Jul 19
Apparently, I have been given a Versatile Blogger Award by Chris Brundage. There are three responses I am to make after receiving a VBA: 1) Thank the giver of the award and link to them. 2) Tell readers seven things about yourself. 3) Confer this prestigious award upon someone else. Read more
Apr 10
Just because it made me chuckle on this rainy Sunday afternoon…
(h/t to Waving or Drowning)
Every night, bedtime prayers with my kids conclude with some version of the same phrase: “And help ____ to have a good sleep with no bad dreams. Amen.” This is the non-negotiable conclusion to all bedtime prayers in our house. Should I omit or modify this peroration in any way, this transgression will be swiftly brought to my attention, and I will be enthusiastically exhorted to rectify the situation. The day is not complete, it seems, without entrusting our sleep and the subconscious cogitations it may or may not contain, to the care of God. Read more
Feb 22
Because it is loosely related to themes under discussion here over the last little while, and because it is a pretty accurate reflection of current religious appetites (especially here on the west coast), and because it is pretty amusing, and because, well, I just like posting David Bentley Hart quotes: Read more
I couldn’t help but chuckle at the conclusion of tonight’s edition of Coach’s Corner on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada. Cherry’s shtick was his usual combination of lightly-informed, opinionated bravado and Canadian hockey machismo, but as is increasingly often the case, it was also the opportunity for him to step up his soap box. Read more
I spent a chunk of my day off yesterday in a dingy little tire shop waiting for winter tires with hordes of other Vancouver Islanders caught unprepared for our recent blast of winter. I passed the time, in part, by finishing off Douglas Coupland’s Player One: What is to Become of Us, a novel/lecture series characterized by Coupland’s customary mixture of bleakness, humour, and though-provoking storytelling around questions about the meaning of life and what it means to be human. Read more
Nov 16
Well, I just returned from a wonderful week away and am spending a good chunk of today slowly wading through a very clogged in-box! One of the more humourous discoveries I have made thus far in my wading is this cartoon sent by a friend last week.
As is so often the case, it is funny because it is true… Read more
Oct 21
Received this via a co-worker today. Hilarious commercial. Baffling message.
So let me see if I’ve got this straight. In order to save myself from obsessing over the mind-numbing amount and variety of trivial minutiae pouring out of my phone, and from all the addictive tendencies and relationship-destroying habits that these pieces of technology cultivate and capitalize upon, I should… get a different phone?!
Um… OK.
According to WordPress’s new, more comprehensive statistics page the second-most popular post I have ever come up with—at least according to number of page views—is a post from last year on hockey jerseys (naturally, of course… What else would you expect, on a blog that deals primarily with faith-related subject matter?). Apparently I am not alone in my life-long fascination/curiosity with hockey jerseys! So, because fall is here and hockey season has officially begun, I thought a hockey post might be fun for a holiday Thanksgiving Monday (my apologies to the non-hockey aficionados who read this blog :)). Read more
Last week I was driving back from a breakfast meeting and happened to catch a bit of a CBC radio program where the hosts were discussing an apparently growing service dedicated to reminding people of how awesome they are. At Awesomeness Reminders, it’s all about you and your awesomeness and being continually aware of this awesome reality. For the low, low price of only $10/month ($20 outside the USA and Canada—apparently non-North Americans begin with an awesomeness deficit), you can receive a daily phone call carefully crafted to convey just how awesome you are in order to fortify you to face the challenges of the day ahead. Read more
Sep 19
Some lighter fare for a sleepy Sunday afternoon… I couldn’t help but chuckle at this bumper sticker, spotted yesterday at the Saturday Market over on Salt Spring Island.
Sep 3
A couple of loosely connected thought, links, and quotes for a Friday morning…
A few weeks ago, I came across an excellent new collaborative blog called Wondering Fair (a number of contributors are alumni from Regent College). Interesting and engaging topics, good writing, nice accessible look and feel… definitely worth adding to your reader. Due to my ongoing interest in how technology shapes us as human beings, I was particularly drawn to David Benson’s post on why he doesn’t own a mobile phone. His summary hits the nail on the head, in my view: Read more
I haven’t read the book or seen the movie (and plan on neither), but I’ve heard enough about both to be cynical. And to find this article by the Vancouver Sun‘s Pete McMartin, recounting his trip to see Eat Pray Love, absolutely hilarious in a depressing, if-only-this-wasn’t-so-true sort of way. I just about sprayed coffee all over my computer screen after reading the title alone (“Bleat, Flay, Loathe … One Man’s Search for God on a Cineplex Screen”). Read more
Jul 9
My wife and I recently decided to cancel our cable TV. There were a variety of reasons for this, some principled, some just plain old pragmatic (we don’t watch much, and we can’t afford it). I thought that we would still pick up the odd station even after we got rid of cable, but it turns out that we now get precisely zero channels. ZERO. It’s very strange. I have been watching CBC’s coverage of the World Cup on my laptop, so I am surviving thus far, but I wonder what will happen once fall rolls around and hockey season starts. My resolve will certainly be tested…
Anyway, given my new television-less reality, I got a kick out of this when it came through the inbox the other day (Calvin’s family has just had their television stolen).
On the off-chance that anyone out there is looking for further evidence that our cultural discourse is being seriously degraded and trivialized by the proliferation of technology, an article in yesterday’s New York Times alerted readers to the availability of iPhone apps to help believers and non believers arm themselves for war. There are anti-Darwin apps for Christians, “Bible Thumper” apps for atheists, and others, no doubt, each doing what all apps are designed to do: provide entertainment, “illumination,” and diversion as quickly, and with as little demand to think for oneself, as possible. Read more
Jun 23
Due to my constant whining and complaining about the ubiquity of Facebook and Twitter and whatever other social networking phenomenon is currently dominating and distracting us, I am becoming known as something of a Luddite around the office here. Which is why this little video found its way into my inbox today. Read more
May 23
I’ve been getting a daily dose of Calvin and Hobbes in my inbox for some time now (via Gocomics), and figured this classic was worth sharing:
Apr 22
A friend sent this to me earlier in the week, and I thought it was simply too good not to share. It’s been making the rounds in the blogosphere, but on the off-chance you haven’t seen it, here is John Cleese with the benefits of extremism. Read more
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Rumblings 
