Christianity Spoof

It's funny what you find when trying to spend a gift card at Barnes and Noble. I had been searching for a particular pair of books, when a week or so ago I was finally able to find one of those books (And Baby Makes Three). Not able to locate the other book and having a bit more cash on the card I did what I do. I want to browsed the Christianity and Philosophy sections. It was there I found a great little book by Tom Breen (a.k.a. the Internet Theologian). I honestly had not heard of Tom nor his book, but it looked somewhat interesting so I got it. Well let me tell you it is far more hysterical than I could have imagined. Tom's approach to understanding Christianity in our modern/post-modern/pop culture reminds me of one Dave Barry or the History of Baseball that my buddy Rich wrote as his senior writing project back at the CCI, only without the llamas. It helps if you have are conversant with church history and pop culture as Tom's humor is reference oriented. There are moments where some might want to google or wiki some of his references, but it is well worth the read. I have not laughed out loud while reading book in some time, granted I am taking a Statistics class at this point, which might contribute to the lack of humor in my literary diet, but none the less, Tom's take off on pop cultures view of Christianity is quite funny and at times really finds its mark skewering both pop culture and the Church where we need it most.

Obscure Baseball Team Names

Yup, as bit more on baseball this morning. Fantasy baseball impacts the way we watch the sport in a number of ways. You start to follow players rather than teams. You find yourself rooting for a pitcher from one team and a batter from another. Perhaps a less known impact is how the search for just the right team name can alter your knowledge of baseball. For a number of years now I have been naming my teams after existing or formerly existing franchises. I have used the Yuma Scorpions, Las Vegas 51s, Syracuse Chiefs, among others. So I thought I would post a list of some of the odder names I have come across in my searches for just the right name for my teams. Those on the list in bold are ones that I have used.

1. Asheville Tourists
2. Atlanta Black Crackers
3. Edmonton Cracker Cats
4. Fresno Raisin Eaters
5. Great Lakes Loons
6. Greenville Drive
7. Hickory Crawdads
8. Indianapolis Clowns
9. Lehigh Valley IronPigs
10. Montgomery Biscuits
11. Nashville Sounds
12. Savannah Sand Gnats

Baseball Time Again

Thought I would find a few baseball videos to get us all in the mood for baseball season. I have been listening to Angels games the past few nights and my wife will be at the home opener tonight, but I thought I would offer these videos up to help get the rest of us ready to go. Enjoy!

Will It Blend?

Baseball Tennis

Jedi Baseball

Men & Women

Dennis Prager launched a new dedicated hour of programing yesterday. He has been running a weekly Happiness Hour and Ultimate Issues Hour. Yesterday he added the Male/Female Hour. Callers questions and Dennis's comments focus around understanding the difference between men and women that has so often been downplayed in the media and social sciences. To get an idea of where Mr. Prager will be going with this new hour take a listen to his first crack at it.

Male/Female Hour #1

Foolishness Averted

The Los Angeles City Council managed to avoid complete foolishness by rejecting a proposal for a ban on violence as a way to commemorate the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. The proposed 40 hour ban on murder and violence was quickly identified as silliness. Why would a murderer respect a call for 40 hours of peace (which was the goal) if the general laws against murder fail to work as a deterrent? The concept created by Los Angeles author and political commentator Earl Ofari Hutchinson sought to gradually bring an end to violence. "If this works, then the next logical thing is: If a city like Los Angeles can go 40 hours without one homicide, then why not 40 days?" said Hutchinson. By some fortune the members of the City Council were not fooled into thinking that just asking would work where the law and law enforcement has failed. For the complete story check out LA Times.

McCain on Letterman

I found a clip of McCain on Letterman from the Late Show last night. Letterman starts with a series of "You look like.." jokes only to have McCain come out and return fire with his own series of similar jokes. But watch closely the funniest thing is not the jokes, but the brief bit where McCain puts his hands in his pockets and does the little rock back on your heels moment that Letterman does almost as a nervous tick through out his monologues.