Great news: ‘Heaven is For Real’ is now a movie, out this spring.
Simply, a young boy has a near-death experience and later reveals details about Heaven that he would have no way of knowing had it not been true. Everything matches up Biblically as well.
Hopefully, Hollywood does a respectable job with this.
• For previous comments, see this.
• See the movie trailer here.
• See the Heaven is For Real website here.
Mouth-watering Omaha Steaks
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Anniversary: too much technology
In February 1983, Styx’s Kilroy put it brilliantly: “The problem’s plain to see: too much technology. Machines to save our lives. Machines dehumanize.”
Thirty-one years later, that rings true even more.
Technology does some tremendous things for us. But our smart phones also make us dumber – we rely on machines that we didn’t used to need, or even suspect that they existed.
It also gives us more obligations. Here is a list of the ways someone can already contact me, not including any face-to-face methods:
• home phone
• home phone answering machine
• cell phone
• cell phone voicemail
• work phone
• work phone voicemail
• personal email (2 accounts)
• work email (several accounts)
• postal mail to home
• postal mail to work
All of those require regular checking and responses. Now that I’ve ventured into Google+, Twitter, and Pinterest (but not Facebook), there are even more things to keep up checking.
Occasionally, there’s something interesting or of value, but mostly Tweets are like looking for seashells on the beach – there’s a lot of useless things to pick through. Still, the good “find” keeps us hooked just enough to keep coming back.
It seems like our SPARE TIME is being taken up more and more.
Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto.
Thirty-one years later, that rings true even more.
Technology does some tremendous things for us. But our smart phones also make us dumber – we rely on machines that we didn’t used to need, or even suspect that they existed.
It also gives us more obligations. Here is a list of the ways someone can already contact me, not including any face-to-face methods:
• home phone
• home phone answering machine
• cell phone
• cell phone voicemail
• work phone
• work phone voicemail
• personal email (2 accounts)
• work email (several accounts)
• postal mail to home
• postal mail to work
All of those require regular checking and responses. Now that I’ve ventured into Google+, Twitter, and Pinterest (but not Facebook), there are even more things to keep up checking.
Occasionally, there’s something interesting or of value, but mostly Tweets are like looking for seashells on the beach – there’s a lot of useless things to pick through. Still, the good “find” keeps us hooked just enough to keep coming back.
It seems like our SPARE TIME is being taken up more and more.
Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Hiking: indoors (aka shopping)
It’s been so cold outside that we have to be creative for things to do in our SPARE TIME.
Partly for fun, partly for practice, and partly because I have a strange sense of humor, I pulled out my MapMyHike app on a recent visit to Walmart. I always wanted to know just how big a big box store is.
This was a simple trip through pharmacy, automotive, a spur over to shoes for a pair of shoelaces, and a few grocery items. (By the way, the oil filter supply is still unreliable.)
Stats from the day: we went just over half a mile (.55) and it took 28 minutes, about 10 of which were standing in line at the checkout, so my app gave up on trying to figure the pace.
It also said we burned about 218 calories – how it calculates that can be a rant for another time.
Partly for fun, partly for practice, and partly because I have a strange sense of humor, I pulled out my MapMyHike app on a recent visit to Walmart. I always wanted to know just how big a big box store is.
This was a simple trip through pharmacy, automotive, a spur over to shoes for a pair of shoelaces, and a few grocery items. (By the way, the oil filter supply is still unreliable.)
Stats from the day: we went just over half a mile (.55) and it took 28 minutes, about 10 of which were standing in line at the checkout, so my app gave up on trying to figure the pace.
It also said we burned about 218 calories – how it calculates that can be a rant for another time.
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Book review: 'The Mountain'
As a follow-up to Jon Krakauer’s “Into Thin Air,” we go to the other side of the mountain in Ed Viesturs’s “The Mountain” (pub. 2013).
In the Mount Everest tragedy of 1996 in which five climbers died, Viesturs was with a nearby group on a film project and assisted in saving some of those who did survive. He briefly recounts that experience along with several other trips to the highest point on earth, plus a history of some of Everest’s other significant moments.
In all, Viesturs calculated he spent two and a half years on Mount Everest over 15 expeditions. Maybe he made it that many times because of a sincere concern for safety. He emphasizes: “Reaching the summit is optional. Getting down is mandatory.”
True, because it is relatively common for climbers who reach a summit like Everest to die on the way down for a variety of reasons. Getting there really is only half the trip. It’s not uncommon either for climbers to come across the frozen bodies of those who have gone before them.
That said, the summit is still the prize. Viesturs: “Then, all at once, I realized there was nowhere higher up to go. I’d reached the summit of Mount Everest . . . At that moment, there was no one on earth who stood higher than I did.”
On the ‘96 trip after the tragedy, Viesturs recounts one of the hardest experiences of his life being passing the bodies of friends Rob Hall and Scott Fischer on the way to the summit: “On the way down, I stopped and sat beside each of them, as I struggled with my emotions. Sitting next to Scott’s frozen body at 27,300 feet, I couldn’t help speaking out loud to him. ‘Hey, Scott,’ I said, ‘how are you doing?’ Of course, there was no answer but the wind. ‘What happened, man?’”
On a brighter note, Viesturs tells about the American Mount Everest Expedition in 1963, a massive undertaking costing today’s equivalent of millions of dollars. But in those days, getting the first American ascent of Everest ranked not far below putting the first man on the moon.
Since then, of course, climbs to the top of the world have become a tourism boom with sometimes dozens of climbers reaching the summit on the same day as part of guided commercial trips. It’s actually an added danger to climbing that a popular mountain becomes so crowded that the slow-movers are an additional hazard for the faster ones.
Man keeps trying to up the ante, in finding new routes, climbing with less equipment, during a new season, or anything to distinguish the effort from what has been done before.
Viesturs tells of climber Erhard Loretan toying with the idea of trying a parapente in 1986 – a sort of wing/parachute device – to sail off a cliff to a valley below. Loretan reconsidered from jumping off Everest’s summit at the time, although the feat was accomplished a couple years later by Jean-Marc Bolvin.
Loretan did try the equipment in another setting and his description is priceless: “Between a flight and a fall, the only difference has to do with its duration. If you fall for a long time, it’s a flight. If you fly only briefly, it’s a fall.”
In the Mount Everest tragedy of 1996 in which five climbers died, Viesturs was with a nearby group on a film project and assisted in saving some of those who did survive. He briefly recounts that experience along with several other trips to the highest point on earth, plus a history of some of Everest’s other significant moments.
In all, Viesturs calculated he spent two and a half years on Mount Everest over 15 expeditions. Maybe he made it that many times because of a sincere concern for safety. He emphasizes: “Reaching the summit is optional. Getting down is mandatory.”
True, because it is relatively common for climbers who reach a summit like Everest to die on the way down for a variety of reasons. Getting there really is only half the trip. It’s not uncommon either for climbers to come across the frozen bodies of those who have gone before them.
That said, the summit is still the prize. Viesturs: “Then, all at once, I realized there was nowhere higher up to go. I’d reached the summit of Mount Everest . . . At that moment, there was no one on earth who stood higher than I did.”
On the ‘96 trip after the tragedy, Viesturs recounts one of the hardest experiences of his life being passing the bodies of friends Rob Hall and Scott Fischer on the way to the summit: “On the way down, I stopped and sat beside each of them, as I struggled with my emotions. Sitting next to Scott’s frozen body at 27,300 feet, I couldn’t help speaking out loud to him. ‘Hey, Scott,’ I said, ‘how are you doing?’ Of course, there was no answer but the wind. ‘What happened, man?’”
On a brighter note, Viesturs tells about the American Mount Everest Expedition in 1963, a massive undertaking costing today’s equivalent of millions of dollars. But in those days, getting the first American ascent of Everest ranked not far below putting the first man on the moon.
Since then, of course, climbs to the top of the world have become a tourism boom with sometimes dozens of climbers reaching the summit on the same day as part of guided commercial trips. It’s actually an added danger to climbing that a popular mountain becomes so crowded that the slow-movers are an additional hazard for the faster ones.
Man keeps trying to up the ante, in finding new routes, climbing with less equipment, during a new season, or anything to distinguish the effort from what has been done before.
Viesturs tells of climber Erhard Loretan toying with the idea of trying a parapente in 1986 – a sort of wing/parachute device – to sail off a cliff to a valley below. Loretan reconsidered from jumping off Everest’s summit at the time, although the feat was accomplished a couple years later by Jean-Marc Bolvin.
Loretan did try the equipment in another setting and his description is priceless: “Between a flight and a fall, the only difference has to do with its duration. If you fall for a long time, it’s a flight. If you fly only briefly, it’s a fall.”
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Olympics: let the games begin
Great athletes, in virtually every sport, make difficult athletic feats look easy.
That’s probably why every other year the Olympics takes over our tv and our time, with sports that we otherwise don’t care about, or didn’t even remember existed.
This year, figure skating is one that gets the most prime time coverage. Two things I marvel at are this:
1. how the announcers, and judges, can see such detail in a person spinning around three or so times, as to precisely and instantly know how good it was, or if not, which body part was every so slightly out of alignment. I pretty much wait to see if they fall or not; if not, hey, that was pretty good.
2. the doubles skating. These men are amazing. Just think how much strength it takes to hold even a small-sized woman over your head. Then do it on skates! While moving.
That’s why we watch the Olympics – to see people do things we aren’t capable of ourselves.
On the other hand, I struggle with the sports in which the results are judges’ opinions rather than easy-to-see facts like who got to the finish line first or if the ball went in the hole or not.
That’s probably why every other year the Olympics takes over our tv and our time, with sports that we otherwise don’t care about, or didn’t even remember existed.
This year, figure skating is one that gets the most prime time coverage. Two things I marvel at are this:
1. how the announcers, and judges, can see such detail in a person spinning around three or so times, as to precisely and instantly know how good it was, or if not, which body part was every so slightly out of alignment. I pretty much wait to see if they fall or not; if not, hey, that was pretty good.
2. the doubles skating. These men are amazing. Just think how much strength it takes to hold even a small-sized woman over your head. Then do it on skates! While moving.
That’s why we watch the Olympics – to see people do things we aren’t capable of ourselves.
On the other hand, I struggle with the sports in which the results are judges’ opinions rather than easy-to-see facts like who got to the finish line first or if the ball went in the hole or not.
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Restaurant/hotel review: DoubleTree by Hilton, Bloomington MN
For years, it was the Radisson South. Then the Sheraton. Now it has the mouthful name of DoubleTree by Hilton Minneapolis South.
It’s the recognizeable building at 494 and 100. Towers they used to call them. Not like New York’s Twin Towers, or even the Carlson Towers in Wayzata. Just a single building that looks the same on both ends.
Longer ago, there was even the issue of the hotel building straddling the city limits boundary, which mean different liquor ordinances for different portions fo the building. That has been since resolved.
This was another occasion of a business event at a hotel including a meal function, meaning it’s not a true restaurant experience. Neither is it a full hotel experience, as I was welcomed to be on the property for the portion of the day I was awake.
Feeding several hundred people at the same time is a logistial challenge, but the staff did well in getting plates out as well as removed.
Maybe I’m softening in old age, but instead of joking about the chicken being left over from last year’s event, I simply enjoyed it – a heavily-breaded chicken breast with peach sauce, on a bed of rice pilaf acccompanied by zucchini. Actually, not bad.
My only gripe: understanding the guest speaker cost was built into the ticket, it was still $33 a plate, with no dessert! There should be dessert. For five cents, as the Peanuts characters would say.
It’s the recognizeable building at 494 and 100. Towers they used to call them. Not like New York’s Twin Towers, or even the Carlson Towers in Wayzata. Just a single building that looks the same on both ends.
Longer ago, there was even the issue of the hotel building straddling the city limits boundary, which mean different liquor ordinances for different portions fo the building. That has been since resolved.
This was another occasion of a business event at a hotel including a meal function, meaning it’s not a true restaurant experience. Neither is it a full hotel experience, as I was welcomed to be on the property for the portion of the day I was awake.
Feeding several hundred people at the same time is a logistial challenge, but the staff did well in getting plates out as well as removed.
Maybe I’m softening in old age, but instead of joking about the chicken being left over from last year’s event, I simply enjoyed it – a heavily-breaded chicken breast with peach sauce, on a bed of rice pilaf acccompanied by zucchini. Actually, not bad.
My only gripe: understanding the guest speaker cost was built into the ticket, it was still $33 a plate, with no dessert! There should be dessert. For five cents, as the Peanuts characters would say.
Monday, February 3, 2014
Football: not so super Bowl
Oops. The Super Bowl wasn’t very super, not even medium.
Unlike professional wrestling, the one thing the every-second-sponsored league can’t control is how good or bad the game is.
A check back reveals that Denver is no stranger to not only losing Super Bowl games, but losing them badly. In 1987, 1988, and 1990, the Broncos lost by 19, 32, and 45 points respectively.
There were a few other blowout games around those years as well. In the normal NFL game, momentum will often change two or three times. But often in a game with the magnitude of the Super Bowl – all the hype and scrutiny and waiting two weeks for it to finally start – if one teams gets a break and goes on a roll, sometimes it just quickly gets out of control and turns into a nightmare.
Besides the game, this year’s commercials were equally lousy. I conceded early in the third quarter when Denver again came up empty on its first possession of the second half, and turned on re-run of The Mentalist.
Up until then, only the Tim Tebow/no contract commercial even halfway appealed to me. Everything else ranged from bland to outright foolish. The one I was waiting for – the Full House reunion – hadn’t aired yet, so I still haven’t seen it.
Halftime went from rock stars with walkers to at least someone who is currently popular with someone. It was deflating to learn later that Bruno Mars will be in a movie later this year, which tells me his Super Bowl appearance was simply an arranged marketing campaign.
This was confirmed when the game analyst panel spent about a minute talking about Mars and how good the halftime show was. Anything more than a “Yeah, that was good” means it was also paid-for, and that the commentators were forced to comment as such – just another piece in the marketing toolkit.
Best tweet I came across referred to the NFL's tight copyright hold on the words Super Bowl, so that it has to be referred to as "big game," etc.: at least we don't have to call the World Series the "Grand Sequence of Games."
Unlike professional wrestling, the one thing the every-second-sponsored league can’t control is how good or bad the game is.
A check back reveals that Denver is no stranger to not only losing Super Bowl games, but losing them badly. In 1987, 1988, and 1990, the Broncos lost by 19, 32, and 45 points respectively.
There were a few other blowout games around those years as well. In the normal NFL game, momentum will often change two or three times. But often in a game with the magnitude of the Super Bowl – all the hype and scrutiny and waiting two weeks for it to finally start – if one teams gets a break and goes on a roll, sometimes it just quickly gets out of control and turns into a nightmare.
Besides the game, this year’s commercials were equally lousy. I conceded early in the third quarter when Denver again came up empty on its first possession of the second half, and turned on re-run of The Mentalist.
Up until then, only the Tim Tebow/no contract commercial even halfway appealed to me. Everything else ranged from bland to outright foolish. The one I was waiting for – the Full House reunion – hadn’t aired yet, so I still haven’t seen it.
Halftime went from rock stars with walkers to at least someone who is currently popular with someone. It was deflating to learn later that Bruno Mars will be in a movie later this year, which tells me his Super Bowl appearance was simply an arranged marketing campaign.
This was confirmed when the game analyst panel spent about a minute talking about Mars and how good the halftime show was. Anything more than a “Yeah, that was good” means it was also paid-for, and that the commentators were forced to comment as such – just another piece in the marketing toolkit.
Best tweet I came across referred to the NFL's tight copyright hold on the words Super Bowl, so that it has to be referred to as "big game," etc.: at least we don't have to call the World Series the "Grand Sequence of Games."
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Book Review: Sleep Well Again
Sleep is possibly the most underestimated, under-appreciated part of our day. Browsing through an assortment of books for sale, I came across Lisa Morrone’s “Sleep Well Again” (pub. 2012) and decided to give it a try. I was rewarded with new insight into a fascinating common activity.
For starters, the day starts at night. One need look no further than the Biblical account of the first day: “there was evening and there was morning, the first day.” Makes complete sense in that we are to properly rest first to get ready for coming day.
Next is advice for parents: don’t use something as precious and valuable as sleep as a punishment, as in: “You’re going to bed an hour earlier tonight!” Same as with writing or reading – don’t associate a good or healthy activity with the negative aspect of punishment. (Or like the cross country t-shirts: “Our sport is your sport’s punishment.”)
Experts say the average person needs a solid seven to eight hours of sleep each day, and make that 9.25 hours for teenagers.
The body has a Circadian rhythm on roughly 24-hour cycles, during which it undergoes numerous physical changes as it literally repairs itself for the next onslaught of wakefulness. Miss out on just two of those necessary eight hours and you lose 25 percent of the time that your body’s nerves are being fixed and tested to be ready to go for the next day.
Keep doing that and you quickly fall into sleep debt. Just like spending more dollars than your income, it is not sustainable and will catch up with you, generally to the degree that you overdo it.
Morrone offers numerous tips on preparing for a good night’s sleep such as lower lighting, a comfortable temperature, avoiding stimulation (noise and video) in the last hour before bedtime, and even doing certain things during the day to prepare for the night such as stopping caffeine intake early enough, etc.
Once in bed, posture goes a long way toward getting rest and even overcoming pain distractions. There are more details than we can go into here, but it is highly advised to never, never sleep on your stomach.
The book also has chapters devoted to dealing with physical and emotional issues that cut into sleep. If better sleep appeals to you, give it a read.
Good night – sleep in heavenly peace.
For starters, the day starts at night. One need look no further than the Biblical account of the first day: “there was evening and there was morning, the first day.” Makes complete sense in that we are to properly rest first to get ready for coming day.
Next is advice for parents: don’t use something as precious and valuable as sleep as a punishment, as in: “You’re going to bed an hour earlier tonight!” Same as with writing or reading – don’t associate a good or healthy activity with the negative aspect of punishment. (Or like the cross country t-shirts: “Our sport is your sport’s punishment.”)
Experts say the average person needs a solid seven to eight hours of sleep each day, and make that 9.25 hours for teenagers.
The body has a Circadian rhythm on roughly 24-hour cycles, during which it undergoes numerous physical changes as it literally repairs itself for the next onslaught of wakefulness. Miss out on just two of those necessary eight hours and you lose 25 percent of the time that your body’s nerves are being fixed and tested to be ready to go for the next day.
Keep doing that and you quickly fall into sleep debt. Just like spending more dollars than your income, it is not sustainable and will catch up with you, generally to the degree that you overdo it.
Morrone offers numerous tips on preparing for a good night’s sleep such as lower lighting, a comfortable temperature, avoiding stimulation (noise and video) in the last hour before bedtime, and even doing certain things during the day to prepare for the night such as stopping caffeine intake early enough, etc.
Once in bed, posture goes a long way toward getting rest and even overcoming pain distractions. There are more details than we can go into here, but it is highly advised to never, never sleep on your stomach.
The book also has chapters devoted to dealing with physical and emotional issues that cut into sleep. If better sleep appeals to you, give it a read.
Good night – sleep in heavenly peace.
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