coming right up... VACATION!!!

This might be the last post for a while... there is a possibility of a random post after while (we've got a student event later tonight... DRIVE-IN... and so if the set up goes well, there's a chance of a random post or two later). But, I wanted to let everyone know that I would be gone on vacation for the next week or so...

I'm going camping with my wife and my parents at Seneca Lake in Ohio. It's great... no Wifi... limited cell reception... but on that note, with no Wifi means no work... but it also means no blogging.

So, hopefully I'll have a few vacation photos when I get back and a couple of stories. Don't lose heart... I will return!!!


Jim

Middle School Cougars' Game!!!

The Middle Schoolers headed to Elfstrom Stadium for a great Kane County Cougar's game as the Cougars took on the Fort Wayne Wizards.

It was a great night for a baseball game... but by the looks of the stands, not everyone agrees.

But we had some great seats. About 3 or 4 rows up from the field on the 3rd base side!!!







Andrew Meyer is surprised at how much fun he had.

And really, we did have a great time.

The Cougars won!!! Always great... and we had a blast.









And it was fireworks night!!!

So, after the game, we really had a blast...








Jim

World's Largest Pillow Fight!!!

This sounds like fun...

"On August 11, 2007, the Kane County Cougars will attempt to break the record for the World’s Largest Pillow Fight, presented by Back to Bed.

Immediately following the Cougars 6pm game, fans with pillows will be invited onto the field to participate in a good natured pillow fight with their family, friends and other fans in an effort to set a new, official World Record.

Every fan who would like to participate in the World Record attempt will need to complete a Registration Form & Waiver and bring it to the game on August 11, 2007. As fans turn in their completed Registration Form & Waiver at the ballpark, they will receive a wristband which will give them access to the field for the pillow fight. Each participant must complete a Registration Form & Waiver and have their own wristband and pillow to be allowed to participate in the World Record attempt."

I might have to track down a ticket or two for that game...

Jim

Cat's stuck...

This morning I was sitting in my chair doing some reading and as I was sitting there, suddenly our cat "Spot" attacked her "garfield" toy... only to suddenly realize that her claw got stuck in the toy and she couldn't get it out.

So she sat there for about 10 minutes trying to get it out. So I snapped a picture.


Jim

Addicted to blogging??? Maybe...

I took this little quiz tonight and found out that I am...
68%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Free Online Dating from Mingle²

See if you're addicted like me.

Jim

Fatness is contagious???

I was watching ABC 7 News Chicago here tonight and saw this story...

There may be some truth to it, but at what point will we begin to blame ourselves for our messes rather than blaming someone else. I can almost hear my mother's voice... "If all your friends jumped off the bridge..."

Here is a clip of THIS story...

"If your friends and family get fat, chances are you will too, researchers report in a startling new study that suggests obesity is "socially contagious" and can spread easily from person to person. The large, federally funded study found that to be true even if your loved ones lived far away. Social ties seemed to play a surprisingly strong role, even more than genes are known to do."

I don't think fatness or obesity is contagious... I think some folks are just looking for another excuse for their actions...

Jim

Sermon is online...

I preached a couple of weekends ago. I preached in the midst of our Sunday morning adult worship summer series on the "Sermon on the Mount."

It is online in an MP3 format for download... If you missed me (and there wasn't much to miss there), click HERE and download away and enjoy.

Jim

Today was the day...

Today, I finally got my hands on an iPhone!

It was sweet!!! Quite possibly as sweet as I was hoping! The only the issue that I had was it was hard for me to push the buttons to spell things. My thumbs are too big and too clumsy, but my guess is that I would get used to it and would be two-thumb-texting in no time.

Here's a quick picture that I took... It's not good... but you get the picture.

But... now I have to wait...

Soon...

Jim

Facebook page...

I broke down yesterday and started a Facebook page. HERE's the link.

I did in part because some of our students are beginning to go to Facebook rather than Myspace. So, I wanted to get a profile there before they go that direction in mass.

Just thought I'd share.

Jim

reading update... 1290 pages!

Last night, I polished off "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini (author of Kite Runner... which is next).

That takes my reading total for the summer up to 1290... only 710 behind schedule.

Overall, I would say that I enjoyed this book. It certainly wasn't a book that I would have picked up with a good review from a friend. In fact, I wasn't recommended this book, but Kite Runner... which is next... but I requested this book through our library and when it came, they gave me a week. It was almost like they challenged me and told me that I couldn't read it in a week... well, I showed them!!!

It was an interesting book and Khaled kept me turning the pages and interested in what was coming next. It did get a little predictable toward the end, but he threw in one final twist on the last page that left a good impression. If you've got the time... pick it up!

Jim

Diet update!!!

This morning...

259.5!!!!!!!!!!

That's a grand total of 40.5 pounds since January 2007. (Now I'm going to a pizza buffet bar called Cici's for lunch and then to the Apple Store!!!)

Jim

Man vs. Wild fake??

This story just about shook my world...

Check it out HERE:

Here's a snipet...
"Channel 4 is to investigate a claim that it misled viewers in a survival series, in the latest allegation of reality being manipulated on a TV show.

Born Survivor featured British adventurer Bear Grylls dealing with "perilous situations" in the wild.

But a crew member told the Sunday Times some nights were spent in hotels.

Channel 4 insisted Grylls was never billed as working entirely unaided, but promised to raise the matter with the production company that made the show.

American survival consultant Mark Weinert, who was recruited by Diverse Productions, told the paper Grylls claimed to be stranded on a desert island on one occasion."

I love Man vs. Wild... but, they never say that it is actual situation. It's that he is showing you how to do it.

It's still good stuff.

Jim

Careful what you eat...

I saw this story on the Internet this afternoon...

Check it out HERE:
" A Havre, Mo., resident said he would never buy barbecue potato chips again after finding a deep fried mouse in a bag of Lays K.C. Masterpiece chips.

Jack Hines, 66, discovered the deep fried mouse when he reached into a bag of Lays June 19, the Havre Daily News reported.

"I just about put it in my mouth," said Hines. "I was sitting there watching TV in the dark and I grabbed for three fingers of potato chips and I grabbed a mouse. It shook me up a bit and I threw it over my head."

After finding the rodent he contacted Gary and Leo's IGA in Havre, where he purchased the chips, to see what he should do about it.

"They told me to call the 800 number on the back of the bag," Hines said. "The lady that I talked to (from the 800 number) said they wanted the mouse and the bag of remaining chips that were left. They did ask me if I was feeling sick, and I said no I am not."

He said a Frito Lay representative is scheduled to come to Havre to pick up the mouse and bag of chips."

Two Learnings:
1. Don't eat in the dark.
2. Don't eat what you haven't already looked at.

Jim

Nooma free online...

I don't know if any of you out there are Rob Bell (Nooma) fans...

I am.
I just finished Velvet Elvis. And it was great!

If you want to, Rob just released his 17th Nooma video and for the next couple of days, you can view it for free on his myspace page. It's little... but if you know the control scroll mouse trick, you can make it larger. The video is called today and it's pretty darn good.

Enjoy!!

Jim

Last 5 Visitor locations...

People are stopping by like crazy... especially with the CIY stuff...

But there are others too.

Here are the locations of the last 5 visitors to my little blog...
1. Rochester, MN
2. Rome, Italy
3. Sparland, IL
4. Batavia, IL
5. Langley, Canada

If you're wondering where each of those sites are, I added a little "mapquest" link.

Enjoy!

Jim

Reading Update...

I realized this morning that I've failed update on my summer reading schedule of reading 3000 pages. At this point in the summer, I should have read 1,750 pages. This past week, I polished off "Trogan Horse" by Marc Cerasini. It was a pretty good read, but it's hard to read books that deal with pre-season 1 material knowing what happens later.

But it counted for 352 pages... with 372 done...

Bringing the total to 724 pages.


Then...



This morning I wrapped up a book that I've been reading off and on for a while now...

Rob Bell's "Velvet Elvis"...

It was a good read. Rob's work is extremely post-modern. But a good read none the less.

It counted for 194 pages...

Bringing the grand total to 918 pages.




As for right now, as for "church reading" I'm between books. As for "personal," I started last night on "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini (writer of "The Kite Runner") and knocked off about 70 pages. I'm hoping to wrap it up this weekend (it's 372 and due back to the public library on Tuesday...). So, hopefully I'll have a new update soon...

Jim

24's Lady Pres...

24 looks to be hoping that Hilary wins the Presidential election so that they can say that life imitates art... I would NEVER vote for her.

But I will be interesting to see what 24 will do with this story line... HERE's the article from TVGuide.com

"Fox's 24 might not know exactly what story they are spinning this coming season — what with the recent and abrupt scrapping of plans to film in Africa (see the Ausiello Report) — but at the very least they know who will be in charge. Seeing as how Geena Davis might be otherwise occupied with Criminal Minds, Cherry Jones has been appointed president, sources tell the Hollywood Reporter, representing the first major casting for Season 7.

Jones, 51, has appeared in such recent films as Ocean's Twelve, The Village and Signs. Also of note, she became the first openly lesbian actress to win a Tony award (for The Heiress) when she thanked her longtime partner during her 1995 acceptance speech. "

We'll see... Only 177 days until Season 7!!! (11 hours... 50 minutes... 50 seconds... but who's counting).


Jim

Books ordered...

Well, I just finished ordering all of the books for my Fall Semester at LCS as well as Jackie's books. Altogether, I think we spent about $143 for 4 classes... not too shabby at all. In fact, that's the purpose for this post.

The BEST place to search online for books is a website that Tadd, our TA for Hebrew last semester, put me onto. It's called "Campusi.com." The only way that I can describe it to you is that it's kinda like "Google" for searching for books.

At first, I was skeptical. But after using it once, I was hooked. I bought every single book for this semester using it. In fact, over the summer I used it to track down a book that was supposedly "unavailable."

You go to the site... type in the book title, author, ISBN number or whatever and then search. It is going to take a couple of moments and then return with a listing of every book, it's location, price, shipping price and total price in ascending order from cheapest to most expense. Then you click the one that you want to buy, check it out and add it to your shopping cart. You don't actually buy anything through their site, they just hook you up with Amazon.com, Half.com, Wal-Mart.com, Abebooks.com, or whatever site it is that has that book. But by using this list, you can tell in advance without much searching that Amazon.com is the cheapest... or the most expensive.

Time saved!! And in the end, MONEY SAVED!!!!

There were several times during this book purchasing round that if I hadn't known better, I would have bought a book from Amazon because they had it, not realizing that I could have bought it about $15 cheaper somewhere else.

And with being in Graduate school, having a pretty wide library and reading a lot, I like to save money on books.

So, check it out... you'll be glad you did.

Jim

new camper!!!

My vacation is coming up here in a couple of weeks. And most years, we got to Seneca Lake and spend some time camping, boating, skiing and hanging out.

My folks just bought a new camper. It's similar to this one... this one isn't it... but it is similar.

I'm looking forward to seeing it and hanging out in it.

Jim

Fresh Frontline Findings!!!

Hey gang...
I just emailed out a fresh group of Frontline Student Ministry findings... NEWSLETTER!!!... If you didn't get a copy or would like a copy, point your browser HERE.

Enjoy!!!

Jim