Bnpositive's Blog

Quite a delayed blog entry about the Monday night game, but better late than never right?….right?

Had a great time with some guys from church at the home of Mr. Jeff W. You can’t ask for a better football (or any moving image) viewing experience. 150+” projection screen, theater sound, theater popcorn, and 6 matching La-Z-Boy chairs. The only thing better than the ambience is the fellowship with good Christian brothers I’ve come to truly love, respect and admire.

Here’s my short list of game highlights:

• Steelers not allowed 1st downs until their interception.
• Normally stoic Marvin Harrison, mixing it up with #24 Ike Taylor (fired up the Colts team according to included article below)
• Three sacks for Roethlisburger
• Edge running for 129yds, first player to get 100+ against Pitt in 23 games
• Bob Sanders body slamming a Steeler
• Bob Sanders face-planting another Steeler

Yahoo! Sports Game Recap
The F-word by Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports – article speaks of the motivating factor of Marvin Harrison not backing down to Ike Taylor and the Colt’s not ONLY being a finesse team. Think I may change the spelling to FHYSICAL!
Planning for Colts Not Easy by Pat Kirwan NFL.com Senior Analyst

According to this article on Yahoo! News, author C.S.Lewis was opposed to turning his beloved Chronicles of Narnia books into movies.

After reading the article myself, I’m not so sure this is an accurate statement. In the article, the quote from Lewis was:

“I am absolutely opposed — adamant isn’t in it! — to a TV version,” he wrote to BBC producer Lance Sieveking, who had created a radio version of his book which had met Lewis’ approval.

Although Lewis, who died in 1963, said he would have considered a cartoon version, his letter suggests he is unlikely to have approved of Disney’s interpretation, particularly its computer-generated Aslan.

“Anthropomorphic animals, when taken out of narrative into actual visibility, always turn into buffoonery or nightmare — at least with photography,” he wrote.

C.S.Lewis died in 1963, and the last time I checked computer animation and movie making skills have come a LONG way. I think C.S.Lewis would have actually been impressed with the capabilities of the artists of rendering his imaginative characters into reality. The other thing to remember is that it’s not really “Disney’s interpretation” of the book series. The movie itself is actually being produced by Walden Media, which has a history of accurately adapting literary books into movies. Disney is just distributing the work that Walden is doing. Someone please enlighten me if I’m wrong.

Author CS Lewis opposed screen version of “Narnia”

Was putting gas in the mini-van last night at our local BP station. Paid $2.05/gallon so didn’t fill up, I’m sure it will fall below $2/gallon later this week, so I’m just buying time.

While I was there I just noticed the little LED screen giving you the news and instructions and stuff and the following message was displayed while I was pumping:

“Replace Nozzle When Finished”

Do we really need those instructions? I know, I know. I guess we do, but I’m thinking that if you need to be reminded of this little bit of information, we probably shouldn’t be trusting you with the control of a multiple thousand pound vehicle equipped with a gas powered engine!

Don’t you hate it when you read a blog entry and they direct you to a site that’s really cool, then you can’t remember what blog it was that directed you there?

Sorry about that whomever it was that directed me here, but this little site is really cool. You can find all the deals at stores around you. The other neat feature was the ability to build a grocery list and it will tell you where the best deals are for the various items at your preferred stores. But what does “Cairo” have to do with this service? Seems like a better name could have been determined.

Cairo – Local Sales Just a Click Away

I’m always eager to save some money, just need to balance the requirement of driving more to get to the various deals instead of just purchasing everything at one store. I was going to mention that being a bigger concern at $2.05/gallon for gas, but that seems like a deal since it was over $3/gallon for so long. Guess the plan worked!

Spent Saturday morning putting up the icicle lights on the house. I’ve got two short sections on two separate strands that have bulb outs so I still need to get those fixed. I’m glad they weren’t up on the high parts of the house, should be able to reach these without climbing on the roof.

While I was putting up my lights, I noticed I was losing the ongoing battle between unimpeded rainwater flow and crap in my gutters. Spent a little bit of time while I was up there and cleaned some of the stuff out above the downspouts.

Then, just now, the Signal vs. Noise blog posted this entry about the ultimate low-tech solution to this battle many homeowners face each fall and spring. As Jason posted in the article he has battled with the wire covers, gutter gaurds and brushes, but nothing really seems to still work for long.

He points us to the folks over at Gutter Stuff. Their solution is a traingular shaped piece of foam that you push down into your gutter. Since nothing but liquid can get through the foam, everything else just falls off the edge of your gutter and onto your yard.

Idea seems great to me. However, I wonder how long it takes for the miniscule dirt/debris to clog up the top surface of the foam and turn the edges of your roof into a little suburbian waterfall.

Two brothers, one from Tennessee and one from Alabama, inherit the family ranch. Unfortunately, after just a few years, they are in financial trouble. In order to keep the bank from repossessing the ranch, they need to purchase a bull so that they can breed their own stock.

The Alabama brother balances their checkbook, then takes their last $600 dollars out west to another ranch where a man has a prize bull for sale. Upon leaving, he tells his brother, ‘When I get there, if I decide to buy the bull, I’ll contact you to drive out after me and haul it home.’

The traveling brother arrives at the man’s ranch, inspects the bull, and decides he does want to buy it. The man tells him that he can sell it for $599, no less. After paying him, the brother drives to the nearest town to send his brother a telegram to tell him the news.

He walks into the telegraph office, and says, ‘I want to send a telegram to my brother telling him that I’ve bought a bull for our ranch. I need him to hitch the trailer to our pick-up truck and drive out here so we can haul it home.’

The telegraph operator explains that he’ll be glad to help him, then adds, ?It’s just 99 cents a word.’ Well, after paying for the bull, the Alabama guy only has $1 left. He realizes that he’ll only be able to send his brother one word.

After thinking for a few minutes, he nods, and says, ‘I want you to send him the word, ‘comfortable’.’ The telegraph operator shakes his head.

‘How is he ever going to know that you want him to hitch the trailer to your pick-up truck and drive out here to haul that bull back to your ranch if you send him the word, ‘comfortable?’

The guy explains, ‘My brother?s from Tennessee. He’ll read it real slow.’

Story provided by Dan Miller in his 48 Days E-mail Newsletter

Scott Adams over at the Dilbert Blog keeps posting about his thoughts on the “debate” of Intelligent Design over the science of evolution. This most recent post goes into the hypothetical debate on what could happen if a lightning bolt shot out of the sky one day and wrote “I am God. I created you. Darwin was a nut.” on the Washington Monument. This activity continued for a full month on various monuments everywhere. There was plenty of eye-witness accounts and video footage of the event happening.

Now imagine that the same phenomenon repeats every day for a month, each time on a different monument. Scientists study the phenomena and conclude that humans probably didn?t cause it, but beyond that, there are no further scientific clues about how lighting could seem so directed.

If I crafted my thought experiment right, no one would have any idea how to devise a test that would confirm or exclude the possibility that God really did it. Hypothetically, being omnipotent and all, he would be capable of leaving no clues, other than signing his name. Therefore, any speculation as to the cause is not science.

Here?s the question: Should teachers be allowed to tell science students about the lightning messages?

The thing that seems most interesting to me though is that we can think up this seemingly impossible idea that lightning could write words onto an inanimate object that everyone could read. I mean that’s pretty amazing right? In Scott’s example, the only attributable reasoning would be a higher power right?

Yet, we walk around and see humans being born, monkeys still swinging in trees, the vast splendor of nature around us, lightning itself and anything else in this world and think it just happened because chance and time go together and came up with it?

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there. I’ve had one of the best Thanksgivings I’ve had in recent memory. I did something I haven’t done in, well ever. I took the entire week off of work and just enjoyed relaxing, spending time with my family and working on some web design work I’ve needed to focus on for a period of time. That let into a wonderful weekend. Just thought I’d share this with everyone out there.

What Thanksgiving Can Do
by John Fischer

The worst moment for an atheist comes when he is really thankful and has no one to thank. – Author Unknown

Thanksgiving is the theme song of the Christian. For a Christian not to be thankful is like a dog not wagging his tail at his owner’s approach.

Thankful Christians walk around grateful for every breath, every sunset, every new morning, every color in the color spectrum, and every star in the sky. Like an alcoholic who is clean and sober, noticing beauty and taste for the first time, we are grateful just to be alive because we have been dead for so long.

It’s hard to think of one vice that the virtue of thankfulness cannot render useless. One does not need to steal when one is thankful. A man does not covet his neighbor’s wife when he is thankful for his own. No one craves more when he is grateful for what he has.

In the same way, a thankful heart cancels out pride and arrogance. No need to judge other people when you are thankful for who you are. No need to measure yourself by and compare yourself to others when you are thankful for what God has done in your life. No need to keep anyone out of the kingdom of God when you’re overwhelmed that you got in. (God can let in anyone He wants. I am simply glad to be counted among the saved.)

You don’t care if you get the important seat at the table when you are overcome with gratitude at simply being invited to the dinner. You don’t put heavy weights on other people’s shoulders when you are thankful that God has lightened your own load. You are not obsessed with what other people think of you when you are overwhelmed with the fact that God is thinking about you all the time. You don’t demand respect when you are thankful for your place. You don’t have to hide your own sin when you are already thankful for God’s forgiveness. You don’t have to protect your image when you are already number one with God. You don’t have to condemn other people’s blindness when it’s only the grace of God that has al! lowed you to see. You don’t have to try for the highest place when you are already grateful for whatever place you were
given. You don’t have to make a show of spirituality when you are thankful for having received the Spirit. You don’t have to clothe yourself in holy robes when you have been already clothed in righteousness. You don’t have to be full of yourself when you are thankful that God has filled you up with Himself. Not only do we have a lot to be thankful for, our thankfulness can accomplish
much.

Here’s another great video! The Gideons should use this as a marketing spin!

Baby Got Book!

You scored as Batman, the Dark Knight. As the Dark Knight of Gotham, Batman is a vigilante who deals out his own brand of justice to the criminals and corrupt of the city. He follows his own code and is often misunderstood. He has few friends or allies, but finds comfort in his cause.

Which Action Hero Would You Be? v. 2.0
created with QuizFarm.com

Turn’s out I guess I’m more like Batman. Being Neo from Matrix would be pretty cool too!

Thanks to my friend Doug for sharing this little nugget of holiday joy with me. This is what happens with technical lighting type guys celebrate the holidays and are allowed to decorate the house.

Wizards of Winter

This letter from a soldier in the 101st Airborne is written to help those who don’t understand why we’re in Irag fighting for something. To those that think it’s a waste of time, but who haven’t spent an minute of their own time or ounce of their own strength fighting to preserve the liberties they have.

You need not to have a great understanding of the world but rather common sense to realize that it is our duty as HUMAN BEINGS to free the oppressed. If you lived that way would you not want someone to help you????

The Iraqi?s pour into the streets to wave at us and when we liberated the cities during the war they gathered in the thousands to cheer, hug and kiss us. It was what the soldier?s in WW2 experienced, yet no one questioned their cause!! Saddam was no better than Hitler! He tortured and killed thousands of innocent people. We are heroes over here, yet American?s badmouth our President for having us here.

Read the entire letter here: Taste of Freedom – Sgt. Hook’s Blog