Entertainment out of necessity
Two MIT students have created a way to play video games while taking care of a basic human need. Check it out!
This has to be one of the funniest engineering projects I’ve ever seen. Usually one can find quite a few at EOH each spring as well.
Thanks to Andrew Careaga at Bloggedyblog for the link.
A Rainy Adventure
It was one of those torrential downpours that makes you stare through the window out into the parking lot where your car is, trying to light the spark of courage to risk a drenching.
I got into my car and began to race down Butterfield Road from St. B’s along with everyone else - the organized melée mocking the “Speed Limit 45″ signs watching us in helpless resignation from the sidelines.
My windshield wipers were boxing their fastest one-two punch they could muster against their fluid opponent, when, all of a sudden, the driver’s side blade took flight. It flung itself onto the median and tumbled across the asphalt. By the time I awoke to this new development, I was too far down the road to retreive it safely.
I was nearly blinded, but I used the remaining blade to clear the far side of the windshield. I might as well have popped the hood up for all I could see. I recoiled against the screeching that attacked my ears coming from the remainder of the broken blade. I bumped across the median to a service station that just so happened to have a three-garage shop.
When I arrived, the attendant was disputing with another patron over a mistaken receipt. I asked if they had any wiper blades - mine had fallen off in the middle of Butterfield. He sent me into the garage to ask the mechanic. He had me pull under the protection of the pump area, and $7.95 later, I had a new blade.
I pulled back out of the pits into the inside lane to rejoin the race. As I crested the hill, my newly invigorated blade wiped itself off the windshield and hooked itself on the side mirror. Once again, I was blinded, but I could not turn the blade on this time for fear of snapping the whole thing off.
God, what am I going to do?
The rain slowed down - stopped, really. I punched the button to lower my window, and tried to push the dislocated blade back onto the windshield when I stopped at a red light. Darn. That didn’t work. A gap formed in the stream flowing down my windshield enough that I could see to pull into the hardware store parking lot. Thank you, God!
I discovered that the driver’s side blade was returning to the wrong resting position. I pushed it back down to where it was supposed to sit, and ran it for a couple minutes. I couldn’t taste the adreneline so much any more. I pulled back out onto Butterfield, and made it back home, albeit at a more daunted pace.
I hope that it doesn’t happen again.
God protected me - I know it. Praise him! Thanks be to God!
Exodus 3:1 - 15
Whew!
The end of yet another long Tuesday of classes from 1:00 PM to 9:40 PM.
The sermon went off without a hitch. (Thanks be to God!) The class responded well. Dr. Q. told us that we could preach to whatever context we wanted to - whatever context we were in. So I decided to preach to the preaching class. It made the most sense. And I have to say it went off better than I expected.
I had to preach on Exodus 3:1 - 22, which I narrowed down to 3:1 - 15. The sermon’s focus was on Moses’ question in v. 11 and God’s response in v. 12 and v. 14.
When Moses asks, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” God responds, “I will be with you.” God answers Moses’ twofold question of authority and identity with an appeal to his continuing presence - not to Moses’ résumé. I elaborated on this for about 20 minutes, bringing the implications to bear on myself and the rest of the class. And many said the sermon moved them. Praise God!!!
I’ve been a bit busy the last couple of days…
I had food poisoning (I think) Sunday night and Monday night. So I didn’t blog ’cause I was crashed on the couch.
Today I’m preaching my sermon for preaching class on Moses and the Burning Bush. It’s at 1:00. Pray for me! I have to go for about 20 mins and that without notes.
Just got back from a great retreat with some of the other “twentysomethings” at the seminary. We were hosted by a couple of the nicest people. They own a corporation and they are significant donors to the seminary. We stayed at their “guest house” in southeastern Wisconsin - which housed all 15 of us with plenty of room to spare. It was a great time of refreshing and hanging out with people. It was nice to get away in the middle of the quarter and forget about schoolwork for awhile.
The two games of football were great. I think everyone is sore. We feel so old and decrepit now. Maybe it’s because all we do normally is sit inside and read. Hmmm….
Brian McLaren and Platonic Dialogues
Today’s issue of Relevant Magazine has an article on Brian McLaren’s new book, The Story We Find Ourselves In.
I have not read the book and I will not read it until the summer at the earliest. I will be reading A New Kind of Christian for a class later this quarter.
I’m fascinated by the dialogical format he has chosen. Many great writers and thinkers have used the dialogue format to get a point across that the audience won’t “get” if the author writes it in a more typical format. Plato, Erasmus, Galileo and others used the dialogue to get their point across in an unfriendly environment. It’s unfamiliar enough today that people often miss how old and revered this format is. I welcome his approach. After I read his stuff I’ll let you know whether I think he is Plato’s peer.
Absolutely great article about “How to write a really mediocre song” on Relevant today. It lists 11 things you can do. For instance:
Number Eight. Mix and match your metaphors. Let rivers run over mountains in your song. Let the hand of God rain down on you. Stand before the throne on your knees. If you find this mixing and matching difficult to do, reading through modern chorus books or many recent Christian novels will help.
Read the article here.
I would add a 12th point: change the tempo of the song partway through so you have an abrupt change from upbeat and clapping to something slow where nobody can find the beat.
A few itinerary items:
I will be out Friday - Saturday at a retreat. Reach me by cell if you need/want.
I will be preaching for the “Practice of Preaching” class on Tuesday, 29 April 2003 at 1:00 PM CDT.
I will be preaching both services at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Glen Ellyn on 18 May 2003 at 8:00 and 10:30 AM CDT.
Moving date is 31 May 2003.
Someone (whose name happens to be Andrew Careaga) called this blog title “Einsteinesque”.
That’s kinda cool… I suppose that I’d be Mass * Mass * Time = ?. I doubt that has any physical relevance. If it does, tell me!
Cre8d Journal has a great article today on economics. A lot of stuff to ponder.
So it’s not necessarily supposed to be a free market economy? You mean that’s not necessarily God’s way? Supply and demand? Hmmmm…
No major mishaps because of the power outage. (Thanks be to God!)
My milk had a bit more flavor this morning than I’d prefer, since the fridge was out. 
We had another semi-dramatic night last night. (No police this time…)
About 1:00 AM one of our weekly house guests woke me up saying that my computer was freaking out. It was as if the reset button was being held down constantly. It had been doing this for 10 minutes.
Then we realized that we were having a brownout. We started pulling plugs on all of the appliances, and went back to bed.
Today most of the school was without power until about 10:00 tonight. We held class in the dark.
Of course, this meant that we lost all the food in the fridge.
I guess somehow a conduit collapsed last night shorting a high-voltage underground cable out. It browned the power out until it melted through.
You never know what kind of adventures you’re gonna have around here…
Ok, so I broke down and bought a cell phone today. “Can you hear me now? … Good!”
I’m feeling pretty wired up, though… a charger, a car charger, a hands-free device, etc. It’s nuts.
Soon I hope to take the next technological leap - from desktop computer to laptop.
Alleluia!
Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed!
Father, you loved the world so much that in the fullness of
time you sent your only Son to be our Savior. Incarnate by
the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, he lived as one of
us, yet without sin. To the poor he proclaimed the good news
of salvation; to prisoners, freedom; to the sorrowful, joy. To
fulfill your purpose he gave himself up to death; and, rising
from the grave, destroyed death, and made the whole
creation new.
And, that we might live no longer for ourselves, but for him
who died and rose for us, he sent the Holy Spirit, his own
first gift for those who believe, to complete his work in
the world, and to bring to fulfillment the sanctification of all.
(BCP 374)
We give you thanks for all these things in the name of him who died and lives today, Jesus Christ, our risen savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit: one God, now and forever, AMEN.
