4am Friends

Random thoughts for Sunday's contemplative service where I'm leading half of the meditation.

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Who do you go to when you fall down?

Who is that friend who can help you up?

I remember a time when I was living in Lubbock, Texas and I was desperate. It was about 4 am, and, instead of being in bed like a 'good little fervent evangelical' I had been out getting into trouble. Nothing illegal, but something that smothered me in guilt. Pre-dawn Lubbock is a pretty desolate place, it was as bleak and lonely as I felt inside.

I needed to talk to someone, but who can you call in the middle of the night? Did I know anyone I could wake from their slumber?

Yes.

I dialed a friend's number and by some miracle the phone only rang once before he answered. He had woken up about 10 minutes earlier with a sense that something was going to happen, so he was sitting by the phone.

Was it God waking him up or just one of those unexplained coincidences? I have no idea, but I do know that him telling me that story was exactly what I needed to hear. He invited me over and as I pulled up at his house he opened the door and handed me a hot steaming mug of tea - again exactly what I needed.

We must have talked for a couple of hours, I think I left his house just before the rest of his family woke up. He invited me back to talk again that afternoon.

It's wonderful to have friends like that. Someone who will be a companion with you on your life journey, even in those stretches where you are wandering through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. We all need people to be 'Jesus with skin on' for us at times.

Who has been that 4am friend for you?
Who would feel able to call you at 4am?

If Videos Matched the Song

I posted one of these to Take on Me by Aha awhile ago.

Here's an awesome version of that classic song with the incomprehensible video - Total Eclipse of the Heart.

June Weight Update (plus some boardgames)

Well it's the first of the month and I've made my target again.

I've now lost 25lbs woohoo!

I went shopping this weekend and bought some new shorts and pants, the waist line was 4 inches smaller than the ones I was wearing at Christmas - that felt good. Now I don't have to cinch my belt extra tight or risk my shorts sliding down over my hips and descending to my ankles!

My weight had a lot more variance this month. Around day 15 it looked like I was going to lost 10lbs this month, and then my metabolism decided to change and even breathing in was adding poundage. Consequently this past week I was wondering if I was going to make my target at all.

I also discovered the depressing truth that if you go for a week without exercising (like I did this month when I got sick) it means that when you restart you have to drop a few levels. It was rather depressing to discover that just after one week the workout that I could just about make it through was suddenly a struggle for me.

As the months have gone on the 5 pounds have got steadily more difficult to lose, but the amount of weight lost has become more gratifying. I seem to get more joy over 1 pound now than I did over 5 pounds in January. I think it's because it's taking more effort.

Here's hoping my metabolism decides to go on a 'fat feast' and I'm suddenly skinny! That would be a great birthday present this month.

Onto the games!

May was a great month for games, with 21 different games played for a total of 31 games altogether, that is a new record for one month!

Top of the list was Duck Duck Go! and Go.

Duck Duck Go! Is a newcomer which is why it got played so many times, I foresee it dropping in the ratings. It's a game of racing rubber ducks around a bath tub, it looks fun and it's easy to play, but I'm not sure of its sticking power.

I continue my efforts to master 'Go'. I'm slowly beginning to see the bigger picture of the struggle for space on the board and not get so bogged down in individual battles - I have a couple of books to read to help me with strategy.

Top of my list with a total of 7 plays this year is still Dominion. It's an excellent game with lots of replay value!

I also had the fun of introducing a whole new group of people to the delights of playing Werewolf. It's always a great feeling getting to facilitate lies and deception :)

15 books

Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes. TRILOGIES COUNT AS ONE.These are in the order they occur to me. With only 15 over the course of my whole life, it's impossible to rank them.You know how the FB memes work. Tag 15 friends, including me because I'm interested in seeing what books my friends choose. Go!

1. The Bible
2. Skallagrigg by William Horwood
3. The Duncton Chronicles by William Horwood
4. The Belgariad - David Eddings
5. The Mallorean - David Eddings
6. The Riftwar Saga - Raymond E. Feist
7. The Spirituality of Imperfection - Ernest Kuntz and Katherine Ketchum
8. Inner Compass - Margaret Silf
9. All of the Discworld novels - Terry Pratchett
10. The War of Art - Steven Pressfield
11. The Lord of the Rings - Tolkein
12. The Great Divorce - C.S. Lewis
13. Swallows and Amazons Series - Arthur Ransome
14. Easter - Michael Arditti
15. Good Goats, Healing our Image of God - Dennis, Sheila and Matthew Linn


Wow, that was the first 15 books that came to mind (though some of them are long series!)

Loving Long Weekends!

For me, long weekends and national holidays are an opportunity to cook and to hang out with friends and play boardgames. I detailed in a previous blog some of my struggles with pastry. Well I knew that I could make it on a cold crisp dry day, the time had come for the next challenge - Pastry in Houston Humidity.

I didn't want to just make another Apple Pie, I wanted to venture into new territory there too. Enter the Dutch Apple Pie. A dessert that I never encountered in my hometown of Norwich despite being only 152 miles from Amsterdam. Maybe the reason is that the pastry and the crumb topping don't travel across the North Sea very well?

I went to my trusty bible of cookery - Cooks Illustrated, and came out with a recipe. The pastry was great and the filling and topping cooked to perfection. There was I must confess a slight mix up in filling ingredients though. The recipe said 5 Granny Smiths (2 1/2 lbs) and 4 Large McIntosh (2 lbs). When I weighed 5 Granny Smiths it was only 1lb and the same problem with the McIntosh too. Figuring the weight was the more accurate measure I bought the specified weight and took them home.

My trusty Apple Peeler made short work of them - I peeled, cored and sliced 4 1/2 pounds of apples in 10 minutes. And when I had finished I had enough filling for 3 pies!!!! I guess I need to check the cookbook errata.

Anyway the finished pie was glorious!


The next task - which started on Saturday and finished on Sunday was a new challenge for me - a Lemon Layer Cake. It's something I wouldn't normally attempt given the complexity of the recipe. But my friend Paul had given me another Cooks Illustrated Cookbook for Christmas along with the accompanying DVDs of the series. Having watched them make it on TV I was confident I could do it.

And...I did :)

It was a lot of steps, but I took it slowly and it came together wonderfully. I had to buy a few extra tools along the way - offset spatula, cake stand, instant read thermometer, but the results were worth it. I will be making this again. The filling alone (home made lemon curd) contained 10 eggs!

It was a cross between cooking and chemistry because a number of the combined ingredients had to be heated to certain temperatures to allow reactions to occur. Too hot or too cold and disaster!

But no disaster here - it looked and tasted incredible!

Probably the best I've ever managed to ice a cake!

Here you can see the three glorious layers of lemon heaven sandwiched between light and fluffy cake bliss all smothered in icing perfection....you probably get the idea that I liked it.

All also made a Key Lime pie - no pics I'm afraid. I was a bit disappointed by the recipe and I need to do some 'tweaking' before I make it for a party Friday night.

So that's the breakdown of the cooking (not counting the regular meals I also prepared), what about the games?

Friday

Go - the ancient Chinese game I am still learning. I played better this time and actually had a win.

Zombiegeddon - a new game from the master game designer Reiner Knizia. It's an interesting set collection game that has some similarities to Go, but it is ruined by terrible graphic design. It is very difficult to tell pieces apart without straining.

Saturday

Duck! Duck! Go! - a fun game of racing rubber ducks around a bathtub. Similar in feel to Robo Rally, but a lot lighter.

Sunday

Discovery Island - an excellent 2 player game which takes about 90minutes. You parachute down onto an island and have to find out where you are on the map. You then have to get to different clues, work out where the treasure is located and dig it up. All the while racing your opponent who is doing the same thing.

Lost Cities - another game by Reiner Knizia. It's quick, strategic and very addictive.

Monday

I'm the Boss - a classic from American Designer Sid Sackson. It's all boardroom negotiation and brokering deals. It can get chaotic at times and I'm not very good at it, but it's a great game for 6 people.

Category 5 - a quick, easy game that plays 10 people very well.

Shadow Hunters - This one was a new one for our group. Three teams of people are around the table all with different (and conflicting winning conditions). The trouble is you have no idea who is on your team and who is an opponent. You are trying to deduce who is on your side and then gang up on the others. There is a lot of potential for suspicion in this one. It's been described as a cross between Bang and Werewolf. Unfortunately I omitted some information when I taught the rules that would have been helpful in playing the game. Hopefully we'll get it to the table again soon and we can partake in all its glory.

Stone Age - A resource management game. You need different materials to build huts and purchase cards that give you points, but you also need to feed all your workers. It's a fun balancing act.

So, quite a full Holiday weekend :)

A Heart Attack waiting to happen!

This terrifying beast is called The Pattie LaBurger.

That is a triple bacon cheese burger with deep fried patties as buns!

Another inspiring meal from This is Why You're Fat - where dreams become heart attacks!

Spicy Salad Dressing

Since I've been trying to lose weight I've been eating a lot more salads and I've discovered that most fat free salad dressings leave a little something to be desired in terms of their ability to stimulate the taste buds. Most of the time I just sprinkle the rabbit food with balsamic vinegar and hope for the best.

I was surfing food sites recently and came across a salad dressing that peeked my curiosity. I made a few twists to the published recipe and voila! Peter's spicy salad dressing was born. I warn you though it does have a bit of a punch to it.

1/3 Cup Chopped Fresh Cilantro

2/3 Cup Fat Free Yogurt

1 Whole chipotle chile plus adobo sauce to taste

(You buy them canned. Just freeze the rest individually in ziplock bags.)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon Ancho Chile Powder

Juice of a fresh lime

1/4 Teaspoon to taste.

Combine all these ingredients in a food processor (a blender would probably work too). And give them a blitz until combined.

You can vary the amount of heat by the increasing/decreasing the amount of whole chipotle chile and adobo sauce that you put in.

I served it on a mixed green salad which I topped with a mix of cooked chicken, cherry tomatoes, avocado, red onion, black beans and corn.

Enjoy!

Look at me while I'm talking to you!

(Once again, more random thoughts I'm processing for Sunday's Contemplative Service)

"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else...

For in him we live and move and have our being."

Acts 17:24, 25, 28a

Why is it some places feel more holy than others? If we take Paul at his word where he says God does not live in temples, why is it we can walk in a place like the Villa De Matel and be aware of God, more than we can at Memorial City Mall? If, as Paul says, in him (God) we live, and move and have our being, why do I not connect with God when I'm doing my grocery shopping?

Even in church we use language that suggests that God is not always present. We label certain experiences as ones in which 'God showed up' or 'God moved powerfully' where what we are really labeling are our own emotional responses. We equate God's presence with a feeling of goose bumps, with the unspoken corollary that if there is no emotional reaction God is not present.

If Paul is speaking Truth here, then how do I experience God at Kroger?

I think the key here is expectancy. We 'expect' God to be in certain places, consequently we have our 'receptors' on looking. In other places God is present but we may not be listening. I wonder what would happen if we went through our days looking for signs of God. Would we know what we should be looking for?

Step 11 in the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous is: Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out

Improving our conscious contact takes a conscious effort. It is very easy to sit in church, and still not be attentive. Being present in worship does not mean that you are present in worship. There are times when I am sitting at the piano leading, and my brain is far away trying to remember the contents of my pantry so I can make a mental shopping list for when I leave church.

It is difficult for us to sit still and focus on God, even in church. We scan our bulletins looking to see what is ahead in the service. We read through sections of the bible - I spent many a happy hour in church with my children's bible looking at the maps of Paul's Missionary Journeys and putting in imaginary pirate attacks and sea monsters!

Just for a few moments, do nothing. Sit still, close your eyes, be attentive to the present moment. Say to yourself 'In God, I live, move, and have my being.'

Quote for the Day

"The notion of a Christian commonwealth should be exploded forever...Government should protect every man in thinking and speaking freely, and see that one does not abuse another. The liberty I contend for is more than toleration. The very idea of toleration is despicable; it supposes that some have a pre-eminence above the rest to grant indulgence, whereas all should be equally free, Jews, Turks, Pagans and Christians."

John Leland (18C/19C Baptist Minister, New England)

MacGuffins in Church?

No, it's not a new sandwich from the red and yellow purveyor of fat, a MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin) is "a plot element that catches the viewers' attention or drives the plot of a work of fiction."

Sometimes, the specific nature of the MacGuffin is not important to the plot such that anything that serves as a motivation serves its purpose. The MacGuffin can sometimes be ambiguous, completely undefined, generic or left open to interpretation.

Examples include:

The top secret plans in 'The 39 Steps'

The letters of transit in 'Casablanca'

The statue in 'The Maltese Falcon'

The ark in 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'

The briefcase in 'Pulp Fiction'.

So what is a MacGuffin doing in church?

We are expecting a higher than usual turnout to the Contemplative Service this Sunday, and some of those people will have had little experience with Contemplative worship. In our planning meeting we discussed using a passage from the Psalms for reflection.

Psalm 36:5 – 9 (BCP)
Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens,
and your faithfulness to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the strong mountains,
your justice like the great deep;
you save both human and beast, O Lord.
How priceless is your love, O God!
your people take refuge under the shadow of your wings.
They feast upon the abundance of your house;

you give them drink from the river of your delights.

For with you is the well of life,

and in your light we see light.

Their are so many images in that passage that the basic idea was to ask people to pick one of them and reflect on how it intersects with your life - for about 5 minutes. That's great in theory, but as we talked more we knew that some people in the service would spend the entire 5 minutes wondering what image they should pick and whether they had chosen the correct one.

Enter the MacGuffin.

We decided to reduce down all the images to single words and have each congregant draw one at random as they enter the service....words such as Refuge, Abundance, Strong Mountains, Great Deep, Drink, Priceless etc. The congregation would not know what the paper is for until we reach that part of the service. They are then asked to sit with the word they have and look for it's intersection with their life and what God may be saying to them through it.

The important thing is not which word they draw, but the work of contemplating how it connects with their life. The word is not important, it is the 'work' that is important. The word is the MacGuffin that drives the 'plot' of the service forward.

Silence

Silence.
So much more than not speaking.
Everything is transformed.
Every action becomes deliberate.
Every taste becomes magnified.
Every thought becomes cherished.

To be fully consumed by what you are doing.
One experience at a time.
To slow down.
Life isn’t about quantity but quality.

Sit
Breath
Chew
Reflect
Drink
Pray

Be totally involved in what you are doing.
Don’t spread yourself thinly between experiences.
Pick one.

Carlo Carretto - on the church.

I read this today and it resonated so much with me I thought I would type it into my blog.

Here is the mystery of the Church of Christ, a true, impenetrable mystery.

She has the power to give me holiness, yest she is made up, all the way through, of sinners - and what sinners!

She has the omnipotent and invincible faith to renew the Eucharist, yet she is made up of weak men groping in the darkness and fighting daily against the temptation of losing their faith.

She carries a message of pure transparence, yet she is incarnate in a mess of dirt, which is the dirt of the world.

She speaks of the sweetness of the Master, of his nonviolence, yet in history she has sent armies to disembowel infidels and to torture heretics.

She carries a message of evangelical poverty, yet she often seek gifts and alliances with the powerful.

We have only to read the Inquisition trial of St. Joan of Arc to convince ourselves that Stalin was not the first to falsify charges and corrupt judges.

We have only to consider what the innocent Galileo was made to sign under threats to be convinced that the...personnel of the Church, although they make up the Church, are often evil and fallible personnel, capable of making errors as great as the earth's path around the sun.
It is useless to want anything else from the Church except the mystery of infallibility and fallibility, sanctity and sin, courage and weakness, credibility and the lack of it.

People who are dreaming of something different from this reality are simply wasting time and keep going back to the beginning again. Moreover they show they have not understood humankind.

Because that is human, just as the Church shows us to be, in our wickedness and, at the same time, in our invincible courage, which faith in Christ has give n us, and the love of Christ has us live.

- From 'The God who Comes' by Carlo Carretto

Go!

I played my first full game of Go tonight. I got beaten, badly beaten. The rules are simple but it builds up into elegant complexity. I lost by 150 points - this means the next time we play a full game I get to put 15 stones on the board before the game even begins.

I knew I would lose, my opponent has been playing for 18 years, but it was still a fascinating exercise. I spent a lot of time so focused on the little skirmishes that were happening in various areas of the board that I lost sight of the bigger picture.

Cue commentary on how Go is like life right here :)

Now I've got a basic grasp of the mechanics I'll play some games on a smaller board (9x9 instead of 19x19). That will hopefully help me begin to see patterns and tactics...

...and then I'll try a full game with my 15 stone advantage ;)

Some Very Impressive Part Singing

I loved the book - roll on the movie

The book was awesome, let's hope the movie is as good.



(sorry the trailer is slightly the wrong size - I can't work out how to fix it)

Weight Update - and boardgaming news!

Well, it's the first of the month - and I managed it. I'm still on my target of 5lbs a month. That means I've lost 20lbs over all :)

March was so easy that April came as a shock. I really thought I wasn't going to make it to be honest. I got very busy at work (Requiem, Easter, Children's Musical) that working out moved lower down my list of priorities. Lent finished and so I am allowed Soda again. I am trying to limit myself to one Dr. Pepper a week, but there were a few days when I convinced myself that I really needed the Caffeine...

I've also decided that when I post a weight update I should post a board gaming update too...

I managed to play 22 boardgames in April, not bad considering I had a lot of work on.

Top of the list with 3 plays is the ever fun Kakerlaken Poker. A simple game of bluffing that can cause a lot of merriment. It plays best with 4-5 players but can accommodate 6.

This month 5 games tie for 2 plays each:

Pandemic (which seems appropriate given the swine flu craze)

Queens Necklace

Sator Arepo Tenet Opera Rotas (the game in my collection with the longest name)

Small World (one of the current 'hot' games in the community)

Tier Auf Tier ( a children's dexterity game)

After 4 months of play Dominion is still in the lead with 5 plays, but it's only winning by the thinnest of margins....

Giving Life to the World

What follows are some of my thoughts for the Contemplative Service this Sunday. Hopefully the act of typing them out will help clarify them for me :)

For the past few days I've been reflecting on a short passage from John 6 'It is my father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.' Specifically focusing on the the words 'Give life to the world.'

When I reflect back on my past, I don't think I've done a very good job of 'giving life'. In my late teens and early twenties I was far more concerned with proving that I was right and you were wrong. My words and my witness left you in little doubt about where I thought you stood with Almighty God - my words were not giving life to the world, I gave condemnation and guilt. No bread, just burdens.

To be fair, that's how I was with myself too. I was convinced that Guilt was the fuel that powered Change in my life. If I could just make myself and others feel guilty enough then that would lead to spiritual growth.

I read Jesus' words in John 6 and I connect them to his encounter with the Samaritan woman a few chapters earlier.

• Jesus was where he shouldn't be. A 'truly spiritual' person would not be seen in Samaria because they didn't mix with Samaritans.
• Jesus was talking with a woman. A 'truly spiritual' person would not associate with women for fear that they might become ceremonially unclean.
• Jesus was talking with a sinner. This woman had a past. She had gone through six husbands, and she was currently cohabiting with a seventh. A 'truly spiritual' person would not be seen with such a flagrant sinner. Doesn't Jesus know that you can judge a person by the company he keeps?

I have an icon of this scene that I have been praying with recently. To one side of Jesus are the twelve disciples. They are looking on astonished that Jesus would talk with this woman. On the other side are the towns people - including a large number of men who no doubt this woman has been intimate with. They are looking on astonished that this woman would talk with Jesus. I can imagine both sides commenting on the scene.

Who is she that she should meet with him? Spirituality isn't for the likes of her. Why is Jesus talking with an outsider like her? Our faith isn't for her sort of people.

Where other people would offer burdens because of this woman's gender, race and lifestyle Jesus offers the bread of life. Instead of guilt, he offers hope.

What do I offer to people whose lives are not like mine? Whose backgrounds, viewpoints and lifestyle choices are different?

Do I offer a burden or do I offer life to the world?

Do you?

'As I have loved you so you must love one another' - John 13:34

Think through the people you come into contact with on a weekly basis. Who are you most likely to offer words of burden too? How can you offer the bread of life to them instead?

Hints for Saving Money

More british humor - thank heavens the sausage was off!!!

After yesterday's post about the Piecrust Players performance of Hamlet I found myself reminisicing about other classic Victoria Wood sketches.

enjoy

It may be Hamlet, but its got to be fun, fun, fun!

I just finished watching Kenneth Branagh's film version of 'Hamlet'. It's the entire play so it is 4 hours long. Zeffirelli's version staring Mel Gibson is only 2 hours!

For most of the play I kept remembering this monologue about another production.

Enjoy!

I don't need to lose weight.....

I just need to gain height!

I was playing around with an online Body Mass Indicator today and discovered that if I was 10 inches taller I would be in the healthy weight range for my height.



Anyone got any platform shoes I can borrow?

Beer Can Chicken

I've heard that beer can chicken tastes great, I've never tasted it myself, but I've seen lots of contraptions for sale designed to make holding the chicken and beer arrangement upright.

I've never seen one like this however!

Now your chicken can cook over the beer whilst getting the thrill of riding a Harley!

Some people are too creative for their own good!

How I spent (some of) saturday night!

( I really don't 'get' Ren and Stimpy - oh well!)

How does your garden grow?

I think the 'church' has become good at the wrong thing.

We are good at campaigning about moral decay, and declaring what is 'Good' and 'Evil'. We make our uneven pronouncements with out ever seeing the bigger picture. We rail against the evils of misused Sex, but rarely do we hear discussions on misused Food or misused Money. And even more rarely do we hear a discussion about whether our pronouncements are misplaced.

In the beginning...

In the Creation narratives, God places Adam and Eve in the garden and they are to 1) Be fruitful 2) Care for the Garden and 3) Walk with God

We weren't created to issue pronouncements about 'Good' and 'Evil'. In fact God did not even create us to know the difference between the two. The tree was there but we were clearly told "Don't Touch". It seems that now we have eaten of the fruit of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil we want to make sure that everyone knows it. We issue our statements, declare opinion as fact, and leave the garden untended. We're too busy talking to go walking with God.

I feel hardwired this way. To stop my judgements feels wrong. If I stop judging others, then next I'll stop judging myself. If I stop judging myself then I might 'wander into sin'....but if I stop judging, maybe I'll start living.

I need to focus on tending the garden of my life. So that whatever seeds God plants can grow.

Voltaire knew this. 'Candide' is the satirical story of an Optimist who believes that 'all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds' In this scene from Bernstein's musical from the novel Doctor Pangloss explains how everything fits into this world.


The world is ordered and everything has its place...

...until Candide's world is turned upside down through a series of tragedies and misadventures.

At the end of the Opera Candide comes to the same conclusion I have: that the best we can do is tend our gardens.

"You've been a fool
And so have I,
But come and be my wife.
And let us try,
Before we die,
To make some sense of life.
We're neither pure, nor wise, nor good
We'll do the best we know.
We'll build our house and chop our wood
And make our garden grow...And make our garden grow.

I thought the world
Was sugar cake
For so our master said.
But, now I'll teach
My hands to bake
Our loaf of daily bread.
We're neither pure, nor wise, nor good
We'll do the best we know.
We'll build our house and chop our wood
And make our garden grow...And make our garden grow.

Let dreamers dream
What worlds they please
Those Edens can't be found.
The sweetest flowers,
The fairest trees
Are grown in solid ground.
We're neither pure, nor wise, nor good
We'll do the best we know.
We'll build our house and chop our wood
And make our garden grow.
And make our garden grow!"

I'm neither 'God enough' or good enough to be making statements about good and evil.
All my statements are stained by my own imperfections.
Let the rest of the world make judgements - I have a garden to tend and a God to walk with.

When Traditions Collide!

"Hot cross buns,
One a penny buns,
One a penny,
Two a penny,
Hot cross buns."

In the U.K. it is traditional to make and serve these on Good Friday, unfortunately I didn't have time what with marking out a Prayer Labyrinth with masking tape and candles in the morning, and singing solo in the Tenebrae in the evening.

So, I made up a batch of these from a different recipe to the one I usually use. I wasn't that impressed to be honest. I couldn't really taste much of the fruit, the mix was heavier than I anticipated and the crosses piped on the top were almost invisible under the apricot glaze.

Wikipedia reports the following -

English folklore includes many superstitions surrounding hot cross buns. One of them says that buns baked and served on Easter Sunday will not spoil or become mouldy during the subsequent year. Another encourages keeping such a bun for medicinal purposes. A piece of it given to someone who is ill is said to help them recover.

Sharing a hot cross bun with another is supposed to ensure friendship throughout the coming year, particularly if "Half for you and half for me, Between us two shall goodwill be" is said at the time. Because of the cross on the buns, some say they should be kissed before being eaten. If taken on a sea voyage, hot cross buns are said to protect against shipwreck. If hung in the kitchen, they are said to protect against fires and ensure that all breads turn out perfectly. The hanging bun is replaced each year.

I don't think I'm going to be hanging any up in my kitchen however.

I also baked Challah - Jewish Sabbath bread

The plan is for us to use this for Communion at the Contemplative Service tomorrow. Normally we use unleavened bread, but as we are celebrating the Resurrection, it seems fitting to use a bread that has 'risen'.

I'll let you know how it tastes.

Does Jesus get embarrassed by what his 'friends' do sometimes?

Stony Reflections

Thought 1

I was reflecting on Mark 16:1-8 in my small group on Thursday. The passage says that the women were on the way to the tomb to anoint Jesus body with spices, as they were travelling they realized that they would need help to roll away the stone from the entrance to get to the body. When the women reach the tomb they discover the stone already rolled aside and an figure dressed in white telling them that Jesus isn't there. They leave, but they are too afraid to tell what they have seen.

Assume for a moment a change in the narrative.

The women reach the tomb not knowing that it's empty. They strain for a very long time to move the stone, after many hours the stone begins to move, slowly they continue pushing until eventually it rolls to one side. Exhausted they pick up their spices and oils to anoint Jesus body...but when they walk in, they discover an empty tomb.

That change in the narrative is my life. It feels like I wasted a large portion of my life trying to move a 'stone'. I was convinced that the 'stone' stood' between me and Jesus, and that if I could somehow remove that block I would have access to God. I convinced myself that moving that blockage was vital. I poured my time, energy and money into changing something, into moving the immovable...

...my surprise mirrored the surprise of the women when one day, by an act of God, I discovered that the stone wasn't in the way of my getting to God....God was not behind the stone, he was somewhere else entirely.

And like the women, I am afraid to speak what I have discovered for fear that I will be misunderstood or thought mad.

The stone isn't the problem. My expectations and understandings were the problem. God was not where I expected him to be.

...so if you are wrestling with something, something that keeps you awake at night crying tears of frustration, something that causes wordless prayers of desperation to rise up from the very core of you, it could be you are trying to move a 'stone' that doesn't need to be moved, it could be that the very place where you think God is, is just an empty dusty tomb.


Thought 2

I wrote the following song on Easter Sunday 2001 at the height of my depression. I no longer feel this way, I haven't felt this way for quite a while. It's nice to look back and see growth.

Put Back the Stone

Put back the stone Lord that closed up Your tomb,
I don’t want to see that there’s plenty of room.
I want to believe that Your body’s still there,
So close up the tomb Lord and I’ll be unaware.

Where are the angels who rolled it away?
Bringing in sunlight that first Easter day.
Can they roll it back please and shut the grave tight,
So I can still live just like I lived last night?

Pick up the grave clothes put them back on
Lie down in the silence; I’ll pretend that You’re gone
With no Resurrection to shatter my views
My conscience won’t prick me; I’ll live as I choose

So put back the stone Lord I don’t want to see
A tomb that is empty; a tomb meant for me
And lying within amid grave clothes and dust
My shame and my struggles, my fear and disgust

That tomb is not empty; it’s filled with my sin
So put back the stone, I don’t want to see in.
For I’ve learned to love all the sin that I crave,
I don’t want to quit; I don’t want to behave!

My heart is like granite, heavy and cold
Hardened by faith that’s grown fickle and old
But don’t take it to soften, leave me alone
Your healing hurts Lord, just back the stone.

More Apple Pie

After the success of my apple pie last weekend, I decided that I'd make another one. I enjoyed the pastry work, but the apple peeling was rather tedious. A friend told me about an apple peeler she had that worked wonders, so I went off to Sur La Table to purchase one :)

When I unpacked it, I found myself staring at something that would be at home in a medieval torture chamber. What with blades, spikes and springs, it looks rather 'Heath Robinson'

...and yet it works quite well.

Here is me getting ready to peel an apple (note the screwdriver in the picture for fine tuning the device)

Here I am mid peel.

Complete!

The device not only peels the apple, but it also cores it and cuts one long spiral through it, so all it takes is one cut with a knife and you have perfect pieces for apple pie.

As you can see it isn't perfect, it did leave some peel on - I imagine making a perfect apple peeler would be quite a challenge, but all it took was a little knife work and my apples were ready.

5 Stages of Grief

A friend posted this on facebook and I wanted to steal it for my blog

Sorry about the language (it's not child or work appropriate), but it is funny...


....and as someone who has walked through his fair share of grief over the past few years, scarily accurate!

Weight Update

It's the first of the month - time for me to report on how my weightloss goal of 5 pounds a month has been going.

In March I lost a total of 7 pounds - which is pretty impressive given the large amount of baking I've been doing over the past few weeks.

I've still been doing the exercise program and I've also gotten a little better at portion control. I'm cooking smaller amounts of food or putting food away as leftovers before I start eating.

This means so far this year I have lost a total of 17lbs.

Baking 2 - Baklava Muffins

Sunday evening I was at a bit of a loss. With Brothers and Sisters not having another episode till April 19th, I decided that rather than slump in front of the Cookery Channel, I would cook. Whilst browsing the wonderfully named "How To Be A Domestic Goddess - Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking" by the wonderfully sensuous Nigella Lawson, I came across the following recipe for Baklava Muffins. Quick, easy, and not too sweet!

For the Filling

• scant 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted

For the muffins

• 1 cup plus 7 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of buttermilk (or 3/4 cup plain yogurt and 1/3 cup low far milk)
• 12 cup muffin pan lined with 12 metallic baking cups (if you use paper, they will stick!)

For the topping

• About 1/2 cup honey

1.Preheat the oven to 400F

2. Mix all the filling ingredients together in a small bowl and put to one side.

3. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and sugar.

4. In a large measuring jug, whisk the egg, melted butter, and buttermilk (or yogurt - milk mix)

5. Make a well in the dry ingredients, pour in the liquid, and mix lightly and gently, remember to keep it bumpy rather than going for a smooth batter; heavy handling of the batter produces a heavy muffin.

6. Fill the muffin cups one third full and then put a teaspoon of filling in each one.

(I actually over-filled slightly, be careful the recipe makes exactly enough for 12 muffins so you have to spoon it out carefully)

7. Cover with more of the muffin batter until 2/3 full. If you have any remaining filling mixture (I didn't) you can spoon it over the top.

8. Bake for 15 minutes, they should be golden brown when finished. Remove them from the oven, and stand them still in their cups on a wire rack with a baking sheet underneath. Drizzle them all over with honey and then allow to cool.

They are not overly sweet, so they went great with my morning cup of tea.

Enjoy - and thanks Nigella!!!

Baking 1 - Apple Pie

I have written before about my struggle to make pastry in Houston. The high humidity means that pastry dough becomes very moist very quickly. It then becomes very difficult to roll out and manage.

Well Saturday dawned cold, crisp and dry - a rare combination in the humid location that is Houston. As soon as I sampled the outside air, I knew today was a good pie baking day.

Armed with a different recipe, this one from the meticulous precision that is America's Test Kitchen, I set out to do battle with pastry once more.

And this time I won!!!!!!!

The pastry rolled out like a dream, and the top of the pie didn't collapse when I draped it over the rolling pin and onto the overly filled pie.

Beneath that gleaming mound of golden flakiness was the most wonderful apple filling, resplendent with 2 different types of apples. One chosen for it's firmness and the other a softer apple to cook down and create a wonderful apple mushiness!

Add a scoop of ice cream and enjoy!

Sherbet that Rocks!

If you are tired of store bought sherbet that tastes bland and has the color of a neon light here's the solution. It's easier to make than ice cream, so grab that dust-covered ice-cream maker* that is at the back of the cupboard and do your taste buds a favor! Here's another winning recipe courtesy of America's Test Kitchen!

Orange Sherbet

• 1 Tablespoon grated zest from 1 or 2 oranges (depends on size)


• 1 cup (7oz) sugar


• 1/8 teaspoon salt


• 2 cups Orange Juice. Preferably unpasteurized, fresh squeezed. (This can be notoriously difficult to find, so either squeeze your own, or make sure you buy good quality pasteurized. In no circumstances buy orange juice made from concentrate. It has a cooked unfresh flavor to it!


• 3 Tablespoons juice from 1 or 2 lemons (depends on size)


• 2 Teaspoons Triple Sec or Vodka


• 2/3 cup Heavy Cream

1. Process the zest, sugar and salt in a food processor until damp, ten to fifteen 1 second pulses.

2. With the machine running add the orange juice and lemon juice in a slow steady stream; continue to process until the sugar is fully dissolved (about 1 minute)

3. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a nonreactive bowl. Stir in the Triple Sec or Vodka, cover with plastic wrap and chill in the freezer until very cold, about 30 to 60 minutes. DO NOT LET THE MIXTURE FREEZE

4. When the mixture is cold, whip the cream in a medium bowl until soft peaks form. Whisking constantly add the juice mixture in a steady stream pouring down the edge of the bowl.

5. Immediately start the ice cream machine and add the juice-cream mixture to the canister; churn until the sherbet has the texture of soft ice cream, 25 to 30 minutes.

6. Remove the canister from the ice cream maker and transfer the sherbet to a storage container; press plastic wrap directly against the surface of the sherbet and freeze until firm, at least 3 hours.

7. To serve let the sherbet stand at room temperature until slightly softened.

*I use the type of ice cream maker that has a canister that you freeze for at least 12 hours before using. If you have the old fashioned type that uses ice and rock salt then I have no idea if this recipe will work.

Lime Sherbet

Follow the recipe above with these changes. Substitute lime zest for the orange zest, increase the amount of sugar to 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons, and substitute 2/3 cup FRESH lime juice combined with 1 1/2 cups water for the orange and lemon juices.

Fun with Sheep!

Avoiding the Passion

I blogged last week about some of my current resistance to reading the passion narratives. Most of it was intellectual musings which I entitled Wandering Around Heresy-ville.

Well in my Ignatian Group this week I my made a connection that I think my last post was a way of avoiding.

It can be very easy working in a church to use my job as a replacement to my relationship with God. It happens very slowly. I have to read the bible for my job, I have to pray in business meetings. I don't need to pray and read at home. I've worked for churches long enough to recognize this tendency in myself and to take steps to avoid it.

What I didn't recognize, is that I've avoided reading the Crucifixion. I tell myself that I can recite the passages almost word perfect, but I made another connection, another reason this week.

This may be stating the obvious, but I think the reason I've avoided the narratives is that they describe a death. A particularly harrowing death. And this is the first time I've really paid any attention to them since my mom died.

I was with mom when she died. It was not a touching Lifetime Movie Network scene. She was in the final throes of the cancer ravaging her body. Both my brother and I were with her when she passed away. It was absolutely horrible, and I am so glad I was there for her.

Having witnessed death up close, I can't read the gospels in the same way anymore. Jesus died at the hands of Roman Executioners rather than at the mercy of cancer, but the emotions I associated with watching my mom die are now fixing themselves to a hill outside of Jerusalem.

I remember when I went to see Mel Gibson's movie 'The Passion of the Christ'. I was seated with some work colleagues when 2 people came and sat down in front of us. They both had large 64oz drinks and huge buckets of buttery popcorn. I felt angry. 'We're about to watch a Crucifixion! This isn't some prefabricated Hollywood Script designed to entertain the masses!'

Then I realized.

That is precisely what Crucifixion was to the ancient world. People would gather to watch the criminals die, in the same way they gathered around the guillotine in France and the public hangings in London.

I think of how I would feel if there had been callous spectators at my mom's death...

...I think too much

Having seen death, real death, not some Hollywood make believe, I find reflections of my experiences written into the Gospels. As I read the bible, the bible reads me.

In my last post, I railed against God who seems cruel and impotent in the events of Good Friday.

In this post I've begun to glimpse just how agonizing it must have been for the Father to watch his Son die.

Three Things

Now, here's what you're supposed to do...and please do not spoil the fun. Start a new note, delete my answers and put in your own. Tag all your friends and tell them to tag you. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little known things about each other.

Three Names I go by
1. Peter
2. Pete
3. Titch (thanks brother!)


Three Jobs I have had in my life
1. Insurance Provider for Agriculture and Livestock
2. Packing Warehouse Slave
3. Music Director


Three Places I have lived
1. Norwich U.K.
2. Bratislava - Slovakia
3. Houston, TX


Three TV Shows that I watch (not counting the myriad I watch on dvd)
1. Brothers and Sisters
2. Will and Grace
3. Diners, Drive Ins and Dives


Three places I have been
1. Cambodia
2. Thailand
3. Switzerland


People that e-mail me regularly
1. Steve
2. Houston Board Gamers
3. my boss, Tom


Three of my favorite foods
1. Chips and Salsa
2. Pasta
3. Toad in the Hole


Three things I would like to do
1. Perform on Broadway
2. Travel to Israel, New Zealand and Japan
3. Lose more weight


Things I am looking forward to
1. Getting to see family again
2. Getting below 200lbs
3. Getting more of my music performed.

I can think of a few people I would like to give this too

There is nothing like a Dame....

...Dame Shirley Bassey that is!

Getting Involved

Last Fall I went through a month's training in being a Spiritual Director (see all the posts Labeled Hesychia School) - since then I've been praying about what my next step is.

Two people have independently mentioned this project to me.

I'm planning on getting involved with the Houston group.

This is 'out of my comfort zone' - and is a good thing!

Rising to the Occasion

Friday night I was over a friend's house eating the most incredible home made bread. I had forgotten how wonderful fresh baked break tastes, it's so much better than shop bought.

Yesterday evening I was planning the menu for tonight and decided I would make Falafel Burgers. The recipe said to serve them in pita bread, and in a flash of genius (or insanity) I decided to make my own pita bread.

It's actually a very easy relaxing process. Knead the dough, let it rise for an hour and then roll out flat disks.

What impressed me was the way the flat disks of dough inflate in the oven!

They only take 5 minutes to cook and then you just put them on a rack to cool and deflate!

Yummy!

Video fo the Octotuplet Mom Giving Birth!

Pot Pie Light!

Whilst making Salt and Vinegar Kale Chips I also decided to make a Chicken Pot Pie. I had seen an episode of 'Throw Down with Bobby Flay' that was dedicated to creating the ultimate pot pie.

It got me craving some chickeny goodness of my own. The problem was I'm dieting so I knew a usual chicken pot pie recipe was out of the question.

Enter Cooking Light.

One of my cooking light books had a low fat chicken potpie recipe in it!

So, this morning, I boiled veggies and chicken in water to make chicken broth. I strained the broth and shredded the chicken. I cooked veggies (potatoes, leeks, mushrooms, carrots, peas and red pepper) in the broth. Thickened it with flour, salt and milk. Added the shredded chicken. Made low fat biscuits and topped the mix with it.

Then I popped it in the oven for 30 minutes whilst I cleaned up the mountain of bowls I had used in it's preparation!

Here it is hot out of the oven in all it's golden goodness.

It tasted......disappointing. Like many low fat recipes it tasted like something was missing. The sauce, while nice and thick, did not have that creamy richness I associate with Pot Pie. The biscuit topping was lacking the buttery fluffiness of full fat biscuits.

Next time I'll try the recipe from Cook's Illustrated instead :)

Experiments with Kale - Don't Try This At Home

I skim a lot of different blogs each week. One that caught my eye this past week was Big Red Kitchen. They had an interesting article on making Kale Salt and Vinegar Chips.

I LOVE salt and vinegar chips. They are the number one selling flavor of chip (or to be accurate crisp) in the U.K. I don't eat them very often because I'm trying to lose weight, but I do miss them. So when I stumbled upon this chip recipe I was intrigued.

I'm not particularly fond of kale. I do like it in my Kale, Tofu and Chickpea dish, but generally Kale seems to me to be less of a food and more of a garnish. It's the wilted green curly leaf that fruit gets placed on. It's a food groupie - hanging around with the rest of the band hoping that it can become cool by association.

Could this Salt and Vinegar Kale Chip change my opinion? Time to get cooking.

1. First get some fresh kale and cut out the midrib in every one and rip it into pieces about an 1 1/2 long.

2. Put them in your salad spinner and spin dry (see below GRIN)

3. Whisk together 3 tablespoons of Olive oil and 1 Tablespoon cider vinegar.

4. Dress the kale with this, getting your hands in to get it really coated and glistening.

5. The recipe then says to put the kale back in the Salad spinner and spin as much oil as possible off them so that they will crisp up well in the oven - but what do you do if, like me, you don't own a salad spinner?

You google 'Improvised Salad Spinner' and see what you can find :)

In this case a website says to line a plastic grocery bag with paper towels (taken from that draw in the kitchen that is overflowing with them!). Then put the leaves inside.

Then twirl the bag round and around and voila! Dry leaves!

(My poor cellphone didn't know where to focus)

6. Spread the dry leaves out on a cookie sheet coated with parchment paper (I used my silpats instead) and sprinkle with salt.

7. Bake in the oven at 400F for 12 minutes until they have crisped up.

8. When they are crisp, take them out of the oven and when they are cool keep them in an airtight container.


As easy as that!!!!

The big question is of course HOW DO THEY TASTE?

Well, I may have over salted a little! They taste like what I imagine fried seaweed would taste like. If the color sea green had a taste, this would be it. Not really something I can imagine having bowls of at my next game night.

The other thing I didn't expect is how fragile they are - they crumble at the gentlest touch, so they are a non-cooperative finger food. You grab one and it crumbles to pieces usually somewhere between hand and mouth.

So, if the idea of the taste of fried seaweed appeals then cook up a batch, otherwise DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!

Wandering Around Heresy-ville.

I've been rereading the crucifixion narratives as part of my small group that is going through the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises. Well, I've actually been avoiding reading them for some reason. It's strange, I really enjoyed reconnecting with the Birth Narratives even though I practically had them memorized. There was something about revisiting them with 'Contemplative Eyes' that helped me see them in a new light.

Not so the Crucifixion.

I've been studiously avoiding them :(

Today in group I wrote down some garbled sentences that have me thinking.

First I wrote "The Impotence of God. The embarrassment of a weak God". When I read the Passion accounts in the Gospels it strikes me how silent God is through all of this. At the time of Jesus' deepest need for God, he experiences deepest separation from God.

"Eloi! Eloi! Lama Sabachthani"

The cry of 'My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me!' has caused much study and debate over the years. Is Jesus just quoting the psalms, or is his statement an indication of some rift in the Godhead?

The statement creates some tension for me. Jesus seems at his most human at this point - he's not working miracles or sharing incredible teaching. He's feeling weak and abandoned. A well meaning friend quoting a bible verse at him or reading 'Footprints' to him is not going to touch his profound loneliness and help him cheer up.

This is a Jesus I can relate too......and this is a God I don't like. If God the Father would do this to His Son, why would I want Him as my Father? I want a God who is powerful. Mighty and Strong. A God who kicks butt, not a God who abandons his children.

I know the theological answers to my questions - I've spouted them to others when they've expressed similar questions to me. I don't need an answer. I don't really think their is an answer. I just needed a place to give concrete shape to the thoughts in my head.

Later on down the page I wrote "We make the Cross a statement of God's strength displayed in restraint rather than a statement of God's weakness... we focus on God's restraint rather than our own weakness and cruelty."

The Cross as a sign of Strength or Weakness. Restraint or Impotence.

My Inner Evangelical is screaming heresy right now, and my Inner Contemplative is seeing my own Strength, Weakness, Restraint and Impotence all reflected on a simple wooden structure erected on a trash heap outside of Jerusalem.

Food Glorious Food!

One of my fave websites at the moment is This Is Why You're Fat. (Thanks for telling me about it Paul.) People post pictures of incredible food, some that make you want to cook and eat, others that make you feel violently ill.

This morning somebody posted the following pic that impresses with its creativity - though I'm not sure I want to eat it.

This is a Meatloaf 'Cake' that uses mashed potatoes and ketchup for icing!

Two clips that made me smile

Dwayne Johnson was on Saturday Night Live recently. I didn't watch much of it because of the time change, but these two clips made me smile.

Why is it....

...bell peppers are sold by quantity when most other vegetables are sold by weight? I don't want to pay the same for a small green pepper as I do for a large one!

...the blog post of mine that has had the most hits is my post about cooking Lasagna in the microwave?

...my cell phone only seems to ring when I put it down in the other room?

...Facebook, a site that has only existed for a few years, has suddenly taken over?

...I have a closet full of cookbooks and magazines and it's still a struggle to decide what to cook for dinner?

...the last song to be written in a project takes as long as all the other songs combined?

...grief seems to linger around for years?

...so much easier for me to gain weight than to lose weight? This is a serious design flaw I think.

...my driving skills are inversely related to the number of people in my car?

...my closest friends all live outside of Houston?

...some people seem to coast through life without any major problems or doubts? Don't they realize how much they irritate the rest of us?

...God can be so close to me one day, and then the next I feel like a functioning atheist?

...the amount of dishes after I cook a meal for two looks like I've cooked for twenty?

...I own 5 pairs of shoes and 200 boardgames?

...I have a drawer full of socks I never wear?

...the energy used complaining about and avoiding a task is usually far more than the energy expended completing the task?

...what started as a 2 question post has suddenly got a lot longer than anticipated?

Channeling My Inner Girl Scout

The Season of Lent means two things in the U.S.

Deprivation, and Girl Scout Cookies.

Today they collided.

Having only recently discovered the joys of the Lemonade Cookies I was disheartened when Demand outstripped Supply. I went to visit the girl scouts at my local Kroger twice to buy some Lemonade Cookies, and both times they had sold out.

So I decided to make my own. They may not have the pretty pattern stamped on them, but I assure you they are just as addictive.

So if you've never tried Lemonade Cookies before then hijack a passing girl scout and buy a box, but if they are sold out, try the following:

2 sticks butter (at room temperature)

1 cup Sugar (plus extra for sprinkling)

2 eggs

3 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 12oz can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed and divided (3/4 cup and 1/2 cup - there will be a little left over)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
2. In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together, add eggs and beat until fluffy.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together flour and soda.
4. Add flour mixture alternately with 3/4 cup of lemonade concentrate to creamed mixture.
5. Drop teaspoonfuls of dough onto lightly greased cookie sheet (Or use a Silpat - highly recommended for these cookies!!!)
6. Bake about 8 - 9 minutes until just barely done. The bottoms should be light brown.
7. While cookies are hot, brush them with lemonade concentrate and sprinkle with sugar.
8. Remove to a rack to cool.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Time for the Weight Update

I said at the beginning of the year that my goal was to lose 5 pounds a month.

So by now I should have lost 10 pounds....


Drum Roll Please.....


As of this morning I have lost 10.5 pounds :)

I'd like to thank the Academy, Bob from the Biggest Loser workout Video (for being an irritating jerk!), and the designers of the Las Vegas Strip who insured that no matter how much I consumed whilst I was there I walked it all off!!!! A special shout out also goes to the Church Historical for creating Lent and encouraging me to give up Dr. Pepper and Chocolate thereby insuring that the pounds keep tumbling (and I'm yawning all the time, but I digress)

Thank you all.

Favorite Artist Decides My Life

Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions. Pass it on to 10 people and include me!

Pick Your Artist: Stephen Sondheim

Are you male or female: The Boy From...

Describe yourself: Truly Content

How do you feel about yourself: You Could Drive a Person Crazy

Describe where you currently live: Everybody Says Don't!

If you could go anywhere, where would you go: Welcome to Kanagawa

Your best friend is: No One Has Ever Loved Me (As Deeply As You)

Your favorite color is: Gold!

You know that: You're Gonna Love Tomorrow/Love Will See Us Through

What's the weather like: It's Hot Up Here

If your life was a tv show, what would it be called? Silly People

What is life to you: Everybody's Got The Right

What is the best advice you have to give: It's Only a Play

If you could change your name, what would it be: Franklin Shepard Inc.

Your favorite food is: Chrysanthemum Tea

My New Album (well the cover, anyway)

Create your own album cover.

Here's how:

1 - Go to "wikipedia." Hit “random”or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to "Random quotations"or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album. (make sure you hit the new random quotations button at the bottom)

3 - Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use photoshop or similar to put it all together (http://www.picnik.com/) works well, online.

Man vs Meat

A few weeks ago I posted about the awesomeness that is the 'Bacon Explosion'.

I guess it was only a matter of time before Meat met it's match.

Here is Houston Competitive Eater David Cagle (who is ranked 48th in the country), attempting to eat a whole explosion!