Binocular soccer

For no reason whatsoever, other than that it's hilarious: A Japanese sketch comedy show (I think the host is that guy from MXC) where they make some guys play soccer with binoculars on.

Happy break!

A fun video to celebrate Thanksgiving. I love Dwight.

The Kings of Old

So I just checked out one of the new cameras from our multimedia lab here at work for the weekend – a Canon PowerShot A650 IS. The thing has the most ridiculous macro lens on it – the focal distance is practically 0! Anyway, I checked it out so I can play with it this weekend, which means I'll probably be posting some pics up here...

I thought I'd start by taking a picture of one of the bookends on my desk at work. "Long have I desired to see the kings of old... on my desk!"

TGIF!

Misconceptions of Jesus

A friend and I were discussing common misconceptions about Jesus today, specifically people who get bogged down in legalities – and I was reminded of this parody video that Vintage21, a church group in North Carolina, produced a few years ago.

I ought to offer a disclaimer: this video, in no way, represents my views of Jesus, nor do I believe it reflects the views of the film's producers. Bear in mind this video was shown in church, then followed up with a sermon about common misconceptions and stereotypes of Jesus. This one specifically deals with what some people perceive Jesus to be like with rule-breaking, sinning and other "infractions."

It's quite humorous. There's three other videos just like this (it was a four-part sermon series) on Youtube that you can find through watching the video below.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields
Lt. Col John McRae, MD (1872-1918)

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
in Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
in Flanders fields.

***

This poem, penned by Canadian military doctor John McRae about the 1915 battle at the Ypres salient, is one of the most memorable war poems ever penned. It's a fitting poem to read and think about today, as we honor our veterans – living and dead – and remember the horrible cost of war.

More Philly...

We got the tour of Independence Hall today! It was really cool to be in the room where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were debated and voted on. I didn't find any clues to a giant masonic treasure, but I'll keep looking.


Also, as we were talking to the historic district of Philadelphia, we passed a McDonald's with this trash can out front – and for some reason the clever graffiti made me laugh out loud. So apparently one graffiti artist thinks McDonald's is murder – but another says, "Hey, who cares? It's delicious!" Maybe this is only funny to me ...

The House of Pass and Stow

I'm on a business trip in Philadelphia right now, but while I'm relaxing in my hotel room this evening I thought I'd put the free Internet access to use and post a couple pictures.

Though I've been to Philadelphia before, I've never seen the historic part of town, including the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. I am a bit of a history nut, so I was pretty excited today when Jessica and I had a couple free hours and were able to walk over to Philly's historic district.

After all, Philadelphia full of interesting American history. It's one of the U.S.'s oldest metropolises, established in 1682 by William Penn. It was the home of the first government of the united colonies, home to the first Supreme Court, home to the first and second banks of the United States and is still home to a federal mint.

We ran out of time today to get the tour of Independence Hall, but we're planning on taking our lunch break tomorrow to go back. I'll try to sneak off to discover mystery like Benjamin Gates does in "National Treasure..."

'Goal that saved Arsenal'

Random post today. I have this whole post I'm working on about God and chivalry and the Knight's Code and swords... but I haven't collected my thoughts enough yet to actually finish the post. I need some less mentally-taxing days at work so I can focus on that one night at home.

ALSO... my freelance business is exploding. Praise the Lord for it, as it definitely helps pay the bills, but I've got an incredible amount of projects I need to finish right now! Gah!

Anyway, my day at work today was pretty great – my coworker Jess returned from her trip to London and brought me a pretty awesome souvenir ... a new Arsenal scarf! I didn't even ask or anything, she's just feeding my obsession of her own volition. :)

It was a great weekend, too – for Arsenal and for me. Before I went to the Connexion retreat on Saturday I managed to catch a little bit of the second half of the Arsenal-Man United game. I didn't see any goals, but I went back later and downloaded the whole match and watched it. Phew. William Gallas scoring in the last minute of stoppage time to save the draw – sure it would have been better if it was a win, but still... amazing. Jess also brought me back the Sunday Telegraph, which has a nice big picture of the ref calling the goal and the headline, 'Goal that saved Arsenal.'

The retreat was really great, too – it's always great to meet new people, spend time in fellowship and worship, learn about God and ourselves and in general have fun. We even got to play a little soccer. Good times.

This is a crazy week at work – guest speakers today and Wednesday and a trip to Philadelphia Thursday through Saturday, but after that things calm down! I'm looking forward to getting into the Thanksgiving and Christmas season.

I was also asked to be my new niece's Godfather, which is a pretty great honor. I'm going to try to go home on Sunday to go to her baptism.

And with that last random bit, I'm off to go home and get ready to celebrate Guy Fawkes night.