Random

~ Greetings from Tempe, Arizona -- home of my parents and my alma mater. I think the people out here in the desert somehow missed the memo about the national building slow down.

~ Yes, I'm still grading homework, papers, and soon world religion finals. I know that some are anxious but you're not forgotten.

~ Steve Bilynskyj has started blogging. Steve is a great pastor -- wonderfully creative and clear preacher -- and an engaging mind.

~ Is the world experiencing a new clash between religions? Or is it really a clash between "superstition and modernity"? Perhaps it might be better framed as a clash between cultures -- an inevitability in this era of global reshuffling. See the Economist article

~ Most Americans fall back to Standard Time early Sunday morning -- but not Guam or Arizona. They never sprang forward to Daylight Savings.

~ Organic pancakes from a spray can -- clever -- but it seems oxymoronic and like a little overkill on the packaging. The spray can has to cost more than the batter! I suppose the same could be said of the air cans we use to clean around the computers. Still...

~ America's most expensive cemeteries -- in case you want to make some kind of statement about your significance. Cost usually has to do with the view -- sometimes with who your neighbors are. Personally I'm requesting a low cost cremation for my remains as they wait for the resurrection.

~ A lot of techies out there are unhappy with Windows Vista. Microsoft seems to be happy. I've got over 90 Vista machines under my care at various levels and I'm happy with it. It's not as buggy as XP and I can't figure out why so many people are still choosing the older OS. I think this happens every time an operating system update comes online. It brings out all the chicken littles. Even Mac's new OS X 10.5 Leopard has critics.

~ Larknews.com: "Pay for performance plan shakes up churches"

~ Also from LarkNews.com (do consider the source) a report on the Left Behind VBS fiasco: ...On the last day, parents were told that their children had been raptured.
"We wanted to illustrate how terrible it would be if their kids went to heaven, but the parents just hadn't made that commitment to Christ," says the VBS director.
Though the sham went on for just two minutes, some parents became frantic. One woman began hyperventilating. A man literally lifted the welcome desk and tossed it into the wall, causing thousands of dollars in damage. Chaos ensued...

~ Not Larknews.com (but could be): Some Christian congregations turning to Scientology for help