Tron

After watching Tron, I think this is what happened at Disney behind the scenes:


Source: See Mike Draw

The Birdman of Lisbon

Via Explore Music.

Very cool.

The Awful Truth About the Pixar Lamp

The Pixar Lamp, a sordid tale.

Since when do musicians do trailers?

Trailer to the upcoming R.E.M. album, Collapse Into Now:

When Other Creeds Fail

Reposted from Slice of Infinity. If you don't already, subscribe.

When Other Creeds Fail
from A Slice of Infinity by Jill Carattini

The Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola is one of the world's largest maximum-security prisons, an eighteen-thousand acre habitat to people who have committed horrible crimes. It houses roughly five thousand inmates, more than half of which are serving life sentences. Death looms large at Angola; ninety-four percent of inmates who enter are expected to die while incarcerated. The fear of dying alone in prison, coupled with the reality that for many inmates their first encounter with death was committing murder, makes death a weighted subject, often locked up in anger, guilt, and dread.

For a few inmates, however, the Angola Hospice volunteer program has drastically changed this. In 1998, equipped with a variety of staff trustees and inmate volunteers, the LSP hospice opened its doors to its first terminally ill inmate. Today it is recognized as one of the best programs of its kind. Giving inmate volunteers a role in the creation of the hospice and the primary care during the dying process, inmates find themselves in the position to tangibly affect the lives of others for good. Reckoning with death as a fate that awaits all of humanity as they care for dying friends and strangers, prisoners gradually let go of hardened demeanors. One inmate notes, "I've seen guys that used to run around Angola, and want to fight and drug up, actually cry and be heartbroken over the patient."(1) Another describes being present in the lives of the dying and how much this takes from the living. "But it puts a lot in you," he adds. A third inmate describes how caring for strangers on the brink of death has put an end to his lifelong anger and helped him to confront his guilt with honesty.

It may seem for some an odd story as a means of introducing the story of Christmas, but in some ways it is the only story to ever truly introduce the story of Christmas: broken, guilty souls longing for someone to be present. As martyred archbishop Oscar Romero once said, it is only the poor and hungry, those most aware they need someone to come on their behalf, who can celebrate Christmas. For the prisoners at Angola who stare death in the eyes and realize the tender importance of presence, for the child whose mother left and whose father was never there, for the melancholic soul that laments the evils of a fallen world, the Incarnation is the only story that touches every pain, every lost hope, every ounce of our guilt, every joy that ever matters. Where other creeds fail, Christmas, in essence, is about coming poor and weary, guilty and famished to the very scene in history where God reached down and touched the world by stepping into it.

The Incarnation is hard to dismiss out of hand because it so radically comes near our needs. Into the world of lives and deaths, the arrival of Christ as a child turns fears of isolation, weakness, and condemnation on their heads. C.S. Lewis describes the doctrine of the Incarnation as a story that gets under our skin unlike any other creed, religion, or theory. "[The Incarnation] digs beneath the surface, works through the rest of our knowledge by unexpected channels, harmonises best with our deepest apprehensions... and undermines our superficial opinions. It has little to say to the man who is still certain that everything is going to the dogs, or that everything is getting better and better, or that everything is God, or that everything is electricity. Its hour comes when these wholesale creeds have begun to fail us."(2) Standing over the precipices of the things that matter, nothing matters more than that there is a forgiving God who draws near.

The great hope of the Incarnation is that God comes for us. God is present and Christ is aware, and it changes everything. "[I]f accepted," writes Lewis, "[the Incarnation] illuminates and orders all other phenomena, explains both our laughter and our logic, our fear of the dead and our knowledge that it is somehow good to die,...[and] covers what multitudes of separate theories will hardly cover for us if this is rejected."(3) The coming of Christ as an infant in Bethlehem puts flesh on humanity's worth and puts God in humanity's weakness. To the captive, there is no other freedom.

Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

(1) Stephen Kiernan, Last Rights (New York: St Martin's Press, 2006), 274.
(2) C.S. Lewis, The Complete C.S. Lewis (New York: HarperCollins, 2002), 282.
(3) Ibid.

270 Movies of 2010 in 6 minutes

List of the movies:

Films in Order of Appearance:
01. Iron Man 2
02. The Social Network
03. Saw 3D
04. TRON: Legacy
05. Never Let Me Go
06. Legion
07. The Book of Eli
08. Easy A
09. The Runaways
10. Farewell
11. Kick-Ass
12. Jonah Hex
13. Harry Brown
14. The Sorceror’s Apprentice
15. Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief
16. Despicable Me
17. Stone
18. Dinner For Schmucks
19. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
20. Hereafter
21. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
22. Black Swan
23. Howl
24. Faster
25. Casino Jack
26. Casino Jack and the United States of Money
27. Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist, and Rebel
28. Waiting for Superman
29. Inception
30. Resident Evil: Afterlife
31. The Town
32. The Expendables
33. The A-Team
34. The American
35. The Concert
36. The Tempest
37. Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang
38. The Tourist
39. Metropia
40. Burlesque
41. Love Ranch
42. Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer
43. The Warrior’s Way
44. Twelve
45. Going The Distance
46. Chain Letter
47. Catfish
48. Machete
49. Step Up 3D
50. Devil
51. Clash of the Titans
52. Countdown to Zero
53. Jackass 3D
54. Alice in Wonderland
55. Buried
56. Red
57. Mesrine
58. Predators
59. MacGruber
60. Robin Hood
61. Green Zone
62. The Way Back
63. Due Date
64. Daybreakers
65. Knight and Day
66. Heartbreaker
67. The Karate Kid
68. Secretariat
69. Middle Men
70. Repo Men
71. Hot Tub Time Machine
72. All Good Things
73. Skyline
74. Animal Kingdom
75. Fair Game
76. Paper Man
77. Eclipse
78. Megamind
79. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
80. True Grit
81. Accidents Happen
82. Date Night
83. Perrier’s Bounty
84. Killers
85. How To Train Your Dragon
86. The Other Guys
87. Unstoppable
88. Leap Year
89. Cop Out
90. When In Rome
91. Centurion
92. Salt
93. Takers
94. Barney’s Version
95. Diary of a Wimpy Kid
96. The Winning Season
97. Just Wright
98. Legendary
99. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest
100. Ong Bak 3
101. Rogues Gallery
102. Defendor
103. District 13: Ultimatum
104. Conviction
105. The Losers
106. The Disappearance of Alice Creed
107. Brooklyn’s Finest
108. Wild Target
109. Four Lions
110. The King’s Speech
111. Boogie Woogie
112. 127 Hours
113. Somewhere
114. Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll
115. Letters to Juliet
116. The Kids are All Right
117. Sex and the City 2
118. Vampires Suck
119. Love and Other Drugs
120. Life As We Know It
121. Blue Valentine
122. Jolene
123. The Extra Man
124. The Last Song
125. Our Family Wedding
126. Morning Glory
127. Greenberg
128. Remember Me
129. Please Give
130. Certified Copy
131. The Last Exorcism
132. Peacock
133. Flipped
134. Cemetery Junction
135. I Love You Phillip Morris
136. Toy Story 3
137. The Romantics
138. Welcome to the Rileys
139. I’m Still Here
140. Get Him To The Greek
141. The Yellow Handkerchief
142. The Greatest
143. The Virginity Hit
144. Furry Vengeance
145. Eat Pray Love
146. Don McKay
147. Solitary Man
148. Cyrus
149. Case 39
150. Dear John
151. The Good Guy
152. Jack Goes Boating
153. You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger
154. Leaves of Grass
155. How Do You Know
156. Death at a Funeral
157. Tamara Drewe
158. The Killer Inside Me
159. The Back-Up Plan
160. Another Year
161. Great Directors
162. The Ghost Writer
163. Splice
164. Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale
165. The Wolfman
166. Piranha
167. A Nightmare on Elm Street
168. Charlie St. Cloud
169. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
170. Biutiful
171. The Lovely Bones
172. Monsters
173. Cairo Time
174. The Crazies
175. Valhalla Rising
176. Ondine
177. It’s Kind Of A Funny Story
178. Stolen Lives
179. Creation
180. Chloe
181. The Debt
182. Princess Ka’iulani
183. Like Dandelion Dust
184. Shutter Island
185. Inhale
186. Heartless
187. Rabbit Hole
188. Let Me In
189. Hemingway’s Garden of Eden
190. The Fighter
191. From Paris With Love
192. Shrek Forever After
193. The Next Three Days
194. Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole
195. Spring Fever
196. Stonewall Uprising
197. Smash His Camera
198. My Soul To Take
199. Life During Wartime
200. The Joneses
201. Mr. Nobody
202. The Good Heart
203. The Lottery
204. Leaving
205. Night Catches Us
206. Nowhere Boy
207. Babies
208. Barry Munday
209. Tooth Fairy
210. Yogi Bear
211. The Borrowers
212. You Again
213. Standing Ovation
214. Soul Kitchen
215. Multiple Sarcasms
216. The Nutcracker in 3D
217. The Last Airbender
218. Youth in Revolt
219. Edge of Darkness
220. Last Night
221. Extraordinary Measures
222. Ramona and Beezus
223. Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore
224. Alpha and Omega
225. Tangled
226. Marmaduke
227. Grown Ups
228. Inside Job
229. Gulliver’s Travels
230. The Spy Next Door
231. The Dry Land
232. Tiny Furniture
233. La mission
234. City Island
235. Letters to God
236. She’s Out of My League
237. Lottery Ticket
238. Wonderful World
239. The Infidel
240. Holy Rollers
241. Why Did I Get Married Too?
242. Paranormal Activity 2
243. Frozen
244. The Switch
245. Finding Bliss
246. Made in Dagenham
247. For Colored Girls
248. Crazy on the Outside
249. The Last Station
250. The Bounty Hunter
251. I’m Here
252. I Am Love
253. Red Hill
254. Country Strong
255. Peepli Live
256. Oceans
257. Sanctum
258. Little Fockers
259. Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work
260. Exit Through The Gift Shop
261. Winter’s Bone
262. Get Low
263. Fish Tank
264. Valentine’s Day
265. The Tillman Story
266. The Company Men
267. Tales from Earthsea
268. Spoken Word
269. To Save A Life
270. Hubble 3D

Not in Kansas anymore

If there was any doubt as to the most memorable movie line, no more. Check out this compilation:



List of clips:

The Wizard of Oz
Sex and the City 2
Spring Break
South Beach Academy
Entourage
Talons of the Eagle
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Population 436
Inkheart
Highway to Hell
Crocodile
Passport to Paris
New York Minute
The Ben Stiller Show
Married...with Children
Stargate SG-1
Criminal Minds
Captain Planet and the Planeteers
Sliders
Grey's Anatomy
Ghosts of the Abyss
Brothers at War
Mysterious Skin
Swingers
Fat Actress
Spiders
The Man with the Screaming Brain
Blonde Ambition
Lifepod
Supernatural
Lois and Clark
Pretender
Supergator
Trancers 4
Camp Slaughter
Vamp
Alien Species
Sailor Moon
Swamp Thing
Iron Eagle II
Little Shop of Horrors
The Matrix
Fanscape
Smallville
Jack of All Trades
Avatar
Volcano
CSI: Miami
Real Time with Bill Maher
Happy Town
Gilmore Girls
Bones
Scooby Doo and the Loch Ness Monster
Anamaniacs
America's Next Top Model
Ugly Betty
Shutter Island
Stargate SG-1

Cat Fight!

I couldn't turn away! Whoever set this to music should get the academy award for best score.

Thor Trailer

Now this looks awesome!

Didn't He?

My all time favorite Geoff Moore Song, Didn't He.

Lyrics:
And the hammer fell on the wooden nail
Through his flesh into the tree
As they laughed at him
As he cried for them
And there he hung
The faultless one

(Chorus)
Now didn't he live, oh didn't he
And didn't he give, oh didn't he
But didn't he die for you and me
Spilled his precious blood
Sacrifice of love

We didn't take his life from him
He gave it willingly
Fulfill the prophecy
What's black is white
And this wrong is right

Bugler, blow your horn
Now the curtain's torn
And the battle's done I know
I know the victory's come
Drummer you drum your drum
He broke death's chains
The Lamb is slain

Now doesn't he live, my brother, doesn't he
Now doesn't he give, sweet sister, doesn't he
But didn't he die for you and me
But didn't he die for you and for me

Transformers 3 Trailer!!

Hopefully it's better than Transformers 2.

Daft Punk Tron Derezzed

Daft Punk - New Music - More Music Videos

I'm almost anticipating the soundtrack more than the movie!

Christmas Mashups!

Absolutely brilliant!

Star Wars vs. Princess Bride

Wile E. Coyote & Road Runner in Real Life

Presenting Wiley vs. Rhodes, an independent short film.

Via neatorama.

Incredible Indian Pop Musical Discovery 12/3/2010

Indian pop Music! I've been reading this Indian indie music blog lately: IndieDecision, which is where I found this gem with a fantastic name: Susheela Raman

Stream "Raise Up" here.

Download the free EP here. You will need to download WinRar here to uncompress.

Oktapodi!

Nominated for 2009 Academy award for Best Animated Short



Reblogged from TYWKIWDBI

Sad & Pathetic or Creative Problem Solving?

Sad & Pathetic or Creative Problem Solving? You decide.

Barry Sanders: Truly the Best

A couple weeks ago, I saw Emmitt Smith get his hall of fame ring in Dallas. Imagine if Barry had Emmitt's offensive line and Emmitt had Barry's? Would we even be remembering Emmett? And wouldn't Barry have rushed for 3000+ yards a year? We'll never know.

I am still bitter that Barry retired early, though.

Sunlight melts rocks

1 Kings 18:38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

11/30 Musical Discoveries

North is South of Due West, in the South.

Part 1


Part 2

The ultimate hot wheels track

Artist Chris Burden built “Metropolis II”, a representation of road traffic in Los Angeles. It shows 1,200 toy cars moving along 18 lanes:

Two years ago he created a 65-foot Erector Set skyscraper that stood in Rockefeller Center, and in 2004 he made “Metropolis I,” composed of 80 Hot Wheels toy cars zooming around two single-lane highways along with monorail trains chugging on tracks of their own. The piece was snapped up by the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Japan.

“I was happy with ‘Metropolis I,’ but it kind of disappeared once it went to western Japan,” Mr. Burden said in a telephone interview from his studio in Topanga Canyon in Los Angeles County. So in 2006 he and a team of eight studio assistants, including an engineer, began “Metropolis II,” a far more ambitious version. It includes 1,200 custom-designed cars and 18 lanes; 13 toy trains and tracks; and, dotting the landscape, buildings made of wood block, tiles, Legos and Lincoln Logs. The crew is still at work on the installation.

In “Metropolis II,” by his calculation, “every hour 100,000 cars circulate through the city,” Mr. Burden said. “It has an audio quality to it. When you have 1,200 cars circulating it mimics a real freeway. It’s quite intense.”

Via Neatorama

We want Cookie Monster to Host SNL!!

Goosebumps

I get goosebumps whenever I watch these. Literally.

11/22 Musical Discoveries

11/19 Musical Discoveries

Note, these are new to me, not necessarily new. I've been out of it musically for a couple months.

Video is not available for this one: "Permalight" by Rogue Wave. Hopefully this link works, though.

Britain's Got Talent

Britain does it again:

Janey Cutler - Britain's Got Talent 2010 - Auditions Week 4 @ Yahoo! Video

Last year (Embedded disabled).

The Year before:



The Year before that. (My favorite)



Why doesn't America's Got Talent produce such gems?

11/18 Musical Discoveries

Metric - Gimme Sympathy (Official Video) from Metric Music on Vimeo.

Michael Jackson, The Video Game

By the time of Michael Jackson’s death in 2009, his name had become a punch line. His years as a great entertainer had been overshadowed by court cases, lavish spending, and excess cosmetic surgery. But even his harshest critics probably once attempted to moonwalk across their living room. Realizing this, makers of the new game Michael Jackson: The Experience are aiming to rekindle the King of Pop’s legacy as a performer by teaching the videogaming masses his supernatural moves.

Sounds fantastic.

Green Lantern Trailer

Awesome.

Talking to your kids about...Star wars

Musical Discovery of the Day

Accident Reconstruction

I should enter the accident reconstruction business.

Christmas music

First Christmas post of the year...on November 15. Not bad.

Here's a fantastic version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen By Annie Lennox:

Musical Discovery of the Day

The McGurk Effect

via dubious Quality

The McGurk Effect

Hugo

Pretty cool cover of Jay-Z's 99 problems:

How Soccer should be Announced

Watch this first:



Then watch this.



Undoubtedly, this reminds you of this.

What's So Amazing About Grace

Been a while I put anything on here besides a video or cool link, etc. Been treating this blog like one giant email forward.

In my daily quiet times, I've been reading What's So Amazing About Grace by Philip Yancy

Found some really cool things about Grace. May post more as I find more:
From page 52,regarding Jesus' parables, especially the 3 in Luke 15: lost sheep, lost coin and lost son:

"We are accustomed to finding a catch in every promise, but Jesus' stories of extravagant grace include no catch, no loophole disqualifying us from God's love. Each has at its core an ending too good to be true--or so good that it must be true. .... Jesus says in effect

'Do you want to know what it feels like to be God? when one of those two legged humans pays attention to me, it feels like I just reclaimed my most valuable possession, which I had given up for lost.'

To God himself it feels like the discovery of a lifetime."

And on page 53:

"Grace is shockingly personal. As Henri Nouwen points out,

'God rejoices. Not because the problems of hte world have been solved, not becuse all human pain and suffering have come to an end, nor because thousands of people have been converted nad are now praising him for his goodness. No God rejoices because one of his children who was lost has been found.' "

(Emphasis in Yancy, not sure if Nouwent emphasized also or not.)

New OK Go: White Knuckles

Whoever is the brains behind this band's videos is incredible...

Malayalam Alternative Rock!

I love Kerala food. But one item I never really developed a taste for is Avial. Now, however, I may change my mind.

Last week I discovered a blog that covers the indie music scene, especially in India. Today's entry mentioned a malayalam Indie band in passing.

Malayalam rock? Really? Intrigued, I looked them up. At the time I'm posting this entry, I've listened only to "Nada Nada", it's a quality track. I've posted a couple more songs below. Enjoy.

NADA NADA:


CHEKELE:


ADU PAMBE:

Detroit Lives!

Detroit is sort of my home town; I grew up in one of its "suburbs". Found this today, thought it was fascinating and encouraging. Enjoy.

This is part 1. Go to this site for part 2 and 3.

I wish I had thought of this...

...when I was filling out college course surveys.

I think it's a little dusty in here...

Regardless of what you think about the war(s) (I'm a pacifist), this is moving.

Spiders on Drugs

Surfing...or pfft, I could do that

Indication #1 of Freakiness: No paddling to get out to the wave, but towed by a jetski.
#2: Dude surfs downhill for almost 30 seconds before the wave even starts cresting.

Toddler Speaks in Tongues

Remember this youtube sensation where some dude subtitles a Bollywood video phonetically?



Well, this is almost as good (maybe better?)

Pencil Lead Art

How cool is this?

Here's a sample of a couple of my favorites:

Elvis!


Check out the detail in this boot:

The Northern Review

I have two new Northern Review posts here and here. Enjoy!

Presto, by Pixar

Presto is the animated short by Pixar that preceded Wall-E.

Presto! by Disney's Pixar from Matthew Gephardt on Vimeo.

Photoshop Time Travel

Very cool. For the rest see here.

Russian photographer Sergey Larenkov took some old photographs from World War II and combined them with new perspective-matching photos. The result are a series of time portals that help us contextualize the war into our current reality.

Dolphins, Sharks, Sardines, Oh My!

Forgot them diving swimming birds...only because I wasn't sure what kind they were. Very cool video:

The Northern Review

Check out my post at the @northernreview on Sleigh Bells. http://tumblr.com/xt6echnqn

Oldie, but a goodie

I've seen these many times before, but thought I'd post, since i was amused afresh today.



The following short quiz consists of 4 questions and will tell you whether you are qualified to be a professional. The questions are NOT that difficult.

1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?

Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe, and close the door. This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way.

2. How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?

Did you say, Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant, and close the refrigerator?

Wrong Answer.

Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door. This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your previous actions.

3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend.... except one. Which animal does not attend?

Correct Answer: The Elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator. You just put him in there. This tests your memory.

Okay, even if you did not answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more chance to show your true abilities.

4. There is a river you must cross but it is used by crocodiles, and you do not have a boat. How do you manage it?

Correct Answer: You jump into the river and swim across. Have you not been listening? All the crocodiles are attending the Animal Meeting. This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.

Compendium o' Links

I'm going to try to sort these. No promises:

Faith:
The story of Katie Davis, missionary to Uganda. Her blog, and her website.

The passion of the crust? The bread of life? The crucifixion in art, as expressed with...toast?

Music:
Amazing guitars: here, here and here.

Rihanna's Rude boy transformed by the dhol.

Nature:
Monkey!

Man, that deer is fast!

Remember those watches with transparent faces? The ones where you can see the gears turning. This is kind of like that. Sort of.

Yum!

Cool:
I once knew a guy who was researching artificial blood. Wondering if he is a part of this.

Wanna explore? How about these abandoned asylums and hospitals--see where labotamies were all the rage!

That too creepy? Then, how about cool hotel pools?

That too boring? Then, how about the world's most dangerous countries?

What's most detrimental to your health? Pirates? Zombies? Ninjas? Wonder no more!

If this is real, this is probably the coolest and scariest (think Skynet) thing in today's list.

The story of a perfect bid in the showcase showdown of the Price is Right.

Very cool: Super mario blended with reality.

Sign me up! Singing plasma!

Unique Use of Pop Music

Animatronic Cover of MGMT's Electric Feel. Very well choreographed.



The 80s Gary Numan plays his only hit, on (you guessed it) cars. Well, if you like 80s music, you would have guessed it. But I suspect that my 3 readers won't know. But I digress.



And if you want the original song, click here.

Cowboy Hip-Hop

Yeee-Haw!

Manute Bol: Fool for Christ

Source

By JON A. SHIELDS
As any churchgoer who tuned in to watch the recent NBA finals contest between the Lakers and Celtics already knows, the term redemption is probably now heard more often in NBA sports broadcasts than in homilies. A Google search under "redemption" and "NBA" generates approximately 2 million hits—more hits than "redemption" and "Christianity." The term can also be found in more than 2,600 stories on ESPN.com.

What does redemption mean in the world of professional basketball and sports more broadly? It involves making up for—or, yes, "atoning"—for a poor performance. When the Lakers beat Boston, for instance, Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times called the victory "redemption for the Celtics' 2008 Finals beating."

More often, though, sports journalists use the term to praise the individual performances of NBA superstars. Thus, the Associated Press reported that Kobe Bryant "found redemption" after he won a title in 2009 without the aid of his nemesis and former teammate Shaquille O'Neal.

Manute Bol, who died last week at the age of 47, is one player who never achieved redemption in the eyes of sports journalists. His life embodied an older, Christian conception of redemption that has been badly obscured by its current usage.

Bol, a Christian Sudanese immigrant, believed his life was a gift from God to be used in the service of others. As he put it to Sports Illustrated in 2004: "God guided me to America and gave me a good job. But he also gave me a heart so I would look back."

He was not blessed, however, with great athletic gifts. As a center for the Washington Bullets, Bol was more spectacle than superstar. At 7 feet, 7 inches tall and 225 pounds, he was both the tallest and thinnest player in the league. He averaged a mere 2.6 points per game over the course of his career, though he was a successful shot blocker given that he towered over most NBA players.

Bol reportedly gave most of his fortune, estimated at $6 million, to aid Sudanese refugees. As one twitter feed aptly put it: "Most NBA cats go broke on cars, jewelry & groupies. Manute Bol went broke building hospitals."

When his fortune dried up, Bol raised more money for charity by doing what most athletes would find humiliating: He turned himself into a humorous spectacle. Bol was hired, for example, as a horse jockey, hockey player and celebrity boxer. Some Americans simply found amusement in the absurdity of him on a horse or skates. And who could deny the comic potential of Bol boxing William "the Refrigerator" Perry, the 335-pound former defensive linemen of the Chicago Bears?

Bol agreed to be a clown. But he was not willing to be mocked for his own personal gain as so many reality-television stars are. Bol let himself be ridiculed on behalf of suffering strangers in the Sudan; he was a fool for Christ.

During his final years, Bol suffered more than mere mockery in the service of others. While he was doing relief work in the Sudan, he contracted a painful skin disease that ultimately contributed to his death.

Bol's life and death throws into sharp relief the trivialized manner in which sports journalists employ the concept of redemption. In the world of sports media players are redeemed when they overcome some prior "humiliation" by playing well. Redemption then is deeply connected to personal gain and celebrity. It leads to fatter contracts, shoe endorsements, and adoring women.

Yet as Bol reminds us, the Christian understanding of redemption has always involved lowering and humbling oneself. It leads to suffering and even death.

It is of little surprise, then, that the sort of radical Christianity exemplified by Bol is rarely understood by sports journalists. For all its interest in the intimate details of players' lives, the media has long been tone deaf to the way devout Christianity profoundly shapes some of them.

Obituary titles for Bol, for example, described him as a humanitarian rather than a Christian. The remarkable charity and personal character of other NBA players, including David Robinson, A. C. Green and Dwight Howard, are almost never explicitly connected to their own intense Christian faith. They are simply good guys.

Christian basketball players hope that their "little lights" shine in a league marked by rapacious consumption and marital infidelity. They could shine even brighter if sports journalists acknowledged that such players seek atonement and redemption in a far more profound way than mere athletic success.

Jon A. Shields is assistant professor of government at Claremont McKenna College.

Crazy

Remember this video? I can't remember if I posted it here, but it went viral a while back:

(If you haven't watched this yet, you must. I have no idea why, but it is mezmerizing.)


Well, here's a remix. If the original was funny, this is hysterical.


Enjoy

Covers, volume 3

I've discovered some really cool covers in the past few weeks. So, I thought I'd share:

Dala - Ohio (originally by Neil Young)


Jill Sobule - Hot in Here (Nelly)


Jack Johnson - We are Going to be Friends (The White Stripes)


Daniel Merriweather - You Don't Know What Love is You Do as You're Told (The White Stripes) -- incidentally, this is one of my favorite White Stripes tunes.


Lavender Diamond - Chiquitita (ABBA): there is a youtube video, but it's poor quality. So here's a link to another blog that allows audio embedding.

The Bird & The Bee - How Deep is Your Love (The Bee Gees)

Compendium o' Links

First a rick roll:


Now some nature:This mouse has accepted his fate:


What we would see if were not for light pollution:


Now for some lighter fare:
Remember that song, Whoomp, there it is? Well it turns out that Obama was in the video. Well, at least someone who looks like him.

Bread Art

When engineers have dogs:


Remember the Star Wars Kid? Well he's a lawyer now. If you care.

I want to go to this store:


That's all for now.

Adidas Advertising awesomeness

OK, maybe not that awesome, but I have a theme going...

Sharp Dressed Drummer

Fun starts at 0:40

The Thundercats Are Back!!

From MTV:

Thundercats... Ho!

Lion-O and the warriors from Thundera will be back on television next year in a new animated series set to air on Cartoon Network in 2011.

Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, the new "Thundercats" series will be the studio's first project to use anime-style animation, and promises to be a "21st century reimagining" of the classic '80s cartoon series.

Along with the first promotional image from the series, WBA also sent over a brand new, ridiculously cool poster announcing the series' 2011 debut.

Here's the first image from the series:





According to the studio, the new series will appeal to both longtime fans and newcomers to the universe of Lion-O and his Thunderan brethren.

Calling it "a sweeping tale combining swords and science and boasting ferocious battles with the highest of stakes," the studio offered some hints about what the new "Thundercats" series will involve, including "the grand origin story of Prince Lion-O’s ascension to the throne – and of those who would thwart his destiny at any cost."

For the project, WBA will collaborate with noted Japanese animation Studio4°C (“The Animatrix,” “Gotham Knights”), who will update the characters' look for the series.

"Thundercats" will be executive produced by Sam Register (“Teen Titans,” “Ben 10,” “Batman: The Brave and the Bold”), with Michael Jelenic (“Batman: The Brave and the Bold,” “Wonder Woman”) and Ethan Spaulding (“Avatar: The Last Airbender”) as producers.

Iphone Worship App

Pretty cool.

Live Television Phone Prank Awesomeness

Yes, I've decided to use Awesomeness as my gimmick.

Those Brits...they love their live TV pranks, and they are very funny. I'm not sure if I posted the bottom 2 videos before, I can't find them if I did. Whatever, they're worth reposting.



Here's a rough translation from Boing Boing:

Beginning: (unintelligible), at this time we'll go to the line. Tell us who you are, where you're from, and your request... salaam alaikum - (robert answers, hello there how are you etc.).. alhamdullilah...
@0:33: Thank you very much.
@1:12: Can you hear me?
@1:22: It seems like your... (sounds like he was about to say your line disconnected)
@1:39 Sitting with my sister and doing [some other program] during the day, and now doing this program.
Just as the video ends he starts to say "let's pray for this sister, that..."

Giraffe fight!

Man those necks are dangerous. Was the one giraffe neck-whipping the other giraffe in the ?

Star Wars Advertising Awesomeness

SpikeTV had these promos a while back for their star wars marathon. I think I may be missing some, but enjoy these:

Toyota Advertising Awesomeness

I've been on an advertising kick lately...enjoy

Better Marriage Blanket

Apparently this is not a joke. I'm wondering if my wife will appreciate this as a mother's day present! :-)

Cadbury Advertising Awesomeness

Yesterday I posted an awesome South African commercial. One of the comments on that video said that the little girl is from the Cadbury Eyebrow commercial. So I looked that up. I'm not sure if it is her or not, but the eyebrow commercial is fantastic.

I've also posted the cadbury gorilla commercial. You probably have seen that also. Fantastic. Enjoy.

South African Commercial Awesomeness

What I want to know is how that little girl does that side to side head thing. No matter how hard I try, I can't do it.




The mockumentary!

Cubicle Windowless Awesomeness

This gets really cool at about 1:27. But watch the whole thing. Very cool

Compendium O' Links

I'm going to cherry pick my favorites from Dubious Quality. I suppose you could read that blog yourself, but why bother? :-)

Just like the caption says, "Who need TV?" Drive in Lava Theatre

Wow, the tea must be fantastic. Maybe the lack of oxygen at that altitude makes it taste better?

Fascinating profile of Alexander Ovechkin in the NY Times.

A poisonous bird? wow.

Very cool article about flying a SR-71 Blackbird.

The helmet cam...perfected.

WWI camoflauge: Razzle Dazzle. Very interesting.

A real life master thief--supposedly the best in the world--gets caught...because he parked in a disabled spot. But then again, if you're the best theif in the world, we wouldn't know who you were, would we?

For anyone who has been bored on a road trip

Didn't He

Totally forgot about this song: "Didn't He" by Geoff Moore. Love. it.

I'd embed it but the posted disabled embedding, So you have to go to youtube to enjoy. Please do. It's from one of Geoff Moore's first Albums "The Distance". His best, in my opinion.

Speaking of Fast Food--Mad Paratha skills!

Just in case you don't know what a paratha is, click here.

Yum! Fast Food!

You know what the sad thing is, I’ll probably still eat a McGriddle and drink a fountain soda…

Good Friday Playlist

I would post these songs myself, but since I don't have permission, I'll use youtube:

Forgive Me (Jonathan Roman/Originally by Tim Miner) (Can't find the lyrics--please listen)
edit: originally posted another video, but someone posted the original song by Tim Miner:


When God Ran (Shaded Red; Originally by Benny Hester, but I like this version) Lyrics


How Deep the Father's Love (Sarah Sadler)


I Stand Amazed (Chris Tomlin)


When I Survey (Fernando Ortega)


The Power of the Cross (Keith & Krysten Getty) Lyrics


Our Response:My Jesus I love Thee (Avalon)


And finally!
Easter Song (Keith Green; Originally by 2nd Chapter of Acts) Lyrics


He's Alive (Dolly Parton?? I like her version better than Don Fransisco's)

The A-Team

This is either going to be awesome, or terrible. Unfortunately, I have a feeling it will be the latter. But I will spend the money to watch it regardless.

Obama + Sword + Thundercats = Awesome

I don't like what he does, but this is cool. Probably is photoshopped, but who cares.

Action movie of the summer?

This looks very entertaining.

The film, which stars Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke, Terry Crewe, Steve Austin, Eric Roberts, Danny Trejo, and features cameos by Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, is expected to hit theaters August 13, 2010.

High quality HDMI cables?

Umbrella

If I worked in Manhattan, I would definitely have this as my umbrella. I'm such a geek. Buy it at ThinkGeek

Compendium o' videos

Contra vs. Duck Hunt: Awesome.

Compendium O' Links

I suppose it's time for another set of links:

First of all, found a cool blog called "Things you wouldn't know if we didn't blog incessantly" or TYWKIWDBI for short. Many of today's links come from them.

A lot of cool nature links:
-A Sun Pillar,
-A crab's eye view of a Ray
-Spot the caterpillar camoflauged in the photo. Very cool.
-A weird fly.
-A useless video, except to note that animals sometime have it right.
-Not sure if this counts as nature, but dog v. patrol car (from Leo)
-Finally a interesting story about an immortal animal.

A couple musical links:
-Probably the world's first cyber choir.
-Not sure if I linked to this before. Doesn't matter, could use another referral. Some film makers filmed "Stand by me" around the world, then spliced them together seamlessly.

Geeky, nerdy stuff:
-Venn Diagrams
-Talk about a techo geek
-Then vs. Now. Wow!
-For the geeky mother-to-be
-The A to Z of Awesomeness
-Best pizza place name evah!

Just plain cool
-Even if you haven't seen the goofy movie, this is pretty cool.
-I can carve a steak, does that count? But crayons, no, sorry.
-Look closely at these "paintings". If you don't see it, check out the hair.
-I laughed.
-Every stereotype ever! The best movie trailer!
-Man this is cool--a water powered jet pack.
-My colleague has this as his ringtone. Sorry, non-U.S. residents, this one's on hulu. Use a proxy server to watch.

That's all for now. Enjoy.