Can't wait to see...

Yeah, had to mention this. Less than a month to the transformer movie. If you haven't seen the full trailer, check it out on the website transformersmovie.com.

Freaking awesome.

My Awesome Son...

Okay, I don't want to make everyone sick of me bragging about my son - so that's why I haven't really written much about him. I know he's awesome, but I also know other people sometimes get sick of hearing the awesome stuff he's been doing lately. But I had to share this. So we go in for his checkup this week.

His head size, can't remember the actual number, but it's about average for his weight. His weight...well, it's up to almost 13 and a half pounds, which is about in the 75th percentile. So he's eating healthy, right? But wait, there's more! Yeah, his height. He clocked in at almost 26 and a half inches - for a ten week old?! They recorded that as >97%. What does that mean? Well, my wife found a little chart on the internet which has this pretty little rainbow to display the growth curve. The lowest color being the shorter, slower growing babies, the middle the average growing babies, and the highest color the fastest growing babies. Well, he started in the middle - just average. But then, instead of following the little "rainbow path" like everyone else, he just took off running for the sky - literally. He busted out of the rainbow like a five year old after chocolate.

That's my boy!

Lady in the Water movie...

Well, my wife and I haven't been able to get out to the movies much since the baby came. Okay - not at all. And we really hadn't gone much in the months preceeding it because, as most fathers know, when a woman is in the later stages of pregnancy, the baby pushes against her bladder, making it smaller... need I say more?

Anyways, we were given "Lady in the Water" as a birthday gift (for me!) and we actually got to sit down and watch it (we were only interrupted about 8 times by lil Keaton - I think it only took us 3 hours to watch a 1.5 hour movie... ;-).

But, despite all that, I greatly enjoyed the movie. I think I just enjoy M. Night Shamalayan's perspective and how he writes and stuff. It was a different movie - not quite the same as the Village (which we both loved). But I enjoyed it and highly recommend it! (probably not for elementary aged children...)

Stephen Lawhead's latest...

As some of you know, Stephen R. Lawhead is my favorite author (right behind him are C.S. Lewis, Ted Dekker, Isaac Asimov...and then a few more I won't bore you with). Well, his latest trilogy is covering the Robin Hood myth. The first book, Hood, I got as soon as possible and literally consumed it within two nights (we're talking probably less than five hours total reading time - I was flying!). You can check out my thoughts on it here. But I recently found out the next book in the trilogy is coming out soon. It's called Scarlet and you can check out Lawhead's page on it here or on Amazon.com. Man I can't wait for this!

Been updating muh website...

Well, I've had a chance this week to do a little updating on my website. On my home page you now can see some articles I've come across in my Google Reader browsing. You can also see what I've been blogging about lately from all three of my blogs. These regularly updating lists are also available as RSS feeds or as live pages on the web (here for my blogs and here for the web articles). You can actually get the feeds from these pages in an RSS reader so you can see what I've been up to lately...

On my website, though, I've also added two new book reviews: The Cross of Christ, by John Stott, and Paradise War by Stephen R. Lawhead. I've also changed my links page, dividing it into two categories, Friend Links and Linux Links. The latter of which is mainly composed of good articles and "how-to's" I'm finding as I try to do stuff in Linux. The former, the Friend Links, are basicly links to friend's blogs and websites. If you'd like for your website or blog to be featured there, please let me know - I'd love to add you!

This summer I'm probably going to be posting at least one book review a week, if not more. And I may be updating other parts of the website in different ways as well. Feel free to browse away and please let me know if you catch a link that doesn't work or if you have any problems on the website.

New Will Smith Movie

yeah, just ran across this on quicktime trailers... Looks awesome!

Have I mentioned how I love almost every movie that Will Smith is in? I haven't seen 'em all - but man does he know how to pick 'em...

fun letter

I came across this through a random article in my Google Reader...But it's one I want to share with everyone. You can check it out here.

I've Gone Linux!

Yep, it's true. On Memorial Day (Monday) I installed Ubuntu (a completely free Linux OS) as my primary operating system on my desktop. The primary reason I've switched is that I'm pretty much fed up with Microsoft (though they just came out with a pretty awesome new technology - see articles on right...) and their system requirements. With a minimum of 2 GB of RAM required to run Vista, that makes for a pretty expensive base system - all for a system who's biggest selling point seems to be some really simple eye candy.

Now, when I found out that there were some programs for Linux which could do the same and even better, I perked up. I ended up using Beryl to really make my desktop shine. If you want to see some of it's capabilities, check out this video from youtube which compares what Vista can do and what Beryl can do:

Beryl Vs. Windows



Pretty stinkin' sweet, eh? Yeah, and the best part is, I can run this on my present desktop (512 mb of RAM) without upgrading (Okay, so I splurged on a nice video card a few years ago - but I've read of people running this on pretty old and 'weak' video cards). The best part is - it's all free!

I started a separate blog to chronicle my adventures as I stride forth (ever confidently, because I am Zach) into the Linux realm. Check it out if you're interested for more details on what I've been up to.

Done with the Semester!

Yep, that's right - I finished my spring semester this past week. I was up until midnight on Wednesday studying and taking exams, and then on Thursday I wrote 22 pages worth of stuff (a research paper and two book reports) in less than 12 hours. I finished around 2am...I think that last book report is slightly delirious...

I've got a few projects for the summer I'm going to detail soon, but for now let me give a shout out to my sister and brother-inlaw who just had their first child.

Cheese, you have conquered me...

Well, I'm feeling a little under the weather at the moment. And the culprit is cheese. How you ask? Well, I was doing fine and life was great until last night - and the cheese. Let me share my tragic story with you...

So I was minding my own business, pulling some frozen hamburger patties out of my freezer to fix for my wife and I. As a side note, our freezer is rather stuffed, and opening it can be a hazard unto itself - but I take precautions and try to be on my toes, so to speak, just in case anything gets a little "crazy". Well, I'm pulling the patties out when things start to shift. I move fast, catching the frozen chicken and side stepping the ice cream as it nails the floor. But a 1 lb block of frozen cheddar cheese slipped through my defenses and landed corner first on my big toe.

I'm sure if my wife had been videotaping, the little jig I did dancing away from the refrigerator would have viraled out of control on YouTube. But, thankfully for my dignity, she was occupied trying to comfort our newborn son who had decided his world was shattering moments before these tragic events unfolded. I like to think my son had a prophetic vision of what was soon to befall his father and was only sharing in my anguish.

So after my vision clears and I can slightly limp around, I proceed to fix dinner and try and get on with my evening. But when I went to bed, the pain wouldn't fade. In fact, it steadily throbbed, feeling like someone was shoving a steak knife under my toenail and just going to town there. After writhing in bed for about twenty minutes, I decided my wife would probably have a better nights sleep without my convulsions, so I went downstairs and tried to distract myself with late night talk shows.

I finally realized action would need to be taken on my part when I caught myself fantasizing about what size of drill bit to use on my toenail to drain the blood underneath said toenail which was providing all the pressure on my toe resulting in the pain which was causing me to fantasize about swiss cheesing my toe with my cordless drill. It was then I realized I needed help.

After figuring out when an urgent care facility was open, I finally dragged myself out of the house and down the road to get my toe checked out. The good news was it wasn't broken, the bad news was that didn't make it hurt less. So the Doctor did this very interesting thing where he basically used a very small, thin heated thingy (reminded me of a miniature soldering iron, without the solder) to put a small hole in my toenail to drain the blood. Yay. That didn't hurt a bit, but after doing that the doctor grabs starts dabbing up the blood with some medical gauze or clothe, and then starts MASSAGING my toe to get the blood out. Okay, that was not cool on any scale I know of. He finally let me torment myself, which I proceeded to do in a more gentle manner.

So things are going great, and the blood flow finally dribbles down to a minutiae amount and he puts a band aide on my toe. I get up to leave and make my way to the little check out counter. As the nurse is pulling up my info and figuring out what I owe I start to feel a slight drop in blood pressure, and realized I was getting light-headed. I was in the process of swallowing my pride and saying I didn't feel so good and should probably sit down when I realized that my eyes were closed and I was hearing voices from a distance asking if I was okay. I had fainted.

That is the weirdest feeling. To be vertical one moment and then realize your eyes had closed and when you open them realize that the floor is behind you, not under you.

So they checked me out and made sure I was okay. I apparently don't do to well with a loss of blood when I'm working off three hours sleep and a virtually empty stomach. I had to call my wife so she could come and get me. And here I sit, a man broken by a block of cheddar cheese, telling the world about it because I'm slightly loopy and think this is something everyone wants to hear about.

They probably don't. You probably don't. But I don't really care, for I am a man who has been broken by a 1 lb block of cheese. Oh how the mighty have fallen...

fun directions

Alright, got an email from someone with these simple directions:

1) go to Google Maps
2) click on "get directions"
3) in "from" section type "New York"
4) in "to" section type "London"
5) check out direction number 23!

yeah, I really want to know who at google got the crazy idea to put that in there.

I'm a Dad!!!

Yep, it's official. Zachary Keaton Jones arrived yesteray morning (that's right, Easter Sunday!) at 9:05 am, clocking in at 8 lbs and 9 ozs, at 20.5 inches from head to toe! A little scary at the last minute because of an emergency ceasarean, but everybody is fine and dandy now. And I'm lovin' being a dad!

Best bet or not?

I really enjoy when people give me feedback on any of my blogs, especially when they disagree. I always a love a good conversation where opposing views can get expressed. I did get a good response from my last post. I guess one of the things I want to avoid in approaching my "religion" or my pursuit of Christ is this post-modern mindset of "spirituality", which seems to transmute any belief system into some sort of journey wherein you are transformed into a better man. I think the danger is wherein my relationship with Christ suddenly becomes about me being a better man. The reality is that should be a result of my relationship and belief in Christ, not a purpose or goal. And I do think that most people would agree with me, but the emphasis in their mind still is skewed.

Christ came to reconcile man to himself, not to make man better. There is a heretical view being propogated of late that emphasizes Christ's example. The danger is it makes light of the cross and the resurrection. This view says that Christ came to show us a new way to live, and it is his example we must follow. We must believe in what he believed in.

But Paul saw things differently. He wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:17-19 that if Christ was not raised from the dead, then our faith is useless, and we are still in our sins. Paul concludes by saying that if we can only hope in Christ in this life, then we are the most miserable people in the world.

So if you like to think of Christianity as your "best bet" for this life, we may have to agree to disagree. For I fear that puts us too much in the drivers seat: let us evaluate all belief systems and what they offer, let us make what we seems to be the best choice. What if it doesn't deliver up to our expectations. What if we wake up one morning and realized the depravity of our sins, and that there is nothing we can do to change who we are?

I see Christ as the answer to that last question. For I am depraved, and my sins are many and deep. I have been estranged from God. But there is Christ, and in him alone do I trust. For it was he who died to reconcile me to God, not that I might live better, but that I might draw near to God and worship as I should (see the entire book of Hebrews).

My only Hope

Just read an interesting article wherein Rick Warren (celebrated christian pastor and author) was brought together with Sam Harris. The latter of which is apparently a very intelligent atheist who has recently written a book attacking religion, and I think specifically Christianity. Overall, I thought the conversation was very interesting. Lately I have found that I am slightly wary of Warren's ecclesiology, primarily because of the way he has structured his church. In what I have been studying of late, it appears to me that he has strayed from the biblical example of what a church should be, delving slightly into a post-modern mindset and organization. Thusly I was curious what he would say to defend the faith.

Overall, I think Warren did a pretty good job of "defending the faith" against Harris' attack. I think what most christian's understand (or should understand) and non-believers can't quite grasp is that there is an innate element of foolishness to Christianity. Paul harps on this theme throughout his writings (1 Corinthians 1:18 and the following paragraphs). If you want to have a "logical, rational discussion" about Christianity with a non-believer, there is this bottom line problem, that at some point you will hit that line of foolishness that the nonbeliever cannot cross without the help of the Holy Spirit.

What scares me about Warren's defence is that he summed it up by stating, "We're both betting." One of the pastors I'm interning under made an interesting statement this past week, that if all Christianity is is a bet, then that is a sad state of things. That following Christ, if Christ be a liar and the bible false, would be a great waste of a life. I think I understand that logic. For if this is all I have, this life and nothing more, then I do see that all is meaningless, and therefore the thing I must do is get the most I can for myself out of it. It's survival of the fittest and in that every man for himself - altruism has no rational foundation outside of God and eternity, and there I think Harris is a complete fool. He wants to believe in eternal purposes, but not an eternal God.

I am betting the ranch on Christ. All I have. If I am wrong, if there is no God and the bible false, then I have lost everything. My hope is Christ alone, and in him do I glory and trust.

Lesbian wanting to undo a gay adoption?!

interesting article about a lesbian who had a child with her "partner" through artificial insemination...and she's now claiming the courts shouldn't have let her partner adopt her child (something she originally pushed the court to do).

Is the outrage she has raised among that homosexual community at all concerned with the child in this situation, or are they only irate over the fact that she seems to be pushing for something which could "set gay rights back a century"?

What seems even more interesting here is the morality of the situation. Are the people dictating to the court what should be allowed (and thusly moral), or is the court dictating to the people what is right (and thusly moral). Or are there just laws with morality floating out there somewhere in the air, sometimes being reflected in law, sometimes not?

Finally, how can those who have no moral authority outside themselves expect others to accept and adhere to the morality they prescribe when that individual, on the same grounds as the first, has established his or her own morality which conflicts with that of the first?

If everyone can determine his or her own morality, is there any absoluteness at all about morality? If there can be no absoluteness about morality, why do we even worry about the facade of maintaining it?

cool little program...

Found this new program on PCWorld.com. It's called "Launchy". You can find it on launchy.net. Basically, it's a rip off the Windows Vista function which allows you to hit the 'windows' key and type in a program name and the OS searches for the program it thinks you will want to open. "Launchy" works the same way, but in XP, and with a different key combination to open it. Pretty snazzy. I think it's a pretty cool way to open programs, because, I don't know about ya'll, but I hate opening the start menu and having to go through all those different folders and programs to find the one I want.

Not sure if you'll enjoy this, but it's worth checking out. Completely free. Let me konw what you think about it. I'm going to put it in the "free stuff" section of my website within the next few days.

A little crunch in the Chicken Helper...

Alrighty, interesting story, if you care... I was making some Hamburger Helper last night. First thing I changed was the meat, because my wife didn't feel like beef, so we substituted chicken. All we had were chicken tenders, and I wasn't sure how many would have made up a pound - so I guessed. I think I was a little short of a pound in that arena. I was making the cheesey enchilada meal - which is very good, I might add. It doesn't use noodles, but rather an interesting form of rice.

To make a long story short, after following all the directions and letting it simmer for awhile, it still had a "soupy" consistency. I figured that probably due to switching to chicken and me maybe not using enough meat, I needed less water to make the meal. Oh well, couldn't go back, so I had to figure out something to contribute to help soak of this excess liquid. Ah, I though, I know. I'll just add some rice (since noodles seemed to be contradictory with the rice). So I grabbed some rice off the shelf - it looked the same as the rice that had come with the original hamburger helper meal.

So the rice did the trick nicely and helped soak up the excess liquid. When I told my wife what I had done, I'll admit, I was a little proud of my clever solution to the problem. She, on the other hand, was quite dubious, stopping short of laughing out loud (which was very tactful of her, I might add).

Finally we pray and eat, she allowing me to be the guinea pig for my creation. Not so bad, I say, just a wee bit 'o crunch to the meal.

Yeah, that's right, "crunch" and hamburger helper aren't really supposed to go hand in hand. I don't think I've ever chewed a Helper meal so much. I think we spent the first 5 minutes of our meal laughing between bites because it was just so, well, weird.

So, all you Helper manics out there, note that the rice which comes in the Helper meal is not the same as that which resides on the shelves in your kitchen. Though, if you want a meal with a little different "feal", you might want to try adding it in...

Beatbox Mario!

Okay folks, this just rocks and I had to share it!

Beatboxing Mario Bros Theme

Leadership thoughts

I don't know how many of you watched the UNC vs. NC State game the other night (I think it was Wednesday night), but I found the difference between the first half of the game and the second half of the game amazing. NC State, which was pretty much overall regarded as the underdog and least likely to win, was staying head to head with UNC, but during the half-time the NC State coach collapsed and was taken to the hospital (no sweat, he's fine now). The assistant coach had to finish coaching the game. The craziest part was that State then proceeded to lose by around 20 points. What was the difference? I'd say leadership. Of course there are a million variables, including an amazing coach for UNC, who might have just figured out how to take out NC State.

But the most significant difference I saw was leadership and motivation. First point I want to make is that if the NC State team had no head coach their performance would have remained steady, because there would not have been a massive shift in leadership to upset the team's equilibrium. But the downside of that is that the team would not have been able to perform to the maximum of their potential without a coach. So a simple understanding would be that with leadership they were able to far exceed their capabilities without it, but when the leadership was removed, their performance dropped below where it would have been had they been playing without a leader/coach all along.

Secondly, motivation. A good leader can motivate his team. I'm not saying anything bad about the assistant coach. The poor guy had to step in on one of the toughest, fired up games of the year and try to inspire a team who had just seen their coach collapse. But the real teller was the way the team played the second half, like a ship with no sails. They lost all control of the game, they were only responding. A good leader motivates, an incredible leader empowers his people so that at some point they don't need him anymore - they can go and do without him because he has given them what they need and they no longer depend on him. College athletes aren't necessarily expected to quite operate at this level, but the evidences of great leadership at the college level emerge further down the path of a college athlete's life.

I know the lack of a head coach is not the sole reason NC State lost the game, but I think it was a major contributing factor. Something to be noted for it's effects.

Different way to say it...

"I'm not complaining, I'm just expressing my negative opinion!"