This year candidates from both parties are talking about the importance of their Christian faith. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee states that “My faith is my life,” while U.S. Senator Barrack Obama has said he would be a president “guided by his Christian faith.” While both men are committed Christians and are comfortable talking about their faith, that faith has led them to very different political positions. The same can be said for any number of other presidential candidates as well. This raises the question of what a Christian candidate would look like and why this would matter.
One approach would be to enter all of the Bible’s commands and the corresponding views of the candidate into a big spreadsheet and try to add up a Christian quotient. However, that can get messy at the micro level. After all, would you really want to define whether a candidate is a Christian based upon how closely he follows 1 Samuel 15:3b? (“Do not spare him, but kill men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camel and asses.”). As shown by this verse, context does matter.
Instead, it is more useful to look for larger principles from the Christian faith which could be applied to the candidate. In looking for those principles, I think it is important to look for a combination of factors which encompass how the candidate lives his life and how the candidate relates to the world at large. The record of how a candidate has lived his or her life is something tangible which can be measured and weighed. The positions articulated by a candidate may not give an accurate picture of the candidate’s inner beliefs, since people can lie. However, political positions inconsistent with Christian beliefs should be a red flag. Additionally, I think it is important to look for principles which have support in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Christianity builds on the moral tradition established by the Jewish faith. Principles which are present in both traditions are more likely to be of primary importance.
At this point, an important caveat is in order. I have neither the training nor the insight to speak for the Christian faith. I am neither a theologian nor a church leader. As a result, this is my attempt to muddle through but I don’t claim to have all the answers. I would welcome additional or different thoughts from anyone who happens to come across this article.
With that prologue, here are four principles that I think are important:
1. Community;
2. Humility;
3. Compassion; and
4. Morality.
1. Community
Jesus said that where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there also. Matthew 18:20. The Jewish tradition is very much one of community rather than individual faith. It is reasonable to expect that a person who claims to be a Christian would belong to and be active in a church. Within my lifetime, we have had a Republican president who talked a good Christian line but didn’t attend church due to security concerns, as well as a Democratic candidate who stopped attending church because of a dispute over a bike path. On a very simplistic level, this is an opportunity to see whether the actions match the words. However, on a deeper level, the process of interacting with and working together with other Christians is likely to produce a deeper, more leavened faith than would be found in someone whose most profound spiritual experience occurs on the golf course or at Our Lady of the Mattress.
2. Humility
One of the best formulations of the Judeo-Christian heritage is found in Micah 6:8: “And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God?” Jesus spoke out many times about religious people who tried to exalt themselves, including his own disciples. See Mark 9:33-35 (disciples arguing about who would be the greatest); Luke 18:9-14 (prayer of the Pharisee and the tax collector). The major stories of the Christian faith, Christmas and Easter, concern God humbling himself to become human and then dying on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. Certainly then, a Christian leader would want to imitate God and dedicate his life to being a humble servant to others and would do so with a full knowledge of his or her sinfulness and frailty. This is not the image of Christian politicians which is portrayed in the secular media. There is an inherent tension between promoting yourself as the best qualified candidate and acting as a humble servant. A candidate who took humility to the extreme would never get on the ballot in the first place. Perhaps the best that we can hope for is a candidate who can laugh at himself and who is not afraid to admit his own failings. More importantly, a candidate with a servant mentality will behave differently and will take different positions than one with a sense of entitlement or spiritual superiority.
3. Compassion
It is easy to know what is most important in Christianity because Jesus said so very directly. When asked what the greatest commandment of all was, he replied: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40. It is difficult to translate love of God into the political realm. However, love of neighbor is much more concrete. A person cannot claim to be a Christian unless he cares deeply about the welfare of his fellow man. As the author of 1 John writes, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him; that he who loves God must love his brother also.” 1 John 4:20-21.
At first blush, the requirement to show compassion may seem problematic for conservatives. Liberals show their compassion through government programs to help the underprivileged. Conservatives frequently oppose these programs on the basis that they are inefficient or promote dependency. However, Christians may disagree on the best method to show compassion so long as they are working toward the same result. One Christian may believe that government programs are the solution, while another believes that incentives to the private sector or public/private partnerships are the way to go. At a minimum, a Christian who aspires to public office should have thought about how to ensure that others are fed, clothed, housed and given access to health care and should have a plan for how to accomplish these goals. If conservatives believe that government is not the best means to the end, they need to be able to articulate an alternative rather than just hoping that things will work out for the best.
4. Morality
Morality is a hard factor to apply. It seems important because the Bible has many moral and ethical commandments. At the same time, the Bible is frequently the story of men who fail to honor those commandments. David violated multiple commandments when he coveted Bathsheeba and caused her husband to be killed in battle; Abraham lied about whether Sarah was his wife; Aaron sacrificed to idols; Moses disobeyed God; Noah got drunk; and Peter denied Jesus. Despite these moral failings, God used all of these men to accomplish His purposes. The Christian tradition relies heavily upon repentance and forgiveness of sins. In the absence of these doctrines, the Christian church would be a very small group.
The moral behavior of a particular candidate may or may not be a good indicator of whether they are a good Christian or a good candidate. For example, we know that Sen . Barrack Obama used illegal drugs in his youth. Of course, we know this because he disclosed it in his autobiography and expressed regret. If anything, this episode shows the moral values of honesty and repentance. On the other hand, a Christian who violates his marriage vows or cheats in business transactions without demonstrating remorse or changing his ways might not be someone who should be entrusted with high office.
Does Any of This Matter?
Now for the really big questions: Why do we care whether a candidate who claims to be Christian acts like one? Do Christians have an obligation to support their “team” when it comes to politics? Should religion even matter in a country which is constitutionally prohibited from establishing a national church?
The answer is both yes and no. A secularist who is honest, competent and moral would be preferable to an inept or insincere Christian. Governing requires ability as well as ideals, so that a candidate’s belief system should not overcome his or her lack of ability. Additionally, the moral principles found in Christianity are found to greater or lesser extents in other religions and in the secular world as well, so that Christianity does not have a monopoly on morality.
Here’s why it does matter. The Christian faith is not just a matter of a person’s private religious opinions. Rather, it is the basis for a comprehensive way of seeing the world, a philosophy of how we relate to ultimate reality. Knowing how a candidate’s view of the world compares to the voter’s is important information. If a candidate’s core beliefs and values are inconsistent with yours, this should give you pause. Additionally, when a candidate claims to be Christian, he or she is agreeing to be held accountable to those beliefs. Inconsistency and weakness are part of the human condition, so that it is not realistic to expect anyone to be a perfect Christian (any more I could claim to act consistently with my beliefs all or even most of the time). However, at some point, if the actions do not match the words, it is a clear sign that either the candidate will say anything to get elected or that their thinking is so muddy that they don’t really know what they believe. Either way it is a cause for concern.
Thus, I think that whether a candidate speaks and acts like a Christian is relevant in three regards:
1. If a person claims to be a Christian but does not act like a Christian, that candidate should be rejected as a sham and a fraud.
2. If a person takes positions or acts in a manner which is inconsistent with fundamental Christian beliefs, that candidate should be rejected as well.
3. If a person claims to be a Christian and acts like a Christian and has shown ability, that person should be preferred to someone who takes positions contrary to or acts inconsistently with Christian beliefs or who lacks ability.
To put it another way, a false claim of Christianity should be an automatic disqualifier, while a true claim of Christianity should be one factor to be considered among others. The difficulty with the criteria that I have outlined in this essay is that they are much better at eliminating candidates than selecting them. No candidate is likely to perfectly demonstrate Christian values, even one who is a former minister. As a result, Christians, like other voters, are left to choose from shades of gray and hope that it works out for the country. However, they should never stop asking questions about how their faith relates to life.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Race Day!!!!
The 3M Half Marathon was today. In addition to getting a packet filled with post-it notes and other 3M products, I finished with a time which was nearly a minute per mile faster than last year. This only earned me 3,620th place (out of 4,451) but it sure felt good to me. Here is a recap of race weekend.
Friday Night:
I loaded my iPod for the race. Under race rules, headphones are not allowed, but I can't imagine running for that long without music to keep me going. I chose a selection which was heavy on live albums since they are faster paced. Some of the music I chose included The Who, the Altar Boys, Undercover, Fantom 2, Evanescence, Bowling for Soup, Jimmy Eat World and Lost & Found. I chose about five hours of music. This is way longer than the race will be, but with the shuffle feature on the iPod, it means that I will have a wide variety of music to listen to.
Saturday:
Stephanie and I signed up to referee for a soccer tournament today. I was a little reluctant to do this because refereeing can be pretty draining. Although I only did three games myself, I was out at the field for most of the day. My feet hurt, which is not a good thing. I came home from refereeing and took a short nap. After that, Val, Stephanie and I packed our bags and we headed up north. I have decided to spend the night at the Embassy Suites hotel, which is right by the starting line so that I won't have to get up at an impossibly early hour tomorrow morning. We eat dinner at Carrabba's Italian restaurant and I have a big plate of spaghetti and drink a lot of water. I have been drinking water all day although I fear that I used up a lot of my hydration on the soccer field. I don't know if eating spaghetti will really help me. However, I try to avoid carbs most of the time, so this is a good excuse. I find myself nodding off during dinner, which is not a good sign.
Sunday:
6:15 a.m.
The alarm wakes me from a sound sleep. I drag out of bed and realize that the race starts in just 45 minutes. I get ready pretty quickly, but it is still just about five minutes till race time when I walk out the front door. The Bar & Grill singers are singing the national anthem as I approach the starting line. The sky is just starting to lighten up and the weather is perfect. It is cool, but not really cold like last year. I find a spot to loosen up and do a little stretching. I work my way to the back of the pack to find a comfortable place to start where I won't get run over.
7:15 a.m.
I cross the starting line. It takes a while for everyone to work through the starting gate. They say that there are about 5,000 people registered for this race. That is a lot of people who want to run 13.1 miles on a Sunday morning. At the back of the crowd where I am, there are a lot of people like me who don't have the classic runner's physique.
7:26 a.m. (Mile 1)
We run north on Stonelake Blvd. I cross mile 1 at 11:15. This is a bit faster than the 12:00 minute pace I have set for myself. I feel a small sense of accomplishment for being part way there.
7:49 a.m. (Mile 3)
We have run under Hwy. 183 and turned south, gone by the Arboretum and are now running down through a residential section of Mesa Blvd. I made a point to slow down for the first water stop at mile 2. Although I don't don't need it yet, I know that I will need it later. I plan to stop at each water stop. I have also brought a pocketful of energy goo which I will use every 3 miles to keep me going. At mile 3, there is a sign reading "Almost there, just ten miles to go." Someone has a twisted sense of humor. So far I have run the same distance as my usual morning jog, so it is not too bad. It has taken me 34 minutes to get this far, which is about 2 minutes under my pace. I know that I should try to pace myself for the long run, but I am still glad to have built up a little cushion. There are a lot of spectators along this leg. A little boy holds out his hand to give a high five to the passing runners.
8:13 a.m. (Mile 5)
From Mesa, we turned east on Spicewood Springs Road. There were jugglers there. We pass mile 4. I try to figure out how many times 4 goes into 13. I think I have covered about 28% of the race, but can't be sure of my math. We follow Spicewood as it crosses over Mopac. The rest of the race will be on the east side of Mopac from here on out. As we approach MoPac, there is a bagpiper playing for us. I hear him before I can see him and it takes a moment to realize that the sound is not coming from my iPod. It is a bit of an effort to cross the overpass over MoPac. I am starting to feel a little tired. However, after covering five miles in 57 minutes, I am now 3 minutes ahead of my intended pace.
8:25 a.m. (Mile 6)
It took me 12:30 to cover this mile. This is the first mile I have done below pace. I was intentionally taking it easy to avoid burning out. I am feeling more tired and I have a long way to go. If I start losing time this early, the rest of the race doesn't bode very well. The water stop at mile 6 is sponsored by Texas Gas. They have a mascot dressed up like a gas meter to greet us.
8:38 a.m. (Mile 7)
Another slow mile at 12:30. However, I feel a sense of accomplishment for being over half way there. We run behind Northcross Mall. The relay exchange point (for those doing a relay) was at 6.4 miles. We are now going down a very long stretch on Burnet Road. I am starting to get a second wind now.
???? (Mile 8 1/2)
I am now at the point in the race which strikes fear into my heart. We turn onto North Loop. There is a long series of hills here. Last year this, this stretch did me in. I had to walk on the hills and never really got my momentum back. At the end of long long uphill is one of my wife's favorite places in Austin, Room Service Vintage. We bought our dinette set there, as well as a 1950s party dress for Stephanie to wear in an elementary school musical. The hills are insidious. At first, there is a slightly steep but short hill, but after cresting it, there is another and another. I am still moving moving okay when I crest the third hill and reach mile 9. After some easy going, there is another long, gentle hill leading up to Room Service Vintage. I think to myself, "This is just like shooting womprats in Beggar's Canyon, Use the force Luke." Actually I really think that this is like the hills that I trained on on Escarpment and William Cannon. However, the line from Star Wars is funnier. I am beginning to feel a little bit goofy.
???? (Mile 10)
As we round the corner onto Duval, I am still going strong. There is just 3.1 miles left. That is the same distance that I do in my sleep before work most mornings. Not only that, but I can see the monolithic buildings of UT in the distance. I know from last year that when I reach UT, there will just be one mile left. After several miles below pace, I am still 1:30 ahead of a 12:00 minute mile. It is all down hill from here.
???? (Mile 11)
I feel great. I am having an enjoyable time running past the quaint, over-priced houses north of campus. After running for 11 miles, I am picking up a little speed which is a really great sign. Last year at this point, I felt like a character in Stephen King's short story "The Long Walk" (if you haven't read it, it involves a contest where you have to maintain a pace of 4 mph or be shot). Looking at the numbered streets, I can count down the blocks to the finish line (about 20 or 30, I think). Somewhere along this mile, I listen to my second hymn from Lost & Found. Their album, Speedwood Hymns, features traditional Lutheran hymns played really fast. It is the perfect accompaniment for a Sunday morning endurance run.
???? (Mile 12)
I pass the Posse East, site of many One Bad Pig (a band I briefly represented) shows, as I cross onto the UT campus and pass mile 12. There is a guy in liederhosen playing the accordion, which I can't hear because my iPod is turned up all the way. There is just one mile left. I am feeling really tired, but I also feel like I can push myself some more. I see someone named Cesar in a soccer jersey who I haven't seen since just before mile 3. As a I pass by the UT stadium, I am pushing myself to keep going, but am starting to really feel the distance. I am counting down the blocks. At 23rd street, I figure that I am just 10 blocks from the end. It is a weird combination of adrenaline and exhaustion. I am now running with a group of people I have seen before. There is Cesar in the soccer jersey, a husband and wife running together and a solidly-built woman in a green shirt. As we move through the UT campus, we trade places several times. We leave UT crossing over MLK. The end can't be much further, but I am finding that I don't have the legs for a sprint. The others in our little pack move ahead of me. We come over a hill and suddenly the finish line is in sight. It is at Trinity and 14th, about a block earlier than I though it would be. I pull my earphones out so that I can take a better picture at the finish line. Realizing that the end is closer than I expected gives me a little adrenaline to pick up the pace. I try to catch the woman in the green shirt, but she has picked up the same excitement that I have. I am now breathing hard for the first time all day as I try to push myself for the last tenth of a mile.
9:49 a.m.
I cross the finish line and stop my watch. I have finished in 2 hours 34 minutes 15 seconds. I have blown away last year's time by 8 minutes and have finished below my goal of 12 minutes per mile. Val and Stephanie are waiting for me at the finish as I receive my medal. (Everyone who finishes this race gets a medal, which is a nice touch. Of course, the really fast people get money as well). I stumble around the finish line as I look for the food line. I pick up a couple of breakfast tacos (which I feel that I deserve) and then we walk back to the car which is parked a few blocks away at my church. This year's race is over.
Friday Night:
I loaded my iPod for the race. Under race rules, headphones are not allowed, but I can't imagine running for that long without music to keep me going. I chose a selection which was heavy on live albums since they are faster paced. Some of the music I chose included The Who, the Altar Boys, Undercover, Fantom 2, Evanescence, Bowling for Soup, Jimmy Eat World and Lost & Found. I chose about five hours of music. This is way longer than the race will be, but with the shuffle feature on the iPod, it means that I will have a wide variety of music to listen to.
Saturday:
Stephanie and I signed up to referee for a soccer tournament today. I was a little reluctant to do this because refereeing can be pretty draining. Although I only did three games myself, I was out at the field for most of the day. My feet hurt, which is not a good thing. I came home from refereeing and took a short nap. After that, Val, Stephanie and I packed our bags and we headed up north. I have decided to spend the night at the Embassy Suites hotel, which is right by the starting line so that I won't have to get up at an impossibly early hour tomorrow morning. We eat dinner at Carrabba's Italian restaurant and I have a big plate of spaghetti and drink a lot of water. I have been drinking water all day although I fear that I used up a lot of my hydration on the soccer field. I don't know if eating spaghetti will really help me. However, I try to avoid carbs most of the time, so this is a good excuse. I find myself nodding off during dinner, which is not a good sign.
Sunday:
6:15 a.m.
The alarm wakes me from a sound sleep. I drag out of bed and realize that the race starts in just 45 minutes. I get ready pretty quickly, but it is still just about five minutes till race time when I walk out the front door. The Bar & Grill singers are singing the national anthem as I approach the starting line. The sky is just starting to lighten up and the weather is perfect. It is cool, but not really cold like last year. I find a spot to loosen up and do a little stretching. I work my way to the back of the pack to find a comfortable place to start where I won't get run over.
7:15 a.m.
I cross the starting line. It takes a while for everyone to work through the starting gate. They say that there are about 5,000 people registered for this race. That is a lot of people who want to run 13.1 miles on a Sunday morning. At the back of the crowd where I am, there are a lot of people like me who don't have the classic runner's physique.
7:26 a.m. (Mile 1)
We run north on Stonelake Blvd. I cross mile 1 at 11:15. This is a bit faster than the 12:00 minute pace I have set for myself. I feel a small sense of accomplishment for being part way there.
7:49 a.m. (Mile 3)
We have run under Hwy. 183 and turned south, gone by the Arboretum and are now running down through a residential section of Mesa Blvd. I made a point to slow down for the first water stop at mile 2. Although I don't don't need it yet, I know that I will need it later. I plan to stop at each water stop. I have also brought a pocketful of energy goo which I will use every 3 miles to keep me going. At mile 3, there is a sign reading "Almost there, just ten miles to go." Someone has a twisted sense of humor. So far I have run the same distance as my usual morning jog, so it is not too bad. It has taken me 34 minutes to get this far, which is about 2 minutes under my pace. I know that I should try to pace myself for the long run, but I am still glad to have built up a little cushion. There are a lot of spectators along this leg. A little boy holds out his hand to give a high five to the passing runners.
8:13 a.m. (Mile 5)
From Mesa, we turned east on Spicewood Springs Road. There were jugglers there. We pass mile 4. I try to figure out how many times 4 goes into 13. I think I have covered about 28% of the race, but can't be sure of my math. We follow Spicewood as it crosses over Mopac. The rest of the race will be on the east side of Mopac from here on out. As we approach MoPac, there is a bagpiper playing for us. I hear him before I can see him and it takes a moment to realize that the sound is not coming from my iPod. It is a bit of an effort to cross the overpass over MoPac. I am starting to feel a little tired. However, after covering five miles in 57 minutes, I am now 3 minutes ahead of my intended pace.
8:25 a.m. (Mile 6)
It took me 12:30 to cover this mile. This is the first mile I have done below pace. I was intentionally taking it easy to avoid burning out. I am feeling more tired and I have a long way to go. If I start losing time this early, the rest of the race doesn't bode very well. The water stop at mile 6 is sponsored by Texas Gas. They have a mascot dressed up like a gas meter to greet us.
8:38 a.m. (Mile 7)
Another slow mile at 12:30. However, I feel a sense of accomplishment for being over half way there. We run behind Northcross Mall. The relay exchange point (for those doing a relay) was at 6.4 miles. We are now going down a very long stretch on Burnet Road. I am starting to get a second wind now.
???? (Mile 8 1/2)
I am now at the point in the race which strikes fear into my heart. We turn onto North Loop. There is a long series of hills here. Last year this, this stretch did me in. I had to walk on the hills and never really got my momentum back. At the end of long long uphill is one of my wife's favorite places in Austin, Room Service Vintage. We bought our dinette set there, as well as a 1950s party dress for Stephanie to wear in an elementary school musical. The hills are insidious. At first, there is a slightly steep but short hill, but after cresting it, there is another and another. I am still moving moving okay when I crest the third hill and reach mile 9. After some easy going, there is another long, gentle hill leading up to Room Service Vintage. I think to myself, "This is just like shooting womprats in Beggar's Canyon, Use the force Luke." Actually I really think that this is like the hills that I trained on on Escarpment and William Cannon. However, the line from Star Wars is funnier. I am beginning to feel a little bit goofy.
???? (Mile 10)
As we round the corner onto Duval, I am still going strong. There is just 3.1 miles left. That is the same distance that I do in my sleep before work most mornings. Not only that, but I can see the monolithic buildings of UT in the distance. I know from last year that when I reach UT, there will just be one mile left. After several miles below pace, I am still 1:30 ahead of a 12:00 minute mile. It is all down hill from here.
???? (Mile 11)
I feel great. I am having an enjoyable time running past the quaint, over-priced houses north of campus. After running for 11 miles, I am picking up a little speed which is a really great sign. Last year at this point, I felt like a character in Stephen King's short story "The Long Walk" (if you haven't read it, it involves a contest where you have to maintain a pace of 4 mph or be shot). Looking at the numbered streets, I can count down the blocks to the finish line (about 20 or 30, I think). Somewhere along this mile, I listen to my second hymn from Lost & Found. Their album, Speedwood Hymns, features traditional Lutheran hymns played really fast. It is the perfect accompaniment for a Sunday morning endurance run.
???? (Mile 12)
I pass the Posse East, site of many One Bad Pig (a band I briefly represented) shows, as I cross onto the UT campus and pass mile 12. There is a guy in liederhosen playing the accordion, which I can't hear because my iPod is turned up all the way. There is just one mile left. I am feeling really tired, but I also feel like I can push myself some more. I see someone named Cesar in a soccer jersey who I haven't seen since just before mile 3. As a I pass by the UT stadium, I am pushing myself to keep going, but am starting to really feel the distance. I am counting down the blocks. At 23rd street, I figure that I am just 10 blocks from the end. It is a weird combination of adrenaline and exhaustion. I am now running with a group of people I have seen before. There is Cesar in the soccer jersey, a husband and wife running together and a solidly-built woman in a green shirt. As we move through the UT campus, we trade places several times. We leave UT crossing over MLK. The end can't be much further, but I am finding that I don't have the legs for a sprint. The others in our little pack move ahead of me. We come over a hill and suddenly the finish line is in sight. It is at Trinity and 14th, about a block earlier than I though it would be. I pull my earphones out so that I can take a better picture at the finish line. Realizing that the end is closer than I expected gives me a little adrenaline to pick up the pace. I try to catch the woman in the green shirt, but she has picked up the same excitement that I have. I am now breathing hard for the first time all day as I try to push myself for the last tenth of a mile.
9:49 a.m.
I cross the finish line and stop my watch. I have finished in 2 hours 34 minutes 15 seconds. I have blown away last year's time by 8 minutes and have finished below my goal of 12 minutes per mile. Val and Stephanie are waiting for me at the finish as I receive my medal. (Everyone who finishes this race gets a medal, which is a nice touch. Of course, the really fast people get money as well). I stumble around the finish line as I look for the food line. I pick up a couple of breakfast tacos (which I feel that I deserve) and then we walk back to the car which is parked a few blocks away at my church. This year's race is over.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
One Week Til Race Day
It is just one week until the 3M Half Marathon. I got some good preparation in this weekend. Friday night I spent two hours at the gym going back and forth between the eliptical and the treadmill. There is something sad about the fact that an exciting Friday night for me is hitting the gym at 10:00pm. This morning (Sunday), I ran 9.4 miles out on the road. We had a freeze last night so that the frost on the grass and the roofs of the houses made it look like we were having an actual winter. I wore my new running shoes for the first time today. Each year I get myself a new pair of running shoes. As one of my running instructors once said, they are not cheap, but it's better than getting a new set of knees. Today was tiring, but it felt good. I was able to complete the distance, including several good-sized hills without hitting the wall.
I am looking forward to the race next Sunday. I have booked a room at the Embassy Suites hotel. The race starts right in front of the hotel. This means that I can spend a comfortable night there and won't have to get up at 5:00 a.m. to drive across town and maneuver through the traffic like I have the past few years. I am about 20 pounds lighter than last year and have run further in my training as well. I will post about the race itself next week.
I am looking forward to the race next Sunday. I have booked a room at the Embassy Suites hotel. The race starts right in front of the hotel. This means that I can spend a comfortable night there and won't have to get up at 5:00 a.m. to drive across town and maneuver through the traffic like I have the past few years. I am about 20 pounds lighter than last year and have run further in my training as well. I will post about the race itself next week.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
In Praise of Weird Al
When I was in college, I didn’t own a car and there wasn’t much to do in Seguin, Texas on a Saturday night. As a result, one of the highlights of my week was listening to the Dr. Demento Show. Songs by Weird Al Yankovic were a regular feature on the show. I hadn’t thought much about Weird Al in the past 25 years. (Well, there was the Dr. Demento Christmas CD that I bought which included “Christmas At Ground Zero,” but other than that, I hadn’t thought about him).
Recently I was buying some new music for my iPod when I came across Dare to Be Stupid and decided to give it a try. This CD perfectly captures the music of the 1980s in parody. From “Girls Just Want to Have Lunch” to “Like A Surgeon,” these songs capture the sound of the originals (which were all played about a million times too often back in the day) while completely skewering the meaning. “Hooked on Polkas” mauls a medley of 80s hits by setting them to polka music. This is especially effective when applied to ZZ Top and Twisted Sister. My favorite song is “I Want a New Duck,” which makes the original Huey Lewis & the News song hysterical instead of just insipid. This really brings back memories of the 1980s.
I did some looking on YouTube and there are a lot of Weird Al videos out there. His latest CD is Straight Out of Lynwood, which includes the tune “White and Nerdy.” Donny Osmond appears in this video. Some of the others I watched included “Amish Paradise” and “Canadian Idiot.” You can waste a lot of hours watching these clever videos.
Recently I was buying some new music for my iPod when I came across Dare to Be Stupid and decided to give it a try. This CD perfectly captures the music of the 1980s in parody. From “Girls Just Want to Have Lunch” to “Like A Surgeon,” these songs capture the sound of the originals (which were all played about a million times too often back in the day) while completely skewering the meaning. “Hooked on Polkas” mauls a medley of 80s hits by setting them to polka music. This is especially effective when applied to ZZ Top and Twisted Sister. My favorite song is “I Want a New Duck,” which makes the original Huey Lewis & the News song hysterical instead of just insipid. This really brings back memories of the 1980s.
I did some looking on YouTube and there are a lot of Weird Al videos out there. His latest CD is Straight Out of Lynwood, which includes the tune “White and Nerdy.” Donny Osmond appears in this video. Some of the others I watched included “Amish Paradise” and “Canadian Idiot.” You can waste a lot of hours watching these clever videos.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Sweeny Todd
Our older daughter is a big Johnny Depp fan. We have followed his career since Edward Scissorhands. As a result, when Sweeny Todd came out, we didn’t think twice about taking her, even though it had an R rating. After all, how bad could a movie based on a Broadway musical be? Well, this one is really dark. That is not to say that it is a bad film. However, it takes a strong stomach to watch random people having their throats slit and then being baked into meat pies.
A little explanation is in order. A lascivious judge caused an innocent barber to be arrested and convicted on a false charge so that he could take the man’s wife. Fifteen years later, the barber returns to find his wife gone and his daughter taken by the judge as his ward. He hatches a plot to take revenge on the judge and reclaim his daughter.
However, he has a tenuous grip on his sanity and an all too strong grip on his silver razors. After an initial killing of a blackmailer, the Depp character sings his view that everyone deserves to die because they are either evil (and thus deserving death) or miserable (and thus likely to be released by death). While waiting for his opportunity to kill the judge, he proceeds to kill all of the single men who come to his shop, while his accomplice bakes the men into meat pies and sells them to an appreciative public. In the end, Sweeny Todd’s thirst for vengeance destroys him and those around him, with bodies dropping as in a Shakespearean tragedy.
The role of Sweeny Todd is well suited for Johnny Depp. He has made a career out of playing characters who are a little off. This character is certifiably around the bend. However, Depp’s star power is also a weakness. Depp’s character, who gleefully slits the throats of guilty and innocent alike, does bad things. However, the film’s focus on its star causes it to walk a fine line between celebrating the violence and condemning it. While we were watching the movie, there was one lout in the audience who laughed hysterically whenever a victim was dispatched. In the end, the movie shows how the title character’s excesses lead to his downfall. However, the final shot clothes his death with a nobility denied to his victims, thus clouding the message. As I said at the beginning, this is a dark, disturbing movie, but one which is well made.
A little explanation is in order. A lascivious judge caused an innocent barber to be arrested and convicted on a false charge so that he could take the man’s wife. Fifteen years later, the barber returns to find his wife gone and his daughter taken by the judge as his ward. He hatches a plot to take revenge on the judge and reclaim his daughter.
However, he has a tenuous grip on his sanity and an all too strong grip on his silver razors. After an initial killing of a blackmailer, the Depp character sings his view that everyone deserves to die because they are either evil (and thus deserving death) or miserable (and thus likely to be released by death). While waiting for his opportunity to kill the judge, he proceeds to kill all of the single men who come to his shop, while his accomplice bakes the men into meat pies and sells them to an appreciative public. In the end, Sweeny Todd’s thirst for vengeance destroys him and those around him, with bodies dropping as in a Shakespearean tragedy.
The role of Sweeny Todd is well suited for Johnny Depp. He has made a career out of playing characters who are a little off. This character is certifiably around the bend. However, Depp’s star power is also a weakness. Depp’s character, who gleefully slits the throats of guilty and innocent alike, does bad things. However, the film’s focus on its star causes it to walk a fine line between celebrating the violence and condemning it. While we were watching the movie, there was one lout in the audience who laughed hysterically whenever a victim was dispatched. In the end, the movie shows how the title character’s excesses lead to his downfall. However, the final shot clothes his death with a nobility denied to his victims, thus clouding the message. As I said at the beginning, this is a dark, disturbing movie, but one which is well made.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Two Weeks Till Race Day
One of the big events in my life the past few years has been running in the 3M Half Marathon. Running is somewhat of an overstatement, since I tend to plod along. However, two years ago I challenged myself to see if I could finish a half marathon (which is 13.1 miles) and was pleasantly surprised to see that I could. This year's race is fast approaching and I am trying to move beyond the 30 minute workouts that I have been doing for most of the year to something closer to race conditions. Friday night I spent two hours at the gym and managed to cover nine miles going back and forth between the eliptical and the tread mill. This morning I went out and ran for six miles on the street before church. While the gym is a nice, controlled experience, there is nothing quite like running on the road, where there are hills and headwinds and other obstacles. Although I covered less than half the race distance this morning, it was a very comfortable run. It was exhilirating to be able to go out and just jog for over an hour without running out of breath or hurting. This year I have exercised regularly throughout the year, going to the gym at 6:00 a.m. five times a week and it seems to have paid off. Race day is Sunday January 27th.
Hillary on the Cover of Cosmo
If you are going through the checkout line at the grocery store and look at the cover of the current edition of Cosmopolitan magazine, you will see an unusual Hillary on the cover. No, not Hillary Clinton, although that would be pretty strange also. Instead, Hillary Duff appears on the cover of Cosmopolitan for at least the second time. This seems like an unusual combination. Cosmopolitan's image is summed up by headlines such as "Sex Sessions That Ended In the ER" and "Dirty Sexy Sex." On the other hand, Ms. Duff's latest album is titled "Dignity." Unlike her contemporaries, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton, Hillary Duff tends to wear underwear and act like an adult in public. About the wildest thing that she has done is dating that guy from Good Charlotte (which for those who don't know is a rock band). So, what's up? Is Hillary trying to spice up her image or is Cosmopolitan trying to aim for a more wholesome balance?
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