This week in chaos

First Snow Since October

2012-01-21T15:55:00.002-05:00

2012-01-12T19:48:00.001-05:00

"If you study something and you find all this stuff about it, you just went skin deep, so if you keep going and going, you should be left with a fucking mess of unanswered questions."

Lewis C.K. Q&A via JONAH WEINER

I hope we've improved

2011-12-28T21:44:00.002-05:00

"Christendom, wrote Menchen in the mid-1920s, may be defined briefly as that part of the world in which, if any man solemnly swears that he is a Christian, all his auditors will laugh"

A quote by H.L. Menchen, in "City of Man, Religion and Politics in a New Era" Michael Gerson, Peter Wehner. Available here

The Big Bird

2011-12-28T21:37:00.003-05:00

"Q. How easy is it to recreate this virus?

A. ... in our opinion, nature is the biggest bioterrorist. There are many pathogens in nature that you could get your hands on very easily, and if you released those in the human population, we would be in trouble."

Ron A. M. Fouchier, the lead researcher at the Erasmus Center on the new A(H5N1) bird flu virus.

VIA NYT

2011-11-23T09:14:00.001-05:00

Great Video on the Umbrella Man:

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/11/21/opinion/100000001183275/the-umbrella-man.html

Unfortunately NYT doesn't allow video embedding.

La la Ga Ga Ga.....

2011-11-08T18:47:00.000-05:00

Two of my favorites from Jeff Foucault

2011-09-23T20:48:00.000-04:00

4&20 Blues:

Ghost Repeater:

History

2011-08-09T22:41:00.004-04:00

Like Father:

(Laos, 1968ish)

Like Son:

Somalia, 2005

Good Job Sufjan

2011-08-07T22:03:00.004-04:00

2011-08-06T19:18:00.002-04:00

"If America does manage to avoid recession and slowly begins to pull out of this mire, it will be testimony to its underlying strengths. It still has huge advantages over other rich countries: a younger, less-taxed population, a more innovative economy...If only it had the political leaders to match, its chance of avoiding recession would be far better than one in two."

The Economist, in the Grim outlook on America's Economic/Political Future

Love these guys

2011-08-04T22:54:00.001-04:00

The Civil Wars:

Capital Cities!

2011-06-28T18:20:00.000-04:00

Fireworks!

2011-06-21T22:54:00.003-04:00

Unexpected surprise tonight while hanging out at Brooklyn Bridge Park.

I'm lucky to live in a place like this.

3 Way Intersection

2011-06-12T14:11:00.001-04:00

3-Way Street from ronconcocacola on Vimeo.

via doobybrain

Tiny Desk Concerts

2011-04-16T08:14:00.003-04:00

I can't get enough of NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts. Musicians from Andrew W.K. to Tom Jones perform a short set in the middle of the NPR studios. This week's performance by Otis Taylor was great:

"Taylor grew up in Denver. His mom had a ukulele, and one day, while playing around with the instrument, he broke a string and went to the local music shop to get it fixed. All of a sudden, I heard Mississippi John Hurt [and] country music; I never heard country music, banjos and guitars.

I walked into the store and psychologically never came out..."

Here's a few more of my favorite Tiny Desk Concerts:

Adele

Iron and Wine

Gogol Bordello

The Swell Season

He's no Pat Kiernen

2011-04-16T08:00:00.004-04:00

News reporting is so bad that at first I didn't think this was a spoof...

via Splitsider

Sermon On The Mound

2011-04-07T22:05:00.003-04:00

Sermon on the Mound from phos pictures on Vimeo.

Powerful video by Eliot Rausch with a voiceover of the Sermon on the Mount

via Doobybrain

ROBOTS!!!

2011-04-06T21:19:00.002-04:00

via Doobybrain

Amazing Snowboarding Video

2011-03-26T13:48:00.001-04:00

A SHOT IN THE DARK TEASER INT - PROCESS FILMS from PROCESS FILMS on Vimeo.

via Doobybrain

On Libya: 'What Happens Then?' - The Atlantic

2011-03-20T21:31:00.001-04:00

On Libya: 'What Happens Then?' - The Atlantic

"Launching air strikes is the easiest, most exciting, and most dependably successful stage of a modern war, from the US / Western perspective. TV coverage is wall-to-wall and awestruck. The tech advantages are all on our side. Few Americans, or none at all, are hurt. It takes a while to see who is hurt on the ground.

But after this spectacular first stage of air war, what happens then?"

James Fallows, The Atlantic, via

Scenes From Libya

2011-03-20T18:39:00.004-04:00

The NYTs has an amazing slide show covering the war in Libya...

Japan's Early Warning System

2011-03-12T12:39:00.001-05:00

"On Friday afternoon, the system sprung into action and a warning flashed automatically on television screens. The first waves of shaking from the quake arrived in Tokyo about 10 seconds later, said people who had televisions on at the time.

A recording of the warning as it appeared during a live broadcast from Japan's parliament. The warning appears at the 8-second mark, and the shaking can be seen beginning about 40 seconds later and continues to build for about 2 minutes."

Earthquake Footage

2011-03-11T14:10:00.003-05:00

Thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Japan.

"Though the images are a bit unnerving, the buildings are doing they way they were designed to do - move and flex with the seismic motion rather than stiffly resist it, which would cause them to crack and topple.

Over the years, Japan has spent billions of dollars developing the most advanced technology against earthquakes and tsunamis. The Japanese, who regularly experience smaller earthquakes and have lived through major ones, know how to react to quakes and tsunamis because of regular drills - unlike Southeast Asians, many of whom died in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami because they lingered near the coast despite clear warnings to flee."

NYT The Leade, on the value of Disaster planning, training and exercising.

RIP Mike

2011-03-08T21:15:00.002-05:00

Mike Destafano who I wrote about a few weeks ago past away last weekend. My prayers go out to his family.

words&images: driving along the perimeter of one of many tent...

2011-03-03T23:23:00.003-05:00

My Buddy Nick is in Haiti.

Follow his story here:

Nick Brubaker

Don't Text and Walk

2011-03-01T20:12:00.003-05:00

This is my friend Dave.

Dave is one of the funniest guys I know.

Dave sometimes walks into walls.

Not to turn this into a T.K. blog, but......

2011-02-23T21:43:00.002-05:00

..."if you are an orthodox Christian in Manhattan right now, it's a social problem. People are nervous about you, they feel like you're bigoted. And so actually right now if you are a graduate of Harvard, Yale, or Princeton, and you've got your MBA, and you're working on Wall Street, or being a downtown artist or something like that, and if you are an orthodox Christian, that's very, very subversive. It's very transgressive. And in that setting, to some degree, it's tough to be a Christian here. But in other ways, it is the kind of soil in which Christianity does well."

Tim Keller, in The Atlantic

Tim Keller on MSNBC's Morning Joe and Fox News

2011-02-19T14:27:00.007-05:00

I'm proud of my pastor!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man (Bookshop Sessions)

2011-02-17T21:02:00.000-05:00

Mumford & Sons

Can't get enough of these guys

Little Darth Vader for Volkswagen | Doobybrain.com

2011-02-05T22:11:00.000-05:00

Little Darth Vader for Volkswagen | Doobybrain.com

LOVE this commercial...

"Am I living my life as Christ would want me to?"

2011-01-23T19:41:00.001-05:00

"...there is no single model for a Christian politician, every Christian in politics has an obligation to be a model — to make it clear, in words and deeds, how their faith informs their activism, and to constantly test their political convictions against their theological worldview."

Ross Douthat on Sargent Shriver's Christian Politics, New York Times

Crazy Tweets by Dallas Cowboys

2011-01-22T18:18:00.007-05:00

KungFuAstronaut Martellus Bennett

I'm too sexy to hang with u girl y u at the table pass the salt and shut up. Lol joking.

hatcher97 Jason Hatcher

I wish I could sleep to 9 o'clock sometime. My eyes always pop open at 6. Guess I'll go watch the sunset.

Gsensabaugh Gerald Sensabaugh

this xbox kinect thingy is pretty cool. its a workout thoug

DEZ_88 Dez Bryant

Notice how I don't entertain foolishness ....cowboys all day...and I need some more followers!!!

DEZ_88 Dez Bryant

@xxRalphLaurenKW well keith just left my house broke... I been busted his ass and his friends ass...

mspear96 marcus

Been chasing this deer 2 days and he hasn't showed yet, yall pray for me tonight the night. DANG

24marionbarber Marion Barber

PRAY FOR DISCERNMENT.......HOLLA BACK

Mr4thAndLong Jesse Holley

#DearFutureWife, if u think not keepin up w/yourself (WORKOUT, hair, nails etc) will be acceptable N our relationship YOURE SADLY MISTAKEN

Mr4thAndLong Jesse Holley

예수님은 그나마 추격전 사랑한다고 ..... 사랑은 바로 당신은 적어도 그것을 기대할 때 당신을 찾을 겁니다

sonofbum Wade Phillips

saw Julie and Julia thought it was good

The Gospel

2011-01-20T20:11:00.005-05:00

Sometimes the Gospel message comes through in mysterious ways.

Marc Maron is a stand up comedian based out of L.A. who has found a niche interviewing comedians on his podcast called W.T.F.

I few weeks ago Marc interviewed Mike DeStefano who you might have seen last season on Last Comic Standing. Mike tells his life story and he's had a tough go of it, but in the end a beautiful story. Listening to it, I couldn't help but hear the gospel message shine through.

It's not a story for those easily offended by rough language...It is a story that reflects sin, sacrifice, forgiveness, and love.

Listen to Mike's story here (Episode 130). Interview starts at 17:45.

For more info on Marc check out this NYT article...and watch him on Conan tonight!

The .Plan: A Quasi-Blog

2011-01-19T22:41:00.002-05:00

The .Plan: A Quasi-Blog: Against consumer research

"Shortly before the iPad tablet went on sale last year, Steven P. Jobs showed off Apple’s latest creation to a small group of journalists. One asked what consumer and market research Apple had done to guide the development of the new product.

“None,” Mr. Jobs replied. “It isn’t the consumers’ job to know what they want.”
--Steve Lohr, NYT, on avoiding the least common denominator"

Obama's First Two Years in Office: An Inside View

2011-01-19T21:02:00.001-05:00

Obama's First Two Years in Office: An Inside View

To Know the Living God

2011-01-19T19:08:00.005-05:00

Photo via

"That a god should put up with adversity, I could understand. The gods of Hinduism face their fair share of thieves, bullies, kidnappers and usurpers. What is the Ramayana but the account of one long, bad day for Rama? Adversity, yes. Reversals of fortune, yes. Treachery, yes. But humiliation? Death? I couldn't imagine Lord Krishna consenting to be stripped, naked, whipped, mocked, dragged through the streets and, to top it off, crucified-and at the hands of mere humans, to boot. I'd never heard of a Hindu god dying. But divinity should not be blighted by death. It's wrong...It was wrong of this Christian God to let his avatar die. That is tantamount to letting a part of himself die. For if the Son is to die, it cannot be fake. If God on the Cross is God shamming a human tragedy, it turns the Passion of Christ into the Farce of Christ. The death of the Son must be real, Father Martin assured me that it was. But once a dead God, always a dead God, even resurrected. The Son must have the taste of death forever in His mouth. The Trinity must be tainted by it; there must be a certain stench at the right hand of God the Father. The horror must be real. Why would God wish that upon Himself ? Why not leave death to mortals? Why make dirty what is beautiful, spoil what is perfect?

Love, That was Father Martin's answer."

--Yann Martel, The Life of Pi

Steven Tyler on Jimmy Fallon

2011-01-19T18:52:00.002-05:00

Segments like this are one of the best part about Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Man, the Roots are greatness.

sub-studio design blog: NYC - Mindrelic Timelapse

2011-01-18T22:44:00.001-05:00

I've been really into time lapse recently...

sub-studio design blog: NYC - Mindrelic Timelapse:

NYC - Mindrelic Timelapse from Mindrelic on Vimeo.

"Every day I walk through the city and I see it in such short segments. Which is why this video by Mindrelic is so amazing."

Time Lapse of a Tuesday Night on Broadway

2011-01-16T16:52:00.002-05:00

sub-studio design blog: Nathalie Staempfli - Soap Flakes

2011-01-12T21:08:00.001-05:00

sub-studio design blog: Nathalie Staempfli - Soap Flakes: "I love the idea behind Nathalie Staempfli's Soap Flakes dispenser - I usually don't buy bar soap because it gets all nasty and scummy afte..."

Jorge Narvaez and daughter Alexa cover “home” by Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros

2011-01-08T16:31:00.003-05:00

Really Sweet Video of a father and daughter singing Magnetic Zeros:

via The Always Interesting Corey Folo

Sometimes I hate the NYT

2011-01-08T00:52:00.002-05:00

I'm gong to miss the neighborhood

2011-01-06T22:50:00.004-05:00

Snapped outside the Mars Bar...

At the scene of the fires tonight

2011-01-04T19:31:00.001-05:00

At the scene of the fires tonight

Sad, My favorite Bodega was destroyed last night by a fire. Thankfully, nobody was seriously injured.

Yeah, I'm a rebel

2010-12-20T23:13:00.005-05:00

I managed to film our takeoff and landing this past thanksgiving:

Takeoff from DCA:

Landing at LGA 35 minutes later:

A-1 After School Special

2010-12-15T22:31:00.000-05:00

Great Remix from A-1.

Download the album for free here

First Snow!

2010-12-13T23:36:00.001-05:00

I do love me some WSP

Another Conan O'Brien Intro Problem: The Notes

2010-12-13T23:18:00.000-05:00

Hope Stu gets on Conan!

For the background story, watch this clip from Conan's new show on TBS:

http://www.tbs.com/video/conan.jsp?oid=237050&eref=sharethisUrl

First Sunday of Advent 2010

2010-12-05T18:30:00.002-05:00

"True Christianity is a fight...Do we find in our heart a spiritual struggle? Are we conscious of two principles within us, contending for the mastery? (Gal 5:17)

Do we feel anything of war in our inward begin? Well, let us thank God for it! It is a good sign. It is strongly probable evidence of the great work of sanctification. Anything is better than apathy, stagnation, deadness, and indifference. We are in a better state than many. The most part of so called Christians have no feeling at all...

I say again, let us take comfort. The children of God have two great marks - they may be known by their inward warfare as well as by their inward peace."

--J.C. Ryle

The Zabaleen Project

2010-02-01T21:30:00.004-05:00

Very excited for the new documentary "Zabaleen". Check it out by clicking the title of this post or going to http://zabaleen.wordpress.com

Charity Graphic from Mint

2009-12-22T08:21:00.000-05:00

budget planner – Mint.com

History of Vaccine Panic

2009-10-29T11:25:00.003-04:00

This is an interesting article from wired magazine on the modern day history of Vaccine Panic.

Wired Article

Laundry of Love

2009-10-16T14:30:00.004-04:00

My friend Jeff participates in a ministry called "Laundry Love" which goes into a low-income communities and pays everyone's laundry at a local laundrymat once a month.

The local newspaper wrote a story about them. Check it out.

Be sure to read the comments too. It's shocking how a lot of people feel about helping the needy.

The geography of jobs

2009-10-12T15:47:00.002-04:00

Unbelievably cool graphic showing the net job gain/losses from 2004 - 2009

http://tipstrategies.com/archive/geography-of-jobs/

Annoy me

2009-10-02T18:48:00.004-04:00

Top 5 things that annoy me in NYC
(In no particular order)

1. The guy who listens to every ringtone on his phone in public. Also - The guy who plays video games at full volume on the subway.

2. The guy who rides his bike on the sidewalk instead of in the bike lane.

3. Drunk people on the street who wake me up at 4:30 in the morning yelling/laughing/singing/crying/etc.

4. cars

5. litterers

Great Quote

2009-10-02T18:38:00.003-04:00

"When too much is too much or too bad is too bad, we laugh as if if it was too good"

-"Strength in What Remains", Tracy Kidder

The best site on the Internetssss

2009-10-01T16:22:00.002-04:00

Finally, a way to calculate how much money to put on your Metrocard...

http://www.metrocardbonuscalculator.com/

Now THIS is scary...

2009-09-12T15:50:00.001-04:00

Seen in SOHO, NYC

Distraction

2009-07-28T00:01:00.002-04:00

Tonight at the laundromat "The Bachlorette" was on TV.

I chose to stare at the swirling washing machine instead of the TV.

And I'm smarter for it.

Now I lay me down to sleep

2009-07-12T20:04:00.006-04:00

My church says prayers...I mean SAYS prayers, together, out loud, all at once. Growing up a good independent, free will, non-denominational this kind of made me uncomfortable at first. It was just too, too um, what's the word...communistic.

However, now I believe that saying prayers communally is the same as singing songs communally. Both should be sincere prayers flowing from the heart.

Tonight's confession prayer was especially powerful, and the prayer of believe and prayer for those searching for the truth are right on:

Prayer of Confession:
Heavenly Father, loving King, our thoughts and motives cannot be hidden from your sight. Our self-pity and pride, our cowardice and sloth, our anger and envy are laid bare before your eyes and ours. We open ourselves to you and ask that you cover us in Christ. Let us hear you voice saying: His blood is our peace, His death is our freedom, His Spirit is our power. And let our hearts know that your service is perfect freedom. Amen

Prayers for Those Not taking the Lord's Supper
Prayer for Those Searching for Truth:
Lord Jesus, you claim to be the way, the truth, and the life. Grant that I might be undaunted by the cost of following you as I consider the reasons for doing so. If what you claim is true, please guide me, teach me, and open me to the reality of who you are. Give me an understanding of you that is coherent, convincing, and that leads to the life you promise. Amen.

Prayer of Belief:
Lord Jesus Christ I admin that I am weaker and more sinful than I ever dared admit, but through you I am more loved and accepted that I ever dared hope. I thank you for paying my debt on the cross, taking what I deserved in order to offer me complete forgiveness. Knowing that you have been raised from the dead, I turn from my sins and receive you as my Savior and Lord. Amen.

Cool

2009-04-22T21:52:00.001-04:00

subprime from beeple on Vimeo.

TK on MSNBC

2009-04-12T21:58:00.000-04:00

Tim Keller on Morning Joe:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

How long could I survive chained to a bunk bed with a Velociraptor

2008-09-18T21:17:00.001-04:00

1 minute, 9 seconds

I wish I understood Art

2008-07-13T22:52:00.000-04:00

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

For E

2008-06-25T01:12:00.001-04:00

I love this video...

You can read his story here

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

2 Great Sites

2008-06-17T12:46:00.003-04:00

First, my buddy Jeff. Bringing funny to Christian circles since 1975. Also, he loves CCM:

CZAR of PRUSSIA

Second, my very talented friend Leo. Check out his work then vote for him, THEN, Hire him for your next movie or photo shoot.

LEO JARAMILLO

On the walk home

2008-04-18T01:17:00.004-04:00

This is a house on Mercer street that is nestled in between all these high end art studios and million dollar new condos. I would love to know the history of it. One day I saw a person walk in carrying groceries so someone definitely lives there.

Anyone need a taxi?

All in a days walk

2008-04-15T23:02:00.002-04:00

I'm going to try...emphasis on "try" to take a picture on my walk to work for the next few days.

I walk a little over a mile to work every day through some very interesting neighborhoods. Alls sorts of streets, past methadone clinics, million dollar condos, 150 yr old buildings, and starving artists studios. Whether you think NYC is extremely cool or extremely stupid (probably a little of both) it is always interesting.

Here's yesterday's and today's

Cool Link

2008-03-15T20:23:00.001-04:00

http://www.dothetest.co.uk/

Watch out for those bicyclists!

Ninja Warrior Kills American Gladiators

2008-01-06T22:45:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting here with Elizabeth (who leaves for SS in 2 days) and my roommate watching American Gladiator. What I had hoped would be a show that rivals Ninja Warrior, I"m afraid is falling very very short.

As opposed to Ninja Warrior, AG has about 10 minutes of action vs 50 minutes of slow lame interviews and stories. I DON"T CARE ABOUT HOW THE PERSON GOT THERE, JUST HIT EACH OTHER!!!

When oh when will Ninja Warrior come back??!!?? I even heard they are making an American Ninja Warrior.

PS...AG even stole some of the Ninja Warrior obstacles!! I predict a total run time of 3 weeks.

Ahhhh.....New York City

2008-01-03T21:54:00.001-05:00

Cost of a 6th Floor Walkup next door to a Methadone Clinic = $1,700 a month

Cost of a Broker fee to walk you to the building and unlock the door = $3,500 due at lease signing

Cost of taking a shower and making pancakes in the same room = Priceless.

Needless to say I passed on the apartment.

Another Day in DC

2007-09-19T12:04:00.000-04:00

Mr. Y goes to Washington

2007-09-19T11:56:00.001-04:00

Dinka Life in Southern Sudan

2007-09-14T11:52:00.000-04:00

Cattle Camp in Southern Sudan Video.

another one bites the dust

2007-09-11T15:35:00.001-04:00

"Eat your FOOD TINA"

2007-09-03T22:35:00.000-04:00

Khartoum or New York City?

2007-08-31T22:05:00.000-04:00

bling bling

2007-08-27T23:05:00.000-04:00

For 5 years I've been putting all my pennies, nickels, and dimes into one of those big water jugs.

Well today was reckoning day.

I loaded all the change into my backback which made it weigh literally 90 lbs. Headed up to the Commerce bank in Harlem. Commerce banks have free change machines, even for people who do not bank there.

The grand total: $138.15.

Sin = Disordered Loves

2007-08-26T19:29:00.000-04:00

This evening we finished a series at church on the 10 commandments. We start by reading through the commandments and reflecting on the words. It has given me new understanding; they have become something much deeper than just do's and dont's:

God Spoke these words and said:

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.
(What causes, relationships, goals, o0r practices are more important and absorbing to me than God?")

You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them.
(Do I know and worship God as he truly reveals himself to be in the Bible, or do I make him into someone or something that I want him to be?)

You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
(If I claim to be a Christian, with Christ's name on me, do I truly live out what I claim to be or have I been a hypocrite in any area?)

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
(Do I give God the best parts of my time for his worship and service, or do I only schedule 'leftovers; - time when I have nothing else I want to do)

Honor your father and your mother.
(Have I made every effort to show members of my immediate family, especially my parents all the love consideration and respect that I can?)

You shall not murder.
(Have I harbored malice, ill-will, bitterness, or have I thought unkindly of anyone?)

You shall not commit adultery.
(Have I been intimate or have I allowed my mind to indulge in desires of intimacy with anyone to whom I am not married?)

You shall not steal.
(Have I envied or taken from others any time, services, money or goos to which I did not have a right?)

You shall not bear false witness.
(Have I walked with integrity this week, keeping my promises, speaking with complete honesty?)

You shall not covet.
(Have I been able to thank God for whatever He has allowed to come into my life> Have I trusted His goodness wisdom, and help in these areas?)

175

2007-08-14T17:22:00.000-04:00

175 people died and 200 were injured in Iraq today.

Article

Flying the friendly Skies

2007-07-10T02:23:00.000-04:00

My buddy Nate, an aid worker in Angola has an incredible story on his blog about being on board a plane that crashed last month. You have to read it.

Link to his blog

Love me like me give me guide me

2007-07-03T01:19:00.000-04:00

When I was in high school, I mainly listened to Christian music. It all sounded pretty much the same and was allright I guess, but around about 1996 came a band called Burlap to Cashmere . I was floored. I had never heard a Christian band that didn't sound like a water-downed version of mainstream artists. This band sounded completely original, like nothing else I'd heard.

Randomly Sunday I was thinking about this and how I hadn't heard from them since high school. I googled them and saw that they were playing a one night only reunion show here in NYC on Wed. night.

No way.

Monday night I gathered my 8 bucks and made my way to the west village, at a bar called the bitter end where they were playing. It was a small bar and a packed house but I managed to squeeze in a front row seat.

The show was incredible. They are amazing musicians that blend Latin music, crazy fast acoustic guitars, great percussion, and powerful lyrics. It was the best concert I'd seen in a while. I talked to the lead singer after the show and told him that I had listened to him in high school, and thanked him for making Christian music cool.

They also said they are working on a new album. You can buy their old albums on itunes. Here's a few camera phone pics:

A nation of Wealth

2007-06-22T16:10:00.000-04:00

This Blog has an interesting map of US States renamed as countries with equivalent GDPs. Here's the image:

Pyramids in Sudan

2007-06-20T15:25:00.000-04:00

The NYT has an article about the Sudan pyramids I visited last summer. It looks like they might not be around for much longer.

Read the article Here.

My new Nephew

2007-06-19T12:50:00.000-04:00

Meet Ethan James Woodfin!! 9lbs. 4 oz. 14 inches long. My sister now has 2 boys. They are all doing great.

What the world eats

2007-06-19T12:45:00.000-04:00

Click here to see what 15 different families from around the world eat in one week. Spoiler alert: The American families eat the most junk.

Bonhoeffer

2007-06-19T11:58:00.000-04:00

I just watched an incredible documentary on the life of Deitrich Bonhoeffer. He was a theologian and one of the few German Christians who stood up against the Nazi regime.

Bonhoeffer studied at Union theological seminary in Manhattan and began going to the African American churches in Harlem where he was introduced to a new style of worship and faith in action. Can't you just see the blond hair blue eyed prim and proper German pastor sticking out in a Harlem Church service. Bonhoeffer identified with the resounding faith and close community the black church had in the midst of much persecution during that time.

He decided that he could not participate in the spiritual rebuilding of Germany after the war unless he also went through the present trials and tribulations. He made the difficult decision to return to Germany, knowing full well that it would most likely lead to his death. Bonhoeffer took the lessons he learned from the Harlem church and Adam Clayton Powell Sr. back with him to Germany where he urged the German church to stand with the persecuted Jews in their time of need. His outspokenness of Hitler and support of the Jews led to his eventual arrest and death in a German concentration camp.

Here are a few of his quotes which are amazingly applicable even today...

"I have had the chance to hear the Gospels preached in black churches. Here, one can truly spake and hear about sin and grace and the love of God, if in forms we are not used to. In contrast to the often didactic style of "white" preaching, the "black Christ is preached with rapturousness passion and vision".
--Letter to Julie Tafel, 1930

"Christ is really present only in the community. The Church is the presence of Christ just as Christ is the presence of God. But our church today is bourgeois. The best proof is that the poor working classes have turned away from the church, wheras the bourgeois - the petty officials, the artisans and the merchants have remained. When the comm unity is split, is Christ himself divided?"
--Sanctorum Communio, 1927

"The church has 3 possible ways it can act against the state. First, it can ask the state if its actions are legitimate. Second, it can aid the victims of state action. The church as an unconditional obligation to the victims of any ordering society, even if they do not belong to the Christian society. The third possibility is not just to bandage the victim under the wheel but to jam a spoke in the wheel itself."
--The Church and the Jewish Question, 1933

"The church is the church only when it exists for others. The church must share in the secular problems of ordinary human life, not by dominating but by helping and serving."
--Outline for a book, 1944

"We have for once learned to see the great events of world history from below, from the perspective of the outcast, the suspects, the maltreated, the powerless, the oppressed, the reviled in short, from the perspective of those who suffer. Mere waiting and looking on is not Christian behavior. Christians are called to compassion and action."
--After 10 Years: A letter to the family and conspirators, 1942

"I discovered later, and am still discovering right up to this moment, that it is only by living completely in this world that one learns to have faith. By this-worldliness I mean living unreservedly in life's duties, problems, successes, failures. In so doing we throw ourselves completely into the arms of God, taking seriously not our own suffering but those of God in the world. That, I think, is faith."
--Letter to Eberhard Bethge, 1944

Time

2007-06-15T18:43:00.000-04:00

I'm addicted to Time's photoessays. There's a great one this week on street life in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

See it here

Forwarded to me from a friend.

2007-06-13T01:02:00.000-04:00

You're an aid worker with 5-10 years experience under your belt. You earn a pittance but it works for you because you are non-resident at home so you don't pay tax, you are catered for on assignment so you don't pay rent and your mortgage is covered by the people renting your place because you are never there. You can't hold down a relationship for more than 3 months and you secretly know that despite what you tell him/her its really not because you're only ever there for 3 months... its because you're addicted to independence.

Things are ok now but you're approaching 40. Shouldn't you grow up?

Seriously though... what does the future hold? What *can* the future hold for us?

Option 1. You go back to a headquarter job. Instead of doing what you want to do, you now advise people who are doing what you used to do. You earn the same more or less as you did before, but your costs of living shoot skywards because you're now paying tax, rent/mortgage and utilities... You consider sharing accommodation and, bingo, you're a student again!

Option 2. You go work for the UN. Keep the job you love and the lifestyle that goes with it. Your salary jumps to levels that used to get you all riled after a few dirty martinis back when you used to work for "honest" down-to-earth INGOs. Now you're cynical about them all and aggressively defend your need to raise a nest egg to plough the way for the family/dog/cottage/brats you're planning. You've done your bit after all. You do this for a while before you realize you sacrificed the very dream you were once working towards.

Option 3. You find something suitable in the commercial sector and live
happily ever after. (By the way, if you're a logistician, forget it).

Option 4. You retrain and change course. You take a massive pay cut. Your skills and experience in aid work go unused. You marry someone named Steve/Janice and drive something practical that "gets good mileage".

Option 5. You write your memoirs and someone makes a movie out of it
starring Leonardo De Caprio. You become an even more arrogant git, lose all your friends, and make a lot of cash. (This can happen to only one of us by the way).

Option 6. Remember the lonely, jaded expat sat at the bar in [substitute 3rd world capital here], letching over young local girls and making snide remarks about your naive ways? Welcome to your future...

Suggestions for further career options welcome.

Are we the new gypsy? I have visions of huge bands of ex-aid worker
families roaming the European countryside in caravans (plastered in no-gun stickers of course), scratching out a life by erecting latrines and taking stock counts.....and maybe seeking charity door-to-door...

Is there an aid agency out there that *doesn't* bang on about work/life
balance and how it cares for its staff? Is there an aid agency out there that actually has a program for actively rehabilitating serial aid workers back into western life? How could it work? How (if at all) is the situation different for our colleagues from Southern countries? How can we save our dignity, our salaries, our relationships and at the same time stay in the work we love and avoid wasting our skills and experiences....?

cheesy i know

2007-06-11T19:01:00.001-04:00

But still....It's awesome.

An unstoppable Force

2007-06-11T15:38:00.000-04:00

I'm selling a ton of old books because..well..I'm poor and unemployed and have about 6 gabillion dollars worth of school loans to pay back. As I'm thumbing threw Erwin Raphael McManus's book "An Unstoppable FOrce" I came across a passage I underlined a long time ago:

"It was easier to be certain you were right when you had never even heard of an opposing position. It was easier to be sure you were right when you felt you were in the majority position. It was easier to believe everyone else was wrong when you didn't know him or her personally. The idea that people without Jesus are going to hell went down far too easily for Christians who only knew Christians."

More Maps

2007-06-08T13:34:00.001-04:00

Here's a snapshot of many of the communities I visited last summer in the Nuba mountains. Not all are villages. If you can read some of the waypoints you'll see things like "Nice Tree" "Good Camping Spot" "SPLA Checkpoint" All things to remember when I go back to South Kordofan Inshalla.

This map is the area around Khartoum and the route I took to visit the Pyramids north of the City. Now THAT was an amazing night.

John 6:27

2007-06-07T15:02:00.001-04:00

This has been appearing everywhere in the city:

It's on buses, billboards, and little stickers like appears above. I looked up John 6:27 and it says:

"Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal."

Hmmmm what could it be?? Turns out it's part of a campaign promoting the new Die Hard 4 movie.

Yippie Ki yo KiYaea Not sure what John 6:27 has to do with anything. I guess I'll have to see the movie

Costa Rica revist

2007-06-06T14:59:00.001-04:00

A few of my friends are going to Costa Rica this week.

I'm jealous.

A few months ago my roommate and I were able to hike through the rainforest in Corcovado, CR. Here's a map of the route we hiked overlayed on Google Earth, it's kind of spotty because my GPS was on the fritz.

And here's what I looked like in San Jose when I came down with a nasty stomach bug. My roommate snapped it when i was asleep on a park bench. To let you know how nice Costa Ricans are (and how bad I looked) a homeless lady actually came up to me and offered to give me money!!! I said "no thanks I'm just a little under the weather"...so then she asked if she could have some money. I wish I had gotten a picture of us both.

Tony Tony Tony has done it again

2007-06-05T12:04:00.000-04:00

The economist this week has a great essay by Tony Blair reflecting on his time as prime minister. I've always liked Tony Blair, here's a snip:

"It is said that by removing Saddam or the Taliban—regimes that were authoritarian but also kept a form of order—the plight of Iraqis and Afghans has worsened and terrorism has been allowed to grow.

This is a seductive but dangerous argument. Work out what it really means.

It means that because these reactionary and evil forces will fight hard, through terrorism, to prevent those countries and their people getting on their feet after the dictatorships are removed, we should leave the people under the dictatorship. It means our will to fight for what we believe in is measured by our enemy's will to fight us, but in inverse proportion. That is not a basis on which you ever win anything."

And now to catch you up on the last month of my life...

2007-05-30T14:20:00.000-04:00

Spider Man 3

2007-04-27T21:26:00.000-04:00

I feel like I've already seen the entire spider man 3 movie by watching the previews which pretty much summarize the entire movie in 20 seconds.

America's tragedy

2007-04-23T00:38:00.000-04:00

This week's Economist has a cover story on the VA Tech massacre. It says some interesting things:

In America:
14,000 killings were done with guns in 2005
16,000 suicides by firearms in 2004
250 fatal accidents by firearms in 2004

Since the killings of John F Kennedy in 1963 more Americans have died by American gunfire than perished on foreign battlefields in all of the 20th Century.

In 2005 more than 400 children were murdered with guns.

We have the 2nd amendment that gives us the right to bear arms, but can't there be an in-between? Do we really need AK-47s? I've shot them, and they are fun to shoot, but I'm willing to give up my 'fun' so that hundreds of people a year aren't shot by them.

Fine, we all get to keep our guns but what is so wrong with doing things like making mandatory child proof locks for all guns, registering guns and gunowners, cooling off periods, and a blacklist of those who shouldn't buy guns.

Sad but true

2007-04-01T12:28:00.000-04:00

Help the Poor

2007-03-27T13:41:00.000-04:00

Short, 3 minute video on how we can help those living in developing countries.

Not Charity but a Business relationship.