‘Blago’ Connection?

Is it just me?

Does anyone else see it?

If nothing else, you’d think everyone would be waiting for Sean Astin to join the ranks of SNL to parody the corrupt Illinois Governor.

C’mon, if Fred Armisen can pull off Barack Obama (you should totally watch that video, by the way), Sean Astin can for sure pull off the gubernatorial dirtbag. 

Oh well, maybe that’s not exactly newsworthy. 

VLOG Special Edition // ORIGINS

Coming in January: HELP!

The Minutemen of Overland Park, Kansas, my new yet-to-be-written novel, will be an ongoing experiment for me beginning in January 2009.  

I know it’s kind of against the rules of writing – always write the first draft with the door closed, as Stephen King would say. In 2009, however, I think the rules of all media are changing. 

In a world where anyone can have their video viewed by millions of people thanks to YouTube and Vimeo, and where more musicians can be heard by vast audiences due to MySpace Music and PureVolume, excellence is now being combined with transparency.

The challenge in today’s media is to produce content that is excellent in quality, and yet something that is authentic and real. The days of professionalism without heart are over.

In this new moral declaration, I have decided to be as transparent as I can possibly be. I will be writing my first draft of my new novel to be seen by everyone. The work will be legally protected by a Creative Commons license of copyright, and this will help me in making the story flow.

Here’s the deal: I can’t do this without feedback from you. So, here’s my question for you: Can you help me? You can be a part of this process by subscribing to the Minutemen blog, Minutemen.tk via RSS or by Email. 

If you are interested in reading this new novel as I go and helping with this process by feedback, please comment below and let me know. I want to have a decent readership to proofread and provide constructive criticism along the way before I completely commit to starting it. If you’re interested, let me know and work will begin in January 2009.

Oh, you want to know the premise! Here goes:

Mikey Burns is as predictable as they come. A banker who jumps at his own shadow, he is unquestionably committed to his career, his marriage, and his own schedule (down to the last second). When his new boss and new bank president – an egomaniac who is downsizing left and right – threatens to fire him, Mikey snaps and begins – along with a small group of other professionals – a string of wild and unusual bank robberies in the Kansas City area.

An Interview with Jay Leno

 

Recently, Brian Williams interviewed Jay Leno on the NBC Nightly News about his stepping down from The Tonight Show, the passing of the baton to Conan O’brien, and about his new “experiment” in bringing his talk/variety show format to prime time five nights per week.

It will be interesting to see how NBC pulls it off. Leno has been leading the late night comics in the ratings since 1995, when “Tonight” began to pull ahead of Letterman. It has never stepped down in ratings. Leno has a loyal following and talk/variety shows are five times cheaper to produce than prime time dramas such as “ER,” “CSI,” or “Grey’s Anatomy.” 

In the current economy, NBC opted to cut its 10 PM EST lineup – which included the outgoing “ER” and “Lipstick Jungle.” They decided to put Leno’s talk/variety show in its place. The challenge will mean Leno will be on at the same time as all “CSI” dramas on CBS and “Lost” on ABC. Leno admits it will be a tough challenge, but that his show will feature 46 weeks of new programming per year while the just-mentioned dramas will only produce 22 weeks. 

In other news, Conan reported being happy for Leno and excited to maintain Leno’s lead-in to his soon-coming Tonight Show. 

VLOG Tuesday // STRESS

Bizarre Night in Oklahoma

If you would have told me yesterday morning that I would have closed out the day in a casino, I would have thought you were crazy. But, that’s exactly where I wound up. 

Let me explain how I got there. 

Last week, my Father-in-Law, David, and my wife Kristin made a plan to surprise my Mother-in-Law, Shirley, for her birthday. They decided to throw a surprise birthday dinner for her on Monday, December 8. This would be surprising for 2 reasons: 1. It would be in a town she’d never in a million years suspect, and 2. Her birthday isn’t until Dec. 21. 

My In-Laws had just gone to Texas and had spent a day in Oklahoma. While there, my Father-In-Law made reservations at a nice restaurant called The Coleman House in Miami, OK (pronounced “Mi-amm-uhh” – don’t ask why this is so, I only wish I knew). According to David,  the restaurant had previously been a theater. 

So, yesterday afternoon, Kristin and I loaded up the girls and Kristin’s sister and left Springfield, MO for Miami, OK. Our quest led us – not to a former theater, but – to only the third largest casino in northeast Oklahoma, the Buffalo Run Casino. 

Understand, my wife’s family (and my own) are some of the last people you’d expect to spend their time in a casino. While some people prefer to gamble their life savings away, we can find better things to do with our money. So, you can imagine our surprise when we discovered we had to go through the Buffalo Run Casino to get to the Coleman House Restaurant for dinner.

Shirley’s entire family was there – her brother and sister and their families. You can imagine she was pretty well shocked when she arrived past the slot machines and craps tables. She thought we had all lost our minds to be celebrating her birthday in a casino. 

ON A SIDE NOTE: You should have seen the looks I got when I walked in the Buffalo Run Casino with two small kids. AND as we walked in, my three-year-old daughter Grace said, “Daddy! Look at all the GAMES!! Can we play them??”

Ah, only in Oklahoma.

Faith Lessons from a Towel Salesman

Have you ever heard of the Super Shammy? I hadn’t until today. It’s like a sponge, a towel, and a shammy all rolled into one long cloth. 

As I walked through the mall with my family today, we came upon a kiosk in one of the wings where a guy was giving a live presentation of a Super Shammy towel/sponge/sham-thing much like this one. 

It reminded me of those OxyClean infomercials where the bearded guy with the thick Jersey accent splashes ketchup and mustard on random passersby and then begins to burst their personal bubbles even more by spraying a cold, wet liquid on them and scrubbing the fibers off of their clothing. Apparently, these people don’t mind, in fact they don’t even act surprised. And to think it’s live. (You can’t tell, but I’m rolling my eyes.)

I digress.  So, the Super Shammy…yeah. As we walked by, several families were watching the guy’s presentation. Later, on my way back through, I noticed at least a dozen people carrying the shammy. When I walked back by the kiosk, I had to dodge the crowd gathered around the kiosk. 

Did you catch what I just said? 

Think about the countless forgettable sales kiosks you walk by in your local mall? Hair curlers, hair straighteners, cell phone cases, Dip’n Dots, etc. How many times do you walk past them? Oh, and let’s not forget the pushy sales people who continually tap you on the shoulder and ask, “Hey, hey, you want a sample of boring hair cream, blah, blah, blah?” Annoying? Yes. Memorable? No.

The sales guy at the Supper Shammy kiosk had…a…crowd! Why? Was it the amazing product? Well, maybe. The product was pretty cool. Made me want one. But, I think what made it the most effective was the guy standing behind it. He wasn’t pushing his product on anyone. He wasn’t asking anyone if they would give him five minutes. 

Want to know what he was doing? He was making a big mess. When we walked by, he was pouring out a two-liter of Dr. Pepper onto a carpet sample. Right in front of everyone. It catches your attention to see someone doing something unusual like this, doesn’t it? The guy was pouring it out and as people gathered around to take note of the unusual experience and ask him why he was doing it (yes, that’s right, they were asking him), he told them why. He was passionate. He was confident in his product’s ability to get every stain out (and it did!). Mostly, though, he had 100% belief in his product and in his idea.

It could have well been this guy who invented the product. I doubt it, but he should certainly get the attention of the company. 

As a pastor, I’m used to talking about belief in God. Churches, temples, and synagogues like to talk about belief in God – and this is important, as it is God that makes all things possible. What about your belief in you? What sets you apart from the world around you? 

I learned a little about the power of belief from a towel salesman at a Super Shammy mall kiosk. It’s challenged me to know myself, to ask myself the tough questions about myself. Achievement doesn’t happen without belief. Ask any ordinary salesperson at a mall kiosk.

Tinseltown: One Leg at a Time

There’s an old cliche in Hollywood that celebrities put their pants on one leg at a time just like everybody else. 

I sat down a few days ago with my wife to indulge in an annual Christmas tradition: curl up with popcorn and watch White Christmas. Every year during the film, when it comes to the first dance of Phil (Danny Kaye) and Judy (Vera-Ellen), my wife makes a comment about Judy’s skinny figure and super-skinny legs. For those of you not familiar with Vera-Ellen, she’s the one who’s not Rosemary Clooney. (For the record, I’m not gay; I live in a house with 3 girls and a female dog, I’m going to know a few things about musicals and Broadway that might have otherwise slipped through my consciousness.) 

At one point, my wife said something about Vera possibly having anorexia based on her appearance. We typically have a deal that if we happen to think of a question about some useless fact or another, we say, “Wiki it,” and then we look it up on the Wikipedia. When she made the anorexia question, I took it on myself to “wiki” it. As it turned out Vera-Ellen did, in fact, struggle with anorexia for most of her adult life. It affected her physical appearance as well as her emotional life and external relationships. While Vera-Ellen never rose to the superstar status of her White Christmas co-stars (Clooney, Kaye, and of course, Bing Crosby), she did become one of the most well-known dancers of the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Reading on (in IMDB.com), I also discovered that Vera-Ellen had one child who died as an infant to SIDs in the early 1960s. The devastation from the loss of her child caused her to run away from the spotlight. She faded into obscurity and no one heard much about her again until she passed away in 1981 from cancer.

America has a silly and unhealthy fascination (sometimes bordering on obsession) with celebrities. Whether it’s the attempt to fathom how people live with millions more dollars or what exactly Michelle Obama wore during election night, many of us have a keen interest in the lives of superstars. This may be why it becomes such a blow to us when one of them does something strange (Tom Cruise), something self-destructive (Britney Spears), or flat-out awful (Mel Gibson), we spend hours talking or reading about it. It suddenly reminds us that celebrities aren’t super-people. No one pretended to think they were perfect, but these stories emphasize their imperfections and let us see their humanity – good and not-so-good. In other words, these people are flawed and imperfect like the rest of us.

Vera-Ellen has been dead for nearly thirty years, and yet I somehow found myself feeling sad as I read of the eating disorder from which she suffered for most of her life and of the devastating loss of her child. It confirmed something: we are all human beings who need connection, who need to hope in something bigger than us, and most importantly, who desperately need to know we’re loved and that our lives matter. 

Much as her maternal misadventures have shocked the world, Britney is created, designed, and loved by God. I pray she has come or will come to realize this and that her self-worth would be found – not in her dress size or in being a good mother despite a relentless entourage of photographers and journalists, but – in how valuable of a human being she is. George W. Bush, despite some political blunders and failed policies, is a person of great worth to God, and for all we know, may yet serve his country in very positive ways in post-presidency (Jimmy Carter has done some of the greatest work of his career after his short term in office, and Bill Clinton – who also had his share of political and personal blunders – has also managed to do a world of good since his presidency). 

Where is your worth? How valuable are you? You may not be lining the newspapers (which may not be a bad thing), but you are a superstar to the One who made you. Feel good. Feel blessed. And know you have a world of possibilities in front of you, no matter how many times you may have messed up. 

Star Trek: Old Ideas with New Energy

There was a guy I went to high school with who had learned the entire Klingon language. Seriously. I guess if he ever finds himself trapped on board the Starship Enterprise with Patrick Stewart, he’ll feel safe. I’m sure this guy is probably a nice guy AND I’m pretty sure he’s still single. (Everyone knows that Star Wars is way cooler than Star Trek! Let’s hear some props for Obi Wan, yo!) 

JJ Abrams (co-creator/producer, Alias, Lost, Heroes) has wildly reimagined the Star Trek franchise in a way that will undoubtedly find a different kind of fan base than the ones who have spent their lives driving to Deep Space Nine conventions. Abrams is heeding the example of Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight) and Martin Campbell (007: Casino Royale), bringing a fading classic back to life…and doing it in style. 

While I never much cared for the original Star Trek franchise in any of its forms and generally tended to not have much to talk about with guys like Klingon Guy, I have to admit I really like the new direction of the upcoming 2009 Prequel (and by “prequel,” I mean that Abrams is literally throwing out everything you thought you knew about Star Trek and revamping the franchise all over again). I think it will do for this franchise what Batman Begins and Casino Royale did for Batman and Bond. 

Convinced to see the film yet? Check out the teaser below (though the film actually doesn’t release until May 2009).

Star Trek Teaser from Blac Ren on Vimeo.

Thanksgiving, Part 2: One-Word Thanks

Today, I asked everyone following me on Twitter and my Facebook friends to think of one word to sum up one major thing they were thankful for this Thanksgiving. I got some interesting responses. This past Sunday in my children’s ministry, we asked the same thing of the kids and got some interesting answers. One kid even said, “Plants.” It was hard not to laugh when he said it with such a straight face. This kid really liked plants.

So, here are some of the one-word responses I got back:

* Health

* Job

* Plants (2 more times – I’m starting to think they were copying the kid I mentioned)

* Life

* Faith

* Change (don’t know if they were referring to Obama’s win or if they received a few quarters)

* Bush (this one probably wasn’t thankful for ‘Change’)

* iPhone

* Laughter

* Trees (okay, people, stop playing off the kid comment.)

* Hope (that one was mine)

* Starry Skies (this one cheated, but was original enough I had to include it)

* Others (don’t know if this one meant other ‘people’ or just other things nobody included – if it’s people, that’s cool; if it’s just a lazy way of saying ‘whatever anyone didn’t say’ – that’s cheating and it should be disqualified.)

*I am grateful for my parents who will be taking Grace for the afternoon tomorrow! Not one word, but oh well. (this wasn’t one word, but was from my wife – who had had a very stressful day with our kids)

These were all thankful people. What are you thankful for? Think of one word to sum it up and comment below.