communication breakdown

Miscellaneous Musings on Mindless Matters

Well, life continues on: work and play, work and play. Lather, rinse and repeat. Things are going well, but nothing particularly mind-blowing has happened recently.

As a result, no issue in particular is really burning in my mind, so I figured I'd again touch on all kinds of different things crossing through my brain...

• Book Crazy - I've been doing lots of reading, at least compared to my usual pace. I've really been flying through books. I just finished up The Grapes of Wrath; definitely one of the best novels I've ever read. The review will be up shortly. Speaking of reviews, I've finally gotten back in the groove. You can find several new Book/Movie reviews on the page, if you go to the main page and look at the Categories, or search the Recent Entries. With any luck, I'll keep up my current pace.

  Next up will probably be another classic from my top 100 novels project, but after that, I think it's Harry Potter time. I'm already getting excited about Book 6. Oh, and fair warning: if any of you (*cough* Aaron *cough*) spoil anything for me, I will rain down fire and brimstone on your perjured soul.



• Barber Shop - Oh yeah. I hit up the local barber the other day for my monthly trip - really, how can you not love a place called Gino and Jackson's? It's so quaint, it really feels like somebody put it in a time machine and brought it here from 1940. Best things about a good old-timey barber shop (in no particular order):
  • the barber's chair
  • the straight-razor shave
  • the warm shaving creme
  • the post-shave hot towel (and if you're lucky, the accompanying neck massage)
  • the charming old guys who speak broken english at best with a heavy german/russian/italian/greek accent (take your pick), and then make jokes with their buddies (i.e., relatives) the whole time in their native tongue

  Yet another reason why being a guy is awesome. $20, and it's always an awesome experience. Sure beats the pants out of paying $200 for a perm from some crazy voodoo lady named Chavannaluze.



• Bachelor Party - Ahh yes, another reason why guyness is great. Eric's bachelor party was this past Saturday, so we headed to Dave & Buster's at around 6, had dinner, went crazy until about 1, then headed back to his place to sit around and chill, and watch some Team America: World Police until everyone collapsed at around 3:30. Best moment: Eric in the D&B gift-shop, still somewhat drunk, carrying a 3-foot-tall neon blue/green stuffed gorilla on his shoulders, holding a pink pillow that said "Princess", and giving the devil sign with his hands. Soooo out-of-character. Priceless.

  (Oh yeah, and he took that gorilla home, too...)



• Second Day of 30 Days - So I sat down to watch a couple more episodes of the new show 30 Days. Good stuff. The first episode featured two environmentally-unconscious New Yorkers (male and female) spending a month living in a Missouri eco-village. Pretty hilarious. The woman was slightly obnoxious but all-in-all it was an educational and entertaining hour, which is the whole point. I had no idea you could rig up a car to run on vegetable oil, but that's what these folks did out there. Best part of the show was when the guy couldn't go any longer without meat, so he borrowed a pellet-gun and shot himself a rabbit. I can completely understand - you can only go so long without meaty goodness.

  The other episode I watched placed a conservative, heterosexual Christian in the heart of a completely gay district of San Francisco, living with a male homosexual roommate. I think the key to these shows is in the people they pick. In this particular episode, the straight guy was very down-to-earth, more open-minded that he first let on, and in general a very easy-going dude. A good TV personality, if you will. His roommate was about the same - gay, but not flambuoyantly-in-your-face gay. I was afraid when I tuned in that this would be like another hour of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy", but it was anything but. Very interesting stuff.

  However, very similar to the Christian/Muslim experiment that they did in a previous show, I was shocked by the "spirtiual advisement" that our heterosexual friend received in this episode. He attended the Metropolitan Community Church in his neighborhood, a church which focuses on outreach to gay and lesbian members of the community. He heard the pastor speak about how the Bible does not excplicitly condemn homosexuality, and he disagreed, so he took the responsibility on himself to set up a private meeting with the pastor and discuss some things.

  Well, as with the Muslim imam, she gave completely misleading and (I would argue) dangerous answers to his pointed questions. I will paraphrase here, but she essentially said that she has a long history and a loving relationship with her lesbian partner, and that they are good people. Then she specifically stated that she felt God cares more about what we do with our lives than what we do with our genitalia. First off, it's a completely ludicrous statement, because that argument would allow someone to condone rape, sexual assault, and any kind of sexual misconduct. Then she stated she couldn't very well give up her long-term relationship, that that would be too hard, so certainly God wouldn't want her to do that. What kind of point is that? As if God never asked us to do hard things? Hard, hard things? Just because it's not easy doesn't mean it's not the right thing to do.

  Finally, she pulled out the Ol' Faithful excuse. "The Bible says Thou shalt not kill, doesn't it? But you killed on the battlefield, right? (The man was a former soldier) So you can justify that, but you can't justify homosexuality?"

  The fact that this is the best that a pastor can come up with is staggering to me. I honestly believed that a lesbian pastor, someone who considers herself a bringer of the Word and must certainly deal with these kind of issues everyday, would have some very thought-provoking and eye-opening interpretations of the Bible that might justifiably (at least in her mind) explain why her lifestyle is acceptable. But really - the best she could come up with is "If killing is wrong and you do it, then I can be gay and it's OK"??? I'm still blown away by that. Even if she's right, and killing is sin in all circumstances, all that does is make people who kill sinners (which they already are), but it has no effect on the acceptableness of homosexuality. Two wrongs don't make a right. Not to mention, she's dead wrong about the whole killing issue. If you take it in context, along with every other verse in the Bible related to murder - you will see that, in certain circumstances, God made it very clear that taking another life is acceptable. I mean, come on, God commanded his people to go defeat armies all of the time! But if you combine every verse in the Bible that references homosexuality (granted, there aren't many), you will find across-the-board that it is considered an abomination. It is pretty clear-cut. Just as I can't pull out one verse out-of-context and use it to my advantage, this lady can't either. You have to take the whole book as one, and if you do that, then you see the futility of arguing in favor of homosexuality.

  Regardless of all of that crap with the pastor, it was a very enlightening episode. He met lots of good people; particularly his roommate, who was a very level-headed and compassionate fellow. There is one more episode in the season, and I recommend you check it out. Wednesday, 10PM, FX Network.

  Before I go any further - in my above rant I was very aggressive against the idea of homosexuality, and I do believe the Bible is very clear on it. However, one thing I saw a lot of in the episode was hate. Deep-seated, tangible hate from "Christians" toward homosexuals. There is absolutely no excuse for this. I might believe it is a sin, but I also know that I sin every single day. I do not condemn it any more than I condemn myself for being unworthy of God's love and Jesus' sacrifice. I hold no hate in my heart for anyone, and I think many people confuse condemnation of sin with hatred of the violators, and with good reason: many people out there are spouting both hatred and condemnation. But I wanted to make it clear that I'm not one of those people. Nevertheless, I bring up the whole issue because it is very dangerous that many people don't even consider homosexuality a sin. This is the issue that must be confronted, but it must be done with love and compassion. That is, after all, how Christ handles all of us as sinners.

  So... any comments?



• Tour de France - Two weeks down, one to go. Is anyone surprised that Lance Armstrong is in the lead? The guy is is amazing. Actually, that doesn't quite cover it. I think it goes without saying that he is the greatest cyclist of all time. But on to more interesting questions. Is he the greatest athlete of our time? I would say yes. I think there are very few people who could make a claim to the throne; it requires unparalleled skill and unprecedented achievement. I think the only other people who could make the claim are Michael Jordan and Steffi Graf, with Tiger Woods making a move in that direction if he keeps it up. But I give Lance the edge. He has dominated his sport so completely and masterfully that it almost seems effortless. That is the key of a great athlete; he/she makes the sport look easy, and utterly distances themself from their competitors. Plus, he did it later in life, at an age when most athletes would consider themselves well past their prime. Oh, and did I mention he did all of this after conquering testicular cancer? Are you kidding me?

  But I'm going to go further: I think he might just be the best athlete of all time. Who's got more of a right to that position? Babe Ruth? Muhammad Ali? Perhaps only Jim Thorpe has a right to complain. But I'm sticking with my claim. His achievements are so staggering, so unexpected when they began, and came in a sport so physically demanding, that I defy anyone to find a sporting achievement that is more significant or awe-inspiring. He's well on his way to his 7th straight win and the sweet rest of retirement. And when he gets there, his place in history will be secure, and he will have set a great example for all who follow, regardless of the sport.

Wow. This post got way too long way too fast. I sure have a bad habit of doing that. And here I am looking at the list of things I wanted to comment on, and there's four or five more. Sounds like I need to do a mid-week post. I know everyone is jumping out of their seats in anticipation. Hey - you can't say I don't aim to please...