so," "We sure played great last night," or "That guy stinks, we should cut him."

I'm sorry, Joe Fan, but it's false to use the pronoun "we" when referring to a sports team that you are not part of. I think the use of "we" in these cases stems from the desire to feel a part of something bigger and more interesting than ourselves. I can understand that, but when someone says "we," I'm still going to remark (if only to myself), "Oh really? What position do you play?"

Fans sometimes say they should be able to say "we" because their money and attendance helps to support the team. I'd say giving money to a team doesn't make you any more a part of a team than going to a rock concert makes you a part of the band.

Exceptions to the "no we" rule:

1. You own the team, play for the team, or are employed by the team in any fashion. This includes everything from a general manager to a parking lot attendant.

2. You used to be one of the above, especially ex-players, coaches, and office people. Although I think it is a bit much for someone who was a parking lot attendant for one summer to be using "we" the rest of his life, in my generosity I will extend the exemption even for that case.

3. You attended the school. You can say "we" for your school's teams for the rest of your life. This applies to all schools, elementary through university.

4. Your child is playing on the team.

That is all the exceptions I can think of for now, but I reserve the right to make additions or clarifications if the need arises. For now, any person using "we" when referring to a sports team, in a way not covered under one of the exemptions, shall face my wrath.

I don't quite get this song, but

2007-09-02T11:22:00.000-05:00

Hi Hi Yikas

Hi-Hi-y-ike-us
Nobody like us,
We are the mountaineers,
mountaineers,
mountaineers,
Always a-winning,
Always a-grinning,
Always a-feeling fine
You bet, hey

Appalachian State deserves it for their upset at Michigan. They become the first division 1-AA team to defeat a ranked 1A team.

Considering that Appalachian State is the 2-time defending division 1-AA champion and was ranked 80th in the Sagarin rankings, it is not the biggest upset of all time as some have christened it. A great achievement nevertheless.

Egad!

2007-08-27T17:56:00.000-05:00

Mavs owner to participate in 'Dancing With The Stars'

Let's just say that the history of sports owners dancing has not been an illustrious one.

A tip of the cap to...

2007-08-24T17:49:00.000-05:00

the Texas Rangers!

Rangers 30, Orioles 3

The most runs scored in a game since 1897. Obviously no one say this coming, especially since the Rangers have gone to a "quadruple-A" lineup post trading deadline.

Dual Preseason Football Prediction Post

2007-08-22T18:37:00.000-05:00

College:

Title Game: Michigan over Virginia Tech

Other BCS Bowl Teams: USC, Florida, Oklahoma, Louisville, LSU, Texas, West Virginia, TCU

It seems wide open this year, and my picks are more guesses than anything else.

NFL:

SuperBowl: New England over Dallas

Other AFC Playoff Teams: Jacksonville, San Diego, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Denver

Other NFC Playoff Teams: Chicago, New Orleans, Seattle, Philadelphia, Atlanta

New England looks really good to win another Super Bowl as they've vastly upgraded at WR. They also seem to be making a push this win now more so than they have in the past. And Belichick is one of the few NFL coaches that has the guts to go for it on 4th and 2 from the opponents 37. I don't see Dallas really getting to the Super Bowl, but I don't see anybody from the NFC doing so, and someone has to.

The "Ewing Theory" potential with Atlanta is off the charts.

Personality Test

2007-08-18T17:17:00.000-05:00

HT: Sadie

http://similarminds.com/embj.html

Introverted (I) 88.46% Extroverted (E) 11.54%
Sensing (S) 59.38% Intuitive (N) 40.63%
Thinking (T) 66.67% Feeling (F) 33.33%
Judging (J) 68.75% Perceiving (P) 31.25%

I used to get INTJ all the time, but the last few years I've been mostly getting ISTJ.

I don't think the short description covers me well though "ISTJ - "Trustee". Decisiveness in practical affairs. Guardian of time- honored institutions. Dependable. 11.6% of total population."

I wouldn't call myself decisive. I do like routine, but "guardian of time- honored institutions" seems a stretch. I do consider myself fairly dependable.

Just so you know...

2007-08-14T01:49:00.000-05:00

I'm not going to post here every time I have a blog post go up at Zeal For Truth. Links to them however, will be routinely added to "ZFT Article Links" under categories on my sidebar.

The Cost of a Sandwich

2007-08-10T09:08:00.000-05:00

Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich: 11.4¢

40oz Crunchy Peanut Butter: $2.98
Good for 58 sandwiches, 5.1¢ per sandwich

32oz Grape Jelly: 98¢
Good for 56 sandwiches, 1.8¢ per sandwich

Loaf of Sandwich Bread: 58¢
Good for 13 sandwiches, 4.5¢ per sandwich

Grilled Cheese Sandwich: 16.9¢

American Cheese Slices (16): $1.86
Good for 16 sandwiches, 11.6¢ per sandwich

Butter Flavored Cooking Spray: $1.50
Good for 180 sandwiches (estimate), .8¢ per sandwich

Loaf of Sandwich Bread: 58¢
Good for 13 sandwiches, 4.5¢ per sandwich

Turkey Sandwich: 64.3¢

16oz sliced turkey lunch meat: $2.99
Good for 5 sandwiches, 59.8¢ per sandwich

Loaf of Sandwich Bread: 58¢
Good for 13 sandwiches, 4.5¢ per sandwich

Ed Stetzer on Being Missional

2007-08-08T18:18:00.000-05:00

Here's an interesting youtube clip of Ed Stetzer talking about being missional to the SBC Annual Meeting.

It's back!

2007-08-06T21:25:00.000-05:00

I know all my readers are eagerly anticipating my too soon college football preview, but you will have to wait a bit longer.

Basketball is back in Boston

2007-08-01T17:11:00.000-05:00

Boston is now my second favorite team, as I'm a big Kevin Garnett fan. His only "weakness" is his outside shot and the fact that he's not a truly elite scorer, but he'll now play with 2 elite scorers in Paul Pierce and Ray Allen (perhaps the premier outside shooter in the NBA). If Boston can find a few people to play defense around this group, they'll be the favorites to come out of the East.

My World Golf Rankings

2007-07-26T20:26:00.000-05:00

My World Golf Rankings

Cup Group Rankings:

1. U.S. - 160.74
2. World - 120.98
3. Europe - 101.4

Country Rankings:

1. U.S. - 160.74
2. Australia - 42.17
3. England - 33.11
4. S. Africa - 31.09
5. Sweden - 22.64
6. Spain - 14.26
7. Japan - 9.98
8. Argentina - 8.29
9. S. Korea - 7.85
10. Ireland - 7.5
11. Denmark - 6.83
12. Fiji - 6.05
13. Canada - 5.4
14. France - 3.46
15. Germany - 3.24
16. Scotland - 2.74
17. Thailand - 2.78
18. India - 2.71
19. N. Ireland - 2.56
20. Wales - 2.15
21. Austria - 1.67
22. China - 1.66
23. Columbia -1.58
24. N. Zealand - 1.48
25. Finland - 1.32
26. Italy - 1.1

Other Things of Note:

Oceania - 49.7
U. K. - 40.56
Asia - 24.98
Tiger Woods - 19.29
S. America - 9.87

Technorati tags: Golf Golf Rankings World Golf Rankings

How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

2007-07-24T18:40:00.000-05:00

61%

NBA at the Tipping Point

2007-07-22T15:05:00.000-05:00

The NBA is struggling to keep it's position in the American sport market. Many Americans don't like the hip-hop culture it's associated with, which is way I think on-court brawls are way more decried than MLB's and their players' off-court actions as criticized as much as NFL's much more substantial misbehavior.

There's also the realization that most NBA teams are more about making money than winning (witness Phoenix's recent trade and their constant selling of draft picks). And of course there's always griping about poor or possibly bias reffing.

Recently, the NBA got probably the worse news it could get, a referee gambling (and likely point shaving/game fixing) scandal. And given the state of fans' opinion of the refs, it's probably the league this would hurt the most. It this type of scandal with a ref is unprecedented in American sports (although it may be far surpassed by recent European soccer league scandals).

It's possible this scandal may fade away and not amount to much. On the other hand, it could be a huge (possibly critical) blow to the league, one that make MLB's steroid scandal and strike of '94 combine look like a mere jaywalking incident. Time will tell.

ZFT: Religion and State - The Logical Conclusion of the Christian Push

2007-07-17T20:04:00.000-05:00

My latest ZFT Article is up. It's about the first Hindu prayer in the U.S. Senate.

Paralysis by Analysis is Family Friendly!

2007-07-12T16:41:00.000-05:00

I am

2007-07-10T20:46:00.000-05:00

I am rude
I am thankless
I am lustful
I am closed off from even my closest friends
I am lazy
I am a thief
I am a liar
I am a hedonist
I am a masochist
I am a loser
I am dismissive of the feelings of others
I am envious
I am selfish
I am a dumb-ass
I am a time waster
I am a jerk
I am greedy
I am negligent
I am undisciplined
I am uncaring towards those less fortunate
I am slothful
I am prideful
I am a hater of people
I am wicked
I am apathetic
I am neglectful
I am a squanderer
I am unreliable
I am irresponsible
I am uncompassionate
I am a hindrance
I am inconsistent

And that's just on my good days

Bible Inventory

2007-07-03T16:30:00.000-05:00

I recently counted and it turns out I have 9 Bibles. That's if you don't count my Picture Bible. (I also have 4 pocket-sized New Testaments for some reason). Here's a brief overview in the order (as far as I remember) that I acquired them:

1. NIV Standard Paperback - I don't remember exactly when I got this one but it was quite a while ago. I think it was a gift from the church I was going to when I was about 9. There's a place for a signature on the front page and it looks like I've just learned cursive. The front cover is missing, the back cover is held on by tape, and it is considerably worse for wear. I believe this was the first Bible I've read all the way through.

2. NIV: Thompson Chain-Reference Bible - Complete with concordance, dictionary, and archaeological supplement. It even has a blue carrying case and my name engraved on the cover. My parents gave it to me about 12 years ago. It's the Bible I used throughout my high school and college years. I've read through it completely at least twice.

3. NLT: The One-Year Chronological Bible - A good friend gave me this Bible about 3 years ago. Its daily readings are arranged in chronological order (not in order by books but in order by segments sometimes as small as a couple of verses), which is interesting. I also enjoyed reading the New Living Translation. The lamination of the cover (or whatever it is) is peeling off. I've read through it once.

4. TNIV Standard Paperback - I got this one 2-3 years ago when they were sending them out for free to people who requested a copy. This was my most used Bible for a little while, but at a Bible study it suffered an accident. The page containing Romans 8 split in half and part of the internal binding broke, thus causing the section of the Bible after that point to fall completely out.

5. NRSV: The Renovaré Spiritual Formation Bible - I bought this one about a year ago because of the extra helps it has from some authors I like. Unfortunately, it is too large and heavy too read easily and some of the text is hard to read because it is too close to the inside margin. Also, the NRSV translation seems a bit stilted to me. I haven't used it much, but some of the extras and commentary is interesting.

6. NASB Standard Paperback - Bought this one a few months ago. I found it cheap when I was looking to buy a Bible for a friend. I've wanted a NASB because I've heard good things about that translation. I haven't read it any yet however.

7. NCV Standard Paperback - Bought this one at the same time I did #6, because it was cheap and was a translation I didn't have, the New Century Version. Unfortunately, the print is very small - Psalms 119 fits on a single page (front and back). I didn't know that when I got it because it was plastic-wrapped in the store.

8. CEV with Dueterocanonicals/Apocrypha - I bought this the same time I did #6and #7. I got it to be able to read the Apocrypha books. I've found the Contemporary English Version interesting, it's really easy to read although perhaps a bit too simple. It was specifically translated to be able to easily read out loud. I'm currently using this Bible.

9. The Jerusalem Bible - I rescued this one about a year ago when my Dad was getting rid of books. It's a Catholic version. I haven't really tried to read it yet.

I've wrote all this to say that I've recently bought another Bible. I wasn't expecting to do that anytime soon, after all, how many Bibles does one person need? However, there's a new one that is different enough that I wanted to get it.

They're calling it "The Books of The Bible." It'll be officially released in August, but you can get a discount by pre-ordering direct from IBS.

What's different about this Bible is that they've taken the verse and chapter numbers out of the text as well as the section headings. Translator's notes are placed at the end of the book instead of at the bottom of the page. I like that because if they're at the bottom of the page I almost have to look down there after running across the *, but if they're at the end of the book then I won't have to and thus my reading won't get broken up. In addition, the text is printed in a single column like a regular book, instead of in double columns how most Bibles are printed. I think all of this will make it an excellent reading Bible.

One thing to note is that the translation used in "The Books of The Bible" is the TNIV. I like the translation fine, however it's been controversial in some quarters for saying things like "people" instead of "men."

Technorati tags: The Books of The Bible Bible Bible Inventory TNIV

ZFT: Atheism’s “Plus 1″ Argument

2007-07-02T15:19:00.000-05:00

My latest article for ZFT is up. In it I address a common argument that atheists use.

One of my favorite songs...

2007-06-30T02:06:00.000-05:00

Switchfoot - Meant To Live

Fumbling his confidence
And wond’ring why the world has passed him by
Hoping that he’s meant for more than arguments
And failed attempts to fly, fly

We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside
Somewhere we live inside
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside

Dreaming about providence
And whether mice or men have second tries
Maybe we’ve been livin with our eyes half open
Maybe we’re bent and broken, broken

We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside
Somewhere we live inside
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside

We want more than this world’s got to offer
We want more than this world’s got to offer
We want more than the wars of our fathers
And everything inside screams for second life

We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
We were meant to live
We were meant to live

Fast Food Eating Guide

2007-06-27T20:31:00.000-05:00

If you're not on a diet a few simple changes and some critical thinking can enable you to have an healthier fast food experience (and maybe prevent you from needing to go on a diet). It is also possible to occasionally eat at fast food places while on a diet.

Many fast food places have their nutritional information available in the restaurant. Sometimes you can find pamphlets on the wall or off to the side of the restaurant, other times they have them behind the counter and you need to ask. However, it's easier to just check online at places like Calorie King that have a good deal of nutritional information.

Some casual dining places, like Applebee's and Chili's have light menus that can be good to order from, however casual dining places are beyond the scope of this article.

General tips:

1. Chicken items are better than beef items - less calories and less fat.

2. Grilled items are better than fried items - again, less calories and less fat.

3. French Fries are not good for you - all the nutritional value has been cooked out.

4. Non-diet sodas - the worse thing you can consume from an empty calories standpoint since they're 100% sugar.

5. Fast food desserts should generally be avoided - much too high in fat and sugar.

6. Buffets should be avoided unless you have very high will power.

7. Be careful with salads - With the salad dressing and/or other ingredients (cheese, chili, beans, meat, etc) used on many salads you'd be better off eating a cheeseburger.

Specific Restaurant Tips:

Arby's:

Don't eat: The Market Fresh sandwiches, subs, fries, Sidekickers (jalapeño bites, cheese sticks, potato skins), and desserts. Also, if you're a salad eater don't get any of the ranch dressings (high fat).

Do eat: The Regular and Medium Roast Beef sandwiches, the Ham and Swiss, and the Arby's Melt are all pretty good, and the grilled chicken sandwiches are a step down from those but still good for fast food.

Burger King:

Don't eat: Pretty much everything.

Do eat: Should you find yourself trapped in a Burger King you can limit the damage by getting a fire-grilled burger (no doubles or triples) and/or a salad with no dressing if you're really desperate.

Chick-fil-A

Don't eat: Most of the salad dressings and some of the dipping sauces (Ranch, Polynesian, and Honey Roasted BBQ) as well as the deserts.

Do eat: The Chargrilled Chicken sandwich is about the healthiest things in fast food to eat (270 calories and only 3 fat grams), and the original Chick-fil-A sandwich is decent (410 calories though a bit high in fat).

KFC:

Don't eat: Most of the sandwiches, pot pies, bowls, wings, some sides (fries, potato wedges, macaroni, potato salad, cole slaw, biscuit - all high fat), and the desserts. Also, all the salad dressings except the fat free one.

Do eat: The Snackers aren't too bad, with the Honey BBQ one easily the best. Original Recipe chicken is ok, and it's very good if you eat it without the skin. For sides, green beans, rice, corn, and baked beans are all good. A meal of de-skinned Original Recipe chicken, rice and green beans would be the healthiest fast food meal I could think of.

McDonald's: (Jack in the Box, Wendy's and Whataburger are fairly similar to McDonald's and Burger King)

Don't eat: Pretty much everything.

Do eat: The Grilled Chicken Classic Sandwich is pretty good, and some of the other chicken sandwiches aren't complete disasters. It may also be possible to get a healthier salad if you're careful.

Pizza Hut:

Don't eat: All the side items, Stuffed Crust pizzas, and more than 2, or at the very most 3, medium slices of pizza (thin crust being the best).

Do eat: A few slices of the Fit N' Delicious line of pizzas makes a good meal. Personal Pan pizzas, although not particular healthy, do make a decent meal by limited the serving size.

Subway:

Don't eat: Cookies, mayonnaise, and the Ranch Dressing should be avoided. The Meatball, Tuna, Seafood, Cold Cuts, and the Italian BMT subs are high in fat.

Do eat: Most of the subs other than listed above are pretty good.

Taco Bell:

Don't eat: The Nachos, Grilled Stuft Burritos, and Border Bowls should be probably be avoided (high fat). Also don't eat the salad as it has 45 grams of fat (even without the shell it has more fat than an Mexican Pizza).

Do eat: Most of the rest of Taco Bell's food is decent. The key is not to eat too many items. 2 small items (Chapluas, Gorditas, some Burritos, Tacos), or 1 larger item like a Mexican Pizza or a Crunch Wrap is a decent meal. You can also order most things "fresco style" which makes them lower in fat (and calories).

Taco Bueno:

Don't eat: Mucho Nachos - at over 1400 calories and with 149% of the daily recommended fat intake these nachos are an amazing achievement. But you probably shouldn't eat them. In addition, their salads, which are over 700 calories and get over 60% of their calories from fat get placed here. Since I couldn't find information for the platters, it's likely those are better off avoided as well.

Do eat: Chicken Soft Taco - at 184 calories and 8 grams of fat, 2 or 3 of these make a decent meal (at least by fast food standards). Unfortunately, they seemed to have discounted the Fajita tacos. Tostadas and the Tostada Soup are also decent things to eat.

Conclusion

It is possible to eat fast food on a diet (sparingly) or to work fast food into a normal healthy lifestyle. Choices at these places can make a big difference however. For example, if once a week you eat:

A Big Mac, Large Fries, and a Large Coke (1440 calories) from Mc Donald's

Instead of a Chick-Fil-A Classic Sandwich, a Chargrilled Chicken Sandwich, and a Diet Soda (680 calories) from Chick-Fil-A

You'll eat an extra 39,520 calories a year. For a "normal" sized person this would bean extra 11 pounds added to their weight if it wasn't exercised off.

Technorati tags: Diet Fast Food Eating Guide Healthy Eating Guide Healthy Lifestyle

ZFT: Women in Church Leadership

2007-06-25T11:38:00.000-05:00

Here's a couple of post I made for my group blog: sort of an intro, and a defense of the egalitarian position.

I know I haven't posted much here lately, but I promise I have a few good posts coming fairly soon. Rumor has it that at least one of them is destined to crack my top 10.

Searches that found my blog

2007-06-17T12:58:00.000-05:00

These are my top 10 favorite searches that people have used to find my blog.

10) scriptural verses on analysis

9) trapper was much better character BJ

8) "Best way to read the bible"

7) Distance for Snowboarding in the United Kingdom in the Olympics

6) is figure skating a sport

5) avery johnson's christianity

4) SCRIPTURES REVEALING GODS HEART FOR THE POOR NEEDY WIDOWS ORPHANS ALIENS

3) Analysis of The Logical Song Supertramp

2) "Melchizedek" guitar

1) DEVIN HARRIS sister

Notes: I did not blog about numbers 1,2,3 (only posted the lyrics gave no analysis), 5,7,8 and 10. 4 I mentioned that an author had an appendix entitled that, 6 I did blog about (the answer is no), 9 I blogged about but completely disagree with the search statement. 4 got extra points for being in all caps, 3 got extra points for the search coming form Qatar, and 1 got extra points for being part all caps and part not.

NBA Finals Recap

2007-06-13T18:38:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's time for a recap despite the technicality that it's not over yet.

Cleveland simply had no business being in the finals. It's a sad indictment of the Eastern Conference that one great player (LeBron of course) was enough to get to the finals. Cleveland's slimiest of hopes of being competitive have been dashed by LeBron's foul trouble and the reffing that has allowed San Antonio to play a tight defense on him.

San Antonio tried to give away game 3, they sleep-walked through much of the game. They are the type of team that gives away road games in playoff series' against inferior opponents. But Cleveland still couldn't get it done. Varejao's decision late in the game (when the Cavs had a change to tie) to attempt an out of control spin move against Duncan instead of giving the ball to their best player for perhaps the most important play in the series, exemplified the unreadiness of the Cavaliers.

ZFT: Franchising, a new approach to health care in Kenya

2007-06-11T20:33:00.000-05:00

My new entry for Zeal for Truth is up. It's about an interesting new approach to providing health care in Kenya.

Time for the Fire Sale

2007-06-06T21:40:00.000-05:00

I really thought this season was going to be better for the Texas Rangers, and that they would be able to keep in contention to at least the end of June. But it wasn't to be. I thought the players would rally for new manager Rod Washington after having experienced the strict Buck Showalter and there were hopes for an improved bullpen and great hitting. Not much of that happened though.

So who goes in the looming fire sale?

My guess:

Sammy Sosa (after hitting his 600th home run) is traded for 2 low-level prospects that never make it to the majors.

Mark Teixeria is traded for a below average starting pitcher and 2 supposedly top prospects that don't pan out.

Who else?

Maybe Kenny Lofton for a player to be named later if a team is desperate for a center fielder?

Vicente Padilla, with the Rangers picking up at least half his remaining salary, traded to a team counting on the "ex-Ranger pitchers improve after leaving Arlington especially if the go to the NL" effect?

Technorati tags: Texas Rangers MLB Fire Sale

New Group Blog

2007-06-04T17:23:00.000-05:00

I've joined a new group blog with some friends of mine form the Zeal For Truth forum. It's here: http://zealfortruth.org/

It's likely to include a fair amount of politics, current events, and religious opinion. Although I don't expect to do much politics.

Here's my first post on the blog - Book Review: They Like Jesus but Not the Church.

Technorati tags: Zeal For Truth Dan Kimball They Like Jesus but Not the Church

King James

2007-06-03T15:05:00.000-05:00

Not this guy:

This one:

The King James era officially started on May 31st. That was the day LeBron James shredding a good defensive team for 48 points, including 29 of his team's last 30 and the game winner, in crucial game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals. This marked his ascension from superstar (an grossly overused term btw) to best player in the league and heir to Jordan.

No, I don't expect Cleveland to beat San Antonio. The NBA has shown once again though that it is a league very dependent upon star players (only a hot goalie in hockey and soccer where one play might produce all the game's scoring can compare). LeBron James was the best player in the Cleveland-Detroit series, but how many player from the series would you pick before taking another Cleveland one? 4?

Technorati tags: LeBron James NBA

Diet Update 59: The End

2007-05-31T15:23:00.000-05:00

Weight lost last week: 1 pound

Weight loss total in 59 weeks: 90 pounds

Yep, I am

on the diet.

I've had a good run, but I'm ready to stop now. Next we'll see how I do on my post-diet diet. More on this later maybe.

Early MASH vs. Late MASH

2007-05-28T14:54:00.000-05:00

The Breakdown:

Commander: Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake vs. Colonel Sherman T. Potter

Blake was an incompetent moron who let Hawkeye and Radar run the camp and didn't really add anything to the series. Potter exerted some control over the chaos that was MASH 4077, and served as something of a father figure and an mature counter to the childish antics other characters ofter fail into.

Result: Late M*A*S*H wins easy.

Sidekick: "Trapper" John Francis Xavier McIntyre vs. B.J. Hunnicutt

Trapper closely emulated Hawkeye's womanizing and open contempt for authority. Too closely. Hunnicutt's fidelity and more reserved matter duplicated Hawkeye less and allowed for more diversity in story lines.

Result: Late M*A*S*H wins.

Adversary: Frank Burns vs. Charles Emerson Winchester III

Burns annoyed people with his over the top pro-American millitarialism, was an average at best surgeon and totally outmatched by Hawkeye and the gang in power plays and pranks. Winchester annoyed people with his arrogance and elitism, was an excellent surgeon and was occasionly able to get the better of Hawkeye and the gang.

Result: Late M*A*S*H wins.

Enlistened Men: Radar and Klinger in a dress vs. Klinger not in a dress and no Radar.

Radar was the classic innocent farm boy, joined in early M*A*S*H by a Klinger who who wore dresses in an atempt to get discharged from the army. In late M*A*S*H, Klinger took over Radar's clerk position and no longer wore dresses, and therefore came up with more inventive schemes to get out of the army. This improved Klinger's character (not to mention removed the horrible eyesore of him wearing dresses), but the show never did find an "innocent" to replace Radar.

Result: I'm calling this one a tie.

Final Score: Late M*A*S*H wins easily, 3-0-1.

Diet Update 58

2007-05-25T13:05:00.001-05:00

Weight lost last week: 2 pounds

Weight loss total in 58 weeks: 89 pounds

Country Thunder

2007-05-23T19:23:00.000-05:00

We're about to be invaded!

This event is expected to double the population of Ellis county (which is about 140,000).

I don't get concerts.

Book Review: Slaves, Women & Homosexuals

2007-05-18T23:31:00.000-05:00

Subtitle: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis

By: William J. Webb

This book is Webb's attempt to provide an objective method for determining which parts of scripture are cultural (and thus the exact words of the text need not be followed) and which parts are trans-cultural. This is easily the best attempt I've seen to do this. Everyone dismisses the "plain meaning" of scripture in some cases, even if they don't realize it. They have to, or they would be forced to accept contradictions. For example, women can not both be kept silent and be allowed to prophecy in gatherings.

Webb also explains what he means by his "redemptive hermeneutic." Scripture contains seed ideas that are to be developed later, some of which were completed in the New Testament time period, and some of which were still in need of further development afterwards. The classic example of this is slavery. Israel's laws regarding slavery made lives better for slaves than in the surrounding cultures, and Paul's writing on slavery would make it better for them still. However, the "neither slave nor free" idea, the story of the exodus, and the movement of scripture against the surrounding culture suggest that there was still further "redemption" of the theology to accomplish.

One reason why this redemption wasn't accomplished in biblical times could be that the church leaders used "a pastoral approach," that is, they stretched the people only as far as they were capable. Another reaason is the concern that their actions didn't cause stumbling blocks to nonbelievers (simply being kind to women in public lead nonbelievers to accuse Christians of having orgies).

A major part of the book is the set of 18 criteria Webb uses to analyze the issues. The criteria cab be found here if you're interested.

After working through the criteria, Webb makes a convincing scriptural case that either we should hold to an egalitarian view (women can hold any position that men can and with equal authority) or a "ultra-soft patriarchy" in which women can do just about anything but in some ways men are to be specially honored as the firstborn. He also makes a case that homosexual practice is still incompatible with Christian living today, and refutes the "slippery slope" arguments that some make that allowing the ordination of women leads to acceptance of homosexuality.

Technorati tags: William Webb Slaves, Women & Homosexuals Slaves Women Homosexuals Hermeneutics

Diet Update 57

2007-05-17T11:29:00.001-05:00

Weight lost last week: 0 pounds

Weight loss total in 57 weeks: 87 pounds

Book List

2007-05-15T19:51:00.000-05:00

Here's a breakdown of many of the books pertaining Christianity that I've read recently. They are divided roughly by category (although there is obviously some overlap).

My rating system:

***** - excellent
**** - good
*** - fairly good
** - subpar
* - bad

Apologetics

***** - Finding Faith by Brian McLaren - Helps people to consider Christianity while rejecting the idea that reason can produce absolute answers about God; good for both seekers and Christians who experience doubt.

Biography

**** - Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller - Interesting stories about Miller and his friends concerning their spiritual journey in a post-Christian world.

Doctrine

***** - The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard - Explains what Jesus meant by "the kingdom of heaven," and provides a beautiful picture of what it means to live a Christ-like life.

***** - Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals by William Webb - Articulates a brilliant approach on how to interpret scripture, thus providing objective means to determine the trans-cultural aspects of scripture from the culturally bound aspects.

*** - A Generous Orthodoxy by Brian McLaren - An easy to read journey through Christianity that shows McLaren's theology.

Ecclesia

***** - An Unstoppable Force by Erwin McManus - Dares the Church to live by faith, to be know by love, and to be a voice of hope in a desperate world.

**** - The Externally Focused Church by Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson - A call to move the Church from a "serve us" mentality to a "service" mentality.

**** - The Great Giveaway by David Fitch - Calls upon the Church to reclaim it's aspects of its mission that it has often left for others.

**** - They Like Jesus but Not the Church by Dan Kimball - Offers some helpful insights.

*** - No Perfect People Allowed by John Burke - A book about how churches can reach "emerging generations" that emphasizes that some people need to belong before they can believe.

*** - Transformation by Bob Roberts Jr. - Some good ideas on how the church can make an impact both locally and globally.

*** - The Church on the Other Side by Brian McLaren - A call for churches to embrace change in order to reach people in a postmodern environment.

Spiritual Formation

***** - Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster - The all-time classic overview of the spiritual disciplines.

***** - The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard - Shows the necessity of practicing the spiritual disciplines for being able to live a Christ-like life.

**** - Money, Sex & Power by Richard Foster - Shows how Christians should deal with the three biggest challenges to living a disciplined life.

*** - Off-Road Disciplines by Earl Creps - Discusses practices that are necessary to live missionally.

Other

***** - The Hidden Power of Electric Culture by Shane Hipps - An extremely thought provoking book that relates how the forms of media we use have an impact on faith, the gospel, and church and calls the Church to carefully reflect on such issues.

Diet Update 56

2007-05-10T21:07:00.000-05:00

Weight lost last week: 2 pounds

Weight loss total in 56 weeks: 87 pounds

An Unstoppable Force - Selected Quotations

2007-05-07T16:58:00.000-05:00

My review

"America's best atheists are children of the Church."

"We have chosen standardization over uniqueness. We have chosen predictability over surprise. And without realizing it, to our own regret, we have chosen comfort and convenience over serventhood and sacrifice."

"One can reach a point where he has so much information that he doesn't know anything at all."

"God's purpose has always been about redeeming a people. But the modern church has reduced it to the conversion of individuals. ... The former produces produces a follower of Jesus Christ; the latter produces a movement of Jesus Christ. The first requires one heart bound to God. The second requires many hearts bound together in God."

"... it is more important to change what people care about than to change what they believe! You can believe without caring, but you can't care without believing."

Technorati tags: McManus Unstoppable Force

Book Review: An Unstoppable Force - Daring to Become the Church God Had in Mind

2007-05-07T12:36:00.000-05:00

By: Erwin Raphael McManus

Amazon page

This is book explains what McManus thinks the Church needs to be in order to have an impact in a post-Christian environment. Our world is increasingly urbanized and multi-ethnic, and affected by globalization.

McManus notes we've reached the point that the Hindu not only lives next to the Muslim, but that often the Hindu and the Muslim live in the same person. These things have left many churches' approach to evangelism and apologetics ineffective at best.

McManus call the Church to live by faith, to be know by love, and to be a voice of hope in a desperate world. He stresses that "relevance to culture is not optional."

The book is definitely provides plenty to think about, and provides an encouragement that the Church can once again become an unstoppable force. McManus personal experience in church planting give the book alot of depth. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to rethink how churches operate.

Selected quotes from the book

Technorati tags: McManus Unstoppable Force

Mavs Recap

2007-05-04T16:01:00.000-05:00

The playoffs certainly didn't go as I hoped or expected.

The Mavs defense never showed up, they didn't dominate the boards like they should have, and Dirk was a disappointment (especially in game 6).

Dirk has now taken the throne of pre-superbowl Payton Manning. (It's not the type of throne you want). Though I guess A-Rod is still competition for it.

And now we may very well be doomed to a Spurs-Pistons finals.

Diet Update 55

2007-05-03T17:16:00.000-05:00

Weight lost last week: 0 pounds

Weight loss total in 55 weeks: 85 pounds

Technorati tags: Diet

My blog has been nominated for an award...

2007-04-27T20:13:00.000-05:00

Go here for more details.

Diet Update 54

2007-04-26T13:27:00.001-05:00

Weight lost last week: 1.5 pounds

Weight loss total in 54 weeks: 85 pounds

Technorati tags: Diet

NBA Playoff Time

2007-04-19T16:03:00.000-05:00

From the media news it appears Dirk's going to win the MVP. Which is sort of ironic since this has probably been Nash's best season and possibly not Dirk's best.

My playoff predictions:

Mavs over Warriors in 5
Mavs over Rockets in 6
Mavs over Spurs in 7
Mavs over Pistons in 6

Technorati tags: NBA Playoffs Dallas Mavericks

Diet Update 53

2007-04-19T15:51:00.000-05:00

Weight lost last week: 1 pound

Weight loss total in 53 weeks: 83.5 pounds

Technorati tags: Diet

Time

2007-04-16T17:31:00.000-05:00

Do you know what time it is? No, no you don't.

Philosophically speaking, time is (at best) a fable agreed on. Time, once was regarded as absolute and constant. However, Einstein and modern science has shown time to be relative and inconsistent, that is subject to frames of reference and outside forces. Even the order of events can change based upon a different frame of reference.

On the more immediate level, suppose my friend says the time is 2 minutes later than what my watch says? What time is the more correct one? The truth is that no one knows. But it wouldn't be right to say my friend has the wrong time. If someone says it's 15 minutes later than what my watch says though, I will say they're wrong. Time is implicitly constructed by our culture and necessary for our society to function, and therefore someone being off by that much can be considered wrong.

Which brings up the issue of authority - what or who gets to say what the "correct" time is? There are official times, such as International Atomic Time, which is an average of 50 atomic clocks worldwide. The fact that it's an average is self-admission of a non-absolute standard. There is also Coordinated Universal Time, which is sort of a reformed version of the orthodox IAT that includes small adjustments and an allowance for regional and local differences. Most people ignore these organizations however. Such people would say that they like time, but not the time-keeping organisations. Many people set their time measuring devices by their work-place's or their school's time. But my guess would be that television networks do more than any force in creating a largely agreed upon cultural time metanarrative. How's that for authority?

Technorati tags: Time Absolute Relativity Philosophy Standards Metanarrative

Diet Update 52

2007-04-12T18:00:00.000-05:00

Weight lost last week: 1.5 pounds

Weight loss total in 52 weeks: 82.5 pounds

Technorati tags: Diet

Diet Update 51

2007-04-05T15:55:00.000-05:00

Weight lost last week: 0.5 pounds

Weight loss total in 51 weeks: 81 pounds

Technorati tags: Diet

Diet Update 50

2007-03-29T23:57:00.001-05:00

Weight lost last week: 2.5 pounds

Weight loss total in 50 weeks: 80.5 pounds

Technorati tags: Diet

Movie Review: Jesus Camp

2007-03-24T14:58:00.000-05:00

A few parts were interesting, but overall I was considerably disappointed with this documentary. What could have been an interesting case study of a peculiar group ended up coming across as little more than presenting a liberal's worst nightmare type conception of the American Evangelicalism.

My issues with the documentary:

1) It did not give enough background or screen time to the kids that were the main focus of the documentary.

2) There was no background given to radio personality Mike Papantonio, who's talk show (on Air America) monologues served as a counterpoint to the views of children's minister Becky Fischer.

3) There was no narration that helped the viewer put things in perspective, this left the documentary a bit of a jumble and disjointed.

4) The documentary followed the kids from their churches in Missouri to the summer camp in North Dakota, but in my view went badly astray when the kids went to Ted Haggard's (before the scandal) church in Colorado and to Washington D.C. Why the kids where there and who was paying for the trips were unanswered questions, leaving me to suspect that the film makers were manipulating things and not doing a more objective observation (it forced the kids out of their natural habitat so to speak).

5) Papantonio's statements placed throughout the documentary painted the Evangelical movement in a board brush and could easily confuse those less informed into thinking all Evangelicals are similar to Fischer and the kids shown in the movie. When in fact, Fischer and company are strict Fundamentalist Pentecostals, who probably operate the most aggressive youth ministry and that subgroup (I thinking it's safe to assume if there was a more aggressive one the documentary would have been on them instead). And American Evangelicalism is a fairly diverse group, including many who would decry aspects of Fischer's ministry and/or theology, as well as some who are political liberals.

Papantonio's statement that Evangelicals make up 20% of the American population could be right if a broad view of the term "Evangelical" is used, but he went on to say that is then 80 million Americans, which is decidedly incorrect (20% of the American population would be around 60 million people).

A main concern the documentary raises is Christian (that is the Christian Right's) involvement in politics. I support the idea of separation of church in state, that is: no governmental interference in religion, no established or supported religion, and no religious groups with governmental powers. However, individuals in a democratic republic will vote their convictions, religious or otherwise, which is as they should. Papantonio is apparently a Christian who is an outspoken political liberal and would not doubt vote based on his principals (he claims "they," apparently a vast right-wing conspiracy, has taken over the Presidency, Congress, and the Judiciary for a generation).

I am concerned about how Christians both on the right (as well as on the only slightly less numerous but organizationally outclassed left) but I thought this documentary was unhelpful for that discussion as it was a bit alarmist and exaggerated the political successes that the Christian Right has had. I do wish though that Christians would be much less quick to make judgments on another person's faith based on that person's political views.

The other main (probably the biggest one) concern raised by the documentary was how Fischer's group and those like her train or "brainwash" children. It's true that children will be trained by someone or something, but there definitely is such a thing as overly training someone, and there seems little doubt that some of the kids in the documentary have been overly trained. Such as the 12-year-old boy who said he was saved when he was five because he couldn't find anything fun and wanted more out of life, or the 8? year-old boy who was crying because everything was just too hard.

Technorati tags: Book Review Jesus Camp

Diet Update 49

2007-03-22T14:55:00.000-05:00

Weight lost last week: 2 pounds

Weight loss total in 49 weeks: 78 pounds

According to the BMI Chart (which has so many problems it's pretty much useless in my opinion), I am officially no longer obese. I am merely overweight. Looking at the numbers, I'm fairly sure "normal" will be out of my reach.

Technorati tags: Diet

Diet Update 48A - The Pictures

2007-03-16T14:03:00.000-05:00

At popular demand...

Me a few weeks before I started my diet:

Me tonight:

Technorati tags: Diet

Diet Update 48

2007-03-16T14:01:00.000-05:00

Weight lost last week: 1 pound

Weight loss total in 48 weeks: 76 pounds

Technorati tags: Diet

Diet Update 47

2007-03-09T10:42:00.000-06:00

Weight lost last week: 2 pounds

Weight loss total in 47 weeks: 75 pounds

:-)

75 pounds in one year was my original goal, and I've managed to do it 5 weeks ahead of schedule. I've lost about 8 inches off my waist and about 2 shirt sizes.

I thought that 75 pounds would be about as much as I could lose, but it appears that I was more overweight than I thought I was. So I'm going to stick with my diet for a while longer and my faithful readers will still get their updates.

Technorati tags: Diet

Diet Update 46

2007-03-02T12:52:00.001-06:00

Weight lost last week: 1 pound

Weight loss total in 46 weeks: 73 pounds

Technorati tags: Diet

Diet Update 45

2007-02-22T10:45:00.000-06:00

Weight lost last week: 2 pounds

Weight loss total in 45 weeks: 72 pounds

:-)

Technorati tags: Diet

Book Review: Off-Road Disciplines

2007-02-17T16:01:00.000-06:00

Subtitle: Spiritual Adventures of Missional Leaders

By: Earl Creps

Amazon Page

Note: I received this book for free, with the understanding that I would provide a review of it on my blog.

Quote: "Are we participating in expanding the Kingdom of God, or just rearranging it?"

The disciplines that Creps covers are not the traditional ones (fasting, prayer, mediation, etc), but rather they are 12 practices that he views as necessary for those who wish to be missional leaders. He takes a chapter to cover each one. Briefly, they are:

Death - dying to self and selfish desires. It is not asking, "How we should do our worship services," but rather "How can I be changed so that others will find me worth following in mission?"

Truth (sacred realism) - finding and facing the facts, especially unpleasant ones, about our churches and our lives.

Perspective - the need to interpret culture to arrive at a strategy for mission, and the recognition that different people hear the same message differently.

Learning (reverse mentoring) - friendship wherein the junior instructs the senior, especially in the cultural and technological areas.

Witness (spiritual friendship) - "internal change catalyzed by spending time with the people God reaches out to through us."

Humility - decreasing of yourself, so that God can increase.

Assessment (missional efficiency) - learning to measure what we want to happen. The idea is that you tend to strive for what you measure, in the academic world for instance, many colleges say they want great teachers, but want they measure and reward is academic publishing. Guess what they get?

Harmony - Organizing around shared devotion to God's mission rather than causing division over non-essentials.

Reflection - "thinking theologically in ways that enable us to listen to God, discerning how to root our lives and ministries in the person of Christ and the mission of God."

Opportunity - creating environments where God calls the sought (Creps' preferred terminology for non-Christians) to himself. We can no longer depend (if we ever good) on the sought coming to us; we must find ways to go to them.

Sacrifice - surrendering preferences in order to keep unity of mission. Creps' focus here is on the need for younger people to accept that change may not come as fast as wanted, and to respect the preference of their elders.

Legacy - training up the next generation of leaders, including giving them significant responsibility now, and the recognition that they will be different from you.

Throughout the book Creps talks about changes in culture both within and outside the church. I'd say that it's a pretty solid book that makes some good points.

Technorati tags: Book Review Off-Road Disciplines Spiritual Adventures of Missional Leaders Earl Creps

Diet Update 44

2007-02-15T13:54:00.000-06:00

Weight lost last week: 2 pounds

Weight loss total in 44 weeks: 70 pounds

:-)

Technorati tags: Diet

I'm a Professional Walker

2007-02-13T14:49:00.000-06:00

Yep.

Pennies found on walking excursions: 3, 0, 13, 3, 0, 3, 1, 0, 3, 0, 1

Approximate hourly earnings: 4.46 cents.

Maybe some day I'll find a nickel.

Technorati tags: Walking Pennies

Diet Update 43

2007-02-08T15:46:00.001-06:00

Weight gained/lost last week: 0 pounds

Weight loss total in 43 weeks: 68 pounds

:-(

Technorati tags: Diet

Diet Update 42

2007-02-01T10:55:00.000-06:00

Weight lost last week: 2.5 pounds

Weight loss total in 42 weeks: 68 pounds

:-)

Technorati tags: Diet

Diet Update 41

2007-01-25T14:29:00.001-06:00

Weight lost/gained last week: 0 pounds

Weight loss total in 41 weeks: 65.5 pounds

:-(

Technorati tags: Diet

NBA Time

2007-01-20T21:27:00.000-06:00

I can start paying a bit more attention to basketball now that college football is done and the NFL is almost done.

In case you didn't know, the Dallas Mavericks have the best record in the NBA, and have been playing great since stumbling out of the gate. Josh Howard is quickly becoming the player who is now overrated due to everyone saying how underrated he is.

After the previous seasons, especially last season, I'm now officially one of those types of fans that can't get very excited about anything until the playoffs start.

1st half MVP: the now overlooked Kevin Garnett - He's having the best all-around season and has carried an over-matched team to playoff contention in the West.

Technorati tags: NBA Dallas Mavericks Basketball

Diet Update 40

2007-01-18T14:33:00.000-06:00

Weight lost last week: 3.5 pounds

Weight loss total in 40 weeks: 65.5 pounds

Interesting...

Technorati tags: Diet

Bookmooch.com

2007-01-16T10:53:00.000-06:00

Bookmooch is a site that I've been using. Basically, you mail people (who request them) books, and then you get points that you can use to requests books yourself. It free to request a book (other than it using up a "point"), and you can send a paperback via media mail in the U.S. for $1.59.

You can find some books on there that you're not likely to find anywhere else. And since you're sending books to people who have specifically ask for that particular book , you're know they're going to a good home.

Technorati tags: BookMooch Book Exchange Used Books

Diet Update 39

2007-01-11T13:55:00.000-06:00

Weight gained last week: 1.5 pounds

Weight loss total in 39 weeks: 62 pounds

>:-<

Technorati tags: Diet

Bowl Games Recap: Winners and Losers

2007-01-09T23:18:00.000-06:00

Winners:

Me - Although I didn't post my picks this year, my loyal readers will no doubt be relieved to hear that I rebounded from my poor 14-14 showing last season to go a decent 21-11.

Florida - They are the champions after all (even if they were very, very lucky to get by South Carolina).

Boise St. - Good win for them, in the year's best game, but the underdog thing was way overdone (as Boise was only a slight underdog).

Non-BCS Conferences - Boise St.'s win should give non-BCS teams a better chance to break into the BCS bowls.

Losers:

USC - They showed just how talented they were, and how much they underachieved this season.

Notre Dame - Exposed again. When will they stop getting into bowl games they have no business being in?

Ohio St. - Picked the wrong time to have a bad game.

Sane College Football Fans - Who will have to suffer the bragging from SEC homers who will never forget their team smashed a favorite team in a title game. They'll completely forget that the SEC lost their other two match-ups with the Big 10, Arkansas to Wisconsin and Tennessee to Penn St. (a big surprise to me).

Bonus NFL comment: How bout them Cowboys?! I've always been a supporter of, if you have to lose, doing it spectacularly.

Technorati tags: College Football Bowl Games

Book Review (part 3 of 3): The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture

2007-01-06T22:54:00.000-06:00

By: Shane Hipps

Subtitle: How Media Shapes Faith, the Gospel, and Church

Amazon page

Chapters 4-8

Obviously I had a huge writer's block with my reviews. I think in the future I'll do them a bit differently.

Chapter 4 deals with the new electronic media culture. This started with the telegraph, which was the first new media in almost 400 years. Radio, TV, and
the Internet followed shortly after (from a historical perspective). Due to the Graphic revolution, images have gained a new importance that hasn't been seen since Medieval times. This is important because as much as you might try, pictures and words don't convey the same information.

The boy is sad.

Is not the same as:

Another, perhaps more established, affect is the lessening of people's attention spans. In addition, those more comfortable with electronic media appear to be better at multitasking.

Chapters 5-8 deals more specifically with the church and electric culture, and
stresses the importance of studying how the media we use affects our message.

I found this to be an interesting and thought provoking book that I would recommend to anyone who is interesting and learning about changes in culture and what it could mean for Christians.

Technorati tags: The Hidden Power Of Electronic Culture Shane Hipps Marshall McLuhan Media Culture Technology

Diet Update 38

2007-01-04T13:44:00.000-06:00

Weight lost last week: 2.5 pounds

Weight loss total in 38 weeks: 63.5 pounds

:-)

Technorati tags: Diet

Diet Update 37

2006-12-28T14:55:00.001-06:00

Weight lost last week: 1.5 pounds

Weight loss total in 37 weeks: 61 pounds

Technorati tags: Diet

Diet Update 36

2006-12-21T15:43:00.000-06:00

Weight lost last week: 2 pounds

Weight loss total in 36 weeks: 59.5 pounds

:-)

Technorati tags: Diet