Yeah, So My Daughter is Famous...

Ok, so she didn't win - but she sure is cute! Click HERE and scroll down about half way! "Sleeping Bootie" bear hugging Snow White.

Happy Birtday Animal Kingdom!

Animal Kingdom turns 10 today. It is hard to believe that a decade has passed since the doors to Disney's 4th Gate opened. Although it is probably my least favorite Disney park (due mainly to it's layout and crowded walk ways) I still enjoy catching the Finding Nemo show, Expedition Everest, and the Safari. Their Animal encounters are great and it is a nice spot (like EPCOT's World Showcase) to just slowdown and enjoy the scenery and theming. Here are some good look backs at AK's last 10 years:
Here
Here
Here

Here

To Infinity, and Beyond! 100th Post!

Sorry to let you down with something so simple, but I am really giddy about this line up! Call me childish (if you do I will smack you!) but Pixar rocks!

Pixar Animation Studios Upcoming Movie Line up:

Summer, 2008 "Wall-E" directed by Andrew Stanton.

May 29, 2009 "Up" directed by Pete Docter.

June 28, 2010 "Toy Story 3" directed by Lee Unkrich.

Summer, 2011 "Newt" directed by Gary Rydstrom.

Christmas, 2011 "The Bear and the Bow" directed by Brenda Chapman.

Summer, 2012 "Cars 2" directed by Brad Lewis.

2010 and 2012 can't get her fast enough! Ka-Chow! Ka-Chow!

Why Such Waste?

I just posted a new blog over at the Porch. Check it out here.

Grace and Works

Good conversation going on over at the Back Porch - come share your thoughts/interpretation.
www.backporchconfessions.com

New LOST!

If you've been under a rock for the last couple of days there is a slight chance that you've not heard the news that the LOST producers were granted an extra hour for the LOST finale! That means 3 hours! Woo Hoo! And to 'wet your whistle' so to speak for the next new episode on April 24 - check out this screen grab from the promo over at E! Online. Looks like our boy Ben has a secret room within his secret room!

Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handey

I read this quote yesterday on Justin's Blog and I haven't been able to get it out of my head since...

“I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
-C.S. Lewis

The Things We Miss

He emerged from the Metro at the L'enfant Plaza Station and Position himself against a wall beside a trash basket. By most measures, he was nondescript: a youngish white man in jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt and a Washington Nationals baseball cap. From a small case, he removed a violin. Placing the open case at his feet, he shrewdly threw in a few dollars and pocket change as seed money, swiveled it to face pedestrian traffic, and began to play.

It was 7:51 a.m. on Friday, January 12, [2007] the middle of the morning rush hour. In the next 43 minutes, as the violinist performed six classical pieces, 1,097 people passed by. Almost all of them were on the way to work, which meant, for almost all of them, a government job. L'Enfant Plaza is at the nucleus of federal Washington, and these were mostly mid-level bureaucrats with those indeterminate, oddly fungible titles: policy analyst, project manager, budget officer, specialist, facilitator, consultant.

Each passerby had a quick choice to make, one familiar to commuters in any urban area where the occasional street performer is part of the cityscape: Do you stop and listen? Do you hurry past with a blend of guilt and irritation, aware of your cupidity but annoyed by the unbidden demand on your time and your wallet? Do you throw in a buck, just to be polite? Does your decision change if he's really bad? What if he's really good? Do you have time for beauty? Shouldn't you? What's the moral mathematics of the moment?

Gene Weingarten - The Washington Post

Now, what if this simple musician was not so simple but the world renowned violinist, Joshua Bell, who many of these passersby had paid a minimum of $100 to see play just 3 nights before. What if the violin was not just any violin but a rare Stradivari called the Gibson ex Huberman that was handcrafted in 1713 by Antonio Stradivari during the Italian master's "golden period?" Approximate worth: $3,500,000.

People would recognize him right? I mean this IS Washington DC - one of the cultural centers of the US and Joshua Bell is a big deal - right? Wrong. Roughly 30 people out of the thousands that passed by stopped to listen and donated a whopping $32.17 during Bell's 43 minutes of playing (some leaving only pennies).

This brings up the questions - what do we miss because of our busy schedules? Our fast paced lives? Our go, go, go society? Would we recognize such greatness if we passed it on the street? For me, probably not. Cool Dad brought up the point of ignoring the people that we pass on the sidewalk. What else do we ignore? What are we missing? How about Christ? I think that we miss Him all the time in the people and situations we pass each and every day - because we don't have time to stop - listen to the music - and recognize the greatness that is in front of us.

It's funny. As I write this I remember that I have a Joshua Bell CD sitting right next to me here at my desk. It has probably been a year since I have listened to it - I will fix that today.

You can read the rest of the Washington Post Article Here

The Wrong Stuff

So I left the door to our van open last night...and it rained...a lot....Yes. I am an idiot...

The (W)Right Stuff

...After more than a decade, the platinum-selling group has reunited for a new album and world tour.

Seriously, who's in?

Photo CC: AP

Consumption Fast

Nathan has a great post about the fast he and his wife have been doing since January. Here's a blurb:

I have been asked by a couple people to talk about it. If you don’t know what it is, my wife and I started what we labeled a “consumption fast” on January 19th. We are only using our money for bills and groceries. This obviously helps us financially, but more importantly we came to realize how attached to stuff we are, and this grand scope that consuming had in our lives. It was the brutal reality that our lives had been far too involved with consumption on a spiritual level. In many ways this is at the core of what it means to be an American, so Christians should take note. Read More

This intrigues me. Could I do it? Should I do it? Are you doing it? What do you think?

PS - Sorry I've been absent. I promise to do better : )