Current physical book: “The Long Tail” by Chris Anderson
Current audiobook: “The Art of Travel” by Alain de Botton
Atlanta Afternoon
September 28, 2006 at 9:36 am (Personal, Travel)
I was out for an early afternoon decompression walk a couple of days ago and snapped this photo of midtown Atlanta with the cameraphone. The sky is actually blue, a rare event in this city.
Click for larger image
iTunes is playing: Pearl Of The Quarter from the album “Countdown To Ecstasy” by Steely Dan
Travel?
September 25, 2006 at 1:28 pm (Personal, Travel, Writing)
This weblog started as a place for me to share my thoughts about and experiences of travel so, in order to make that more difficult, I haven’t done a whole lot of traveling since starting it. There have been a few trips, but not many, and none to any far off exotic places. I have been sharing other things such as my thoughts on things going on in the world as well as stuff that I find interesting, but it seems a good time to refocus…
Talk of travel is coming. Really, it is. Just hang on.
AOL/XM Radio Hear Music is playing: How To Save A Life from the album “How To Save A Life” by The Fray
Political Memo
September 14, 2006 at 11:04 am (Christianity, Personal, Politics, Science)
A memo to our elected officials…
•We’re sick of political parties and their bickering. They stop progress, steal time and money from us and generally waste our time.
•We’d like to really be free to vote for who we want in every stage of the election process, but that requires fixing the primary system. Right now you guys are missing out on potential support because of this.
•We wish you were all trustworthy, but have basically given up on this and now consider most of you to be crooks. Yup, we really don’t trust you guys (and gals) anymore. There are a very few exceptions to this. Very, very few.
•The fact that important legislation gets killed because some clown tacked on something irrelevant and possibly insane to it, makes all of us angry. It does not make us respect our legislators.
•It also makes us angry to know that you no longer work for us, your constituents, but for lobbyists and their overlords.
•We are not impressed when you choose a token concern with which to make your name when you really could care less about the cause and those who really do support it.
•It would be outstanding to see someone in office with a backbone who is willing to do the right thing instead of simply pushing everyone around.
•You might find it easier to sleep at night knowing you did the right thing instead of the same old thing as all the other people who have managed to get themselves elected to office.
•Being a complete weasel will always cost you more than you think. It will cost you more than votes, but then respect probably doesn’t matter to you anyway. We are not numbers, we are human beings. We have feelings, needs, desires and rights, just like our elected officials.
•A lot of us practice some sort of faith and believe in a higher power.
•We also believe in science and think it is a wonderful thing.
•We realize there are radicals on each side of every issue including religion and science. We are not these people, they are a minority and do not speak for most of us.
•We are not as stupid as you like to think we are.
•We pay attention more than you think we do.
•Try to occasionally think about what the American people actually care about. It could lead to periodic epiphany and more success in your political career.
•If you do the right thing we WILL support you, no matter what the media have to say about it.
AOL/XM Radio XM Cafe is playing: I Don’t Need No Doctor from “That’s What I Say: John Scofield Plays the Music of Ray Charles” by John Scofield (with John Mayer)
Welcome Aboard
September 13, 2006 at 2:22 pm (Travel, Websites)
Wondering what a truthful/full disclosure pre-takeoff airline announcement would sound like? Then check out “Welcome Aboard” from The Economist Magazine online.
It’s worth reading if you ever plan on flying again.
AOL/XM Radio XM Cafe’ is playing: Goodpeople from “Earth to America” by Widespread Panic
Albert Einstein
September 11, 2006 at 4:51 pm (Quotes)
“Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.”
– Albert Einstein
iTunes is playing: Love Will Come Through from the album “Travis: Singles” by Travis
Five Years
September 11, 2006 at 3:22 pm (History, Personal)
Five years ago today, two commercial airliners were flown into the World Trade Center buildings in Manhattan, bringing the buildings down and killing thousands of Americans that happened to be from all over the world.
I remember walking into the Engineering shop at work to see people huddled around a television. I walked up and asked what was going on and was told that it looked like we were under attack. Just then, live on CNN, an airplane hit the second tower. We were all shocked of course, but everyone held tight to their private worries and concerns. For days we watched, waited and worried. We wept for those in the airliners, those in New York and Washington DC and hated the ones insane enough to pull this off. We worried about our families and friends. We worried about whether the country would pull through this or collapse in a manner reminiscent to the way the towers crumbled before our eyes.
We’ve certainly pulled through but nothing is the same, anywhere in the world.
There is no excuse for this. It is pure evil. To shed the blood of the innocent is wrong and the people in the World Trade Center towers were innocent. Those that attacked them are not.
iTunes is playing: False Alarm from the album “Eye to the Telescope” by KT Tunstall
What About Religion?
September 8, 2006 at 12:40 pm (Christianity)
Lately I’ve been pondering the usefulness of religion.
There are many groups that, through the use of members and their financial support, have been able to aid in areas hit by poverty and natural disaster. That’s good. That’s Christ-like.
But what about the damage done throughout history in the name of religion? The Crusades and the schism between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland are two that immediately come to mind. Where is the Christianity in either of those situations? Simply put, there isn’t any. These are instances of people perpetrating crimes under a church banner, but their actions would certainly not be sanctioned by the God they purport to serve.
The Bible says we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, yet I’m afraid that too many people rely on their religion to work out their salvation for them.
It is my firm belief that Christ doesn’t care much for religious institutions as they’ve been implemented by men. We put up walls to declare our separateness when Jesus Christ operated in the absolute opposite manner. He showed his humanity as well as his divinity. He showed that he cared for everyone, no matter what. He knew all humanity to be imperfect, so when their “issues” came to light, it was no surprise to him and no one was excluded for not fitting a mold. He had no molds, only concern and love.
So if we consider ourselves Christians, why do we act so differently from Christ? Perhaps it’s because we’re those same imperfect people he came to reach in the first place. We know better but don’t always act better and it’s time we stop putting up walls to exclude people from the church. In the end it’s between God and each of us, and not between us and anyone else.
I’m just sayin’…
AOL/XM Radio Hear Music is playing: No Smoke Without Fire from “People Gonna Talk” by James Hunter
Two Fantastic Books
September 6, 2006 at 2:01 pm (Personal, Writing)
I’m in the middle of two fantastic books right now…
In Praise of Slowness by Carl Honoré is almost a must-read for anyone who despises traffic and feels like there are never enough hours in the day. An encouraging read.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon really surprised me since I assumed it would be just a pulpy adventure novel. I’d heard really good things about it and gave it to my son for Christmas last year, and have since learned that it won the Pulitzer Prize. I downloaded the audiobook from my library and have just started listening to it. It is a very good story and, while it does indeed have it’s pulpy adventure side, is much deeper that I was expecting and deals with the realities of Germany and World War II. One of the main characters is a Jewish teenager who escapes from the German invasion with anticipation that his family will be able to join him. He watches in frustration as the situation worsens and hopes fade.
AOL/XM Radio “The Loft” is playing Brighter Than Sunshine from “Strange and Beautiful” by Aqualung
Annual Tomato Barrage
September 6, 2006 at 1:33 pm (Travel, Websites)
Every year in Buñol, Spain, tens of thousands of people gather in the streets to hurl tomatoes…
Pretty cool! Be sure to click the link to see the photos.
AOL/XM Radio “The Loft” is playing You Can Call Me Al from the album “Graceland” by Paul Simon
