Movie Review: All Quiet on the Western Front

Oscar Best Picture Winner 1929-1930

Some plot details may follow.

Told from the German point of view in World War I. This movie was banned in some countries, because they viewed it as anti-war. It describes the atrocities of war, and points out the stupidity of it. These German soldiers did not really even know why they were fighting.

This is a movie where everyone dies. When one soldier dies, another one is excited to take the boots of the one who died. They are very nice boots, and the soldier says something along the lines of "Wearing these boots I'll be happy, even on the front lines." Then a couple of scenes later, he is shown with a huge smile, marching in his boots. And then he is shot and killed. Then that is repeated with another soldier wearing the nice boots.

Then towards the end, the main character tells another soldier, "You're the last thing I've got". then within a couple of minutes, his friend is killed by shrapnel from a bomb. Then, finally the movie ends when the main character is killed.

Another memorable scene is after the Germans have been starving in these makeshift underground places while they are being bombed. A couple of them go insane. Then when the bombing stops, then go out into the trenches and gun down the Allied troops that are charging them. The Allied troops one by one are killed by the machine guns.

This is probably the best old movie we've seen so far.

Funny Video: Me Worship

Thanks to courtney for tipping me off to this:



"This amazing collection is great to share with friends, if you have any"

Restaurant Review: Fronteras

Occasion: Needed to get out of the house into the cold

Location: 79th & Quivira, next to all the other restaurants trying to be the first ones to make it at that location

Price: Inexpensive, especially with a Buy 1 Get 1 Free Coupon. Plus they gave us the more expensive one free.

Taste: above average

Gluten-free items: many, but they all kind of are the same thing. I guess that describes Mexican food.

Service speed: Good for how busy it was

Service quality: Very friendly and good service

Other Notes: It's a small place. There was a 20 minute wait, and we stood the whole time. Hopefully they can make some money and expand the place.

Book Review: White

The 3rd in the series about Thomas Hunter.

Web site: http://www.teddekker.com/

This book was good. And it tied in the theology that runs deep in the books. The series is a good epic story about this world and another world. It is a psychological thriller, but it also has a lot of deep meaning. Now that I'm unhooked from these books, I wonder what I will read next??

Book Review: The Cat Who Played Post Office

Qwilleran gets knocked out when he is attacked by a car. That is because he is asking too many questions about a girl that disappeared from the town.

I believe this was one of the best so far of the Cat Who series. It was creative in its storytelling, and really kept us guessing until the end.

Movie Review: Broadway Melody

Tagline: The pulsating drama of Broadway's bared heart speaks and sings with a voice to stir your soul!

Notes: Oscar Best Picture 1929

Review: This movie wasn't very good. I was left wondering if it only won a Best Picture because it used sound well, since it was the first Best Picture with sound and singing.

Two sisters love the same man, who is really unlikeable to me. He is courting one sister, and then loves the other one only because she is beautiful. The "beautiful one" tries to avoid him out of love for her sister, but she ends up with the guy. So that was not a happy ending. Plus, the VHS format cut off the top of their heads and things in the left side of the screen. I don't recommend this one.

Movie Review: Wings

When did I see this? Last Sunday

Year this movie was made: 1927?

Famous people: Clara Bow, known as the IT girl of the 20's. (Not IT as in Information Techonology)

Plot line: Two young men, one rich, one middle class, who are in love with the same woman, become fighter pilots in World War I.

Our experience: Courtney and I were surprised that it is a silent film. Neither of us had seen one before. We were also surprised at how well it was done, with the limited techology they must have had. There are several fight scenes completely in the air (or apparently in the air). The plot was not predictable. We were surprised at the lax morals depicted. As you may know, American soldiers who went to Paris were not always on best behavior. So there was a lot drunkeness depicted. We also saw an actresses' bare back, which Courtney thought would have been scandalous. Overall it was good. I would probably not sit and watch it again, but was good one time.

excitement of recruiting

I was recently involved in bringing someone new into our company. It all went quickly.

• I received an email from her last Wednesday saying that she was looking for a job. Her skills and interests have everything to do with my company. I passed it on to people who are hiring
• Thursday the people hiring got back into town and called her.
• Thursday night, I spoke to her on the phone, and gave her more details about the company
• Friday afternoon she came into the first interview
• Tuesday afternoon she came for the second interview
• Tuesday afternoon I found out that she was offered the job
• This morning I found out that she accepted the job

This morning I was mentioned in her mass email:

God is amazing! I have received a wonderful Valentine's Day gift. This morning I accepted a job offer from StrategicOne as an Account Manager....I am very excited about this opportunity. I have to say a big thank you to Dan Gras who thought that my skills might be a good fit at his company (StrategicOne) and quickly passed on my information. Without him I would not have this opportunity.

It is exciting to be a part of this. It reminds me of "bringing someone into the kingdom". I'm still working on that analogy. The basic thought is that we just have a small but important role in it, and it brings joy.

Weekend Play-By-Play February 10

I haven't had much time to update this. We had another busy weekend, and also I became a member of FaceBook, which has taken some of my time. So here goes...

• Friday we went bowling with the middle school group from church
• Saturday we went shopping for various house supplies
• Saturday we hung out with a family of 11 who are old friends of my parents.

The infant is not pictured. And the gray-haired man is my dad.

• Sunday morning I went running, and also took pictures of the ice fountain near Dillons at 75th and Quivira:

This is usually just a non-spectacular fountain. We are surprised they left the water running this whole time, but it makes us laugh.

• Then we watched the first ever Oscar winning "Best Picture", Wings, from 1927. As usual, I will write a separate blog about that.
  

Pictures of a Chemical Plant Fire

Courtney took these pictures from her work yesterday

She went home early so that she didn't breathe in chemicals that were beginning to rain down. Does anyone else have stories about this explosion, or other fires?

Book Review: Red

Publisher's Note: The Stakes of the mind-bending story spun in Black are raised to a new level in Red. In one world, Thomas Hunter must lead a small, highly trained force of 30,000 against an unstoppable army of a million warriors. In the other he will face an evil beyond the scope of his imagination.

Review: It's hard to review this one, because saying anything about it would give away details in the first book, Black. But it was very good, containing Bible truths retold in a completely different world. It also developed that other world very well. It was full of action. It was very enjoyable. I recommend it to anyone.

Movie Review: Freedom Writers

Famous people: Hillary Swank (pictured)

When did I see this? Friday, February 1, 7 PM

Why did I see this? Courtney passionately wanted to see it, so I asked her out. We hadn't been in the theater since November, so that was special too.
Year this movie was made: 2007

Review: I went expecting to see a template of an urban school story where a teacher comes in and changes everyone. But it was very special and fresh. Based on a true story, this brillant woman turns down more lucrative careers to be a high school teacher in Long Beach. Most of her students are in gangs, and they hate each other based on race. She overcomes a lack of support and the students' child-like reading levels to help them to succeed. You should see it.

If you want to read more about the true story, you can click here.

Restaurant Review: Chen's Super Buffet

Occasion: For Mom's birthday

Location: Shawnee Mission Parkway and Quivira, catty corner from our favorite Chinese buffet, the Home Delight

Price: $9.25, but free when dad pays

Taste: below average

Food selection: Lots of seafood. Actually the place smelled like seafood. You are paying for the seafood in the buffet price. Courtney has some allergies to seafood, and if she didn't, she hates it anyway. There were many buffets, but there didn't seem to be very many main courses to me.

Service quality: We mentioned it was mom's birthday. I didn't think our waitress understood 'birthday', or anything we said. But when we were almost ready to leave, they brought out a platter of desert with a candle, and sang happy birthday. I was really surprised. So I have to say that service was great!

Best of January

Best Movie That I Saw: The Notebook
Best Book I Read: Black, by Ted Dekker
Best New-To-Me Restaurant: Manny's on SW Boulevard

Mom's Birthday and Pictures!

Mom's Birthday - isn't she pretty for her age, which I won't tell you?

Our Christmas picture, which will someday be really funny

New Years Eve

Reunion with Courtney's old Camp friends (they call themselves the Millenial Mixer, I'm guessing since it started around 2000)

Book Review: The Cat Who Played Brahms

This is the 5th of the series of about 20, I think. Courtney and I read these to each other out loud. I take the odd-numbered chapters, and she takes the rest.

In this one, the main character, Qwilleran, takes an extended vacation to a lake resort. And he and his cats and his love interest get involved in solving a murder mystery.

The ending was good. This book was not in my top 3 from the series. My top 3, I think, are the first 3.

Movie Review: The Sting

When I was a kid (and older), I played Scott Joplin on the piano. People asked me if I had seen the movie The Sting. Scott Joplin's pieces are the soundtrack of the movie.

It is set in the 1930's. The two famous actors were Robert Redford and Paul Newman. They play two con men who are trying to trying to take down a mob boss. There are lots of twists and turns. This is also in the running for the best movie I've seen this month.

This movie won the Oscar for best picture in 1974.

Movie Review: The Notebook

It's the end of January, and I only have another day to review these movies. Then I will do a Best Of January thing.


We watched this with our year-long youth intern Bryson and his girlfriend. That was after we tried to go bowling, and all the lanes were taken, and stopped by the movies, and all of them started at 9:40.

So we picked this one democratically. Courtney had seen it before. She had won it at a DVD gift exchange at Christmas time.

Surprisingly, this movie touched my heart. Sure, it had premarital sex which I disapproved of. But if you ignore that, it was a touching love story. Especially the factor that the story is being narrated by an old man that is reading to a lady who has a memory problem similar to Alzheimers. This is in the running for the best movie I saw in January!

I almost forgot to mention that this movie made me feel like I wasn't being romantic enough toward Courtney, and I want to be more romantic. With Valentine's Day coming, I really needed that!

network is down...what do you do?

The network went down at work today. We could not read work email, access network folders, or use the Internet. We not only ran out of productive things to do, but also struggled to find ways to waste time. I attempted to install my new car headlight, but there was a cold wind, and i ended up needing some tools. then eventually about 7 of us did team-building by playing something like Pictionary. We were laughing and were apparently high on permanent markers.

All the fun aside, imagine being the system administrator or the owner or COO. This was very serious for them, and should have been for us as well. We were more than willing to work, but did not have the capability. Eventually we had the option of going home, after hearing that it wouldn't be fixed soon.

Courtney's car wouldn't start this morning, so she got a ride home. We both were at home at 3 PM, which is very weird for a work day. With dad out of town, we are left to our own minds, and we'll try to get it to the auto shop soon.

Last weekend we saw 2 more movies. The Sting and The Notebook. We also primed our bathroom walls. So they are semi-white now instead of pink. They need one more coat, and then we will be painting light blue.

Movie Review: Rear Window

Famous people: Alfred Hitchcock - director, James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Raymond Burr

Why did I see this? This is Courtney's favorite Hitchcock movie

Review: The actors did a great job. Courtney stated that Grace Kelley is beautiful. See, I didn't say it. The movie takes place entirely from James Stewart character's apartment window. He is stuck with a cast on his leg, and spends his time looking at his neighbors. And a lot of neighbors are doing funny things.

Anyway, he suspects that someone has been murdered that he has been viewing, and the movie is about that.

It is totally suspenseful, and has a great ending.

The extra features gave us an appreciation for things that we would have otherwise taken for granted, such as the costume design, sound, and set construction. Also, this movie had to go through an intense restoration process, since the original was in a poor state.

professional picture

Here is a picture that was taken at my workplace. I cropped it and added the frame around it, as we do for all pictures on our web site. I won't be on the web site yet, but I put the frame around it anyway.

Weekend of January 20

My weekend started off well with a Happy Hour to say goodbye to 4-year employee Ashley. We met at the Fox & Hound. I enjoyed seeing a few other former employees that I really miss. Now there are 5 people at my company that have seniority over me, in a company of 20 people. At 3 years, I am a veteran.

On the way to Fox & Hound, I had seen my Uncle Tim walking at a busy intersection. I tried to u-turn and give him a ride home, but he mysteriously disappeared. So I decided that I would stop by their home afterwards. So I did. (I later found out that Tim walks through a building near the intersection to escape the nasty weather)

I decided to call Courtney (she had been at a youth worker meeting), and she came over. When I told her there were kittens, that sealed her decision. She got to play with the 3 kittens, and she also got to tell Tim and Rebekah about her ministry and life.

Then Saturday Courtney countinued her youth worker meeting, so I got a few things done around the house. Then Saturday evening, we went to a play named The Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged at Shawnee Mission North. This was a play that Courntney saw and loved in college, so she wanted me to experience it. Her college friend Sharon went with us. It was snowing, so that was fun.

Sunday I played keyboards in church on the brand new keyboard. We had some guest worship leaders from Heartland Church, which inspired me to finally go to the 20-something meeting on Sunday nights. So we went to that at 7 PM. It was really long and LOUD. It was more like college than anything I've experienced (since college). These kinds of things lose their appeal when you get married, I think. It had a lot of energy. But I am glad that I went, because experiences are important, and they help you to understand yourself.

Then we went home and watched a movie (yes it was a late night). Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window. Ala tradition, I will write a review of my movie watching experience. then sleep.... a good weekend.

Book Review: Black

Why? Courtney gave this book to me to read for her birthday. It's a fun exchange we will always have.

Author: Ted Dekker

Publisher's synopsis: By day's end, three million people will be carriers of the deadliest virus in history. There is no vaccine. There is no anti-virus. The world's only hope is Thomas Hunter, and he has already been killed. Twice. Enter an adrenaline-laced epic where dreams and reality collide - and the fate of two worlds hangs in the balance of one man's choices.

Web site: http://www.teddekker.com/

Did I like it? Yes. This was some of the best fiction I've read. Maybe the best. Of course, I haven't read much fiction. It was kind of like watching a 24 episode. Lots of action. It is also intellectually intriguing. And it is spiritually feeding, because there are many spiritual undertones. I say undertones, because it is never made obvious. It is all analogy. Read it. It should be in your local library. I am about to read RED.

Super Sunday and icy weather

I have scraped my car windshield about 10 times this weekend. My shoulder and hand are bruised, and I have broken my scraper. Needless to say, the icy weather did not keep us from going anywhere.

We attended 24/7 prayer at our church on Saturday from 6 to 7. Then we stopped by Courtney's aunts house.


Courtney went to church early for a meeting.
Then she taught Sunday School.
Then she ran slides for worship, and I played bass.
Then we attended the Friendship Luncheon, which had 2 things that were gluten-free, including plain salad.

Then we went home and I had lunch.

Then at 6 we left for Courtney's co-workers house, driving 40 on the highway, to watch 24. The beginning of this season was not disappointing! It was the best beginning of a 24 ever. I can't wait to see the rest.

*Everyone else who had been invited cancelled due to weather. I retain my comparison of this to Canadian weather. The roads were not great, but not bad enough to keep us from going!

Movie Review: Unbreakable

When did I see this: Friday, January 12

Why? It was raining ice outside and we needed something to do. This movie was part of Courtney's personal video collection that she brought into our marriage.

Who? I watched it with Courtney

Stars: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, directed by M. Night Shyamalan

Review: The plot was intriguing. I felt I was pulling for both main characters. And at the end it was a "huh" moment, where I had to close myself in the office and think for 5 minutes. This movie used several creative camera angles. This is yet another movie you should see.

Movie Review: Chocolat

When did I see this: last weekend

Who did I see it with? Courtney

Occasion: I gave it to Courtney for her birthday

Year movie was made: 2000

Review: good. worth a watch. Probably not for kids. Sorry about the lazy review. It was good, go rent it.

Restaurant Review: Jade Bowl

Type of food: Chinese

Location: 75th and Antioch, across from Shawnee Mission Medical

Price: lunch for about $5

Serving size: big enough

Taste: great

Gluten-free items: Plenty, but you have to guess which ones are breaded and which aren't! I guessed right, fortunately!

Service speed: Slow, but it's tough for a mainly delivery place to cater to the inside customers as well

Service quality: Very friendly and good service

Occasion for going: Spend time with my sister Mo

Other notes: I'd go again

Next Sunday: 24 season 6

We are excited about the next season of 24, our favorite TV show.

Restaurant Review: California Pizza Kitchen

Location: Plaza

Occasion for going: Courtney's birthday

Web site: http://www.cpk.com/

Food: Not very many gluten-free items. Apparently there is a widespread problem of people thinking the Steakhouse Salad has steak meat, and that happened to me as well. Then I thought the Thai dish might have rice noodles instead of wheat noodles, and that didn't pan out. So I ended up with a great Cobb salad. If you do eat pizza, they have lots of good selections.

Price: reasonable

Service: uptight and miserly. Courtney got no free food for her birthday, they gave her the wrong type of pizza crust, and merely apologized, and did not take our coupon that had expired by 3 months. I did not set up the coupon to be received well, but still, you'd think any 3 of those things would benefit us somehow. Nope.

Other notes: I got interviewed by KCTV5 immediately after leaving this restaurant, as we walked toward Vinca.

Restaurant Review: Manny's

Location: 207 Southwest Blvd, Kansas City, MO

Occasion for going: Jon and Amanda Philgreen are back in town and went to eat with YouthFront people

WebSite: http://www.mannyskc.com/

Service: very fast, except for the end, when it took 20 minutes to pick up our payment.

Food: Good. (No one cares what I had for lunch)

Other Notes: This is the largest Mexican restaurant I've ever been in . They seated our group of 14 (in 2 different booths) within 15 minutes of arrival on a Friday at 12:30.

Dan on the news

I was on the 10:00 news last night on KCTV5. We were on the plaza celebrating Courtney's birthday, when we came across the news people. And off camera they asked what we think about the Penguins coming to town. Courtney said, "What sport?" The newspeople laughed and decided not to interview her. Then they rolled the cameras and asked me "If the Penguins moved to Kansas City, how many games would you watch on TV?". And I said "None. I'd be happy if the Penguins moved here, but hockey isn't that interesting to watch on TV." Off-camera, we discussed more with the newspeople (Ty Wilson was the interviewer), and we said we'd go to one or two games.

So at night we watched the news. they showed some survey results with 38% percent of respondents would watch No games. Then they showed a clip of me saying "hockey isn't that interesting to watch on TV". And the name "Ben Alleres" flashed on the bottom of the screen. So Courtney and I are joking that if I ever get famous, I will go by "Ben Alleres". Overall, a great thing to happen on Courtney's birthday (which is coincidentally also my dad's birthday).

Happy Birthday Courtney!!

Isn't she beautiful?

Location: Musician's Friend Warehouse

Today I took a day off. I only had one extra day off that we call the Eves holiday. We get half day off on each Eve, but typically we combine them. This year I did not take any vacation days, but only had this Eves holiday. Anyway, that was today.

Location: Musician's Friend Warehouse
Who went with me: Lara A and Danielle B from church
Purpose for going: Find a keyboard for our Progressive/Modern "Fish Tank" Service

Review: The prospect of seeing miles and miles of discount music equipment excited me. However, when we walked in, it seemed smaller than I expected. It was very messy (as discount places tend to be). There were zero keyboards that were even close to being prospects. None of them were hooked up to amplifiers or speakers, which made them even harder to work with. However, we did get some good advice to go to another store to listen to the keyboards, but to buy the keyboard new from Musician's Friend.

We also went around and looked at guitars, most of which were in bad shape. One guitar apparently was in the shape of a trailer, including a wheel. Several were in American flag style.

Anyway, we foudn some keyboards we liked eventually, but not at Musician's Friend Warehouse. I'd actually recommend not going there. I don't see what the big deal is.

Movie Review: Gone with the Wind

When did I see this: Last week (for the first time)

Who did I see it with: Courtney my wife! (She also saw it for the first time)

Review:

This movie was heart-wrenching! Scarlett was really annoying about how she treated men, yet I admired her survival skills and personality. Rhett Butler was my favorite character, but I was irritated with him at the end. Ashley Wilkes could have straightened up the situation easily, so he is irritating as well.

Love story aside, it was a good historical piece. Both Courtney and I are interested in learning more about Civil War times. The costumes were fantastic, especially the huge dresses (forget what they are called). And the interior decorating is also amazing, as you might see in the draperies in the picture above.

Overall, I was wondering why it is considered one of the best movies ever. I would watch it again.

Book Review: Cross and Crescent

Author: Colin Chapman

Publisher: IVP Press

Where/When did I get it? Urbana '03 on sale

Review:

This book does not have a practical action chapter until page 300. By the time I got there, I was ready to be done with the book.

I did, however, learn a lot about the Muslim faith.

The author is "into" non-confrontational relationships with Muslims, and trying to find common ground between the two religions. The annoying thing is that he spent 300 pages trying to establish that point. Hello, I'm not stupid!

I do appreciate the change in philosophy. And I do appreciate all that I've learned about Islam. I just can't help but think there is a better book out there. Half of this book is quotes from another author named Kenneth Cragg. I think sometimes it's annoying when an author doesn't write his own material.

Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest

We watched this movie with Courtney's parents on Christmas Day. It was so long (2 h, 30 min), that we started saying out loud, "Is this ever going to end?". When it did end, it was a non-ending, in other words, a to-be-continued type of ending.

The special effects and fight sequences were worth seeing. But there was not a great story line. Sometimes the dialogue was so quiet that it was not understandable. See this if you like special effects, and not because you're a fan of the first movie.

Please welcome Elizabeth Ann Kurtz!!!

She was born Tuesday, December 19, at 12:01 AM!! We went to visit that night.

additional Christmas thoughts

The wish list (links on the right) worked very well for me this year. I received 5 things on the list.

Also, the wheat allergy is difficult during the holidays. My relatives and co-workers do a great job year-round of providing wheat-free alternatives, but the sad fact is that the wheat-full items far outnumber the wheat-less ones. So when everyone ooohs and aaahs about the chocolate covered oreos, I'm left to feel very happy for everyone that is enjoying them. But also a true depression sometimes creeps up, especially after countless episodes like that over years. But I'll survive. I'm still pretty spoiled in terms of food.

Christmas holidays

Christmas holidays are now over, since I am going to work tomorrow. Our families were very generous, and it was fun to see everyone.

The difficult thing was that Christmas Eve was on a Sunday. We served at church with a vocal solo and sign language to "Did You Know", by Todd Agnew, and we had to be there are 8:15 AM for a sound check.

Then since we have babies in our family, we had to be at my parents at 9 AM on Christmas day. We also went to a party late Saturday night. Pretty much the whole weekend, we were on the move. So I'm not sure it was a restful weekend, or that I really spent much time in personal reflection about Christ, but still full of good times.

Tithing

What do you think about tithing?

Courtney and I believe that giving 10% to your church is not a given. This question of mine comes after a Rick Warren video we watched in our small group, where Rick Warren believed that the tithe was not debateable. Or so it seemed.

Our church recently decided not to give to the poor or to missions this year out of the budget, except for individuals who are full-time Christians workers. To justify this behavior, the church council claims that it went the extra mile in giving in previous years, which I believe we did.

Still, Courtney and I believe in giving especially to the poor and to world missions, and those ministries are part of our giving. And even if our church did give more to the poor and to missions, it wouldn't give to the ministries that are dear to our hearts. In other words, 10% of our income does not go to our church.

Here is an interesting take on this:
A tithing book

Higher MPact Adopt-a-Family

My company has adopted an inner city family to give them Christmas presents. The family is probably Muslim, and the list includes things like PS2 video games, and a game boy system. My initial reaction was wondering if a Muslim family even celebrates Christmas, and whether a poor family should have video games.

But my second thought is that we can be a light for Christ through our generosity, and pave the way for these children to have good attitudes about Christianity. We can also enhance the ministry of Higher MPact in a personal way. So I am going out and buying a Tony Hawk PS2 game for Salam, who is 13 years old.

Book Review #4 - The Greatest Thing in the World

At dinner I speed-read "The Greatest Thing in the World" by Henry Drummond (1851 - 1897). According to http://henrydrummond.wwwhubs.com/, this book was "widely read and quoted during his lifetime, it went on to sell over 12 million copies and it continues today to influence people to follow God's two great commandments: to love God and to love each other."

"The Greatest Thing in the World" - a meditation he wrote in 1874 that illuminates the importance of 1 Corinthians 13 - is the one that assured he would be remembered by later generations.

For me, I felt that I had recently gone through 2 series on 1 Corinthians 13. First, by Rick Warren in our small group, and second by our preachers at church, to supplement the small group. So that is why I speed-read the book, which I do to all books that do not interest me. I slow down when I get interested.

Plus, the writing is 132 years old, and I prefer the modern style of communicating the message.

Surprisingly, the entire book can be found here in full text.

Book Review #3 - Getting Along With People @ Work

I read this in 2 lunch hours at skimming speed, because it was really unapplicable.

I get along fine with all of my co-workers, and I genuinely like most of them. The reason I read it, is because before I ever started working, I was insecure about possible working relationships. It so happened that it never was a problem. But this is part of my goal of reading all of the books that I've acquired and have not read yet.

The person reading this that gets a lot out of it is probably really naive about how to relate to others. The entire book pretty much states the obvious.

One chapter that was good, however, was "Confronting Constructively". It helps to identify both wrong and good motives for confronting. But this is also not applicable to me at work, since most people are doing great jobs.

Book Report #2 - The Insider

I just finished a book named The Insider. Dad lent it to me. It is relevant to me, because I interact with nonChristians throughout my day as an "insider", that is, I didn't come to preach to people from the "outside". I am on the inside, as a normal part of my relational networks.




It was a refreshing book. It wasn't another one that told me how to do the Bridge diagram, or how to say just the right words to make someone a Christian. It speaks more realistically to my situation, where through prayer and the way you relate to others, you eventually get into natural conversations about Christ, without having an agenda for that conversation. Also, the purpose is not to get people into church. Also, the book says churches should Insiders more validity as a ministry, and not pressure people to give all their time to the church. There is also a segment on how to lead a small group.




The book validates the idea that as a Christian you don't want force Christ upon someone, and then make the relationship awkward from that point on. Christians should also not separate themselves from nonChristians to the point where they live socially isolated lives. I have had many experiences like that in high school and college, and I learned from them. This book was helpful, because it told me that my experience is not too uncommon, and it shows a better way.

Beyond the Sea

Courtney and I watched a movie named Beyond the Sea on Sunday night.


Here is a clip:





I've really been thinking about this movie. It is part musical, part comedy, and part drama. It is well done. For entertainment value, I give it 4 stars out of 5.

Random December post

I have the song "Let it Be" in my head. Anyone else a fan of that song? If you compare it with the chord progression of "The First Noel", they are eerily similar. I am playing the keyboard at church on "The First Noel", but on the other songs I'm playing bass.

I went to Courtney's work party Wednesday, and I took the entire day off. It was really relaxing. The party was at Dave & Busters, a place by Kansas Speedway where adults play arcade games. If you haven't been there, you should check it out. Then we went Christmas shopping sans long lines.



We are reading the "Cat Who..." series by Lillian Jackson Braun. The occasion was that I was roaming around the library for no reason, and the books caught my eye. Now we are on Book #2. - The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern.

Thanksgiving video

I've been wanting Michele to make a video like this. Here is a video to give you a better picture of the Taussig Thanksgiving celebration:

Thanksgiving Video

Other Thanksgiving highlights

I left out a few highlights...

We cut down a dead branch from Grandma and Grandpa's tree in the front yard. It was Dave, Tyson, Uncle Tim, Uncle Andrew and me.

Chinese students are usually really shy ( by the way, my grandparents invite international students over who are part of their Bible class ). One though, asked Tyson for his email and phone number.

And here is a pic that Uncle Andrew took:

big weekend #2

We went to Manhattan for Thanksgiving to my grandparents' house. Courtney's trail mix was a big hit. I'm glad because she spent about 4 hours making it. A special part of our celebration was when my cousin Derek called from Iraq. I got to talk to him over the phone, and say thanks for his service. My cousin Ben also called from West Asia.

Then Friday we went to Courtney's parents for another Thanksgiving meal. At night we hung out with some friends.

Saturday we hung Christmas lights, raked leaves, and cleaned out the gutters. I called my dad over for help, because it felt like we was going to be raking for hours. So he came over. What a guy. Then after dark we sanded our bathroom walls.

We sold a piece of music equipment on EBay. It sold for more than expected. So praise the Lord!

pic of me bearded

I have a beard that some of you have not seen yet:

Self-portrait. Behind me are wonderfully colored leaves from the tree in our backyard.

True Spirituality

I have changed my schedule around to allow for me to finish reading books. I have a huge number of books that were given to me by my parents or grandparents, or which I purchased at Urbana, or through IVP Press. And at the rate I was going, I was going to be reading these my entire life. I could just drop them, but I feel I really should read them.

Therefore, I just finished "True Spirituality" by Francis Schaeffer. I've read probably about 70 pages in the last 3 days during the lunch hour. This has been an incredibly enlightening and inspiring book. But the fact is that it is so meaty, that I think I forget what I've read about 10 minutes later.

But I would read it again. Sometime I'll post a list of all the books I've read recently, and all the ones I'm going to read.


So that I don't have a completely pictureless blog, I will post a picture below:




Francis Shaeffer is the best intellectual writing I've ever read, because the intellectual statements are not the end point, but he stresses that devotion to God is the end point. He refers to end point as integration point.

It is true that each of us has an integration point. In modern day songs, integration point is referred to as the "center", as in the song "Be the Center." Our focus and purpose is in Him.

middle school retreat

Courtney had a great time at the middle school retreat. She is writing a letter to each of the girls. Our church is really lucky to have such a wonderful volunteer youth worker.

What a weekend

Wow, what a weekend. Mo and I went to the Silent Auction for YouthFront. Courtney organized and did work for a lot of it. She was there from about 9 AM to 11 PM. The auction started at 6:30. Mo bid on about half the stuff, including $120 for a pair of $45 Jayhawks tickets. But luckily people outbid her on most of the stuff. Courtney and I won a few bids.

Then this morning before 8, Courtney packed her bag, and went to the Middle School Fall Retreat for church. she is teaching sunday school for the girls, and wanted to get to know them better.

I helped Ann and Nate Kurtz (Ann is my cousin) on their house. Part of that is showing up to play Ultimate Frisbee at 10 AM. So I went there and was surprised to see a few acquaintances for the first time since college. Raul and Sharon Morfii, Michael, and Tommy. And of course Christian and Katherine Zouein, my cousins, were there. Then I cooked some excellent brats and burgers for the workers at the house. Then I helped Christian to install Ann and Nate's wood floor. It is slow going, moving about 2 linear feet per hour. Their entire house is going to have the floor installed, so I think that will take a large number of hours...

It's not over. Then at 4:45 I headed home to mow the lawn. The battery had died, so I hooked up my new trickle charger. I had to wait 30 minutes (as I was losing daylight), and finally got the lawn mower to start and stay started.

So all this involved walking, running, throwing, bending, kneeling, pounding, standing, sweeping, sitting for over an hour because I was afraid the mower would die, and typing right now. And i'll look forward to hearing from Courtney about all she did at the retreat.

Facing the Giants

For Mo's 30's birthday we went to dinner and saw Facing the Giants. This was a very good film about Christian living. Some parts are not applicable, because the football team gets very religious. Courtney and I both went to public high schools. She did go to a Christian college and works in a Christian setting. But the idea of being "preachy" in a educational and work setting is not possible in the culture I live in. My company even has some Christian undertones, but being preachy would be inappropriate.

But besides that, it did include a guy walking down the halls of the school, praying for students. That does happen here in real life. He also dropped by the football coach's office, and said a random piece of Scripture, and said "I felt God wanted me to tell you that today". That kind of thing happens in our lives. The football coach was faced with the decision of praising God even in the very tough times. That happens to people. The student who was flunking, and then gave his life to God, then started to do very well academically. I believe in the power of Christ to change a life, and it very much affects academics. I felt it was much more applicable and inspiring to my life than any usual movie.

The other weird thing is that things ended up perfect. I don't sense in real life that things ever get easy, or that things ever come to a full happy conclusion. I don't think the movie was trying to say that things end up perfectly, but the end did feel a little fake in that way.

Halloween

We only had 8 kids stop by for Halloween (granted we took off around 8 for our small group). There are only 2 kids on our block, and they were with their mom in a different town. (Ta-Town)

In other news, I have gone approximately 137 straight business days without taking a vacation day! (Not counting "free" ones like Labor Day and July 4) (And not counting the half-day I took off for a class about trains) (And not counting the afternoon I took off to hang out with BJ)

I have not taken one since our honeymoon. We would take a vacation, but winter is not the most convenient time.

End of October

Hi,

last week was great, in the fact that we got electric work done on our house. We got a new remote-controlled ceiling fan, a sink disposal, a bathroom light, a bathroom exhaust fan, a garage light, and 2 outside decorative lights.

We also cleaned out Courtney's parents' basement. We even used their dumpster to throw away some of our old awnings.

The network went down at work. First we couldn't communicate with the outside world. Then the next day, we couldn't use even our own systems. Things are back to normal now.

I think this document is rather striking.
http://www.stemcellresearch.org/facts/treatments.htm

Serving in the community and Lowes #2

Today we got to the church at 8 AM for our service project. We were assigned to the Shawnee Community Center at 67th and Nieman, which is literally 1 minute from our house. (It is a place that provides food for poor people, and otherwise sells old stuff to pay bills). Jeff Meador provided the supplies. And Brent Ahsmus, our small group leader, assessed the situation and decided we needed a coordinator. He appointed Courtney to do that. And she did a great job. Although I managed to jokingly ask "Who made her boss?" when she wasn't around.

The first task was trying to open a 5 gallon bucket of paint. We tried to open just a small hole at the top, and we shook it. But it still came out nasty (nastily?). So then we had the idea of popping the entire top off. And then we stirred with sticks. Then the wonderful tool of an electric drill paint mixer appeared, and that did the trick.

My dad happened to be there, and he caulked some holes. We primed some spots that were especially corroded on the wall. Then we painted with a grey-ish paint. All 4 walls were painted with different colors. Due to the free paint that we recieved from Porter paints, we didn't have much choice. But they were all nice colors.

In addition, the front of the building got new panelling, and it was painted as well. It looks really great. We drove by the place this afternoon.

I also helped carry in some food from a lady's van, and some fruit from a lady's car.

Courtney also discovered another person at church who has the gluten allergy. He said he was the 3rd case of this in Kansas City (long time ago). This happened when everyone was eating bagels and donuts except for us two apparently.

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Our second visit to Lowe's we waited around for 20 minutes for help in the ceiling fan section. Does anyone else not get much help at hardware stores? The fan we wanted on display could not be found as a box below. It was the kind of waiting where you finally decide to sit down on the floor, and play Bejeweled on the Palm Pilot. And it was the kind of waiting where the guy from the plumbing section is trying to help in the ceiling fan section. Finally, the Carl, the real ceiling fan section guy, discovered there were not any in the store. So Carl offered the display for $15 off. So we thought that was worth the wait. He removed 3 blades for us, so it would fit in my Camry, and we were on our way. So props to Carl.

Altar

We went to the Altar at YouthFront Camp South. It's just a time to spend time with God in nature, and to also have worship times and small discussions. Bryson Rumple, our church's year-long intern was there. I beat him in ping pong.

Don Chaffer of Waterdeep led worship, surprisingly with 2 other aquaintances of mine. First, Greg LaFollette, he went to KSU and is friends with my friends Ben Deaver and James Beecher. So I said hey to him. Then UJ the incredible electric guitarist was there. He is friends with the Thiessens, and even plays in a band with Matt. So I said hey to him, and he was happy to meet me.

Then Don Chaffer gave Courtney a free CD for working the merchandise table. I chose "Enter the Worship Circle". One of my all-time favorites, but I've never owned it. I always just listened to my roommates' copies. Courtney has a similar story with the CD. I could have met Don but kind of froze. It did not make sense, but that is what happened.

KC legend, Buck O'Neil

This quote of Buck O'Neil from Wikipedia almost made me tear up.

After hearing that he had not been elected to the Hall at age 94, O'Neil spoke to about 200 well-wishers who had gathered to celebrate, but instead stood hushed and solemn, telling the crowd:

"God's been good to me. They didn't think Buck was good enough to be in the Hall of Fame. That's the way they thought about it and that's the way it is, so we're going to live with that. Now, if I'm a Hall of Famer for you, that's all right with me. Just keep loving old Buck. Don't weep for Buck. No, man, be happy, be thankful."

Re-thinking what is my purpose?

Eternity will be wonderful, but there is one thing heaven will not contain, and that is the call, the possibility, and the priviledge of living a supernatural life here and now by faith, before we see Jesus face to face.

Christians are called upon to be a demonstration at our point of history that the supernatural, the normally unseen world, does exist; and, beyound that, that God exists.

Francis Shaeffer, 1971