04.26.06
Posted in faith, culture at 2:05 pm by Brandon
These bits of news were what RelevantMagazine.com decided were particularly newsworthy today:
Apple has decided to block MySpace.com from being accessed on the demo computers at its retail stores. Employees have reported customers using the in-store computers, taking up bandwidth and blogging on MySpace for hours at a time …4/26/06 | 2:43 PM
The ’90s rock favorites the Lemonheads are reuniting. The band has signed to Vagrant Records and will be releasing a new album later this year …4/26/06 | 2:42 PM
In an interview with MTV, UK pop-darlings Keane said that prior to recording their new album, Under the Iron Sea (which hits stores June 20), the band nearly called it quits. Two years of being on the road together brought the band to the edge; the result of the drama, they say, is a much darker, more complex album … 4/26/06 | 9:34 AM
Well, there’s trouble in paradise for the American Idol crew. Host Ryan Seacrest has said that he is not talking to Paula Abdul after the two have publicly bashed each other on talk shows. Simon has wisely decided not to take sides in this catfight …4/26/06 | 9:33 AM
A Roman Catholic Bishop in Croatia is attempting to ban bikinis on one of the country’s islands. The bishop wants there to be a “decency zone” at the town center on Krk Island where tourists frequently wear swimsuits …4/26/06 | 9:33 AM
This Saturday, thousands of people across the world will be taking part in the Global Night Commute, a peaceful demonstration for the Invisible Children of northern Uganda—children who have been unjustly caught in the middle of a 20-year-war. Click here or watch Oprah to get more info about the movement …4/25/06 | 7:44 PM
So, Mr. Strang, you run a for-profit (yes that means he’s paying people) magazine, and this is the best news about God, Life, and Progressive Culture you can offer me? A spat between Ryan Seacrest and Paula Abdul, you remind me to watch Oprah for my social justice needs, and you inform me that Catholics in Croatia are banning bikinis. Sweet crap, man!
Could we find a bigger Merchant of “cool”?
Tags: Relevant Magazine, News, Slices
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04.24.06
Posted in life at 2:01 pm by Brandon
Some of you have shared your surprise about my decision not to keep blogging here. Allow me to offer a few points on why I’ve come to the decision I have, and what the process will look like.
I’ve been thinking about this change for a while. And, it’s no one person in particular that’s led me to the choice to stop blogging at badchristian.com. Rather, I’ve just sort of ran out of things to say. Perhaps, over the past two or so years, I’ve said things too quickly. Slowing down would’ve stretched things out a bit…but, without any sort of time travel mechanism, I can’t change the way I wrote.
Also, I’d like to emphasize what I’ve been saying a little more clearly. I’m not going to be blogging HERE anymore. This is, of course, a much different thing than saying I am not going to blog anymore. In fact, as we speak (or as you read) there is another blog in existence, a team-written blog, featuring the ponderings of a quasi-badass son of a preacherman (read: me) and a beautiful young woman (read: my wife). Perhaps, one day, when we both become comfortable with the idea, we’ll let you know where that blog resides.
Another reason, I’m giving up the blog, here, is that I’d like to pursue writing in a bit more polished, and public, of a format. I’m going to try to get some stuff published in various places. A blog, while it can be a good place to flesh out ideas, can be a creative drain and a time sink, if your’e not careful. I’ve learned that the hard way. I’d much rather be working on articles, pieces for a magazine, or even a book.
Now, I’m also a self-absorbed and prosaic son-of-a-bitch. Thus, blogging really appealed to me. Due to this self-absorbed and prosaic tendency in myself, I’ve decided to do a little “outro” blogging. I’ll, hopefully, chat a bit about what I’ve learned about myself, Christianity, computer mediated communication, and the like. If that can be of any help to the blogging public, so be it. Mostly, it’ll be a good de-brief for me.
I don’t know how long that “outro” will take, but it’ll probably happen over the course of the early summer. If you’ve got any other questions, comments, criticisms, advice, or anything else for that matter…you know how to reach me!
Again, thanks for listening!
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04.21.06
Posted in culture, blogvention, life at 3:29 pm by Brandon
This entry isn’t intended to have a theme, per se. Just some thoughts that’ve been rolling around as I’ve attended the Festival of Faith and Writing.
The first session I went to was a session on New Media. I was extremely disappointed in this session. Basically, a bunch of hip young morons and new media folks from Zondervan sat around and told us how to use blogs and websites to market our writing. I felt like I needed a shower to wash off the Zondervan schmooze fest that I sat through. It turns out that I’m really turned off by the idea of writing being so commercial, surprise, surprise. In the end, I think that I came to the belief that Zondervan is, corporately, the anti-christ. Or, at very least that the Zondervan logo might just be the mark of the beast.
Craig Gross, the triple-x church guy was there, too. It seems he’s got two new books out that talk about porn. He kept wagging his mouth about “his ministry.” Now, I’m fine with the triple-x church anti-porn message. I may be a bad Christian, but I’m no friend of porn.
What really turned me off, though, was the idea that Craig shared that when you have a website that generates content, and you want to be an author of print media, too, you need to hold some content back from your website. Sorry Craig, but what you’ve described can in no way be considered a ministry any longer. What you’re talking about is running a for-profit business–you’re now not trying to help people with a porn problem. Now the goal is to use people with a porn problem to generate income. The fact that this gets lauded as “holy” is fucked up.
The fact that Zondervan uses this tactic to make money from all sorts of people is doubly fucked up.
I have, alternatively, seen some other really cool authors. For example, humorists Tom Mullen and Phil Gulley, were a hoot to listen to. I bought two of Phil’s books, and one of Tom’s books. I’ll let you know how they are, but I’d strongly recommend you check them out. Phil has a series called the “Harmony Novels” which are about his experience as a Quaker pastor in midwest America. My wife is currently reading one of the books and chortling as I write this…it must be good.
The blogvention event happened last night. A few of us gathered and chatted at a local bar. I met Meg from Bridget Jones Goes To Seminary in real life. I knew I’d like Meg, and it turned out that I wasn’t wrong. My friend Kate from Evangelical Expatriate and her husband Nate (who, like my wife, is a self-proclaimed luddite) was there, too. Our good friends Kari and James were there, as were new friends Rob and Kirstin Vander Giessen-Reitsma from Culture is not Optional. It was a pretty low-key setting for the blogvention festivities, but we had a nice time nonetheless. We chatted about life, etc.
Today in the mail I got a package with the book The Secret Message of Jesus by Brian McLaren. I got an email a few days ago from a publicist for McLaren who asked if I’d be willing to do a book review on the blog, here. I thought, “Heck, if I can weasel a free book out of the situation, why not?” So I’ll be working on that.
I ran across two fascinating blogs recently. They speak for themselves. They are Sh-Out the chronicle of a pastor’s wife whose husband recently came out of the closet, and The Accidental Christian, a related chronicle of the pastor and husband of 20 years who revealed to his wife that he was, in fact, gay. Friends, honesty like you find on those blogs is rare in these here parts. Don’t take it for granted!
Finally, not to make a huge deal out of this, but I’m thinking of not blogging here anymore. I’m not looking for a crapload of comments that say either, “It’s about damn time you quit” or “No, don’t stop.” I’m just getting to the point where I’m a little tired of getting into fights about things, receiving unrequested criticism, etc. I doubt my ability to quit blogging cold turkey; I’ll probably be around. I just won’t be blogging here anymore. When will this happen? I don’t know. Probably sometime after I finish the McLaren review, and one other project to be named in the future. I’m sure more announcements about this will follow.
Thanks for listening!
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04.19.06
Posted in politics at 12:00 pm by Brandon
I got my oil changed on Monday. I hate getting my oil changed. It’s not that I hate the inconvenience, or the price, or even being heckled by the service technician that I really could use that $850 15k mile tune-up. What I hate about getting an oil change is that on the flat-panel television in the waiting room is that Fox News blares at full volume.
On Monday, I was treated to a breathtaking treatment of Tax Policy by the “fair and balanced” Fox News. I’m not sure how a news anchor who doesn’t ask hard questions of the three Rush Limbaugh-esque conservative panelists, and one wimpy looking watered down liberal in stereotypical hornrimmed glasses all classifies as “fair and balanced” but I suppose that when you define what fair and balanced means, you can make it mean pretty much whatever the hell you want it to mean.
What really lept out at me, though, was a statement by the youngish uber-neo conservative that, “the rich did NOT get rich on the backs of the poor.” (And, this statement, of course, led to no more in depth questioning by the anchor.)
Hmmm…methinks I smell a chink in the neo-con armour. The only reason I can think of that one would make such a statement–that the rich did not get rich on the backs of the poor–is if you believe that if they did, then cutting taxes to the richest 1% wouldn’t be right. So, let’s look at that statement for a second: The rich did not get rich on the backs of the poor.
First of all, let’s acknowlege that your financial position is, in large part, the product of the past. What I’m arguing becomes apparent when you examine it in a micro-level. For example, if you make $8.50 per hour today, you’re pretty likely going to be making the same amount tomorrow. Yeah, you might get a raise if you work hard, but it’s probably not going to be a raise that makes you another, say, 100 dollars an hour. Generally speaking, also, this pattern holds intergenerationally. Your income can be, in part, determined by your hard work, but, let’s be honest–it’s also a by-product of circumstance.
Next, we need to admit that we’re a social system. In society, we’re all tied together; there are no islands. The way to make money in this country is to sell things. Bottom line: that’s how money gets made. Yeah, sure, we all play different roles in that selling–some of us by providing a service, like education, that people buy, but we all make money because people buy things.
People don’t get rich if things aren’t being purchased, goods being traded, etc. (I suppose you could make the case that government workers are often funded by tax dollars–but let’s be honest, most government funded workers (teachers, social workers, etc.) aren’t rich by most US standards (which are admittedly inflated.) So, the rich are getting rich on the backs of SOMEBODY.
Now, perhaps it’s true that the rich aren’t ONLY getting rich on the backs of the poor. I’d grant that, rich people buy lots of things. Lots of expensive things, even. Hell, they can afford them…and good for them, I say. BUT, the rich are buying things they CAN afford, the poor often buy things they HAVE TO afford. I would probably define being wealthy as having a choice about those things on which you spend your money.
So, perhaps the rich got rich on the backs of society, rich and poor together, but when rich people spend their money, there’s often quite a bit left over. They have the luxury of being able to save money, too.
Tax cuts improve the economy. It’s a fact.
When you look at GDP and standard of living indexes, MEAN levels of “wealth” tend to increase. The problem is, I think, the MEAN is often the only measure of central tendency that we look at. As long as GDP keeps going up up up, let’s stay happy. The problem is that the MODE measures of wealth aren’t improving with these tax cuts. Most people aren’t generally well effected by these tax cuts.
Let’s be honest, the rich get rich on the backs of the poor. Paying a couple extra thousand bucks out of that six digit yearly income probably isn’t going to keep you from buying the ski boat, or the trip to Aspen for New Years. At least have the courtesy to acknowlege that you (we) got where you (we) are because Johnny and Sally living down in the government subsidized housing development NEEDED to buy perscription drugs for thier kids, and had to buy food at the grocery market, and needed to pick up a pillow at the local Walmart (because that was the only place they could really afford to buy housewares).
But, you’ll probably just write me off as a bleeding heart liberal.
Remember this: We’re all connected, we’re all in the same boat. And, the same connection to the poor that made us wealthy, may, if we don’t take care of our poor, be the millstone that pulls us ALL underneath the waves.
Tags: Tax Cuts, Economics
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04.17.06
Posted in grad school at 11:24 am by Brandon
Note: For the uninitiated, SPSS is a statistical analysis program that allows users to crunch statistical data. It has been particularly developed for the social sciences, thus the name Statistical Package for the Social Sciences.
Dear SPSS creators,
You are truly dispicable people.
You know full well that a lowly graduate student needs the service you provide. Sure, there are other statistical options. SAS, R, or other statistical options. But SPSS is the only option with a user friendly interface. And, frankly, you know damn well that I haven’t the time to learn another fucking computer language just to figure out if the mean of scores in Group A is statistically different from that of Group B.
Sure, I could calculate the independent samples t-test or one-way analysis of variance by hand, but you know I don’t want to–it’d be a monumental waste of time. God knows, I’ve got a million other things I’d rather be wasting my time on, like beer or Tetris. And, even if I did calculate those simple statistics by hand, they’re of little practical use. You all know as well as I that a 3 x 2 factorial design requires more than a simple one-way analysis of variance. You have me in your back pocket and you know it. Beyond the ANOVAs, you’re also pretty sure I’d never take on the task of running a regression analysis by hand. Once again, you have me. You have a monopoly on the market of statistical software packages and you seem to love to wag your dominance in my down-trodden face.
You knew damn well when you sold me the “student” version of your software package (for $89.95) just a year ago, that I’d be back, needing better functionality. Seriously, a maximum of 50 variables. I shit studies with more than 50 variables.
Then a year later, you have the gall to charge me another $206.84 (including tax) so that I can get the full version of SPSS at the GradPack price. Of course, that full version expires in 4 years–so you know I’ll be back for more.
I loathe you so much that I almost–just for a minute–wished that I was a qualitative researcher (gasp). I now shudder at the thought of what you’ve made me consider.
Dear SPSS developers, I beg it of you that you would take pity on the graduate student. Please, stop raping us at the bookstore. You know that if we get hooked on you as Graduate Students, we’ll keep coming back as faculty members. We really don’t care if you’re sticking it to our department–charging $600 software licenses and such. But, why mistreat us poor graduate students. You do realize that you force us to make inethical decisions about the sharing of your software, right? Why not just make it cheap for us to obtain legal copies of your statistical packages, and then pass the costs on to departmental software registration?
If you continue to persist in this uncouth behavior I will be forced to learn the “R” statistical programming language and calculate my statistics using their FREE non-commercial software package.
Signed,
Brandon
Tags: Grad School, SPSS
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04.13.06
Posted in politics, life at 8:48 am by Brandon
So, does anybody think this has anything to do with this?
Turns out, it’s not just us liberals President Bush has the capacity to piss off.
In other news, sorry my blog sucks lately. Hopefully I can do something about that soon.
Tags: Blogging, Bush Support
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04.10.06
Posted in beer at 5:05 pm by Brandon
So my latest Belgian is Troublette. Frankly, this one is not my favorite of all the belgians I’ve ever tried. Many classify this one as a classic Belgian White in the vein of a Hoegaarden or something of that nature. Personally, when I think Belgian, I think yeasty and sweet. To me, that’s what I expect.
Troublette is not that.
I would not classify Troublette as remotely sweet. Rather, I catch a relatively fruity sour finish in this beer. I’m not picking up much along the lines of yeast and any hops notes are EXCEPTIONALLY subtle. All in all, had I expected a more sour (almost unfruited lambic) experience, rather than a traditional Belgian White beer, I would’ve liked it more. All in all, this wasn’t a bad beer, but it wasn’t what I expected.
I saw on ratebeer.com someone described this beer as having a velvety finish. I couldn’t disagree more. Given the lightess of the mouthfeel and the carbonation of Troublette, I’d say this was the antithesis of velvety. Not that that’s bad, in fact for a beer in this style to be velvety, I’d have been a bit concerned.
All in all, if you’re in the mood for a sourish summery beer, give Troublette a try. If you’re looking for a yeasty sweet traditional triple or somesuch, I’d take a pass on Troublette.
Tags: Beer Snob
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04.02.06
Posted in blogvention at 1:48 pm by Brandon
After about a year and a half of anticipation, the time for blogvention nears. Previously, I’ve asked a few people for some tentative thoughts on whether you think you’d like to come to blogvention. This post will serve as the official invitation.
The details of what exactly blogvention is are available at the above “blogvention” link.
I’d like to ask that if you’d like to take part in all or some of the blogvention 2006 festivities, you please email me at brandon[at]badchristian.com with the phrase “Blogvention RSVP” in the subject line. In your email it would be incredibly helpful if you’d include a few key sorts of details, namely:
- Your full name
- If you have a blog, include the title and URL of your blog
- Your home city and state
- A phone number at which you can be contacted
Your phone number will, of course, be kept strictly confidential. The other information will be used to enable the creation of some sort of blogvention nametag so that we can identify each other amongst the other Festival of Faith and Writing attendees.
Also, I am going to make myself available in (or near) the lobby of the Fine Arts Center at Calvin, which is where the Festival of Faith and Writing check-in will take place. I’m going to be there between 9am and 11:30am on the Thursday morning of the festival (April 20th). If you’re not available to check in with me at that time and get your nametag, let me know in your email, and we’ll work out some other time to meet.
It should be noted that the folks in charge of the Festival of Faith and Writing haven’t a clue that anything called blogvention even exists–at least not to my knowlege. So, if you ask them something about Blogvention, don’t be surprised if you get a slightly befuddled response. Instead if you have questions about blogvention, direct them to me or the blogvention planning committee (which is comprised by me).
But, really, there’s not much to ask questions about. Basically, blogvention is a bunch of people jointly attending the Festival of Faith and Writing, who’ll be vaguely identifiable by their name-tags, and who, after the festival winds down each evening will have the option of going out for drinks with their newly minted “blog-turned-real-life-friends.” It should be gobs of fun.
Once I have your email addresses and know who’s coming I’ll try to whip up a more official schedule of where the evening hang out spots will be. (Those of you farmiliar with Grand Rapids who’d care to improve on my previously posted tentative schedule by suggesting different or better places to go out, I’m happy to entertain constructive criticisms.)
I’m pretty excited to meet those of you I haven’t met before, and I’m also excited to see a few of you whose paths rarely cross mine!
Tags: Blogvention, Festival of Faith and Writing
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04.01.06
Posted in life, beer at 11:26 am by Brandon
You Are Guinness
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You know beer well, and you’ll only drink the best beers in the world.
Watered down beers disgust you, as do the people who drink them.
When you drink, you tend to become a bit of a know it all - especially about subjects you don’t know well.
But your friends tolerate your drunken ways, because you introduce them to the best beers around.
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Tags: Beer Snob
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