The north lawn at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington will be the site of the All Aggie Hullabaloo as well as yell practice Friday night. There will be a concert by Max Stallings and Roger Creager from 8 until 11. Tickets for the concert are $10 for adults and $5 for children. At 11:15, the gates will open for yell practice, which lasts from midnight until 12:30 a.m. All parking for both events is free. Gig 'Em.
Finally! I know cousin Pam in Oregon was worried that her Texas family might run out of bullets.
Pretty cool trailer for the book Deadly Viper Character Assassins. Click on the image to go to the website.DEADLY VIPER PROMO TRAILER: LONG FORMAT:2 MIN from Deadly Viper on Vimeo.
Back in 2007 Mary and I had the pleasure of going with GVI on our second trip to Hanoi, VN. While there we met Sherman and Becky Chau, a great couple that run GVI’s Hanoi office. Sherman and Becky have two daughters, Hannah (on right) and Allison.
Heavy rains, beginning on September 19th, dumped between 15 and 20 inches of rain over three days on parts of Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee. The deluge overwhelmed natural and man made systems, and the record-breaking downpour turned streams into rivers, swamping neighborhoods, washing out roads and, unfortunately, taking at least nine lives. Damage costs are estimated at $250 million, the cleanup just now beginning. Georgia's Republican Governor Sonny Perdue recently announced that President Obama has issued a Federal Disaster Declaration for individual assistance to aid residents of five affected counties. Collected here are a few recent photos around the area, largely centered on Atlanta, Georgia. (30 photos total)
The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth has a new acquisition that will be revealed on Friday. "The Torment of Saint Anthony" is Michelangelo's first known painting. Experts say he painted it in 1487-88 when he was 12 or 13 years old.I’m no art expert, but I do love great art. I consider the Kimbell and the other museums in Fort Worth and Dallas to be possibly the best reason for living here.
A huge outback dust storm - 500 km (310 mi) wide by 1,000 km (620 mi) long - swept across eastern Australia and blanketed Sydney on Wednesday, September 23rd, disrupting flights and ground transportation and forcing people indoors for shelter from the hazardous air, gale-force winds, and in some places hailstorms. Those few who ventured outside, especially at dawn, were greeted by a Martian sky, familiar landmarks blotted out by the heavy red dust blowing by. Collected here are a few photos of the worst dust storm Sydney has seen in 70 years, three of which you can click to see a before/after fade effect. (26 photos total)Click the image above to see the full collection (and be sure to read the captions).
At some point during most of the awards shows they take a moment to honor people in their industry who have died in the past year. A fellow blogger posted this year's Emmy clip along with these comments. I thought I would share both.For some reason I always look forward to the “In Memoriam” parts of award shows, especially the Oscars and the Emmys. I always like to see what clips are used of a performance of the deceased and what order they are presented, and sometimes I’m surprised that someone died and I had no idea that they were gone, or just reminded of a great that has passed. And it’s cool that I get to see people I had no idea were behind a film or show that really impacted my life. Oh, and it’s really interesting to see how the audience reacts to each person.
Burglar checks facebook on victim's computer; fails to log outWe all love a good "dumb criminal," story and when it involves social networking Web sites, it's even better.Click the image above to read the story.
A man was arrested on burglary charges in West Virginia after police say he used his victim's computer to check his Facebook status while committing a burglary and forgot to log out.
The victim noticed the use of the computer and that her two diamond rings were missing. Police were able to track down the 19-year-old man and arrest him.
The victim probably won't be adding him to her "friends" list any time soon.
A few years back I became aware of a Pastor named Vince Antonucci. I follow his blog, I have read (and highly recommend) his book and I am eagerly awaiting his next book.500 people, $100, days from Brightbulb on Vimeo.
The NFL Network had a microphone on Tony Romo during their opening game against Tampa Bay. It is interesting to hear his interaction with the other players and coaches through the game. Unfortunately it also reveals that Aggie Stephen McGee is a little gullible. I enjoyed the entire video, but if you only want to hear Romo put one over on McGee skip over to the 4:40 mark.
Apparently they played a better version of this song on the scoreboard before the Baylor game. The lyrics are below the video.I wanted to come to a good university
Then this bright idea came directly to me
As if from God, now hear MY humble plea
Best decision Ive made in this whole century
I narrowed my options ver-RY easily
Now sit back, relax, listen and just agree..
(Chorus)
Im a Baylor Bear, man
Im a Baylor Bear, man
Were in the Big 12, man
The best school in the land, man
Tons of majors here, man
Im a Baylor Bear
Majorin in Architecture, Great Texts, English, Classics
Philosophy, and Theatre, Accounting, and French
Real Estate, Biology, Chemistry, and Finance
BioChem and Physics, Marketing, Forensics
Language and Linguistics, Information Systems
I'm a Baylor Bear
(Chorus)
Im a Baylor Bear, man
Im a Baylor Bear, man
LocAted in Waco, man
Dont you want to come, man
Youll get an educati-man
Im a Baylor Bear
Weve got Forestry, Pedagogy, Church stuff, Teacher stuff
Mathematics, Informatics, Geophysics, Neuroscience
Humanities, History, German, Greek, Latin, Spanish
Economics, Management, Entrepreneurship
Journalism, Pre-Law, Pre-Med, Pre-Nurse
I'm a Baylor Bear
(Chorus)
Im a Baylor Bear, man
Im a Baylor Bear, man
Tier 1 from the new grass, man (Hope you understand, man)
So what about tuiti-man(a good degree plan, man)
Close youve got to lis-man(best school in the land, man)
Im a Baylor Bear
(Last round!)
FDM, Administration, Technology, S3
Selling, Fashion, Art, Russian, Religion, Psychology
Statistics, Risk, U-Schol, BIC, and Business Fellows
Composition, Theory, Listen can you hear me?
Communication Specialist and all of the rest
Im a Baylor Bear
(Chorus)
Im a Baylor Bear, man
Im a Baylor Bear, man
Hope you understand, man
a good degree plan, man
best school in the land, man
If you are a regular reader of this blog you already know that I follow the blog Stuff Christians Like. It is a humorous take on the weird things some (read most) Christians do. Individually we do not do them all, but it seems that each one of them is done by someone I know...or at least know about.Click the image below to pre-order the book.OK, I made up that last one, but the list felt really incomplete with only 6 items.
- There are more than 120 posts inside, including more than 80 never before seen, brand new, never on the site ideas.
- A really talented artist named Mark Sheeres illustrated it and the work he did is hilarious.
- It’s only $10.39.
- It only weighs 235 grams. (Not sure why Amazon lists the grams but if you prefer books in low the 200 gram range, you will love this one.)
- I was afraid a publisher might make me water down the message, but Zondervan didn’t make me pull punches. Instead, the editor I worked with really amplified the humor and honesty of the whole thing.
- It comes out in April. By then you will have forgotten you ordered it. One day, on a bright spring afternoon, you’ll walk to the mailbox and say, “Oh, what’s this?” And then you’ll do the robot.
- If lots of people pre-order it, Zondervan will let me publish another book and get me a hybrid tour bus that runs on skittles and make us a collectible Stuff Christians Like belt buckle line.
For those of us that grew up playing with Lego Building Blocks and listening to Queen (albeit at different times in our lives).
Chinese citizens and government workers have been preparing for months for their upcoming celebration of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st. Parts of Beijing have been shut down several times, allowing for rehearsals of a once-in-a-decade military parade, multiple artistic performances and shows, fireworks and more. Security concerns are high as well, bringing out large details of security personnel and equipment. Collected here are images from the past several weeks of people around China preparing to celebrate their National Day. (37 photos total)Click the image to see the full collection.
I bet every dad loves it when his kids run to give him a hug. Click the image above to see more pictures.
Picture this, a 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air and a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu are involved in a head-on crash. Which of the cars would you rather be driving? Would it be the old car made of steel or the new car made of plastic? Well, click on the image above to read the blog where I found the article, or just watch the video below.Safety engineers studying the incident, and crash dummies, say the driver of the Bel Air would have died instantly, but that the driver of the Malibu would have only sustained a minor knee injury.
I don't understand what it all means, but I still found it very interesting.Beethoven 5th Symphony 5 (graphical score animation)
Private Kevin Elliott and his friend, Barry Delaney, had agreed that whoever survived the other should wear a dress to the dead man’s funeral. Mr Delaney duly fulfilled the pledge as a tribute to Private Elliott, who was killed aged 24 while on foot patrol in the southern province of Helmand on August 31.Click the picture to read the article.
More useless information I can draw on at parties. Click the picture to get the details.
A truly moving speech. You owe it to take 8 minutes to watch it!
I am not a fan of awards shows. The only award shows I like are the ones at the end of the World Series, Super Bowl, NCAA Championship, etc. I generally don't care to watch the ones with music & movie stars. And since I don't watch them I missed the episode where Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech to tell the world that he did not think she deserved to win. It sounds like a pretty rotten thing to do. Sounds like a good reason to 'hate on' Kanye.
Oh, The Temptation from Steve V on Vimeo.
These pictures are amazing. On most of them you can click the picture to see a before and after shot. Don't miss out on seeing the changes.One year after Hurricane Ike tore across the gulf coast of Texas, residents paused on Sunday to observe the anniversary of the costliest natural disaster in Texas history. Destroying or damaging many thousands of houses, including 3/4 of all homes in Galveston, Ike's 110 mph winds caused more than $29 billion in damage, and took the lives of at least 72 in the United States. In Galveston one year later, 75% of businesses have reopened, much of the debris has been cleared, and 95% of the population has returned, but much work still remains to be done as residents continue to rebuild and recover. Collected here are a series of before-and-after photographs - which (starting with the second one below) will fade between "before" and "after" when clicked. This effect requires javascript to be enabled. (13 photo pairs total)
10 years ago this week Larry Gene Ashbrook walked into a Wednesday night youth rally and concert at Wedgewood Baptist Church in Fort Worth. Nobody really knows why he did it, but when it was over there were seven wounded and eight dead, including the gunman. 
Eight years after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, we remember and here, take a look back, and a look at the present. This year's remembrance is emphasizing volunteerism and service, honoring the private citizens that volunteered after the attacks and encouraging the observance of the anniversary to be a day of service. Construction at Ground Zero, the site of the former twin towers, is years behind because of construction delays, design disputes and litigation involving developers, state and local officials and insurance companies. At this point, One World Trade Center (formerly the Freedom Tower), the 120-story anchor building on the site, is scheduled for a 2013 completion. (38 photos total) CAUTION: SOME PICTURES ARE GRAPHICClick the image to see the full collection.
What was old is new again.IT experts at a firm in South Africa said it takes up to six hours to transfer four gigabytes of encrypted data between two of its offices which lie 50 miles apart.Click the picture to read the article.
Today staff at the financial services company will save valuable time by instead having the information transported by a homing pigeon named Winston.
Workers will attach a memory card containing the data to bird's leg and let nature take its course.
Experts believe the specially-trained 11-month-old pigeon will complete the flight in just 45 minutes - and at a fraction of the cost.
I am not a fan of Al Franken's politics or his comedy, but I am impressed with this.Senator Al Franken draws a map of all 50 states from memory during an appearance on Minnesota Public Radio's Midday at the Minnesota State Fair.
Reading a newspaper, I saw a picture of birds on the electric wires. I cut out the photo and decided to make a song, using the exact location of the birds as notes (no Photoshop edit). I knew it wasn’t the most original idea in the universe. I was just curious to hear what melody the birds were creating.
I sent the music to the photographer, Paulo Pinto, who I Googled on the internet. He told his editor, who told a reporter and the story ended up as an interview in the very same newspaper.
Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.
On August 17th, near Sayanogorsk in south central Russia, a catastrophic accident took place in the turbine and transformer rooms of the hydroelectric plant of the Sayano-Shushenskaya dam. The exact cause is still under investigation, but what is known so far is that a tremendous amount of water from the Yenisei River flooded the turbine room, causing at least one transformer explosion and extensive damage to all ten turbines, destroying at least three of them. 74 workers are known to have lost their lives in the accident, while one remains missing. Additionally, 40 tons of transformer oil were spilled into the river, killing an estimated 400 tons of trout in two fisheries. Investigators plan to release findings in two months, as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called for a nationwide infrastructure inspection. (32 photos total)Click the image to see the full collection.
An intriguing article. Click the picture to read it.
Most people that read this blog know that I sold cars for a few years. The owner of our dealership was a Godly man who never asked his employees to be dishonest or take advantage of a customer. My experience did not match the stereotypes about car dealers and car salespeople. For the most part everyone I dealt with was someone I trusted.Selling cars is not an easy job. It never has been. The great outdoors is where the cars are parked, so a salesperson’s workplace is out in the rain, snow and ice or in the broiling sun and/or wind. More than half of all potential clients come in skeptical, distrusting most in the automotive industry. And this is not because their last vehicle purchase was a bad experience, but because it’s been drummed into the public’s heads that dealers inevitably plot to extract all of a customer’s money in exchange for a new set of wheels. (Fact: The few dealerships known for brutal sales practices are the exception, not the rule.)Click the picture above to read the full article.
Mongolia (the independent nation), and Inner Mongolia (a neighboring autonomous region of the People's Republic of China) share a common history and geography, and have both evolved in recent years, centering much of their growth on their famous culture. Mongolia is a young democracy - its 1990 revolution less than 20 years old now - formerly a Soviet-backed communist republic, and much earlier ruled by many different dynasties back to Genghis Khan in 1206. Inner Mongolia continues to undergo a cultural shift as ethnic Han Chinese now make up nearly 80% of the population, and efforts at retaining Mongolian culture are being undertaken. Collected here are a number of recent photographs of these two Mongolias. (33 photos total)Click the image to see the full collection.
Breakpoint had an interesting article on the value of microloans. Click the picture above to read the article.Microcredit is the extension of very small loans (microloans) to those in poverty designed to spur entrepreneurship. These individuals lack collateral, steady employment and a verifiable credit history and therefore cannot meet even the most minimal qualifications to gain access to traditional credit.
The global board of Biblica today announced its intention to update the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible, the first time it has been revised since 1984. The Committee on Bible Translation (CBT), the independent body of global biblical scholars solely responsible for the translation of the world's most popular Bible, is slated to finish its revision late next year, with publication in 2011. The announcement was made at Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, Ill., the site of the historic first meeting of the CBT in 1965.Click the image above to read the full press release.
"We want to reach English speakers across the globe with a Bible that is accurate, accessible and that speaks to its readers in a language they can understand," said Keith Danby, Global President and CEO of Biblica. "This is why we are recommitting ourselves today to the original NIV charter, complete with its charge to monitor and reflect developments in English usage and Biblical scholarship by periodically updating the NIV Bible text.
"As time passes and English changes, the NIV we have at present is becoming increasingly dated. If we want a Bible that English speakers around the world can understand, we have to listen to, and respect, the vocabulary they are using today."
There is a new football movie coming out around Thanksgiving of this year. I hope the movie is good, because the story it is based on is great. The Blind Side is an upcoming 2009 film written and directed by John Lee Hancock, and based on the 2006 book The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis. The storyline features Michael Oher, an offensive lineman for the Baltimore Ravens NFL football team. The film follows Oher from his impoverished upbringings, through his years at Briarcrest Christian School, his adoption by Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, and on to his position as one of the most highly coveted prospects in college football.Watch the movie trailer below and then click the link above to read the story from the New York Times.
The film stars Quinton Aaron as Michael Oher and Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw as Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy, Oher's adopted parents. Kathy Bates co-stars as Miss Sue, Oher's no-nonsense tutor. The movie also features appearances by several current and former NCAA coaches, including Nick Saban, Lou Holtz and Tommy Tuberville.
Angeles National Forest, in the hills outside of Los Angeles currently has several wildfires tearing through it, the largest of which - named the Station Fire - has so far burned over 140,000 acres, destroyed nearly 100 structures, and claimed the lives of two firefighters whose vehicle fell from a road into a steep canyon. Evacuation orders are in place for thousands in communities around the city, and residents of Los Angeles itself are contending with thick smoke and ash hanging in the air, causing air quality to drop to unhealthful levels in many parts. Currently, the Station Fire is estimated to be 22% contained, and favorable weather appears to be aiding the efforts of the firefighters. (41 photos total)Click the image above to see the full collection.
Our friend Ronne (Veronica) will be celebrating her 50th birthday in September. To celebrate she wants to give her gift away. Her words say it best...I've been looking forward to my 50th birthday for so long now - there's something regal, beautiful about the number. I've been blessed with moments bright and dark, all woven into an amazing tapestry of life and love.Click on Ronne's picture above to go to the site and learn more.
So, to celebrate the arrival of my big day on September 27th, I'm asking you to do something special for me.
Give my gift away.
Nothing would make my celebration brighter than for you to give $50 (or whatever you can afford) to give others life. A billion men, women, and children in the world are living without clean water. 45,000 people will die this week alone. The lucky ones won't, but still walk hours each day to get dirty water to give to their families.
How wonderful will it be to know you helped give clean and safe drinking water to some of the billion living without it.
Thanks for celebrating life with me.
Peace and grace,
Ronne
please note: Because of charity: water's unique model, 100% of all donations go directly to direct water projects costs, and each donation is "proved" and tracked to the village it helped when projects are complete.
An interesting article on fees.Fees used to be an occasional expense, an additional charge in exchange for an additional service. But in recent years, they’ve become a common way for companies and governments to juice up revenue without raising the price that everybody sees.Click the image above to read the full article.
Consumers still pay more, of course, and the extra fees make it harder to do comparison shopping, which may be one objective. Last month, my electric retailer added a $5 monthly fee but kept the same variable-rate formula for calculating the bill. Try figuring out how that affects kilowatt costs — and whether a switch is warranted.
A 2006 study by the Ponemon Institute estimated that Americans were paying an average of almost $943 a year in fees, with the biggest amounts going to banks and credit card companies.
Do you ever forget an important meeting (like Mary and I did this weekend)? Do you ever wish your home or office had a dependable wake-up service like you find in hotels? Well, if you do, you will like Wakerupper (click the logo above to go to their site).Wakerupper is a telephone reminder service that aims to make telephone alerts as simple as possible. Just enter the number of the phone you would like to be called, the time you want the call to be placed, and an optional 140-character reminder message. That's it - you will receive a call from Wakerupper at the time you have specified and your message will be delivered.This is a free service, but Wakerupper also offers a paid service that has more features like:
I had heard it before but had forgotten that my niece-in-law Abby's great-grandmother wrote the song 'The Twelfth Man'. The Texas A&M school newspaper published an article about her today. Click on the picture above to read the story.Texas Aggies down in Aggieland
We've got Aggie Spirit to a man
Stand united - that's the Aggie theme
We're the Twelfth Man on the team
When we're down the going's rough and tough
We just grin and yell, "We've got the stuff!"
To fight together for the Aggie dream
We're the Twelfth Man on that fighting Aggie team
