blogging | A New Blog Is Born

My Duke and Aberdeen colleague and close friend, Scott Prather, has entered the blogosphere ... again. It promises to be good, so check it out.

[America's Young Theologian][Blogging]

quote | MLK On Vietnam

"I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube. So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such."

I was listening to a couple of Dr. King's speeches today and was going to post this quote, but realized that Duane Shank had already made my point.

Read or download the audio of the speech here.

[America's Young Theologian][Theology][Politics][MLK, Jr.]

film | Pirates of the Caribbean - At Worlds End

Against better judgment, or perhaps just tired of fighting the onslaught of third installments of summer blockbusters, I saw Pirates of the Caribbean - At Worlds End. After the movie I wanted the world to end, felt profoundly less intelligent, and wished for a class-action suit against Jerry Bruckheimer. Positively, it's the only time I can remember a movie audience laughing at a film, by which I mean an eye-rolling laugh at how overblown and absurd it was. It's too long, too big, too ridiculous (despite my agreement to check reality at the door with the pirate-dressed ticket collector), and simply sad, sad because a simpler version could have worked.

There is anti-capitalist blow struck at the end of the film as the East India Trading Company takes it on the chin, but this, of course, occurs once you've already bought the product (your movie ticket); Disney markets itself as imaginative but it is always commodified imagination, imagination already imprisoned and impoverished by its commercial ends. By the end, the film feels like being visited by a door-to-door salesman where every cinematic gadget was demonstrated and every film trick seen, but ultimately seen as unneeded products and a waste of precious time.

[America's Young Theologian][Theology][Politics][Film][Pirates 3]

humor | SOMEECARDS.com

Isn't the whole point of an eCard, email, letter, etc. to actually send it? It's true that www.someecards.com has some hilarious eCards, but while I find them funny to read, I can imagine sending any.

[America's Young Theologian][Theology][Humor]

life | ...And Death

I hurt for my friend Bob's loss of his father. It has been a hard journey and I know he wished for a little more time.

news | Jerry Falwell Dies At 73

The Rev. Jerry Falwell, the television evangelist who founded the Moral Majority and used it to mold the religious right into a political force, died Tuesday shortly after being found unconscious in his office at Liberty University, a school executive said. He was 73.

While it is not the place of humanity to speculate about God's judgment, I can think of few people who more dramatically and publically hampered the mission of church in the United States than Jerry Falwell. So, while I would weep with his friends and family for their loss, I also rejoice that he will sin no more.

[America's Young Theologian][Theology][Politics][Falwell]

article | Outfit A Kitchen For $200-$300

To be honest, I'm not sure why I'm posting this. If I used del.icio.us, or some such site, I probably wouldn't. But, a lot of my friends are getting married this summer and they'll register for kitchen items that cost way too much (especially for how much they cook). Mark Bittman wrote an article for NYTimes.com entitled A No-Frills Kitchen Still Cooks. He writes:

In fact, I contend that with a bit of savvy, patience and a willingness to forgo steel-handle knives, copper pots and other extravagant items, $200 can equip a basic kitchen that will be adequate for just about any task, and $300 can equip one quite well.

I'll let you read the article if you're interested, but the following list of inessentials was interesting.

10 Kitchen Items You Don't Need

BREAD MACHINE You can buy mediocre bread easily enough, or make the real thing without much practice.

MICROWAVE If you do a lot of reheating or fast (and damaging) defrosting, you may want one. But essential? No. And think about that counter space!

STAND MIXER Unless you’re a baking fanatic, it takes up too much room to justify it. A good whisk or a crummy handheld mixer will do fine.

BONING/FILLETING KNIVES Really? You’re a butcher now? Or a fishmonger? If so, go ahead, by all means. But I haven’t used my boning knife in years. (It’s pretty, though.)

WOK Counterproductive without a good wok station equipped with a high-B.T.U. burner. (There’s a nice setup at Bowery Restaurant Supply for $1,400 if you have the cash and the space.)

STOCKPOT The pot you use for boiling pasta will suffice, until you start making gallons of stock at a time.

PRESSURE COOKER It’s useful, but do you need one? No.

ANYTHING MADE OF COPPER More trouble than it’s worth, unless you have a pine-paneled wall you want to decorate.

RICE COOKER Yes, if you eat rice twice daily. Otherwise, no.

COUNTERTOP CONVECTION OVEN, ROTISSERIE, OR “ROASTER” Only if you’re a sucker for late-night cooking infomercials.

[America's Young Theologian][Theology][Politics][Cooking]

travel | Abbeys And Mosques

I just got back from two days at Pluscarden Abbey near Elgin (Scotland), where those studying systematic theology at University of Aberdeen gathered to share their research. I'm generally not a big fan of group activities, but the two days were entirely pleasant. The countryside was beautiful, the night's dark profound, and rooms, rather than numbered, were named for saints.

I realized that I never said a thing about my post-birthday jaunt to Morocco. It was a short two-day stay in a country which I could easily spend several months. There was one moment when we were walking through streets shared by donkey carts, pedestrians, scooters, cars, a horse drawn caleche, and the occasional tour bus that I realized I had been prepared for this chaos. High school. Being able to find a path through chaos was the every day act of making it to one's next class, a simple realization to be sure but one that made me smile. We enjoyed our stay with two French expatriates at Dar Vedra; their hospitality and suggestions were of great assistance. It was my first time in Morocco and I'd love to return (the fresh orange juice bought from the stands in the Djemaa el Fna is reason enough). See my Flickr set if you are interested in a handful of photos. I have no plans to travel for a month or two for which I'm glad since I'm tired and need some rest.

[America's Young Theologian][Theology][Travel][Pluscarden][Marrakech]

design | Expanding Table

I'm still under the gun of deadlines, so in lieu of something more substantive I thought I'd share this. I've never seen a table do this. Enjoy.

[America's Young Theologian][Design]

quote | On Media and Love

From Chuck Klosterman's Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto:

Not that I'm bitter about this. Oh, I concede that I may be taking this particular example somewhat personally -- but I do think it's a perfect illustration of why almost everyone I know is either overtly or covertly unhappy. Coldplay songs deliver an amorphous, irrefutable interpretation of how being in love is supposed to feel, and people find themselves wanting that feeling for real. They want men to adore them like Lloyd Dobler would, and they want women to think like Aimee Mann, and they expect all their argument to sound like Sam Malone and Diane Chambers. They think everything will work out perfectly in the end (just like it did for Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones and Nick Hornby's Rob Fleming), and they don't stop believing, because Journey's Steve Perry insists we should never do that. In the nineteenth century, teenagers merely aspired to have a marriage that would be better than that of their parents; personally, I would never be satisfied unless my marriage was as good as Cliff and Clair Huxtable's (or at least as enigmatic as Jack and Meg White's).

[America's Young Theologian][Theology][Books][Chuck Klosterman]

politics | Things Do Change

[Cornel West on what it means to be a Leftist.]
Before leaving Duke in 2004, I had the opportunity to do a little work with Durham CAN, a local IAF affiliate. Building coalitions and focusing on grassroots organizing, 175 C.A.N. leaders attended a Durham County Commission meeting in the winter of 2004 where finally a Living Wage policy for full-time employees was approved. The Durham County Commission voted to pass a Living Wage policy of $9.74/hour for full-time employees. Not stopping there, attention turned to other areas including Duke University. This last week, Duke University agreed to require contracted food service vendors to offer full-time employees at least $10 per hour and basic health care coverage similar to what Duke offers its own employees, Tallman Trask III, executive vice president, announced Sunday. Kemel Dawkins, Duke’s vice president for campus services, delivered the announcement Sunday afternoon at a meeting of Durham Congregations / Associations / Neighborhoods (CAN) in Duke’s Griffith Theater.

Are you flexing your political muscle? Help build coalitions.

[America's Young Theologian][Theology][Politics][Cornel West]

news | Robert E. Webber Dies At 73

I was saddened to hear that the William R. and Geraldyne B. Myers professor of ministry, Dr. Robert E. Webber, died on Friday, April 27 at age 73 at his home in Sawyer, Michigan, after an eight-month struggle with pancreatic cancer. I was just discussing his work on Adam's blog; He was a professor while I attended Wheaton College.

Influential among Evangelicals and author of many books:

The Younger Evangelicals (Baker, 2002).

Journey to Jesus (Abingdon Press, 2001).

Ancient-Future Faith (Baker, 1999).

[America's Young Theologian][Theology][Worship][Robert E. Webber]

blogging | Roll Call

It would be interesting if the use of performance enhancing drugs was a issue amongst academics as it is in the sporting world. Coffee, Red Bull, cigarettes have been a big part of my last week as I have a meeting with my adviser, my year end review, and a research presentation in the next week. Accountants have their mid-April crunch; it hits about two weeks later for academics. All the more maddening is that spring bursts through in all her erotic beauty about the same time of year. So while I tickle the keys of my laptop in the hopes that a coherent paper emerges, I thought I'd take this time for a roll call. I'm curious about the people who read this blog. So, four questions:

1. Name (first name is adequate) / Location
2. How do you spend the bulk of your time?
3. How did you come across this blog?
4. How do you get your news (i.e. newspaper, BBC, CNN, websites, periodicals, etc.)?

Thanks for stopping by and taking time to comment. Thank you also to those who link here; if you don't, an extra link is always appreciated.

Have great days!

design | Design For The Other 90%

If you're in NYC between May 4–September 23, check out Design for the Other 90%, a new exhibit at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. The exhibition highlights the growing trend among designers to create affordable and socially responsible objects for the vast majority of the world's population (90 percent) not traditionally serviced by professional designers.

[America's Young Theologian][Theology][Design]