#RB11 and “The Color Orange”

Right now I’m sitting in the Bale Honda service center waiting on the diagnosis/estimate for the repairs on my car.  When I bought my car in 2009, the sales rep at Bale was a HUGE help in the disaster I experienced from Landers Jeep in Benton (never go there) but it seems like I’m here a little too often (other than for my oil change) for a 2008 Accord (a year old but close to 0 miles on it). But for my own mental-wellbeing I chalk that up to being on the road for 30,000+ miles per year. So, yesterday when Jeff and I…

Jeff and I at the KU game watching KU get blown out

…were traveling back from our awesome #RB11 (Reliving Bachelorhood 2011) weekend in Kansas…

Jeff and I with our favorite cigar guy at Diebel's on the Plaza

our sustenance for the weekend

...more sustenance

...yes, more sustenance. Ya know, the necessities.

…which included amazing “guy-time” in leading off with ribs at Gates BBQ (pictured above) in playing NCAA 2011 on the PS3, enjoying good cigars (pictured above), seeing our buddy at our favorite cigar store at Diebel’s on the Plaza (pictured above), and then the debacle known as the Sunflower Showdown – KU being demolished by K-State, but we rebounded with more PS3, more cigars, more B&B, and more beer; and then on the drive home singing along to old country classics (neither of us like country music) that we could find on youtube on my phone and pipe into my car – things took a turn for the worse when Jeff selected some Abba, but we recovered by talking about football, power tools, and man caves for the remainder of the trip so as not to question our manliness.

Well, on the drive home I felt the familiar sputtering of the engine on my 2008 Honda Accord and knew I would be visiting Bale on Monday, which is where I sit right now. Fun times. 

I digress.  The other thing I wanted to include in this blog-post was a poignant quote that stood out to me in “The Color Orange”. “The Color Orange” is an ESPN film narrated by Kenny Chesney and is great story about crossing race boundaries in the South when the University of Tennessee had their first black quarterback – Condredge Holloway. I honestly can not stand racism and since I moved to Arkansas it’s even more prevalent and it’s disgusting to me. To judge somebody on the color of their skin just doesn’t make sense to me. If there needs to be judgment I prefer to judge people on the actions they knowingly choose to make rather than almost anything else.

The quote is from Lester McClain who was the first black player at the University of Tennessee.

“50 years is not a long time. Condredge helped this happen less than 50 yrs ago. An example how short 50 yrs can really be; my father was 50 years old when I was born. My father’s father was 50 yrs old when my father was born. My grandfather was born a slave. That’s how short it is. 50 yrs is not very long.”

 

1 Bourbon, 1 Scotch, and 1 Beer. But Not Here.

“Ain’t no beer around here. You want beer you gonna have to git back to Missouruh.”

Dan (a life-long friend) and I are both originally from NE Kansas and we were driving on our way for a weekend of primitive backpacking back in 2003.

The “no beer here” declaration were un-welcomed words we heard from a toothless, female gas station attendant after driving quite some time through the ever-winding hills of the Buffalo National River Park in North Central Arkansas. We were driving in an area, unbeknownst to us, which was a “dry county”. I had heard of “dry-counties” before but I didn’t think they actually still existed. I knew that Jack Daniels which is distilled (or whatever they do to whiskey) in Lynchburg, TN, was located in a dry-county, but I thought that was more of, “Yeah, yeah, we sure are a dry county.” (wink wink nudge nudge).  We had stopped at this gas station in hopes of buying some beer to enjoy around our campfire but we were quickly informed by the not-so-eloquently spoken and unkempt service station caretaker that if we really wanted some beer our shortest drive was an hour and half back up through the hills of north Arkansas.  My buddy’s response, “So, that sign 100 miles ago that said, “Last chance to get the beer!”, really wasn’t kidding.” We got back into our car and headed to our trail inlet.

That was my first experience with the south’s “disdain” for alcohol. But I also quickly learned while some people truly are tea-totallers I also learned these jokes hold true.

Jews don’t recognize Jesus as the son of God.

Protestants don’t recognize the pope as the leader of the Church.

Baptists don’t recognize each other in a liquor store.

Why do you take two Baptists with you when you go fishing?

Because if you take just one he’ll drink all your beer.

Another recent experience happened this past Sunday at church.  Before the sermon, the campus pastor opened the floor for “sharing”. One gentleman started sharing about his daughter’s troubles with drugs and alcohol. He made the statement that he now abstains from alcohol for his daughter’s sake but that he believes there is no problem whatsoever enjoying beer or wine as long as it’s done in moderation. After he made that proclamation I wanted to fist-pump and let out a hardy “Amen!” but since I was upfront banging on my congas during the music I chose not to. Needless to say my reaction differed greatly from the congregation’s corporate thought. While nothing was outright said from the congregation in disagreement from I could see all the brows furrow and the faces change shape to that of scorn. I’m sure the campus pastor’s phone was quite busy the next day.

So is this post all about booze? Well, kindof, but when you read this quote from CS Lewis (who might surprise you with what you think you know about his actual theology) I think you’ll be able to apply this quote and thought to more than just alcohol.  I originally saw the quote from Jonathan McIntosh, a friend of mine and a church planter in Midtown Memphis, who tweeted it today (Wednesday, 8/10/11) and I thought it was quite descriptive in what we, as Christians, sometimes do to things, in our attitude and actions, that we might think are taboo.  Since I’ve been living in Arkansas I’ve never seen such religious fueled opposition to alcohol, but it is not solely limited to Arkansas. Remember Prohibition?

So as not to be-labor the point, here’ the quote from CS Lewis.

CS Lewis view on alcohol

 

whew, what a technological cluster…. and random musings

Computer and social media this past week have both been the bane of my existence but also one form of allowing me to breathe through connectivity to the wider world via my fingertips.

My issues this week:

- My pc was out of commission for a week – it got old, fast, to view the web on my iPhone. I also had to work on the Theology on the Rock discussion the old fashion way – pen and paper. Crazy!

- I was de-friended by a “friend” I had never met and I know why he de-friended me. I kinda wanted it to happen by pushing the envelope by commenting on his facebook posts and seeing how far I could go with what I said (not disrespectful; always truthful) and in his eyes I’m sure he thought I was a universalist – he was a hard-core fundamentalist.

- my twitter account was hacked and I guess I was sending out some pretty kinky offers to all of my followers. It ended up being funny but damn I had a good password and ended up having to change it. The result of the hack was by stupidity on my part.

So this next week is going to be pretty busy…well the weekend is pretty laid back but next Thursday Tracy and I are heading to Colorado for some skiing! I’ve been skiing nearly every year since I was 4 and I absolutely love it. Tracy has never been skiing before in her life…this should be interesting. I’m a coach for 16 year old boys in soccer but I can yell at them if need be…that might not go over so well with my better half.

I’m slowly diving into McLaren’s new book, “A New Kind of Christianity”.  I say slowly only because the past week, or so, has been a bit busy but I anticipating it being a theological thrill a minute book…for me…if only I could find a way for my de-friending friend to read it with an open mind…but I know that would never happen. He’s probably the one who put up the sign on I-30 that reads, “Warning: Prepare to Meet God.” (jk…kinda…not really, but yeah really)

Also, I’ll be working on a new theme for my blog…actually I’ll be working on picking a new theme, not creating a theme. It’s bugging me that I don’t have Tad, Ryan, John, Kimberly, Todd, McLaren, etc on my blogroll anymore for your easy clicking pleasure.

I’m also becoming very excited…although it’s still a ways off, for our business trip to Cozumel.  My company’s owners are rewarding us, the sales reps, for hitting our 2009 goal by flying us all to Cozumel and putting us up at an all-inclusive resort. During that week you’ll find me on the beach smoking cigars and drinking beer and not much else besides jumping into the ocean/sea. All I will be packing is my swimsuit, a cigar cutter and matches. It’ll be glorious!  Plus if TSA frisks me it won’t take long. In all honesty I will be blogging during that week and will supply pictures via twitter about God’s beautiful creation.

Ok, that’s all for now. Try to keep up as I will be blogging more regular now that I have my pc back and it’s going to be a fast ride into summer! But a great one! Cheers!

Two beer recommendations: both are made by Choc Beer Company (@ChocBeerCo). Their pale ale is my second overall favorite (behind Schlafly Pale Ale @Schlafly).  It’s nice and hoppy but not overly hoppy and has the right amount of bitter to make it extra tasty. Their flagship beer (the box says 1919 on it) is also a very tasty beer. It’s a typical lager and a cross between a wheat beer and a hefeweizen. Very smooth and very tasty.

 

upcoming blogposts from yours truly…

I’ll be posting some thoughts on the movie “planet 51″, our all or nothing society, a conversation between a friend and I on if the Bible is absolutely everything we need, and some more on word intentionality and of course some good cigar and beer recommendations.  I just need to find some time!

First recommendation: Rocky Patel Renaissance cigar.  I had this over thanksgiving with my brother in law (he enjoyed his first ever Rocky Patel the Edge) and I must say this cigar actually can give the Edge a run for it’s money; although it is a little more expensive $12.50 vs. $8.50. It was a very smooth draw, has a little bit of spice and is just as tasty as the Edge; you could consider the difference between these two cigars as Vino’s Pale Ale to Diamond Bear’s Pale Ale – if you never have had either of those you don’t know what I’m talking about. sorry.   The Renasissance has an Ecuadorian Sumata wrapper and a blend of Ecuadorian and Nicaraguan filler.  I also employed the use of my bullet cutter for the first time and I think I’m now a convert to the bullet cutter.