Jason

2005-08-26T14:33:00.000-04:00

Parallel headlines:
Cindy Sheehan: Now we have caterers
Rev. Al Sharpton Plans to Join 'Peace Mom'

Coincidence?

2005-07-07T18:02:00.000-04:00

This is beautiful. North Korea made a propaganda film about a spy who was imprisoned in South Korea for 42 years. North Koreans' reactions upon seeing the file include amazement that a political prisoner could survive more than a few years, and, "refusing to eat was a form of resistance in the South? Boy, South Korea must be a paradise."

2005-07-07T17:43:00.000-04:00

Working for a multinational company is usually like working for any other company, but occasionally there's an obvious difference. Today I received a voicemail from our CEO "with a message to all employees:"

As you have probably heard, there have been a series of horrific explosions across London this morning on the Underground and the buses. Thus far we don’t know how many are dead and injured, but thankfully so far we have no reports of injuries to [our] employees.
Our hearts and prayers are with the victims and their loved ones in this terrible tragedy. We’ll do everything we can to support our colleagues in London as they begin to cope with the aftermath.

2005-07-01T15:03:00.000-04:00

Testing, testing, one two three.

Apparently I still remember my password.

2004-10-16T10:55:00.000-04:00

We had a baby girl on Wednesday evening. She was 10 lbs. 1 oz. and 21.5 inches long. Everyone is doing fine, and our first night at home went pretty well. Thanks for your prayers.

2004-07-03T10:11:00.000-04:00

We have a baby due October 1. We're in contract to buy a house that should be completed on September 15. We need to sell our current home before then. I changed jobs in May. Other than that, nothing much has been going on around here lately.

2004-05-07T14:47:00.000-04:00

Last night's Friends was the weakest episode in ten years.

2004-05-07T08:51:00.000-04:00

Happy No Pants Day!

2004-05-07T08:32:00.000-04:00

Going through old files on my computer today, I found this amusing image:

2004-04-21T09:43:00.000-04:00

We made it to the Winking Lizard for dinner a couple weeks ago. I really like it -- decent food, fair prices, and a hundred varieties of bottled beer.

2004-03-31T16:27:00.000-05:00

Instant messaging is nice and all, but I hate it when I'm furiously typing away and a message pops up and I'm suddenly typing in a different window.

2004-03-16T13:22:00.000-05:00

They keep promising global warming, but all we get is snow in March. I can't take any more teasing.

2004-03-15T09:31:00.000-05:00

Note to self -- have dinner at the Winking Lizard Tavern sometime.

2004-03-11T17:16:00.000-05:00

Heidelberg Catechism

Q. 96. What does God require in the second commandment?
A. That we in no wise represent God by images, nor worship him in any other way than he has commanded in his word.

Q. 97. Are images then not at all to be made?
A. God neither can, nor may be represented by any means: but as to creatures; though they may be represented, yet God forbids to make, or have any resemblance of them, either in order to worship them or to serve God by them.

Q. 98. But may not images be tolerated in the churches, as books to the laity?
A. No: for we must not pretend to be wiser than God, who will have his people taught, not by dumb images, but by the lively preaching of his word.

This seems essentially the same as the Westminster Larger Catechism's statements regarding the second commandment and images of God. Can someone direct me to a good (non-Roman) argument that the catechisms are wrong?

2004-03-09T18:17:00.000-05:00

Lots of Reformed folk have written about The Passion, but I've seen exactly one reference to the WLC's statement that the second commandment forbids "the making any representation of God, of all or of any of the three persons." Why is that?

2004-03-07T19:45:00.000-05:00

Westminster Larger Catechism
Q. 109. What sins are forbidden in the second commandment?
A. The sins forbidden in the second commandment are, all devising, counseling, commanding, using, and any wise approving, any religious worship not instituted by God himself; the making any representation of God, of all or of any of the three persons, either inwardly in our mind, or outwardly in any kind of image or likeness of any creature whatsoever; all worshiping of it, or God in it or by it; the making of any representation of feigned deities, and all worship of them, or service belonging to them; all superstitious devices, corrupting the worship of God, adding to it, or taking from it, whether invented and taken up of ourselves, or received by tradition from others, though under the title of antiquity, custom, devotion, good intent, or any other pretense whatsoever; simony; sacrilege; all neglect, contempt, hindering, and opposing the worship and ordinances which God hath appointed.

2004-03-03T09:48:00.000-05:00

The penguin game keeps getting "better."

2004-02-19T22:07:00.000-05:00

I had the opportunity to try Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot Ale tonight. I took one sip and broke into laughter. According to the label it is 9.6% alcohol, and according to my mouth the other 90.4% is hops extract. It's tasty, but ridiculously exaggerated. Sierra Nevada claims that it rates ninety bitterness units (IBUs); by comparison, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale has 37, and Budweiser is in the neighborhood of 15. I'm glad it's finally available in Ohio.

2004-02-19T11:31:00.000-05:00

The English language needs an explicitly plural form of the word "you," but I'm not sure what it should be. "Youse" sounds like a low-rent mafia wannabe, and "yens" is too Appalachian. Maybe I'll start using "y'all."

2004-02-17T14:15:00.000-05:00

Here's a maddening time-waster: Crimson Room.

2004-02-12T13:40:00.000-05:00

Matt Drudge is reporting that John Kerry may have an "intern problem." Perhaps the rest of the primary season won't be so boring after all.

2004-02-10T14:01:00.000-05:00

The new Norah Jones album.

2004-02-05T14:07:00.000-05:00

I don't understand the obsession with Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. How many torture chambers and mass graves do we need to find before we start caring more about the destruction than the weapons?

2004-02-04T11:58:00.000-05:00

The Cubans who tried to drive a pickup across the Straits of Florida last summer are trying again, this time in a '59 Buick.

"My cousin isn't crazy. He wants to be free. That's how crazy he is."

Sorry cuz, we don't want your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Don't send those, the homeless, tempest-tossed to us: we'll pick them up in a Coast Guard cutter and send them back to Castro. Screw you and your freedom; we got here first and you might take our jobs. Besides, the freedom to read whatever you want to read is overrated.

2004-02-03T14:40:00.000-05:00

My first fan mail!

From : Riccardo Appi <riccardo.appi@libero.it>
Sent : Tuesday, February 3, 2004 3:46 PM
To : <jasongarrett@yahoo.com>
CC : <jasongarrett@hotmail.com>
Subject : you're my favourite NFL player

Dear JASON!
I'm Ricky and i'm writing from Italy . I decide to write to you because i'm
great football fan (specially an NFL fan) and you're my FAVOURITE PLAYER
!The Best QUARTERBACK of the League !
My dream is that to meet you because you're great ! I always watch your
games on Tv and read the stats on Internet . I'll be very very happy if
you'll answer to my e-mail because (i repeat) I'M YOUR GREAT FAN !
Please write me soon
RICKY

2004-02-02T09:48:00.000-05:00

We took our Christmas tree down this weekend. Better late than never, I guess.

2004-01-26T09:23:00.000-05:00

This is why the internet was invented.

2004-01-06T11:07:00.000-05:00

Holocausts of Communism Test

via Ipse Dixit

2004-01-02T16:26:00.000-05:00

I got Dude, Where's My Car? for Christmas, but I can't find it already. Dude, where's my DVD?

2003-12-22T22:53:00.000-05:00

We got our Christmas tree today. Better late than never, I guess.

2003-12-22T12:58:00.000-05:00

I tried to eat lunch at the mall food court on Friday, but it was packed with several busloads of kids. I guess taking field trips to the mall is how our public schools are trying to catch up with the Japanese.

2003-12-13T17:53:00.000-05:00

Ah.... my home computer is finally working again. I had to install a new hard drive, so I hardly have any software installed, but it's nice to be peeceeing from home again.

2003-12-11T10:06:00.000-05:00

Last week was deer gun season here in Ohio. I was able to hunt for two and a half days, and had a great time. There were deer everywhere. Once, six or seven were in a line running straight at me. It was a beautiful sight, but I shot one of them anyway. I ended up getting two little button bucks and shooting a ton of ammo, so I probably used up all of my success for the next few years.

2003-11-20T16:30:00.000-05:00

"recycling is like throwing money away"
Kind of funny, in a sad sort of way.

2003-11-11T22:54:00.000-05:00

My parents' long wait is finally over. They are finally grandparents.

2003-11-11T08:29:00.000-05:00

My sister is having her first baby right now.

2003-11-05T18:34:00.000-05:00

I hardly know what to say about this. In order to reverse the decline in television viewership, particularly among men ages 18-34, this is what is planned for sweeps week:

Barbara Walters interviewing Martha Stewart
Diane Sawyer interviewing Jessica Lynch
Peter Jennings investigating the JFK assassination
a Britney Spears special
a "The Bachelorette: Where Are They Now?" special
a Victoria's Secret infomercial
"The Andy Griffith Show Reunion: Back to Mayberry"

I couldn't make this up if I tried. The only way to make this lineup worse would be to add a modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet where the main characters are played by porn stars.

link via Duane, who is still not blogging

2003-11-04T17:48:00.000-05:00

The 2003 Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale is here, and it is good.

2003-11-04T15:59:00.000-05:00

Apparently television network executives can't figure out why fewer people are watching TV these days. Maybe I can help them out: TV shows are terrible.

Returning hit shows like "Friends" and "E.R." are losing significant numbers of viewers from previous years.

Yeah, because "E.R." covered all possible dramatic emergency room situations years ago, and the angsty twenty-somethings from "Friends" are now pushing middle age and still telling the same old jokes.

"Skin," a Romeo-and-Juliet story set against the backdrop of the adult entertainment industry...posted crushingly disappointing numbers.

Everyone has seen a hundred different variations of Romeo and Juliet, but one set in a porno? Seriously, who could think this was a good idea for broadcast television? "Two households, both alike in dignity, except when getting paid to have sex on camera." I don't think so.

The poor performance of "The Next Joe Millionaire" could not be attributed to the shortfall in young men because all categories of viewers that once liked it seem to have stayed away.

"Survivor" was insulting and degrading, but at least it was original. But now, we've endured seven seasons of "Survivor", plus "The Amazing Race", "Joe Millionaire", "Who Wants to Marry A Millionaire", "Fear Factor", "American Idol", "Average Joe", "The Bachelor", "Big Brother 1, 2, 3 and 4", "The Mole", "The Real World 1-14", "Road Rules 1-12", "Temptation Island", and on and on and on. Of course people don't want to watch "The Next Joe Millionaire"; reality TV without originality is simply insulting and degrading.

You want me to watch more television? Stop recycling 1999's good ideas and try being original or intelligent, or at least funny.

2003-10-29T17:27:00.000-05:00

Al Sharpton was on Hardball for an hour Monday night, and I didn't hear him say one funny thing. I missed the first fifteen minutes, but the most interesting thing I heard him say was that the Democratic Party "eat our children." Hopefully perusing the transcript will yield some humor-nuggets.

2003-10-24T09:17:00.000-04:00

When suicide is outlawed only outlaws will commit suicide.

2003-10-14T17:02:00.000-04:00

I think there should be a boxing channel. You know, like the Golf Channel, but with boxing instead of golf.

2003-10-07T10:42:00.000-04:00

I hope Davis doesn't get recalled. It would be funny (to me) for the whole circus to end up being entirely meaningless. I've been annoyed that it's been national news, but I guess everyone likes to watch a train wreck.

2003-10-07T10:37:00.000-04:00

Either we only had two mice, or the mice that are left don't like peanut butter.

2003-10-02T15:13:00.000-04:00

Two down.

2003-10-01T21:39:00.000-04:00

I don't know how many mice we had, but we have one fewer now.

2003-09-30T10:09:00.000-04:00

We have a mouse in our house. That makes me sad. Anyone have any really good mouse-removal tips?

2003-09-29T20:07:00.000-04:00

We turned the furnace on today. It seems like there were only a couple of really warm weekends this year. I'm ready for summer.

2003-09-19T09:55:00.000-04:00

Arrrr.

2003-09-15T12:16:00.000-04:00

Culinary Genius

2003-09-13T10:12:00.000-04:00

I finally completed another woodworking project. This one is a taper sled for my table saw. The miter gauge that came with the saw has too much slop to make the same cut twice, but this sled works like a charm.

2003-09-09T13:55:00.000-04:00

I hate it when I screw up a joke.

2003-09-09T10:37:00.000-04:00

Last night I broke a C-clamp without even trying. I'm a brute.

2003-09-03T10:29:00.000-04:00

I'm annoyed when the blogs I read aren't updated often enough to keep me entertained.

2003-08-17T20:45:00.000-04:00

The Stranger by Albert Camus
I hope there was some hidden meaning that I missed. I kind of wish I could go back in time and not waste an afternoon reading this book.

2003-08-17T19:49:00.000-04:00

God & Time: 4 Views
This book was mostly good. My only real complaints are that Paul Helm's argument for divine timelessness was weaker than I expected, and that none of the authors explained the theological implications of their positions.

2003-08-16T21:52:00.000-04:00

Back from vacation. Eleven and a half hours in the car today. Swam with sharks. Some four-year-old and I were the only two people on the beach who wanted to catch a shark. The four-year-old scared them all away with his stomping and roaring, then jumped on his Tonka dump truck and sped away. He rocked; I don't know what everyone else's problem was.

2003-08-08T22:29:00.000-04:00

I smashed open a can of pineapple with the back of my stapler at work today. It was awesome.

2003-08-06T16:54:00.000-04:00

I can't say I'm sad that I won't have to endure a year of "Springer For Senate" commercials.

2003-08-06T14:00:00.000-04:00

It was a cold wet winter, then a cold wet spring, and now a cold wet summer. I miss El Niño.

2003-08-05T18:09:00.000-04:00

The first line in this article amazes me: "Episcopal bishops postponed a vote at the last minute on Monday on the church's first openly gay bishop to investigate charges of sexual misconduct." Apparently extra-marital homosexual behavior doesn't qualify as sexual misconduct for a bishop.

One of the allegations that delayed the vote was related to internet pornography. The guy admits to a sexual relationship with a man to whom he is not married, and his church is worried about nudie pictures? I don't get it.

2003-08-05T10:43:00.000-04:00

I went to the Reds game on Friday night. Their new Great American Ball Park is fantastic.

2003-07-31T09:07:00.000-04:00

I was in 22 hours of meetings the last two days.

2003-07-28T16:14:00.000-04:00

something witty

2003-07-15T10:59:00.000-04:00

Yesterday the inventor of the Velostat Hat commented on one of my old posts. Apparently his Thought Helmet is still working and we should check out his new website, aliensandchildren.org.

2003-07-11T17:35:00.000-04:00

I really don't like capri pants.

2003-07-11T17:32:00.000-04:00

I think we've had a big thunderstorm just about every day this week. A few days ago our neighbor's tree blew over onto their van. It didn't seem to hurt the van any, though.

2003-07-05T12:38:00.000-04:00

The First Network for Men sure does run a lot of tampon commercials.

2003-06-26T16:11:00.000-04:00

Our church library ended up with two boxes of donated books we didn't want, so I took them to Half Price Books. They only gave me $3.75. We would have had more than $3.75 of fun if we'd burned the books in the parking lot and made s'mores over the fire.

2003-06-26T15:09:00.000-04:00

I sat outside for a while last night, and today the bug bites are driving me crazy.

2003-06-22T22:04:00.000-04:00

On Friday I finished the first woodworking project I've attempted since 4-H. I made a pair of sawhorses, because they're useful and because I wouldn't care too much if I screwed them up. The plans were good for a starter project, as they included miter cuts, bevel cuts, rip cuts, cross cuts... the whole works. It was a good way to familiarize myself with my tools.

2003-06-19T12:36:00.000-04:00

Today's lunch:

Found a Where's George? dollar bill in my wallet
Got two of those stupid dollar coins from the stamp machine at the post office
Unloaded dollar coins at Wendy's
Saw a Spammobile

2003-06-13T16:22:00.000-04:00

This is a neat graphic illustrating the recent progress of concealed carry laws. It went out-of-date yesterday, when Alaska became the second state to allow concealed carry without a permit.

Ohio is in the minority and is surrounded by shall-issue states, yet efforts to pass a concealed-carry law here are constantly resisted with knee-jerk fear-based arguments as though the safety and practicality of concealed carry hasn't been repeatedly proven in state after state across the country. I don't understand why anyone thinks this is still debatable.

from The Smallest Minority, via Ipse Dixit

2003-06-12T09:20:00.000-04:00

My wish has been granted.
http://optimoz.mozdev.org

2003-06-06T16:24:00.000-04:00

I wish Mozilla Firebird had gestures.

2003-06-04T13:26:00.000-04:00

mmm mmm

2003-06-03T16:36:00.000-04:00

I installed Mozilla Firebird last night, and so far I really like it. It's not quite perfect, but it might be close enough to use as my default browser.

2003-06-03T16:00:00.000-04:00

The Mark of the Christian by Francis A. Schaeffer

The mark of the Christian is love, which is something I need to be reminded of from time to time as it's too easy for me to be sarcastic and mean instead of loving. This is the first Francis Schaeffer book I've read, and now I want to read more.

2003-05-31T16:30:00.000-04:00

Your God Is Too Small by J.B. Phillips

2003-05-27T11:04:00.000-04:00

If I had a Meat Tree I could make my own hats of meat.

2003-05-23T12:45:00.000-04:00

The United Nations is worthless as a peacekeeping organization. Fighting in Congo has killed more than four million people, yet the UN "peacekeeping" troops in the country are not authorized to intervene. So, the killing and the cannibalism continue.

2003-05-22T15:48:00.000-04:00

I have in my hot little hands a CD that looks exactly like Ghoti Hook's Banana Man, but is actually Disc 2 of the three-disc Tibetan Freedom Concert box set. I'm not sure what to think about that, but I like the pictures of the guy wearing a banana costume.

2003-05-22T11:36:00.000-04:00

I wonder if Meat Trees can get Mad Cow disease?

2003-05-21T14:25:00.000-04:00

2003-05-20T16:44:00.000-04:00

Ideas Have Consequences by Richard M. Weaver

You wouldn't know by how long it's been since I started reading it, but I really enjoyed this book.

2003-05-19T23:36:00.000-04:00

Red Rabbit by Tom Clancy

I kept telling myself that I wouldn't start reading this until I finished reading the Weaver book, but that didn't work. This one wasn't one of Clancy's best, but it wasn't bad. Certainly it was better than The Bear and the Dragon. It was still a little repetitive and the dialogue was sometimes awkward, and the ending was anticlimactic, but it was still enjoyable.

2003-05-08T14:33:00.000-04:00

Wow... not just hail damage, but $3300 of hail damage.

2003-05-05T17:50:00.000-04:00

It took 33 days, but I finally got my car back. With hail damage.

2003-05-05T17:47:00.000-04:00

"They stripped the place bare."
I hope this story gets mentioned every single time the US gets criticized for the looting that occurred in Iraq.

2003-05-05T17:36:00.000-04:00

I don't understand why some people are trying to make this William Bennett thing such a big deal. He isn't racking up debt, he isn't hurting his family's security, and he isn't doing anything illegal. It's my understanding that he's a Catholic and that Catholics don't think gambling is inherently sinful, so there's no problem there. What it comes down to is that he's a wealthy man with an expensive hobby. What's wrong with that?

2003-05-02T12:47:00.000-04:00

What kind of thinker are you?

Logical-Mathematical thinkers:
Like to understand patterns and relationships between objects or actions

Try to understand the world in terms of causes and effects

Are good at thinking critically, and solving problems creatively
Other Logical-Mathematical Thinkers include
Isaac Newton, Archimedes, Albert Einstein

Careers which suit Logical-Mathematical thinkers include
Physicist, Chemist, Biologist, Lawyer, Computer programmer, Engineer, Inventor

via Dawn

2003-04-23T14:57:00.000-04:00

It's a month later than we expected, but our new sofa finally arrived. Boy is it big.

2003-04-23T13:07:00.000-04:00

Why are all the new game shows called "reality" shows? Never once in real life have I seen someone voted off the island.

2003-04-16T16:13:00.000-04:00

I know it shouldn't be, but this is one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time.

2003-04-15T15:14:00.000-04:00

Ahmed Chalabi: "I that the UN has a limited role in Iraq. They have messed up their previous enterprises in Iraq and the Iraqi people view them as if they are the defacto allies of Saddam."

via The Command Post

2003-04-14T22:06:00.000-04:00

This evening's five food groups:
fruits - wine
vegetables - Pringles
breads and cereals - Chex mix
meat - wild pork
dairy - kahlua and milk; ice cream

2003-04-14T20:15:00.000-04:00

After eyeballing the contents of our fridge, I came to the realization that we don't have any A-1 sauce! We have worcester sauce, though, which is almost as good.

2003-04-14T20:14:00.000-04:00

This time a week ago I was sitting in a lodge in Tennessee basking in the afterglow of shooting my first wild boar. Just now I fed a piece of its fat to my dog and told him, "I killed that and dragged it out of the woods." I think I helped the dog enjoy it more. Not that he needed any help enjoying meat.

2003-04-11T10:44:00.000-04:00

The news CNN couldn't report.

2003-04-10T13:00:00.000-04:00

Scientists have discovered a great way to prevent osteoporosis.