Have you hugged a Veteran today?

So it’s Veteran’s day and many of you are wondering how to show a veteran that you care about them. You really wish your favorite veteran blogger would write a witty post about it and assuage all your veteran well wishing anxieties. Perhaps this could be done in some kind of list form…

Ways to show a Veteran you care.

1. Buy them a drink. – If you’re out somewhere and you see a veteran buy them a drink, whatever they’re having is fine (no, not all veterans drink booze). All veterans, and most people by in large, appreciate a free beverage. This one is great too because it can be done without any awkward social interactions, you can even do it anonymously from across the room.

2. Volunteer at the USO – The USO is like a truck stop for service members. There’s food, entertainment, and even some have showers. There’s nothing more precious than time and giving up a bit of yours to make traveling military personnel a little more comfortable means a lot to all service people everywhere.

3. Help out a military family – Do you know someone who is currently deployed with a family left at home? Offer to help them out; watch the kids, mow the lawn, pick-up groceries, do whatever you can. They may not need any help but the offer itself is priceless. Just be prepared to actually help if they do need it.

4. Say thank you – Now this is important; don’t just post “God Bless all the soldiers everywhere” as your Facebook status. Actually find a veteran and say thank you. If you can do it in person or over a free drink even better.

This is a commercial for Budweieser that came out a few years back. I first saw it while watching the Superbowl at Ft Bliss. We were leaving for Iraq in a few weeks and this video really touched me.

 

What are some other ways we can thank a vet?

Toy Story

When I was a kid I had a Dukes of Hazard car that was just awesome. It wasn’t like a little Matchbox car; it was nearly two feet of orange plasticy wonderment. I loved that thing.

One time my parents took me to a park and of course I brought the car with me. I played with it in the playground, jumping over the seesaw and power sliding around the jungle gym. At some point I decided to bury the car in the sand. I’m not sure why I did this but undoubtedly it was immensely fun at the time.

The problem was that being all of 4 or 5 at the time I was shortly thereafter distracted by a balloon or doggy or something and I left the car in the sand. Before long my parents had packed us into our 77 Buick Century and we were on our way, but my Dukes of Hazard car was still buried in the sand.

We went back the next day. I dug my hands into the sand, but nothing. I scoured the playground looking for my lost toy but it was nowhere to be found. I couldn’t believe it was gone, I must be looking in the wrong place. When I realized it was truly gone I was furious, I threw some sand and said some pretty ugly words for a preschooler. I begged my parents to dig up the playground to help me find it, or at least buy me a new one. There was no deal though. My car was gone, forever. There would forever be a Dodge Charger shaped hole in my life that would never be filled. But I realized there were other toys, my life would go on. I had not been buried in the sand with the General Lee.

Somehow my life did go on and a funny thing happened I didn’t miss that car as much. Sure there were times that I thought “Boy the General Lee would totally jump that!” But that thought would soon pass and before too much longer I quit thinking about that car much at all. Do I wish that I hadn’t buried that car in the sand, sure. It would be awesome to still have it and pass it down to my son to play with. But he has plenty of other cars to play with and in the end the General Lee would just be another one in the toy basket.

And that’s how most of our mistakes are. They seem so huge and devastating at the time, we don’t know how we’re going to go on. We beat ourselves up for doing something so stupid. But let some time pass and we see that they weren’t so big in the first place. We deal with the consequences (I never did get a new General Lee) and we learn not to bury our toys in the sand.

I AM HERE

This is a little video I did a few years back. The song is 'This Is Love' by Cool Hand Luke. The video is from Voices of a Distant Star, an immensely moving little film.
No real reason for posting it, just proud of it and wanted to share. And be sure to check out the band and the movie, amazing.

Top Gear US

The US version of Top Gear will be premeiring on the History Channel on Nov 21st. While I absolutely adore the British version of the show the US version make me a tad nervous. The production values and style seem to be on par with our neighbors in the Old World it is the hosts that may be the new version's failing. It is the hosts that make the show. My wife Christy couldn't care less about cars, but she'll watch Clarkson, Hamster, and Captain Slow because they're entertaining. The same level of quality needs to be offered from the US version
So I am offering to the History Channel and BBC a few suggestions of other possible hosts for Top Gear US.

1. Mike Rowe - Hilarious and informative at the same time. He's got to be getting tired of working with so much poop.

2. Any of the correspondents from the Daily Show - except John Oliver he's great but it would feel too much like we're trying to make the show all 'englishy'.

3. Brian Williams - Trustworthy and funny. No one watches NBC News anyway, so would they really even notice if he left.

4. Justin Timberlake - Of course he'll have to promise not to sing or dance, ever.

5. Peyton Manning - Hilarious on SNL and it would be best to retire early and not turn into the next Brett Favre

There you are History and BBC use this list wisely. And in return all I want is the enjoyment of watching a quality American version of the show I already love so much, and a Nissan GTR.

What are your ideas? Who should host Top Gear USA?

The Real Thing

I’ve got my tickets for U2. Unfortunately now I have to wait 9 months until the concert. But then like a beautiful child being born U2 will emerge onto the stage at Busch stadium and, ok I’ve totally lost the birth metaphor but let’s just say I’m really looking forward to the show.

This will be the 7th time I’ve seen U2 play live. I haven’t missed a tour since ZooTv 1992. I scheduled my leave from Iraq to see them, choosing to miss both my Cousin’s wedding and Christmas instead. I have driven to Lexington, Kentucky and Chicago, Illinois to see them. I’ve already seen them once on this tour, but this time their coming to St Louis so I can’t miss out.

Obviously I loves me some U2 but there’s a downside to seeing them play live. It happens every time. It makes me want to play. It’s not the glitz or glamour; or the thousands of screaming fans; it’s something much more basic.

It’s about 4 guys all playing together making something special. I’ve been in a number of bands, some good some not so good. But in each band there was at least one moment when we all were in sync and something special happened. We knew what each other was doing and made each other better. It’s the musical equivalent to an ally-oop in basketball. Teamwork, synchronicity, timing. Some bands I was in could make it happen again and again, in others it was more of a one shot deal.

When I see U2 play next July they will do that on stage and it will make me want it too. I know that I’ll never be a mega rock star, and I can always scratch that itch with a little Guitar Hero. But that moment of harmony when everything just clicks, well there’s just no substitute for it.

The Devil's day

On Saturday our church is having a harvest festival which I’m sure will be a lot of fun and I know several churches that do ‘trunk or treat’ nights. But aside from the occasional ‘hell house’ or ‘reality house’ that’s about all most churches do for Halloween and I think that’s sad. I think we’re really missing out on a great opportunity. And I know a lot of people will say “but that’s the Devil’s day Mr. Jordan.” Without going into a long history of Halloween I’ll make it simple; God is bigger and badder than the Devil so He can have any day He wants and if we want to use Halloween for Him then the Devil can’t say ‘boo’ about it. (One! One Halloween pun! Bwahahaha!).

So to help the cause of claiming Halloween for Christianity I will give you some things you and your church can do this, or next Halloween.

1. Costume contest.

            This is the obvious one invite everyone to come to church dressed as their favorite Biblical character. To see my list of best and worst Christian costume ideas go here. =^.^=

2. Trick or Tithe.                                                                                                           

            Replace the ushers with kids in costumes and replace the offering plates with plastic jack o lantern pales. Who can say no to a cute little ballerina or cowboy? Pastors take note; this might actually be a good permanent change. Want to see giving go up? Replace grumpy old Horace in his grey suit and yellow shirt and tie with darling little Sophie in her pink princess costume. How do you think girl scouts sell so many cookies?

3. Hell

            Seriously we’ve got the scariest thing ever built right in, preach it preacher. And don’t be afraid to use some special effects. Every church has a smoke machine and strobe light somewhere, at least start with that. And a little Stryper ‘To Hell with the Devil’ wouldn’t hurt either.

4. Haunted Church

            Ever been in your church when no one else is there and it’s all dark? It’s creepy. Every church I’ve been in is creepy when it’s empty and the lights are off. So bust out the smoke machine and strobe light again, crank up some Savior Machine and let the madness ensue. Ok so you won’t get the hard hitting message of a ‘Reality House’ but you’ll have kids in church having fun and that’s always a good thing.

5. Testify or Treat.

            Get some parents and kids to dress up and go out into the neighborhood, going door to door. But when they answer the door don’t accept any candy, instead offer some to them. Don’t make it a big ordeal just give them a little goody, maybe slap your church’s info or a verse on it, and tell them “Happy Halloween from Springdale BOOOOOtheran Church” (I love puns).

I know I’m missing some, how else could we use Halloween at church?

Christian Costumes

With Halloween being on a Sunday this year we were trying to decide whether or not to dress our son Alex in his DJ Lance costume before we took him to the nursery at church. We’re heading to parties straight from church so it would be logical. The problem is we haven’t been at our church for a Halloween before and we’re not sure how they handle it. We don’t want our kid to be the only one in the nursery in costume.

Of course it does raise another question; what costumes are appropriate for Christians to wear? Some people would say that wearing a devil costume would be glorifying to Satan and therefore inappropriate for a Christian. However, other would argue that by wearing the costume you are mocking the Devil and in fact showing that he has no power over you. Then again there is the issue of sexy costumes and grotesque or just crude costumes. So where can a Christian turn?

You would think that the easy answer would be to stick to anyone in the Bible (aside from the Devil of course), but that can lead to some touchy areas too so I will give you the five best and worst Christian costume ideas (in no particular order).

Best

1. David – Easy and just about every other person’s favorite Bible character. Just wear a tunic and some sandals. Make a sling out of a shoe string and a piece of an egg carton and make a harp out of and old tennis racquet. For extra points cover your dog in cotton balls and carry him around like a lamb.

2. Angel of Death – Not really sure what he looks like so a black cloak would probably work. If you can manage a light mist and an eerie glow it would help.

3. Jonah and the Whale – Definitely for the more advanced costume makers. It would consist of grey sweatpants leading up to a giant whale’s head with your body sticking out of the mouth from the waist up. Easy winner.

4. Mary – A no brainer for any women who are already pregnant, even if you aren’t just pack some pillows under your robes and you’re good to go. Guys I would recommend staying away from this one.

5. The Centurion – first off it even sounds cool plus you get to dress up like a roman soldier and carry a sword around.

Worst

1. Adam/Eve – Ok so you and you’re husband or wife want to wear matching costumes, I get it. But for everybody’s sake just leave this one at home.

2. Bathsheba – I’m fully aware that Bathsheba did not spend her entire life bathing on rooftops, but showing up as Bathsheba in a bath (I’m strangely reminded of the shower costume from Karate Kid) is just wrong.

3. Lot’s Wife – First of all I’m not even sure how to get that much salt to stick to your body but lets assume you’ve managed it. You’re bound to make an awful mess everywhere you go. And if you live in a more rural area do keep in mind that it is nearly deer season, just be prepared for some very friendly deer.

4. Joseph – There’s a reason your wife keeps trying to throw out that bright plaid robe.

5.  King Elgon – Judges 3:21-25 just read for yourselves and enjoy.

What are some other good and bad Christian costume ideas?

Abraham and Aaron Sorkin

There was a show a few years back called “Sports Night”, I absolutely loved that show. And don’t try to tell me you did too, I know you didn’t because it got horrible ratings and was cancelled after only two seasons. Some people have said that was too smart for TV and they may have been right. That is a good thing since I have tried to base the majority of my philosophy on life around two lines from that show.

1. Napoleon’s Battle Plan

 Casey (Peter Krause) is trying to win over his love interest Dana (Felicity Huffman) but his plan is to simply be in her general vicinity. He claims to have stolen the idea from Napoleon who had a battle plan that consisted largely of ‘show up and see what happens’.

I think this is a fundamental key to God’s plan as well. Often he calls us to do something and we spend so long planning away every detail of it that we get very little actually accomplished. I once went on a mission trip to Indonesia that consisted of little more that showing up and seeing what happened, or perhaps more accurately what ‘seeing what God will do.” It was an amazing life-changing experience to be sure, but I’ll talk more about that another time.

What would happen if we just did what God said, no questions asked and just fully trusted him to take care of the details. Like Abraham taking his family into the wilderness a we would all wander into the wildernesses in our own lives and ‘all peoples on earth will be blessed through you’.

2. The Hungry and the Hunted

Jeremy (Joshua Malina) fails to raise objection to his boss Isaac (Robert Guillaume) for fear of being fired. (Seriously how amazing was this cast? And I didn’t even mention Sabrina Lloyd) Isaac then imparts the following nugget of wisdom concerning leadership “If you’re dumb, surround themselves with smart people. And if you’re smart surround yourself with smart people who disagree with you.” I don’t think Aaron Sorkin (seriously, this show was amazing) came up with that line, but he used it well.

As Christians we often think that we should all get along and be all lovey dovey all the time, but that just isn’t true. If you feel like your brother or sister is wrong you have an obligation to tell them (2 Timothy 4:2). We like it when people tell us we’re doing the right things but what God wants is for us to surround ourselves with Christians who will love us enough to tell us when we’re wrong.

Most of all though one cannot be a leader without followers. When Jesus started His ministry on earth the first thing he did was to go out and recruit some help. So if God could use a dozen knuckleheads to get his Word out how do we expect to do it all on our own? So find others to help you carry out Napoleon’s battle plan, just make sure that they’re willing to tell you when you’re wrong and you may manage to avoid a Waterloo.

I’m writing all this now because I feel God tugging me towards a new ministry. I’ve felt His nudging before but I’ve always managed to reason my way out of it, but not this time. I’m going to keep moving forward. I may fail. I may fall flat on my face, but when I do I will pick my self up off the ground, dust myself off and find that I’m standing exactly where God wants me.

But I’m going to need some help on this journey. I won’t go into all the details now but I’ll be sure to keep posting and if you want more information then send me a message or leave a comment below.

Or at least send me the Sports Night box set.

New American Flag

As a bit of an amateur vexillologist (Google it)I’ve always had a bit of mixed feelings about the US flag, the Star Spangled Banner, the Stars and Stripes, Old Glory… Sure it’s my country’s flag but seriously, we couldn’t have done better? The yellow “Don’t tread on me” flag is far better in my opinion.

So I’ve decided to start a national campaign to design a new Old Glory. For inspiration I’ve compiled a list of some of the best (and worst) flags from around the world.

The best flags are bold and stirring, they just kind of look like they should be flying in front of a conquering army. The worst are so complex they can only be drawn by DaVinci, or they look like they were drawn by DaVinci’s mentally handicapped 5 year old nephew Herbert.

Coolest Flags

#20 Kyrgyzstan

Striking red with a funky sun in the center, strong enough for #20

#19 Barbados

 I'm not sure if Barbados is a county or a superhero but the trident makes this a fairly cool flag

#18 Kazakhstan

In case you're wondering where you've seen this flag before, it was Borat.

#17 Moldova

It's not the fanciest flag around, but it looks like it could be painted on a knight's shield and that is pretty cool

#16 Scotland

Simply using the St Andrew's cross give it a bit of that bad ass feel

#15 Macedonia

So Japan's flag during WWII was pretty cool, lets do something like that.

#14 North Korea

Sure Kim Jong Il is a nutcase but that's a pretty decent flag

#13 Israel

Simple, bold, and no doubting who you are

#12 Estonia

Yes that Estonia home of Encino Man. Not exciting, I just really like the color choices.

#11 Taiwan

I'd may not know good flag from bad but I know what I like and this I like, and I'm not really sure why

#10 United Kingdom

Would any other flag look so good on an album cover?

#9 South Korea

No other flag says "you're about to get kicked in the face like the South Korean flag does

#8 Kenya

Spears and a shield also looked pretty cool on the pair of Motumbo Reeboks I had in high school

#7 Saudi Arabia

My Arabic is a little rusty but I'm pretty sure that says "Mess with us and we'll cut ya!"

#6 Vietnam

This flag says "We've got better things to do with our time than sitting around coming up with ideas for flags"

You don't get points for creativity

#5 Albania 

Two headed demon eagle, why ruin it with anything else?

#4 Angola

Great colors and a frickin' machete!

#3 Bhutan

Dragon = Win

#2 Wales

A more better dragon, ready to burninate your enemies

#1 Mozambique

Yes that is an AK-47 on their flag, and that is why Mozambique has the coolest flag in the world

Runners Up

Canada

Hey that's a pretty cool flag, what is that in the center? A star? An eagle? Nope it's a frickin leaf. Nice try Canada.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

What's with that extra bit of blue at the end? Looks like someone forgot to align the printer.

Hong Kong

Learn from Canda's mistakes. Think less flora and more flaming dragon of war, with an AK-47

Worst flags in the word

#10 Grenada

I think they really need to be invaded again


#9 Isle of Man

As if "Isle of Man" was a creepy enough name for the country then they go and put a three legged, no bodied monster on the flag. 


#8 Italy

Ok sure lot's of other countries has simple tricolor flags, but come on this is Italy home of the Roman empire. They could throw a sword or eagle or vomitorium on there somewhere?


#7 Lebanon

Sure you're country used to have trees in it. And even Solomon spit some sexy rhymes about them, but all this flag says to me is Christmas. And somehow I don't think you see it that way.


#6 Seychelles

This isn't a flag, it's an ad for degergant


#5 Turkmenistan

Confusing your country's flag with the blanky your gama quilted you is not a good thing.

#4 Tokelau

"Come to Tokelau, we've got giant piss tsunamis"


#3 Indonesia, Monaco, Poland

Seriously, those are three different flags. Some points would be awarded for some creativity

#2Libya

Lazy


#1 Guam

If that's the best art your country can produce maybe Libya is on to something after all.

Hopefully you've been inspired, submit your own ideas for a new US flag here or email them to me at timothyareeder@gmail.com and I will post the top submissions in a future blog.

Pilgrim's Pride

This past Saturday I joined a couple hundred of my closest friends at the Amsterdam to watch the USA and England play their first match of the 2010 world cup. An hour or so before the game there were already chants of “1776”, “1812” and “1950”. Not to mention rousing choruses of “Over There” (copies of the lyrics were handed out prior to the match). Anytime there was a shot of Wayne Rooney or David Beckham jeers and curses were shouted at the screen. This is international soccer done right.
I’m sure most soccer fans in the US have wondered why Americans have never embraced soccer with the passion that other countries have; the answer is history. Not that there is not a history of soccer in the US, their certainly is (although not as long or as storied as our European or South American friends). Instead the problem lies with the history of our nation itself. But before I go into more detail I’d like to look for a moment at some of the great soccer nations in the world.
In my mind when international soccer is mentioned four countries immediately come to mind; Argentina, Brazil, England, and Germany. Besides the common winning traditions in these countries what is the other thing that binds them together? Hate. Argentina hates Brazil and England, Brazil hates Argentina, England hates Argentina and Germany, and Germany hates England. Of course in the world of modern soccer the hatred is not as prevalent among the players, many of them play together on their club teams. But among the supporters there is a deep seeded rivalry, and rivalries like these help to stir up the emotions of the people. I have friends in Argentina who are not serious soccer supporters (at least not as far as Argentines go), but whenever Argentina is playing Brazil or England they are as soccer mad as anyone.
And what fuels these rivalries is complex. Certainly much does stem from events on the pitch, but it also comes from their histories or cultures or politics. Argentina and Brazil each see themselves as the major power in South America, yet they have vastly different cultures. Argentina and England fought a war within the lifetime of some of their players. England and Germany have fought two wars within the last century and each would assert itself as the predominant power in Europe.
So if we as Americans would like to whip ourselves into a frenzy over an international match, who could stir up so much hatred? Our CONCACAF rivals and closest neighbor Mexico would seem a likely fit or in the wake of the last World Cup’s opening match Italy has certainly bred some distain (remember Brian McBride’s bloodied head). But there is a problem with these, yes we have fought wars with both nations, but the number of Mexican Americans and Italian Americans are far too high for wide spread hatred of either team to flourish (although I still strongly support a nice friendly rivalry with Mexico).
During the cold war we could have viewed the USSR as a rival, but both the US and USSR were irrelevant in the soccer world at that time. Now perhaps countries such as Iran or North Korea would suffice, but while the US is now a player in world soccer both Iran and North Korea remain irrelevant (despite NK’s surprising World Cup qualification).
So again we return to merry ol’ England. Sure they are now one of our closest allies, but we did fight two wars with them at the dawn of our countries history. And in our two World Cup meetings we have shocked the soccer giants. But most importantly most (if not all) English Americans do not feel the close ties to their country of origin as many others do. This again is because of history. Those who left England for American did it largely because they chose to, whether hoping to make it rich or to start at Utopian new world. While many people from other countries came to America out of need, they did not wish to leave their homelands but came in search of a better life and therefore retained strong ties to the countries of their births. Of course I am not suggesting that we hate the English as a country or as a people, just as a soccer team.
So let’s wave our “Don’t Tread on Me” flags, don our Minutemen garb, and curse at the Queen. And pray that we meet again this World Cup, in the finals.

New Life

So I haven't written anything in a while, not on here at least. To be honest i've been doing a lot of writing on my own, short stories and poems.


Alex is turning 1 tomorrow.

Work is boring but it gives me a lot of free time to read and write. I'm half way through Neil Gaiman's Smoke and Mirrors.

Trying to think of names for a book; An Imaginary Place, Between

I should read some more Joseph Campbell, although I'm afraid it will keep going over my head.

I should watch the kid before he crawls into more trouble.

Doomsday

So we've got just over 2 years until the end of the world. Although I've got some things I'd like to get done before then I can't say that I'm dreading the end of the world as we know it.
I find it hard to believe that mankind would be wiped out entirely, we're pretty adaptable. And I think I'd do pretty well in a post-apocalyptic world.