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Thrawn (Star Wars)
Star wars: thrawn, Vol. 1
Av Timothy Zahn
Sjangere: Action og Eventyr, Science-Fiction
Slippdato: 11. apr. 2017
Forlag: Del Rey Books
One of the most cunning and ruthless warriors in the history of the Galactic Empire, Grand Admiral Thrawn is also one of the most captivating characters in the Star Wars universe, from his...
One of the most cunning and ruthless warriors in the history of the Galactic Empire, Grand Admiral Thrawn is also one of the most captivating characters in the Star Wars universe, from his introduction in bestselling author Timothy Zahn's classic Heir to the Empire through his continuing adventures in Dark Force Rising, The Last Command, and beyond, Grand Admiral Thrawn has earned an iconic status among the greatest Star Wars villains. But Thrawn's origins and the story of his rise in the Imperial ranks have remained mysterious. Now, in Star Wars: Thrawn, Timothy Zahn chronicles the fateful events that launched the blue-skinned, red-eyed master of military strategy and lethal warfare into the highest realms of power—and infamy.
After Thrawn is rescued from exile by Imperial soldiers, his deadly ingenuity and keen tactical abilities swiftly capture the attention of Emperor Palpatine. And just as quickly, Thrawn proves to be as indispensable to the Empire as he is ambitious; as devoted as its most loyal servant, Darth Vader; and a brilliant warrior never to be underestimated. On missions to rout smugglers, snare spies, and defeat pirates, he triumphs time and again—even as his renegade methods infuriate superiors while inspiring ever greater admiration from the Empire. As one promotion follows another in his rapid ascension to greater power, he schools his trusted aide, Ensign Eli Vanto, in the arts of combat and leadership, and the secrets of claiming victory. But even though Thrawn dominates the battlefield, he has much to learn in the arena of politics, where ruthless administrator Arihnda Pryce holds the power to be a potent ally or a brutal enemy.
All these lessons will be put to the ultimate test when Thrawn rises to admiral and must pit all the knowledge, instincts, and battle forces at his command against an insurgent uprising that threatens not only innocent lives but also the Empire's grip on the galaxy—and his own carefully laid plans for future ascendancy.
Sjangere: Action og Eventyr Science-Fiction
Action og Eventyr, Space Opera
Star wars: thrawn
Action og Eventyr, Science-Fiction
Del Rey Books
Timothy Zahn
Star wars: thrawn Vol. 1
Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy: (Book 1: Chaos Rising)
Thrawn ascendancy Vol. 1
Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy (Book I: Chaos Rising)
Star wars: the ascendancy trilogy Vol. 1
Survivor's Quest: Star Wars Legends
Star Wars - Legends
Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy: (Book 3: Lesser Evil)
The Thrawn Trilogy Boxed Set: Star Wars Legends: Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command
Star wars: the thrawn trilogy - legends
Call to Duty
Honorverse: Manticore Ascendant Vol. 1
The Last Command: Star Wars Legends (The Thrawn Trilogy)
Star wars: the thrawn trilogy - legends Vol. 3
Heir to the Empire: Star Wars Legends (The Thrawn Trilogy)
Thrawn: Treason
Star Wars Vol. 3
Dark Force Rising: Star Wars Legends (The Thrawn Trilogy)


Ive been doing great all year but I struggle with exams. I really want an a star and am capable cos I have near top in my class, but I struggle with keeping all the information in my head.
Any tips from past experience or GCSE takers this year ?
What are your revision techniques ?
How do I get a good grade in GCSE History?
how is history gcse different to a.s history?
I make revision booklets for myself.Also find out what type of learner you are: Kinethestic, Auditory or Visual, you can do this by using many website for example http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=younger ,I am a kinethestic and auditory learner so I read my notes out loud while moving about like a maniac. I tend to revise with some friends which helps as it highlights what areas I'm struggling in. I'm not sure if this a good idea but for me, I often perform better cramming rather than long term revision in history.
What I do for revision is read a revision booklet about what I'm going to be doing in the exams and I read all the information and put the information (on paper or MS Word) in bullet points and sort them out into different headings so it is easier to read and I am more likely to remember.
If you like, we could do Q&A for revision purposes on here.
I'm just reading my textbook, making notes on the subjects, then getting my Dad to test me on my notes. I'm also using bitesize and internet quizzes on the subjects.
How difficult is History A level?
Am I panicking too much?
Help! A level choices - geography or history?
Do I have time to finish my history GCSE?


PEORIA, Ill. (AP) - The Peoria Rivermen hockey team says co-owner Bruce Saurs has died.
According to a news release from the Southern Professional Hockey League team, the 88-year-old Saurs died Thursday morning. The release didn't provide a cause of death.
Fellow Rivermen co-owner Bart Rogers credited Saurs with helping keep hockey alive in Peoria for more than two decades.
Saurs was a graduate of Bradley University in Peoria and owned car dealerships before buying the Rivermen in 1989.
The team had run big financial losses but he turned it into a money-maker.
He also helped pioneer links between the team and the St. Louis Blues that the Rivermen enjoyed for years.
The release said Saurs also worked as a teacher and coach and in the 1950s helped start Peoria's first Little League program.


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2012 Vampiress Year in Review
So I'm now officially back from my little blogging hiatus so what better way to start off than a little year in review recap of the vampiress genre. Tons of ups and downs so lets start with the biggest one
The End of the Twilight Saga
OK let me just put it out there. The films for a fantasy story in the same light as "The Princess Bride" or "Lord of the Rings" etc weren't that bad. It was just GAWD AWFUL as far as being a vampire flick. I can't be too hard on it being that it ended on a "baby daddy" custody battle and an attractive female becoming a fairy vampire but none the less I can't say I'm too sorry to see it go. It's not like this will be the last of the complete dismantling of Vampires as creatures to fear but instead figments for women to fantasize about falling in love with. Especially with the on again off again chance of a "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" reboot as well as the resurrection of Anne Rices "Vampire Chronicles" and a film adaptation of "Vampire Acadamy" looming on the horizon.
The one thing that does make me sad about the series ending would be the chance of Ashley Greene (Alice Cullen) falling into irrelavents which means no more random pics of her wearing fangs for no reason which seemed to come out regularly (below).
Death dealer Selene FINALLY does something Vampiric
It took 5 movies but Selene the sword swinging, gun toting, cross species screwing would be vampire princess assassin finally remembered that she indeed is a vampire in the latest installment of the Underworld saga which came out in 2012. In the scene in which she's escaping from her human captors she bares her fangs and feeds on a truck driver BloodRayne style (video game BloodRayne, not Uwe Boll neutered movie BloodRayne) in order to heal from a gun shot to the head.
This scene is so BloodRayne like that it almost makes up for the 1 decent and 2 horrible BloodRayne movies we've had to endure (not to mention the probably horrible gangster themed BloodRayne film Boll has in pre production now). If only this happened more often. I swear Selene has to have the greatest self control ever in order to shoot and stab people all day and NEVER get hungry.
Tim Burton murders Dark Shadows
I was all for a Dark Shadows remake when I first heard about the project and had a lot of respect for Johnny Depp for coming up with the idea. That all got flushed as soon as Tim Burton's name popped up with the project. Tim Burton did wonders for rebranding the Batman franchise when his big screen version resembled a more dark yet over the top direction than what had been the status quo for the character. Problem is ever since then he's done the SAME THING FOR EVERY MOVIE HE'S DONE. Willie Wonka, the Mad Hatter and Barnabus Collins might as well all been the same character. Then to make matters worse, it is a COMEDY. The one very bright spot in the film was Eva Greens portrayal of Angelique Bouchard which was fantastic. Unfortunately even that becomes part of a cruel joke as they do have Angelique get turned in the film (just as she was in the original series) but we never actually see her as a vampire as our last glimpse of her is her eyes opening after she plunges into the ocean. That's right, an open ending in which Tim Burton has stated he never had any intention of following up on (IE no sequal). Thanks for nothing Tim Burton!
1995 called and they said they'd pay triple for access to this film.
If this movie came out 15 years ago, it's a huge deal. Vamps is a film in the same take as "Clueless" (created by the same director). The story revolves around two single female vampires living it up in New York city. Not only do you get a fanged Alicia Silverstone in this film but you get Sigourney Weaver as well. Having a slutty vampire Krysten Ritter is only a bonus.
I don't know if my babysitter is a vampire because I don't see her that much anymore
The second season of "My Babysitters a Vampire" debuted and to put it lightly, sucked. It reverted to a live action scooby doo type show where the main characters fought strange supernatural beings every week. It eventually got to the point where the character Sara only really came around at the end of episodes as a secret weapon ala the sword Voltron used to use that would kill the evil robeast in one swipe that you always wondered why they never just used in the first place. Needless to say, the show has yet to be renewed for a third season and it's looking more and more like it's not going to happen.
Main Character Vampires Gone Wild
The best part of 2012 by far is that on the top 2 vampire TV shows not only did main human characters get turned into vampires but they let it all out.
First on True Blood Tara Thornton who had gotten shot in the head at the end of season 4 gets turned by Pam and by the end of the season 5 not only is she happy to be a vampire, but she's now a vampire stripper in a lesbian relationship with her maker. I honestly don't think you can get any better than that.
This by the way in the same season that Jessica Hamby is seen in the first episode in a little red riding hood costume straight out of your local stripper costume store!
In the less rated "M" world of Vampires Elena Gilbert of the Vampire Diaries is also turned and struggles for quite a few episodes controlling her blood thirst. It doesn't help that Damon eventually corrupts her into feeding directly from the vein and to enjoy human blood similar to a drug.
There you have it, the biggest vampiric stories of 2012. 2013 should be an interesting year with more lesbian vampirism on True Blood as well as no less than 9 major films set to come out. Hopefully they'll be enough hot female vampires in them to keep me busy for awhile.
Posted by Jmac at 10:21 PM
Labels: black vampires, fangs, female vampire, lady vampire, movies, tv shows, Vampiress
Alex. G January 10, 2013 at 8:26 AM
A rather disappointing year with a few exceptions. With upcoming movies like Vamp U and Bloodsucka Jones this year should hopefully be more interesting.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Discussion in 'Cards: Strategy and Rulings Discussion' started by The Collector, Jul 30, 2008.
Is there any I missed or non-existant cards?
There is no MD Holo Bronzong. Only non-holo and reverse. Other than that, you're right on.


We almost hit a bicyclist last night. As we were driving home, we came up on a guy riding his bike in the dark, wearing all-black clothing, with just one faint flashing red taillight. Carrying a backpack and riding a commuter-style bike, he was clearly on the narrow, unlit country road because he was on his way home from work or school. Luckily, we saw him at the last minute and were able to give him his three feet as we safely passed him.
Dax Shepard (Parenthood) and Kristin Bell star in this sort of indie flick that got a pretty wide release and has some of the best star cameos I have seen in years. A former getaway driver for a gang that used to rob banks leaves the Witness Protection program to help his girlfriend get a new job in LA, while avoiding the former gang he helped put away.
The Reedley Downtown Association's gala event is fast approaching, touting fine cuisine from 30 food providers that call Reedley home. As the hysterical historian, I have been thinking back over my 65 years as a Reedleyite and of the 50-odd restaurants, cafes, diners, hotdog and frosty stands, drive-ins, bars and dives that came before.
Pixar's latest animated film stars hopefully a new Disney princess, Merida. Set in Scotland during the 10th century, the princess defies the old age custom of marrying the first-born son of the clan chiefs under her father's rule by competing for her own hand to avoid getting married. All this much to the chagrin of her mother, the Queen Elinor, who has been preparing her, her entire life as a princess.
What if arguably one of our best Presidents turned out to be a vampire hunter? Well now we know what that would look like in the film adaptation of the book by the same name. Benjamin Walker has the unfortunate task of selling Lincoln as not only a brilliant passionate legal mind but also a strong kickass vampire hunter, and I have to say he pulled it off.
What To Expect When You're Expecting was inspired by the non-fiction best selling book of the same name—a book that many have counted on to see them through the joys and fears of pregnancy, myself included.
Gail has shared many fun stories with KRL and we are happy she is helping us celebrate Mother's Day with this Mother's Day salute. There is a coupon for the Reedley Sandwich Shop at the end of this story.
When I was asked to do a review of the Italian restaurant Valentino's, I was excited because many family members have experienced their food both at its new location in downtown Reedley and when the restaurant resided on Manning across from Savemart.


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Obama advisor says Biden spending partially to blame for surging inflation
Economist warns federal government needs to take inflation seriously
By Caitlin McFall FOXBusiness
Fox Business Flash top headlines for November 11
A top economic advisor in the Obama administration said Thursday that federal spending for coronavirus relief has contributed to the recent inflation surge.
"A sizable chunk of the inflation we're seeing is the inevitable result of coming out of the pandemic," Jason Furman told the Associated Press.
U.S consumers have seen prices jump on everything from bacon to washing machines as the consumer price index reported a 6.2% increase from this time last year on Wednesday.
Pork and beef products are displayed on a shelf at a Safeway store on Oct. 4, 2021 in San Francisco. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images / Getty Images)
COTTON TELLS BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TO 'STOP THE MADNESS' AMID 30-YEAR INFLATION HIGH
Gas has doubled in price and cars are more than 25% more expensive this fall.
Economic experts have attributed this to a combination of reasons, arguing that too much federal funding, in part, has overstimulated the economy.
Roughly 22 million jobs were cut after businesses were forced to close their doors at the beginning of the pandemic in spring 2020.
The federal government moved to cut checks for the unemployed and funneled loans to businesses in an attempt to keep them afloat and prevent a colossal economic collapse.
Furman argued the latest $1.9 trillion relief package pushed through shortly after President Biden took office may have been a step too far.
The federal government handed out new rounds of $1,400 checks for most Americans and relief programs were extended.
CONSUMER PRICES SURGE BY MOST IN 31 YEARS
A help wanted sign is displayed at a gas station in Mount Prospect, Ill., Tuesday, July 27, 2021. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh) (AP / AP Newsroom)
But Furman argued lawmakers were so intent on preventing an economic collapse that they "systematically underestimated inflation."
"They poured kerosene on the fire," he added.
GOP lawmakers have argued the federal relief programs stopped merely assisting Americans to get through the pandemic and encouraged people to stay home instead of returning to the workforce.
Europe, for example, has experienced supply chain shortages in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, but it is not plagued by the same inflation ramifications.
"Inflation is a lot higher in the United States than it is in Europe," Furman said. "Europe is going through the same supply shocks as the United States is, the same supply chain issues. But they didn't do nearly as much stimulus.''
The labor crisis has crippled supply chains across the U.S., pushing prices up arbitrarily as businesses try to handle shortages, leading to a 30-year high in inflation.
"Inflation is not slowing. It's maintaining a red-hot pace," Furman said. He disputed reassurances from the Federal Reserve that recent inflation increases are merely "transitory" as the economy rebounds from the pandemic.
"They need to stop telling us that inflation is 'transitory,' start becoming more worried about inflation, then act in a manner consistent with being worried," he added.


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Siti Fadilah Supari (ur. 6 listopada 1949 w Surakarcie) – indonezyjska lekarka; minister zdrowia Indonezji w okresie od 21 października 2004 r. do 20 października 2009 r.

Przypisy

Indonezyjscy lekarze
Indonezyjscy ministrowie zdrowia
Ludzie urodzeni w Surakarcie
Urodzeni w 1949

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Arcade Fire's "My Body Is A Cone" Ice Cream?
Updated 7/27/2017: Turns out, Arcade Fire are the kings of trolling. We reached out to Ben & Jerry's and they explained the following: "We're sorry but this is not a Ben & Jerry Flavor and we have no further information."
Arcade Fire, the highly acclaimed indie rock band, are working with the ice cream giants, Ben & Jerry's. It's all listed below. To start though, we'll lead with a wonderfully whimsical clue: "My Body is a Cone." There is a lot going on, we'll also shed light on Arcade Fire's involvement in all things Brooklyn Vegan and Yondr.
Combine Ben & Jerry's with Arcade Fire? It's a combo that not many could turn down, nor really understand for that matter. The band has recently announced that at the end of August, Arcade Fire ice cream from Ben & Jerry's will be available. Just imagine Ben & Jerry's sweetness sprinkled with Arcade Fire's signature wit.
Arcade Fire ran a poll on Twitter to find a name for their Ben & Jerry's ice cream's flavor (all of this was in honor of National Ice Cream day...of course).
"My Body is a Cone"
That's right, a big pun on their single "My Body is a Cage," which you can listen to below...and eat a themed ice cream to.
Keep in mind, that these days everything is a meme and everyone is a troll, so it's highly unlikely we'll ever get to taste the flavor that involves 'fudge skeletons' and 'crunchy-bone pieces.' Then again, who knows, they did make cereal for "Creature Comforts," a track off their forthcoming album, Everything Now.
Our dress code is HIP & TRENDY as if you are going to a concert or night out with friends! The event is standing-room-only so please plan accordingly.
PLEASE DO NOT WEAR shorts, large logos, flip flops, tank tops, crop tops, baseball hats, solid white or red clothing. We reserve the right to deny entry to anyone dressed inappropriately.
Yondr is a new development that allows show participants to keep possession of their phone, but removes their ability to use it. As people enter a venue utilizing Yondr, they place their phone in a bag which locks when entering certain zones.


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This practical and much-needed message powerfully shows Christians that the Bible is God's clear, perfect, and true Word that is sufficient for us.


3 Day Startup explores the journey of student entrepreneurs from all over the world in the first of the ongoing blog series, Born in Dorms. Universities are ripe for more innovation: the combination of bright students, open information, and accessible tech creates an environment where student companies can flourish better than ever before. These highly motivated and driven students share their successes, failures, and everything in between as they navigate the fast-paced world of entrepreneurship in their local communities. Read more about each student's unique perspective on trying to build a viable company in and around campus.
Austin Hallock is a junior computer science student at the University of Texas at Austin. In January 2012, he found Clay.io with fellow UT students Robert Leung and Radhika Sakalkale.
Clay.io is a platform for HTML5 games and features a marketplace for game players, as well as an API for game developers. The API allows developers to build high level features in their games, such as user accounts, payment processing, leaderboards, achievements, and analytics. The market for HTML5 games is fragmented, making it difficult to find and play games that work on any device. Clay.io fixes this discovery problem as a central location for HTML5 games.
During the course of a year, Clay.io has reached some major milestones. Not only did they launch early last year — a huge hurdle that many startups never reach — they now have 4,000 members and 200 games using the platform. Hallock says, "You can get pretty far on effort alone. There are tons of startups where the co-founders just aren't serious or motivated. Even if they have more raw skills than you — with some effort, you can hone your own and build a stronger company." He then cites Dennis Crowley as an example of someone who learned how to program because no one else wanted to code things Crowley needed for Dogdeball.
Hallock also advises other student entrepreneurs to use their student status whenever possible, "Being in college is a double-edged sword — some will treat the company less seriously, more as a 'project' than a company, but at the same time — most are willing to give you things you normally wouldn't get for free." For example, Clay.io landed free office space, advising, hosting which would have cost $2,000 a month, a waived application fee for the SXSW Interactive Accelerator, as well as the opportunity to pitch at a hackathon without having to put down sponsorship dollars.
Besides alone time and a keyboard, all of this headway could not have been achieved without all of the resources made accessible to Clay.io. Hallock and his co-founder Leung took the 1 Semester Startup seminar, now Longhorn Startup, taught by Josh Baer and Bob Metcalfe at the University of Texas at Austin. Longhorn Startup fosters interdisciplinary startup innovation by offering three tracks that support student entrepreneurs during all stages of their growth. Through this experience, Hallock and his team made countless connections with mentors in the community such as Ken Demarest, who helped advance the state of the art in video games by developing the first 3D, texture-mapped characters first seen in a computer game with BioForge.
This semester Hallock and his team are taking another track in Longhorn Startup with goals to increase Clay.io's revenue.


The discussion we lost in the technicals was about ArenaNet, and how we like to give them money, but we don't really want to any more because they basically not only fired a female employee for pushing back against mansplaining, but a male colleague who supported her. And we didn't like that much. So that's basically the bits you missed.
We'll be making more noise about it as we get back into recording more frequently. If you like what you hear though, please consider dropping us a dollar a show! It'll help pay for our producer and more gear so we can record remotely while we are both travelling.


anxious about / anxious of"
I could not find information in my advanced grammar book or online easily. Could anyone please let me know what information they have on this topic?
Thank you for the help - if you happened to know a web page with any more information on this topic, please let me know.


Ensures the commercial development of its Brand(s) throughout the Benelux territory.
Defines and lead the sales policy of its brand(s) and ensures a strong operational presence on the field.
Develop and implement sales strategies in the defined territory (product selection, proposal adaptation to the pricing policy, distribution channel) according to overall Brand strategy.
Minimum 5 to 15 year-experience in sales management on the Benelux market ( Belgium, Holland, Luxemburg) in the fashion sector.


GENEVA, 23 February 2012 - A Business Forum featured for the first time at today's opening in Geneva of the biennial Private Public Partnership event, PPP Days 2012.
"This is an opportunity for national and regional governments to present their projects to the business community," said Geoffrey Hamilton, Chief, Partnerships and Cooperation Section, Economic Cooperation and Integration Division of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) as he opened the special session on Japan and the role of PPPs in disaster risk reduction (DRR) and post disaster reconstruction.
PPP Days 2012, jointly hosted by the UNECE, World Bank Institute, and Asian Development Bank is the global meeting place for public sector practitioners. Since 2006, PPP Days has become the place for practitioners to network and learn from peers and counterparts from other countries.
In the keynote address, UNISDR Chief, Margareta Wahlström, said "Private sector involvement in risk reduction is far too small. By 2015 and in the lead-up to determine a successor to the Hyogo Framework for Action [the 10 year international blueprint for disaster risk reduction], I would like to see the private sector step up in both the discussions and the contributions. The knowledge and evidence to reduce disaster risks are here -- the question is what is the PPP doing?"
At the opening session, Japan's Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Geneva, Kenichi Suganuma, said that the outcome of "today's discussions must be used in future reconstruction plans, stressing that private sector knowledge and initiatives help national efforts and stimulate the economy". He recalled that during the relief period following the Great East Japan earthquake last year, over 44,000 convenience stores became community lifelines "as important as electricity and water services".
Ambassador Suganuma highlighted the amendment of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) which was passed in May last year which now enables use of private sector expertise and capital instead of government expenditure to facilitate the restoration of public infrastructure and services after disasters.
Sandra Wu Wen-Hsiu, President and CEO of Kokusai Kyogo Holding Co, Ltd., and member of UNISDR's Private Sector Advisory Group (PSAG), said her company, which provides engineering and consulting services has "been involved with government infrastructure projects from our beginnings 65 years ago, and this of course includes disaster preparedness planning."
Explaining how that worked she said that during a disaster, "Many of you in the public sector might think that the amount of time necessary to meet procurement regulations makes it all but impossible to call upon the private sector in a timely manner when a disaster occurs. In Japan, we have gotten around this through a system called emergency agreements, where services to be provided are agreed upon prior to the occurrence of an emergency. These are standing agreements that kick in when there is a disaster."
Peter Williams, Chief Technology Officer for the IBM programme, "Big Green Innovations", and also a member of the PSAG, highlighted floods as a major issue for IBM. "For any given flood prone location, how can we create a global community platform that enables better understanding of the complex causes behind the risk of flood impact -- the better to support the decisions, and also the education and communication, needed to mitigate that risk before, during and after the flood itself?" he asked.
IBM is working on a Global Flood Model (GFM) which will assess flood risks and devise long-term mitigation strategies such as land use changes and infrastructure improvements, according to Williams. This model, due to be launched in March, will "comprise an integrated set of modules, each composed of models and data. For each module there are two core elements: a specification, and a live 'reference version' (a worked example). Users will be able to work with the reference version, or substitute their own models and data."
The business model is derived from open source software and the specifications and reference version of the GFM will be licensed free for non-profit usage. The GFM is proposed by Willis Ltd, the UK Met Office, Esri, Deltares and IBM who are all committing substantial pro-bono resources to the initiative. They are looking for donor funding "to confirm the feasibility of the concept, to create the GFM organization, and to commence the process of building the GFM."


Cooking with Corey: It's Smack-Down Time: Nigella Lawson vs. Rachel Ray!
0 It's Smack-Down Time: Nigella Lawson vs. Rachel Ray!
But how fun would it be to see Nigella Lawson kick Rachel Ray's behind?! Maybe it's because I really like Nigella, who seems to be genuine person, while I find Rachel Ray to be one of most saccharine, annoying human beings on the planet. Plus, her trashy "marshmellows-and-dorritos-on-a-spit" type of recipes make me want to yak!
Is it just me or does anyone else find many of the TV personalities on the Food TV Network just totally annoying?!
I find that some of the female hosts suffer from a serious case of the "squeakies" and some seriously plastic over-smiling.
Take note, Giada (De Laurentiis) and Rachel (Ray), high-pitched squeaky voices and permanently plastered-on smiles are just NOT appealing in any form. So just cut it out, you fakers!
When you start modeling your behavior after a Barbie Doll, that's really not a good thing at all. Barbie is inanimate and has a plastic head, which is sometimes gnawed upon by the family dog. Perhaps this lack of regard Fido has for Barbie should be a sign to pick a better role model.
Atleast Giada's recipes do have some appeal, although she focuses way too much on pastas. Judging from the look of her, I bet she doesn't eat her own high-carb cooking. Or her skinny rear would resemble a giant pumpkin.
Next on the hit-list is Paula Deen. She seems to focus entirely on sweets and very heavy, unhealthy types of food. Not exactly a role model for healthy eating. Not to mention that her voice drives absolutely batty.
I have a fairly neutral opinion of Ina Garten's personality, but again, just like Paula Deen, she certainly uses enough fattening ingredients in her cooking show. I don't know HOW eating so much butter and cream like that on a repeated basis could possibly be good for you. Her poor husband. Although his taste buds might be temporarily thrilled, he's probably in danger of having a major heart attack.
And did you ever notice how many spaced-out, freaky people are in his audience? It's like he intentionally scouts out the weirdest, most rabid fans out there and bring them into the audience so they nod vigorously in agreement with every strange utterance he says just like robots. Maybe the studio doles out a few rufies to subdue the audience and keep them from leaving.
To be fair, I have tried some of his recipes, but had to modify several of them into healthier versions or change/omit a few ingredients to make them more suited to our own personal taste. They weren't exactly horrible, but I wasn't horribly impressed either.
What I'm getting at here is that many of the aforementioned chefs are just NOT suited for roles as TV personalities, and frankly, would be better off resigning themselves to taking a job as a restaurant chef where their only interactions would be with kitchen staff (!).
And at that, I wouldn't be surprised if the sous-chef aimed a kebab skewer at Rachel Ray's head after the first 15 minutes of working in the kitchen with her.
Now before any of you lay into me too heavily for being "all rant and no rave," I will say this about the Food TV Network's chefs: Firstly, I do have many favorites whom I think have great personalities and are also great chefs: Nigella Lawson, Mario Batali, Wolfgang Puck, Bobby Flay, etc.
And I really like Duff Goldman's show, "Ace of Cakes." I like the dynamic of the people in his show. I think he has a really healthy attitude towards his business (i.e., Charm City Cakes) and towards life. You can tell that, while he gets the job done, that he never takes himself too seriously. I like how he injects a sense of humor into everything he does and is so laid back. (You just know that a man with the same name as Homer Simpon's beer has got to be a casual guy! :-) ) He seems like he'd be a fun/easy person to get along with and work beside. I guess it helps that most of the people he hires are his friends and around the same age as himself. Which makes for an easy and hospitable work environment.
Of course, this is a show about cakes made for special occasions, so I think I can let go of my "death-by-chocolate," soap-box style rant in this particular instance. Yes, I can forgive him for making hip-widening cakes because I like his show so much. ;-) The show's more about the creativity that goes into the cake-creation process, and about the people who make and also buy the cakes.
The funny thing is that I'm considering asking him to do either our wedding cake (which is most likely going to be just a small family wedding), or possibly a different cake for the picnic we're going to throw for our friends who live in the area, in celebration of our wedding. Yes, picture two giant bride and groom penguins... in cake! And when we cut into the cake, the inside of the cake will be red! (Just like the armadillo cake from Steel Magnolias!!!!) HAHAHAHA!"


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By Gilbert N. Kahn	August 23, 2013, 12:00 am Edit
Gilbert N. Kahn is a professor of Political Science at Kean University.
Just when you think matters could not get worse, sure enough things get worse. The Middle East seems to be exploding and imploding from a number of directions and certainly for both the U.S. and Israel there are some very difficult choices. Curiously, in this instance it seems that the policy options for the U.S. are far more complicated than they are for Israel; although surely in an existential way, Israel is in a potentially far more precarious situation than the U.S.
First, it now appears that this is really a case of Hobson's choice. Would you rather deal with a Syrian Government which apparently has no impunities in attacking its own people by using sarin gas to keep them under control; or would you rather deal with an Egyptian Government which overthrows a democratically elected Government and then proceeds to slaughter hundreds of people who objected to a military take-over of the democratic—albeit religiously fanatical—Islamic regime?
Add to this week's crises, over the past 48 hours Israel now appears to be facing a revitalized Hezbollah which is under pressure and siege in Syria as they try to intercede or interfere—depending on your perspective—in the civil war continuing unabated now for almost three years. Hezbollah's use of Katyusha rockets launched apparently indiscriminately against Israel—presumably trying to bait Israel into retaliating and thus creating a unifying diversionary tactic in the midst of the Syrian chaos—looks so far to have not elicited the response from Israel for which it had hoped. At this point, Israel has only responded in kind from the air. As long as no Israeli falls into the hands of Hezbollah or the missiles score a major hit in Israel, there is virtually no likelihood that Israel will bite the bullet and reengage Hezbollah.
For Israel living next door to all this chaos, the choice is rather basic. Give us safe and secure borders and you can carry on your internecine fights without Israel voicing an objection or making a value judgment or political/military move. Israel can do nothing about the tragic loss of life in both countries, but as the leader of the Israeli Government which is unfortunate enough to live next door to these lunatic regimes, the human suffering to once again the world is witnessing and not responding is depressing and eye-opening.
The United States has never appeared so totally powerless as it watches the slaughter. No one should assume that this is the first human tragedy which has remained unanswered, but unlike Rwanda, Sudan, and Cambodia these were not events which a significant effect on the U.S. In the case of the Holocaust where the world stood idly by as 6 million largely European Jews were led to the slaughter by the Nazis, Jews were never more than an incidental concern to most Europeans.
In the current conflict, the U.S. has no real ally to rely on or to whom to turn to facilitate some form of creative response to all the human carnage. This is not the President's fault, it is the role of the U.S. in today's world.
When Iranians were killing Iraqis in the 1980's no one paid much heed to that slaughter. The same would be the case for both Egypt and Syria were it not for the potential use of CBW weapons and the economic consequences given the remaining Western dependency on Middle Eastern oil. The U.N. can do nothing practical except posture and wring its hands. As the Saudi concerns rise so do those in Washington; as Israel's anxiety over the consequences in Iran escalates, so does the White House get nervous; and as radical Islamic forces continue to grow and manage regimes, the West begins to tremble as it watches history potentially facing another religious war.
Kahntentions


I found a really cool project for my first DS106 assignment.
You are to pick a random word and create a design that essentially describes the word. For my design, I use the word "DEBATE" and show that there is always two sides in a debate and a neutral side who is in the middle, judging everything both sides have to say. I also decreased the opacity of the neutral side "BA" from black to a lighter black color. I got inspired to use the word after searching random words on google search. I wanted to make the "DE" blue to symbolize the democratic party while "TE" would be red to symbolize the republican party. I didn't do it due to the challenge rules, you have to use black and only one font but you can play around with the positions of the word. It was pretty fun and a little bit challenging to do since you couldn't use colors. Some of the submissions I saw from other students also inspired me to try the challenge. Here is one I think is just brilliant and very creative.
Here is a link to the challenge if interested.


It's an easy date night!
You are cordially invited to an adulterated 90 minute set by Fundamental Forces coming fresh from our recent recording sessions. We've really found our groove recently and all the stars are aligned for this to be one killer show!
We're only doing a few of these showcases this year, so don't miss out. Your next shot isn't until June. Oh! And make sure you get reservations! Our last show at this venue was standing room only.
As many of you know, we've been doing the odd cover here and there at the end of our Zero-G sets. We'd like to continue this tradition, but we need your help. Do you have a suggestions?
This entry was posted in Newsletter, Performances, Videos on April 3, 2012 by Sunrise Pixels.


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Last year, 27 derelict boats in Maryland waters were reported to Maryland Department of Natural Resources. general manager for Sea-Tow Southern.
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especially when dealing with decisions that affect our energy resources. Some members of Congress are suggesting that we replace the federal gas tax with a.
"Most important is looking at the opportunity and the big picture," says Mikaela Kiner, who has held human-resources leadership roles at. paying such bills.
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Thank you for your interest in employment with Jefferson City Schools. Our school system has four schools: Jefferson Elementary School (Grades PreK-2), Jefferson.
This list of the top companies for investors is a round-up of all the top American companies to invest in. These companies are on the radar for offering some of the.
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Why hire a human if a machine can do the same work without demanding pay, holidays or health insurance? A smaller workforce doing. America's first.
The proven all-wheel-drive system xDrive also provides Ryan with optimum traction in extreme conditions, as illustrated by a dramatic car chase through the snow. and a clear commitment to conservin.
Faculty & Staff intenance T eachers will be using Edmodo this year for communication, assignments, and web postings. Please refer to your student's page for your.
Peterson, an insurance agent for HUB international, said that while there were.
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Posts Tagged 'Georgia Tech'
Allow me to reintroduce myself…
Good news! At the end of June I'm being appointed as the senior pastor of Taccoa First United Methodist Church. Also, beginning May 1, I'm serving for several weeks as interim pastor at Lavonia UMC. If my blog stats are any indication, more than a few new people are interested in learning about me.
With that in mind, I'd like to re-post the following from June of last year… Enjoy!
Last week was an emotionally heavy week, for several reasons. I'll talk about one of those reasons in today's post.
I'm an itinerant United Methodist pastor, and this year it was my turn to move. I said goodbye to beloved brothers and sisters in Christ—and friends—to whom I've given much of my life over these past five years. After I preached my farewell sermon, on Acts 20:17-27, the church presented the following video tribute as a parting gift to me. It's the best gift anyone has ever given me!
In addition to heartfelt tributes from many of my parishioners, two of my heroes in the faith—genuine heroes—contributed to the video: N.T. Wright and Paul Zahl.
As longtime readers of the blog may guess, Wright, more than any living person, is responsible for what I've called my "evangelical re-conversion," an experience that began around the time I started this blog in 2009 (even if it took another year or so to complete).
Wright, a retired bishop of Durham in the Church of England, is a world-renowned New Testament scholar—not to mention, for what it's worth, the most famous. How many Bible scholars, after all, were able to match wits with Stephen Colbert on his old Comedy Central show, for instance?
But it was Wright's massive book The Resurrection of the Son of God that turned my life around. Here was Wright, an evangelical who has spent his long career within the world of mainline, critical scholarship—a world in which I was immersed for three years in seminary—offering an energetic defense of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, along with the scriptures that bear witness to it. His writing gave me a greater confidence in the authority of scripture at a time in my life when I needed it. He also helped me understand how seamlessly the gospel fits within the story of Israel and the Old Testament.
His writing affirmed for me classic doctrines of faith that were minimized or neglected in seminary—such as penal substitutionary atonement, Final Judgment and hell, a literal Second Coming, and the infallibility of scripture—if not without much nuance and qualification. But Wright's qualifications never come from a place of skepticism about the reliability of scripture, only his effort to be more faithful to it. How can I not respect that?
So I love Wright and owe him a debt of gratitude. God used him to make me a more faithful follower of Jesus today—which is to say, a happier, more joy-filled person. And here he is, from his home near St. Andrews in Scotland, congratulating me on my new appointment!
My other hero of faith in the video is Paul Zahl, a retired Episcopal minister and theologian. For the past four years, the Very Rev. Dr. Zahl has been "living in my head" through his preaching, his writing, and (especially) his podcasts. More than anything, Zahl helped me fall in love with Jesus again. (As you hear in the video, this has been a theme of my recent preaching—not a coincidence.) He did so by enabling me to reconnect with a part of myself I lost too many years ago: that gawky 15-year-old who once wore the cover off his 1984 NIV Study Bible. "To find God," Zahl said—paraphrasing Meister Eckhart—"you have to go back to where you lost him." Or, put another way, to make sense of your life, you have to go back to that point in time—for me, around age 19 or 20—at which life stopped making sense. Truer words! And his reflections on those words in one of his podcasts—drawing on both Citizen Kane and the great Burton Cummings of the Guess Who—changed my life! Only Zahl could say, without irony, that if you want to understand what God's love is like, "You need to listen to more Journey." Indeed!
That these two men—who've helped shape me into the pastor and person that I am today—were part of this tribute moved me deeply!
And for good measure, because of my abiding and long-suffering affection for my alma mater, Georgia Tech, and my beloved Yellow Jackets, head basketball coach Josh Pastner offers his well-wishes.
(Special thanks to my friend and brother Matthew Chitwood for reaching out to all these people and putting this video together.)
Tags: Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Tech, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Josh Pastner, N.T. Wright, Paul Zahl
Devotional Podcast #28: "Fools for the Gospel"
Today's episode tackles a difficult but important truth: There is no way to obey Christ and bear witness to him and his gospel without being perceived as foolish by many people—that is, if we're doing it right. This was true for the apostle Paul; it's true for us. So let's "lean into" this truth for a change and see what happens.
Devotional Text: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
https://brentwhite.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/devotional-day-28.mp3
You can subscribe to my podcast in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Stitcher.
Hi, this is Brent White. It's Monday, August 6, 2018, and this is episode number 28 in my ongoing series of devotional podcasts. You're listening right now to "Words of Love," written and recorded by Buddy Holly in 1957 in all its double-tracked, analog glory. By contrast, give people an infinite number of digital tracks today, and they can't create something that sounds nearly this good! Just wonderful! Anyway, you may be more familiar with the Beatles' 1964 cover version from the album Beatles for Sale or the long-forgotten American LP Beatles VI. But I recorded Holly's version directly from his 1978 greatest-hits album Buddy Holly Lives, also known as 20 Golden Greats.
But this song is today's theme because I'm talking about "words of love" in the context of something that many of us contemporary Christians don't like doing: that is, witnessing or the dreaded "E-word," evangelism—sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with others; telling others about Jesus and what he's done for us, and what he means to us. We witness in many different ways, but at some point we have to do so using words. And in general Christians would rather receive a root canal than to witness with words. Yet the Lord himself has commanded us to do this important work: "And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'"
And perhaps you object: "Yes, but Jesus was directing these words to his twelve (or eleven but soon to be twelve) apostles. They followed this command, and here we are today. They no longer apply to us!" But that interpretation can't be right: Because notice he says, "behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." We haven't reached the "end of the age" yet, therefore, he must have also been directing these words to his disciples up to and including those who will be alive when then end of the age happens. Right? That includes us! Moreover, when he gives the equivalent Great Commission in Acts 1—"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth"—we know that even today we haven't yet reached the "end of the earth" with the gospel. There remain in 2018 places that are yet unreached with the gospel, much less toward the end of the first century. So Jesus' words weren't merely for that first generation of apostles, but for all disciples until the end of the age and until the gospel message has reached the end of the earth.
As for another objection—"Yes, but the Great Commission isn't for just anyone; it's for ministers… like you, pastor Brent, not for me. I don't have the gift of evangelism." My first response to that is that we're all ministers, whether we're ordained or not. Philip, for example, in Acts 9, wasn't a credentialed apostle; yet through his witness the gospel reached Ethiopia. Not to mention one of the most successful evangelists in all of scripture: the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, through whose witness an entire village was saved! The only qualification, as far as I can see, for doing successful evangelistic work is having had a life-saving, soul-saving encounter with Jesus Christ.
So… Are you a Christian? Are you born again? Then that means you've been given the Holy Spirit. So of course you can be a witness! Moreover, if you happen to be a United Methodist, when you joined the church you promised God that you would be a witness for Christ.
How are you doing at that? Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Billy Graham, Buddy Holly, evangelism, Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Tech, Gwinnett County, Lawrence Foster, Penn and Teller, Penn Jillette, The Great Commission, witnessing
The best gift anyone has ever given me
I'm an itinerant United Methodist pastor, and this year it was my turn to move. I said goodbye to beloved brothers and sisters in Christ—and friends—to whom I've given much of life over these past five years. After I preached my farewell sermon, on Acts 20:17-27, the church presented the following video tribute as a parting gift to me. It's the best gift anyone has ever given me!
His writing affirmed for me classic doctrines of faith that were minimized or neglected in seminary—such as penal substitutionary atonement, Final Judgment and hell, a literal Second Coming, and the infallibility of scripture—if not without much nuance and qualification. Still, Wright's qualifications never come from a place of skepticism about the reliability of scripture, only his effort to be more faithful to it. How can I not respect that?
Sermon 11-12-17: "Being Thankful in a World of Evil"
Last week, in the wake of the Sutherland Springs shooting, more than a few tweets called into question the effectiveness of prayer. What good is prayer when these kinds of massacres become routine? After all, the victims were already praying when they were shot. What good is faith if God doesn't seem to intervene? This sermon is, I hope, a Christian response to these kinds of questions.
Sermon Text: Philippians 2:1-11
https://brentwhite.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/sermon-11-12-17.mp3
My sermons are now being podcast! My podcast is available in iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.
Last Sunday, around the time that we were gathered here at 11:00 for worship, some of our brothers and sisters in Christ were gathered at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, when a gunman, armed with a Ruger military style rifle, walked into the church and fired his weapon. Within minutes, 26 of our brothers and sisters, ranging in age from 5 to 72, including eight children, were dead. Another child, by the way, named Carlin Brite Holcombe, hadn't yet been born when he and his mother, Crystal Holcombe, were killed.
They were not so different from us… Small town, like Hampton. In church worshiping, singing hymns. Praying. The pastor of the church and some of his family happened to be out of town that day. A guest preacher was filling in. This guest preacher and his family died. But one of the poignant details that stood out to me was this: the pastor's 14-year-old daughter—who didn't go out of town with her father—chose to go to church. Because, after all, that's what Christians do on Sundays; that's what her mother and father raised her to do; that's what she wanted to do; because she loved Jesus, and people who love Jesus go to worship on Sunday. So that's where she was when she was killed.
A day or two after the shooting, we Americans were arguing, as we always do in the wake of these tragedies, about gun control on the one hand and second amendment rights on the other—and I promise I have no interest in discussing these questions. But it was in this political context that Michael McKean, a talented actor and comedian whom I admire, tweeted a controversial message. He was apparently disappointed that so many politicians, including President Trump, urged Americans to pray for the victims of Sutherland Springs—while taking no further action. So he tweeted, "They were in church. They had the prayers shot right out of them. Maybe try something else."
They had the prayers shot right out of them. A lot of people found these words insensitive, to say the least. He later retracted it, saying he didn't at all mean to attack people's faith. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Bobby Dodd Stadium, Georgia Tech, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Joe Holcombe, John Piper, Michael McKean, Sutherland Springs, The New York Times
Sermon 01-15-17: "To Fulfill All Righteousness"
Jesus' first words in Matthew's Gospel are puzzling: What does Jesus mean when he says that it's proper for John to baptize him in order to "fulfill all righteousness"? In this sermon, I explore that question and show how these words and actions of Jesus point to the Cross.
Sermon Text: Matthew 3:13-17
[To listen on the go, right-click here to download an MP3.]
On Saturdays in the fall, when I go to Georgia Tech football games in midtown Atlanta, there are sometimes people on the corner of North Avenue and Techwood Drive. They have P.A. systems and microphones. They have an urgent message that they want passersby to hear! And their message, in so many words, is "Repent… or else." I confess these people make me feel uncomfortable. When I see them, I want to cross to the other side of the street. I want to get away from them as quickly as possible. I want them to go away. They're spoiling my fun, after all. I don't want to think about my sins, or God's holiness, or God's wrath, or my need to repent and turn to Jesus in order to avoid hell. After all, I'm just trying to enjoy a college football game! This is the deep South, after all. Let's not mix one religion with another! Sunday is for one kind of church, but Saturday is for another kind!
Look, we may quibble with the in-your-face method of evangelism that these people use. But give them credit: At least they understand what's at stake. They understand that unless or until people do repent and turn to Jesus, and believe in him, and entrust their lives to him, they will face an eternity separated from God in hell.
Do we understand what's at stake?
Over the course of his life, John Wesley, the founder of our Methodist movement, rode 250,000 miles on horseback and preached 40,000 sermons because he understood what was at stake—because of his firm conviction that people risked being eternally lost unless they repented and believed in Jesus.[1]
The ministry of the apostle Paul was fueled by this same conviction: In Acts 20, Paul is preaching a farewell sermon to some people that he knows and loves—the elders at the church in Ephesus, a church he started and where he ministered for three years. And he says something very interesting: He says, "Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God."[2]
Innocent of the blood of all. What does he mean by that? He means that as a pastor, as a preacher, as a missionary, as a leader in the church, Paul can leave that place knowing that he's done everything he could do, that he's told as many people as he could tell, that he's taken every opportunity to share with his community the full gospel of Jesus Christ. So that if they die—and face God's judgment, God's wrath, and hell because of their sins—their blood won't be on Paul's hands. Because he's done all that he can do save them. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Georgia Tech, Michael Phelps, Sports Illustrated, The Georgia Institute of Technology
Did the magi really visit the Holy Family?
I said in an earlier sermon that Matthew and Luke wouldn't have included a potentially embarrassing story of a virgin birth (or, more accurately, virginal conception) unless they also believed it was historically credible. (In Luke's case, at least, he likely got the story from Mary herself.)
So it is with the magi of Matthew 2:1-12. To say that neither ancient Jews nor Christians held these practitioners of astrology and magic in high regard is an understatement. That Matthew includes them in his birth narrative anyway lends credence to their historicity.
I'm writing this, by the way, not for my own edification, but for anyone who went to mainline Protestant seminary, as I did, whose professors taught them, as some of mine did, that Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2 are strictly "legendary."
Oh, the damnable nonsense that I learned during those years! It's not for nothing that I can't find my diploma from Emory University's Candler School of Theology, whereas my two from the Georgia Institute of Technology are prized possessions. Don't get me wrong: I'm grateful for the experience of Candler—God used it, mercifully to make me a better person—but it's like being grateful in retrospect for a flood or fire or some other disaster.
Regardless, as the late R.T. France wrote in his commentary:
Many uses of magos, especially in a Jewish or Christian context, are clearly pejorative, notably of the "false prophet" Bar-Jesus in Acts 13:6, 8. Not every mention of magi necessarily refers to what we now call "magic," but it was a grey area from which Jews and Christians preferred to keep their distance. It is therefore remarkable to find Matthew introducing magi into his story without any sign of disapproval. However widely respected the magi may have been in Mesopotamia and more widely in the Greek and Roman world, their title was not one which a careful Christian would willingly introduce without warrant into his account of the origins of his faith. The most satisfactory explanation for their presence in Matthew's narrative is that this was an element which he had received in his tradition and (probably because the role of the star required them to be identified as such) did not feel at liberty to disguise.[†]
1. R.T. France, The Gospel of Matthew (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2007), 66-7.
Tags: Advent, Christmas, Georgia Tech, The Candler School of Theology
Sermon 09-11-16: "Keeping the Promise, Part 4: Our Prayers"
The apostles faced a problem in Acts 6: One faction in the church was grumbling that their widows were being neglected in the distribution of money and food. What were the apostles going to do about it?
As I say in this sermon, this kind of grumbling is a sin. It goes against Jesus' own words about forgiveness and reconciliation. But the grumbling—alongside the logistical problem which gave rise to it—wasn't the biggest threat the church was facing in this crisis: the biggest threat was that the apostles would be distracted from their main calling, the ministry of God's word and prayer.
Does our church reflect this same priority and why does it matter? That's what this sermon is about.
Sermon Text: Acts 6:1-7
Just last weekend, my beloved Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech played football in Ireland against Boston College. There was an article about the game in the Irish Times. The author pointed out that American football is growing in popularity in Ireland, although it pales in popularity to something called Gaelic football—not to mention in comparison to that sport that the rest of the world calls football, which is soccer to us. One challenge that many people outside of North America have to overcome in order to enjoy American football, according to the author of the article, is that there are "many stoppages" in the game. Isn't that funny? There are many stoppages. The reporter marveled at the rock-star status that these student athletes enjoy in the public, as well as the huge salaries that these college coaches receive. He also wondered why so many people were passionately interested in a school's football team when they didn't themselves attend that school. But I especially liked this part:
A Boston College defender tries to tackle Justin Thomas. As if!
The fans' intensity became clear early on when I was warned that Georgia Tech must always be referred to with the 'Tech' part included and never simply as 'Georgia' – that being the name of their fiercest rivals University of Georgia. Apparently it's something akin to referring to Manchester United as Manchester City.
My point is, while we have much in common with the Irish; while we speak the same language; while many Americans—including players on both teams—are descended from the Irish, there is much that separates us culturally.
A similar dynamic is going on in today's scripture. In verse 1, we're told that a "a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews." Who are these two groups? Like the Irish and Irish-Americans, they are two groups that had much in common: The Hellenists and Hebrews shared the same ethnicity. They were ethnically Jewish. They both went to synagogues and worshiped in the Temple. And now they both had become members of the same church; they were both followers of Jesus Christ. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Boston College, Eddie Fox, evangelism, George Morris, Georgia Tech, Ireland, Irish Times
If you receive a Christmas gift, please don't "pay it forward"
In sermons and blog posts, I've been emphasizing the "free-ness" of God's gift of saving grace, especially in the face of our built-in resistance to receiving a gift. This Facebook post from a local Atlanta TV station is a case in point.
One-hundred fifty students at the Georgia Institute of Technology (my beloved alma mater) raised money to give a campus security guard a Christmas gift of $1,600. A smartphone video shows the man's reaction.
Nothing to complain about here, except please notice the headline: "Ga Tech Security Guard Brought to Tears after Students Pay it Forward."
First, inasmuch as "paying it forward" has any meaning, it means exactly opposite what the headline implies. Taken literally, they would only be "paying forward" $1,600 to this security guard if they had received an amount equal to $1,600 from someone else in their past. "Because Mark helped me once when I needed it, I'm going to now help Steve because he needs it."
Even if the security guard had given these students an in-kind contribution worth $1,600—through service over and above the salary that Georgia Tech pays him—their giving him this gift isn't "paying it forward." It's paying it back. And if they're paying it back, then they're not giving the security guard a gift at all. These students are saying, "Merry Christmas. Now we're even."
How depressing!
Put in these terms, it's not nearly as heart-warming a Christmas message as Fox 5 News wanted to communicate, is it?
Tags: Christmas, Georgia Tech, The Georgia Institute of Technology
Is it selfish to complain? Only if it's also selfish to be happy
My son Townshend and I enjoyed this recent Georgia Tech victory over Clemson.
I'm almost embarrassed to say how happy I was a couple of weeks ago when my beloved alma mater, the Georgia Institute of Technology, defeated its in-state SEC rival to win the Governor's Cup. I say I'm almost embarrassed because of course it's unwise to let a group of 18-22 year-olds affect my happiness to such a great extent. So the voice of reason within said, "Act like you've done it before, Brent." And we have done it before, although our current losing streak had been five years.
Still, the next day at church I disappointed a few Tech fans who wanted me to gloat. But it's not my style. Act like you've done it before, Brent.
Happiness from sports is a zero-sum game. One team's happiness from winning always comes at the expense of the other team's misery from losing. Since we Tech fans, unfortunately, are much smaller in number than University of Georgia fans, our team's victory in this game inflicts a disproportionate amount of pain on our state. Not that I mind!
Predictably, this pain was reflected in my Facebook feed that afternoon. One clergy acquaintance posted that he was tempted to complain about so many things regarding his team's performance and the coaching decisions but decided not to—which is probably for the best. But I gently disagreed with the reason he gave for not complaining: all the "real" suffering in the world, from ISIS's campaign of terror against Christians to parents in his church who are grieving the death of a child.
I replied, "Yes, but by that standard what right do any of us ever have to complain about anything?" Football is trivial relative to the scale of suffering in the world—as are most things that occupy our time and give meaning to our lives. Yet, my clergy friend and I both spend money on our respective teams' games and merchandise. Why do we do that when that same money could go to help relieve suffering in the world? Why do we even spend time watching football games when we could more productively spend that time working for justice in the world?
Do you see the problem with my friend's logic?
If we can't complain about "little things"—for the sake of what other people are dealing with—then we can't complain, period. Because no matter what we're going through on a particular day, there are always at least tens or hundreds of thousands of people who are going through something much worse.
Moreover, if we can't complain about little things then, by all means, we can't let ourselves be happy with little things, either! For example, how can we be happy with presents that we receive on Christmas Day when so many people around the world have nothing, or next to it? How is our happiness not selfish? How can any of us be happy until God finally balances the scales of justice in Final Judgment?
Obviously this is not a Christian disposition. For one thing, God's Word is filled with righteous complaining and complainers. God seems O.K. with that, even as he also tells us repeatedly and emphatically to rejoice in all circumstances—no matter how favorable or unfavorable, how significant or insignificant.
God gives us gifts—even like football, which I've blogged and preached about before—and he wants us to enjoy them.
Tags: football, Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Tech, gratitude, University of Georgia
Sermon 03-16-14: "Faith and Works"
Today's scripture from James serves as a necessary antidote to the "easy-believism" that often afflicts popular Christian theology: "Jesus paid it all, and I don't owe a dime!" While it's certainly true that we're saved by faith alone, saving faith will include good works. James isn't pitting "faith" against "works," as is popularly thought: he's pitting living faith against dead faith. What kind of faith do you have?
Sermon Text: James 2:14-26
The following is my original sermon manuscript with footnotes.
When I was at Georgia Tech, there was a series of three physics classes that every engineering major had to take. The second of these was famously difficult. It was called electromagnetism, "E-mag" for short. E-mag was considered a weed-out course—a way of separating the men from the boys. And I know that sounds sexist, but I almost mean it literally. Because it is around the time you're struggling in a class like E-mag when you begin to notice that there aren't many girls in class with you, and there aren't many girls on campus… And you wonder why you didn't go to a school like UGA, where the odds are much more favorable—and where you don't have to take classes like E-mag!
I said the class was called E-mag, but the class's nickname was really "Re-mag," because so many students flunked it the first time and had to repeat it. And if you were taking the class as "Three-mag," you were really in trouble! Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Georgia Tech, Robert Gagnon


text:
Vladimir Naumovich Naumov (; 6 December 1927 – 29 November 2021) was a Russian film director and writer. Naumov was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1983. He was a schoolmate of Sergei Parajanov at the Soviet film school. In 1977 he was a member of the jury at the 10th Moscow International Film Festival. His 1981 film Teheran 43 won the Golden Prize at the 12th Moscow International Film Festival.

Life and career
Naumov, son of cinematographer Naum Naumov-Strazh, studied with Igor Savchenko at the VGIK in 1947–1951 and worked as one of his assistants on the biopic Taras Shevchenko (1951), which he completed with fellow student Aleksandr Alov after Savchenko's sudden passing. Following the success of that debut, Alov and Naumov began to make films at the Kiev film studio as a team under the label "Alov and Naumov".

After 1983 when Alov passed away, Naumov directed several pictures on his own. His first independent picture was The Choice (1987). In 1989, Naumov completed The Law based on a script that had been prohibited more than 20 years earlier. That film and Ten Years without Permission to Correspond (1990) deal with the country's Stalinist past. The script for the 1994 drama White Feast, starring Innokenty Smoktunovsky in his last role, was a collaboration between Naumov and prominent Italian screenwriter Tonino Guerra. Another project with Guerra, Nardo's Secret(1997/99), was troubled by never-ending financial difficulties and passed several stages before finally being released in 2001 as Clock without Hands. Like Naumov's other films of the 1990s, it suffered severely from Russia's cinema industry crisis and was seen by few people.

Naumov has been teaching at VGIK since 1980 and in 1986 he was promoted to the rank of full professor. In 2000, he began to teach at the private Natalya Nesterova University in Moscow.

Vladimir Naumov died on 29 November 2021, at the age of 93.

Filmography
Note: all films before 1987 are co-directed with Aleksandr Alov
 Taras Shevchenko (1951)
 Restless Youth (1954)
 Pavel Korchagin (Павел Корчагин) (1957)
 The Wind (1959)
 Peace to Him Who Enters (1961)
 The Coin (1965)
 The Ugly Story (1966)
 The Flight (1970)
 Legend About Thiel (1976)
 Teheran 43 (1981)
 The Shore (1984)
 The Choice (1987)
 The Law (1989)
 Ten Years Without Right to Write Letters (1990)
 White Feast (1994)
 Nardo's Secret (1999)
 Clock without Hands (2001)
 La Gioconda on Asphalt (2007)

References

External links

1927 births
2021 deaths
Soviet film directors
Russian film directors
Academic staff of the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography
Honorary Members of the Russian Academy of Arts
Academicians of the National Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Russia
Mass media people from Saint Petersburg
Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd class
Soviet screenwriters
20th-century Russian screenwriters
Male screenwriters
20th-century Russian male writers
Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia)
Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples
People's Artists of the USSR
People's Artists of the RSFSR
Recipients of the USSR State Prize
Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography alumni


Three successive weeks of quality training. Time for some R&R and a cycle wrap-up ride.
I traveled to Austin for the weekend. Friday night I saw Black Joe Lewis and The Honeybears at the KUT fundraiser with Jane. Having never seen them before, this was Jane's idea. And a good idea it was! Thoroughly enjoyed the show. Nice blues/soulful rock vibe but still having a raw cutting edge you can only get with a local talent playing a great venue. Even the white folks got up and shook themselves.
Saturday saw my hide at Pace Bend Park for a tempo-paced ride to capstone the weeks' training. After the recent TMBRA race I heard lots of bemoaning about the difficult of riding here. I start out a bit initimidated. But I ride a couple of rock garden descents and feel quite comfortable. Turns out those descents were the hardest thing out here. Total confidence boost. Great place to ride!
I don't know what the race route was. I can envision a really super connect-teh-dot path through the network of trails that would be absolute torture. But.. I can also envision one that would be really trivial. I'm sure race day was some of both. And not as difficult to ride as some made it out to be.
I'm riding strong right now. Possibly as strong or stronger than ever. The motor is running good. I do OK with the heat. I tackle the techy stuff adeptly. I don't baby the elbow -at all. In fact, I actually try to wheelie hop and beat the arm up as much as I can today. It's the only way it's going to get stronger. These trails require a lot more upper body effort than I'm used to. By the end... its getting tender, and clear I need to cut the 3-1/2 hour goal a bit short.
Sunday began a recovery cycle. To kick it off... a Gordough's donut.
This was a Funky Monkey. Brazed bananas with brown sugar and cream cheese icing on top of a large, warm, freshly made donut. Masterpiece! I wish I could make donuts like this at home. I'd never leave. Some heavy-duty napping and a return home completed the weekend.
The upcoming week includes a recovery cycle. I'm starting to get that snippy streak that accompanies a heavy training regimine. And the last few days of last week had my mind wondering about all the other things I could be doing besides training. Truthfully, there are a lot of domestic tasks and errands that I've been neglecting. It's time to step away for a few days. I ran myself into the ground in last summer's heat. Easy to do in the Gulf Coast heat. (Today's HI=105°F).


text:
Anna von Hausswolff interview: on Dead Magic and more
the arts desk March 2018
KIERON TYLER author, journalist, music historian
THE DAMNED BOOK
PUNK & RELATED
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Kieron Tyler has contributed to Britain's MOJO magazine since 1999. He is the author of Smashing It Up: A Decade of Chaos With The Damned, the critically acclaimed biography of seminal British punk band The Damned.
His writing has also appeared in Q, The Guardian, The Independent, i (the newspaper), France's Les Inrockuptibles, Finland's Rumba, Music Week and Billboard. He also writes for The Arts Desk, the UK's first professional critical website and winner of the Best Specialist Journalism Site at the Online Media Awards 2012.
He consults for major and independent labels on catalogue reissues. His own imprint RPM International is dedicated to non-UK, non-American music. In the field of music PR, campaigns worked on include a-ha, Tuulikki Bartosik, The Courettes, Lou Doillon, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Morten Harket, Mari Kalkun, Lykke Li, Alina Orlova, Wardruna and Hindi Zahra.
This website collects work by Kieron Tyler and is added to periodically. Selections of his work can also be found on Rock's Backpages.
Kieron Tyler on Twitter: @MrKieronTyler
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© Kieron Tyler. This website collects work by Kieron Tyler. It is added to periodically. Please get in touch via the contact page if anything here is to be quoted, referenced, etc.