Catching up...

Mr. and Mrs. America and all the ships at sea...I can't believe it's been almost a month since I posted. I have had a severe case of blogslack lately. I'll spare the usual excuses and just get right back into providing the high quality content you've come to expect from T-bones World. These first few posts may seem a little muddled because I'm going to be cramming 3 weeks worth of stuff into them. Bear with me as a I blow the carbon out of the lines a bit here.

First things first...My birthday has now come and gone and I am still standing. My aching back can attest to the fact that I have indeed survived to the ripe old age of 32. As far as presents go...I got a new Wichita State hoody from my mom which I loved. Spring and summer in Atlanta aren't really sweatshirt weather but you can believe I'll be busting that out come October. The big present for me was a new Zune. I was going to get some new ink done but I decided to wait until Christmas so I can have my guy in Wichita do it for me. Anyway, so far I really dig the Zune. If you don't know, it's basically Microsoft's version of the video Ipod. It's got ample storage and plays music, video, shows pictures, etc. My only complaint so far is that there isn't really a good source of video content for it right now. For instance, I can't download an episode of The Office from iTunes to my Zune and right now Microsoft's Music Marketplace doesn't offer video, but I'm betting that will change later this year. I got the Zune because I'm a big fan of the subscription music model which lets me pay $15 a month and I can download all the music I want to rather then paying by the drink at iTunes.

The other big deal is that my brother is flying into the ATL on Sunday to spend a couple of days with me. We're driving up to Nashville to see Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie) and David Bazan (Pedro the Lion). As Barney Stinson would say "It's gonna be legendary ."

Million Dollar Baby

Carrying Cathy

Way back in the early days of T-Bones World I posted this little Flash movie about a couple of hamsters. It's set to one of my favorite Ben Fold songs called "Carrying Cathy". I'm posting it again because I still think it's a really cool little piece of art.

http://www.thesuburbs.org.uk/features/hamsters/

I Got This Email Yesterday...

My friend Nate forwarded this email to me yesterday...really interesting stuff especially if you're familiar at all with Dobson's position on environmental issues.

From: Bob Darden <wittenburgdoor@wittenburgdoor.com>
Date: April 1, 2007 12:28:07 AM EDT
To: np****@mac.com
Subject: A special e-mail from Wittenburg Door Senior Editor Robert Darden

We have tweaked our friend the Rev. James Dobson pretty regularly in the past, particular for his involvement in politics. And when Dr. Dobson called for the resignation of the Rev. Richard Cizik, president for the National Association of Evangelicals because he believed that Cizik was spending too much time worrying about global warming and not enough time spent on “core” Religious Right issues, such as abortion and same-sex marriages, we gigged him pretty hard then, too.

However, we received this e-mail this morning from Dobson’s Focus on the Family ministry and we think it is a remarkable document. It is probably the most honest, most revealing statement ever made by the normally carefully controlled Dobson.

So, in the spirit of Christian reconciliation, we’re making available Dr. Dobson’s complete statement, without editorial comment. (If you would like to send Dr. Dobson an e-mail of support for his courageous reassessment, we’ve kept his contact information at the end of his statement.)
Perhaps he should rename it FICUS on the Family
– Robert Darden, Senior Editor

Colorado Springs, CO – Dear friends and supporters:
Since my ill-advised attack on my dear friend Dick Cizik a few days ago, I have had an extraordinary week of reflection and spiritual enlightenment.

Through the counsel of godly men, such as the Rev. Dr. Jack Hayford, the Rev. Rick Warren, Richard Stearns (President, World Vision), David Neff (Editor, Christianity Today) and other members of The Evangelical Climate Initiative (http://www.christiansandclimate.org/), I’ve come to see that my assessment of Dick’s motives and, in fact, “global warming,” have been in error as well.

I have been guilty of a particularly pernicious form of short-sighted Dispensationalism, believing that since the earth has no future with the blessed Second Coming nigh, we, as Christians, have no responsibility to care for Creation.

Through loving testimony, instruction and careful study of the Bible with these and other mentors, I no longer believe that Dick is – as I said earlier, much to my regret -- guilty of a “relentless campaign” to save the planet at the expense of what I called more “serious” issues, such as same-sex marriage. I see now that I have strictly exploited those issues and others like them to manipulate my audience and as a calculated and callous form of fund-raising.

As part of my penance for my unmerited attacks on a courageous, godly man, I have initiated contact with both the Rev. Jerry Falwell and Don Wildmon, with the earnest desire to convince them of the error of their ways as well. While both continue to condemn what they call “earthism worship,” I will continue to pray that this revelation will be made available to them as well.

As for the rest of my penance, I will devote the rest of my career – however long the Lord sees fit to continue in this capacity – to working with my Christian brothers and sisters to insure that all life on the planet, God’s first and greatest gift to us, is protected and cherished.

God bless you all,

Jim Dobson
Focus on the Family
8605 Explorer Drive
Colorado Springs, CO 80995
1-800-232-6459
www.family.org

The Googe

I heard about this on the Relevant podcast (which is hilarious by the way...if you're not listenting to it you really should be.) The almighty Google had a little bit of a screw up on Valentines day. They misspelled their own name as you can see from the picture below.

I am using this forum to further the idea that was presented in that podcast that "Googe" should now be used as a verb that would be synonymous with screwing up. The proper pronunciation is 'Gooj' or 'Goojed' in the past tense. Used in a sentence - "Dude you totally you googed that" or "It was so hilarious when Google googed up their own name". Pass this on...it's important work that we're doing here.

Jesus Wasn't a White, Middle Class Republican...

Here is a link to a story in USA Today about former Caedmon's Call singer/songwriter Derek Webb. Some good press for a modern day evangelical visionary...

American Idol vs. Bob Jones University

If you keep up with pop culture at all you probably heard that Chris Sligh became the latest American Idol casualty this week. You may know Chris as the chubby, bespectacled kid with the Sideshow Bob style curly hair. There was some buzz around him in Christian circles because a couple of his early song choices (including DC Talk and Mute Math) indicated that he might be (gasp) a "Christian Rocker". More details began to emerge, including quotes from his pastor and other folks who listen to him play in the worship band at his church every week. For me, the plot began to thicken when I learned that he was an alumnus of good ol' Bob Jones University, that southern stalwart of old-school fundamentalist seclusion. By the grace of almighty God, I did not attend BJU, but having known some who have and having attended summer camp for many years at one of their indoctrination centers (ok, that may be a little harsh...sorry), I am familiar with their beliefs and rules. It turns out our friend Mr. Sligh was dismissed from BJU one semester shy of graduation. His offense? He attended a concert by a contemporary Christian group called 4Him. Now, for those of you not familiar with 4Him's work, they are the CCM equivalent of Barry Manilow. The kind of plain vanilla, unoffensive music that your church secretary probably listens to. Not something that you would really expect to be kicked out of college for, but this is Bob Jones University we're talking about. Little known fact...BJU is actually one of the 3 holiest places on earth. What are the other 2 you ask? Jerusalem and Pensacola, Fl. So anyway, that was a really long introduction to what I really wanted to post today. When I found out that Chris Sligh got kicked out of BJU for attending a 4Him concert, my first thought was "Wow...if the people at Bob Jones will expel you for listening to 4Him, I'll bet they REEEEEALLLY don't like Demon Hunter". So with that said...here are a couple of my faves for you to enjoy.

God's Gonna Cut You Down...

Another great song from the Man in Black...

The Only Tournament Greater Than March Madness...

You guessed it...the All Valley Under 18 Karate Tournament. This is one of the greatest scenes of all time. This little gem was nestled deep in the vines of my mind grapes until I ran across it on Monkeysforhelping last month.

Kreese: "Sweep the leg...You have a problem with that?"
Johnny: "No Sensei"
Kreese: "No Mercy

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!



And as if that scene wasn't filled with enough karate choppin' goodness for you...here is the scene that played on a continous loop in my house until the J-tard and myself literally wore the tape out. I love this so hard...to this day I do not understand how Joe Esposito was not rocketed to superstar status on the basis of this song alone.

The More You Know...

Check out this PSA for some hard core hip hop...I hope for the sake of rappers everywhere this tool was gunned down outside of Hot 97 (or stabbed at the Source Awards). I'm sure when he was just a young b-boy dreaming of gangsta rap stardom that this is exactly what he had in mind. While his peers were rapping about the perils of the thug life, this cat is laying down monster rhymes about copyright law.