My mother in law recently gave us two coffee pots, made by the WearEver company. They began around the turn of the century in the rust belt (Ohio, western Pennsylvania) and are still around in some form today. I imagine that these were some of the first things they produced. The company was closely related … These Coffeepots Are Over 100 Years Old
Forbes posted yesterday about “10 brainteasers to test your mental sharpness”. Most of the riddles were the trick/”false premise” type of questions with crucial information that tend to sneak by the testee. Riddles like these focus on ambiguities of language rather than actual problem-solving. When we hear a riddle or problem we tend to pick … You’re Not an Idiot If You Answer Some of These Questions Wrong
Ingredients 1 cup chopped nut(s) (almonds, walnuts, etc.) 1/2 cup nut butter (almond, walnut, etc.) 1/3 cup raw honey 1 cup coconut flakes (unsweetened) 1/2 cup flaxseed 1/2 cup cacao/carob (powdered or chopped, unsweetened) 1 tsp salt 2 tsp vanilla 2 tsp cinnamon Directions 1. Throw everything into a bowl and mix (hands are best) … Recipe: No-Bake Primal Energy Bites
In reading my last post I noticed I made a subtle but fatal error. I said that atheists and skeptics have an epistemological apparatus that can apprehend supernatural things. While I think this is true it is only acceptable—according to the state of philosophy as I know it—if the actor is a supernaturalist to begin … Correction: Abraham Vs. Aristotle
I’ve been reading one guy here and another guy here and here. They talk about Hebrew/Middle Eastern (H/ME) epistemology, the existence of which I and most other Christians are aware and utilize under different names and applications. H/ME relies heavily on revelatory knowledge—our radar aimed at the metaphysical or supernatural—as a legitimate form of knowing … Abraham Vs. Aristotle
There’s info online you can Giggle regarding the reliability of New Testament manuscripts compared to similar documents of antiquity. Here’s a good summary, but I saw an image on Facebook (see note way below) that diagramed the comparisons. It’s an interesting phenomenon to note, but in most cases it won’t do much to convince skeptics. … New Testament Manuscript Reliability Doesn’t Matter
I’ve seen this image appear in my facebook feed at least a few times every week. The idea is that it’s best (according to some) to spend our money on local businesses because the business owners will extract more practical or “moral” utility, where the CEO will just squander it. The only problem is that … It Doesn’t Matter What Business You Spend Your Money On
I don’t mean, of course, that he doesn’t really know what science is. If someone were to prod him to unpack what he thinks I’m sure he could make a coherent case, but the quote is nonsensical. Science is a method and a process that’s neither true nor false. There’s nothing about it to “believe” … Neil Degrasse Tyson Doesn’t Know What Science Is
Halper, who plays in the band Periphery, is sponsored by Mapex and had the neat idea of setting up his set out in the busy streets during the music industry gathering SXSW. Thank God the police were there to stop this immoral act from continuing. The look of horror on everyone’s faces is heart-wrenching. This … Cops Shut Down Criminal Drummer Playing in Public
I first heard Melt-Banana when a fellow grocery store warm body lent me their Scratch or Stitch release. It held my interest for a few listens: an album full of layered ray gun guitar effects, fuzz bass pounding, ADHD drumming, insane cat-bark yipyap vocals, song titles bordering on Engrish hilarity. Something that was experimental but … In Which I Bloviate About Melt-Banana
I just bought these used but brand new at Half Price Books. There were other editions that were a dollar less but I bought these because I liked their covers. This is what “splurging” means when you have a mortgage and two kids.
Click here or up in the menu if you have a manuscript that needs the once-over. If you have no interest or need for a beta reader, please enjoy some music timed to the video of the Fraggle Rock theme song, performed by your friends in The Locust.
From Raymond Chandler’s The Long Goodbye. Reading this paragraph put me in another place. I was sitting under a tree, naked, in 140 degree weather, with a large block of ice resting on my belly. The recent warm turn of local weather didn’t hurt, either. At eleven o’clock I was sitting in the third booth … The First Paragraph of Chapter Thirteen of Someone Else’s Book
From near the end of The Abolition of Man (read it free online here). Emphasis mine. But once our souls, that is, ourselves, have been given up, the power thus conferred will not belong to us. We shall in fact be the slaves and puppets of that to which we have given our souls. It … C.S. Lewis on the Soft Dictatorship of Objective Values
Buckell posted a few days ago that Arcitc Rising is now out, and I felt bad because I had the book for review but I was (unwillingly) dragging my feet on it. But now I will drag my fingers over it, and by “it” I mean my Macbook keyboard. Arctic turns UNPG (United Nations Polar … Book Review: Arctic Rising
I’ve noticed a tendency of modern writers to write clipped sentences and paragraphs. Like this. One or a few in each paragraph, for certain scenes. Not even action scenes. Ones where there’s supposed to be descriptive of a scene, or internal thought development. I can understand if it’s first person from a certain kind of … Have No Fear, This Is an Easy Read
If you’re a great writer, and I know you are, then you should be able to take a personality type that has been known to really boil my goat in the past, and eventually turn me sympathetic toward the character holding that personality. One recent example for me was Dio from Last Exile, which is … I Hate Your Guts, But Give Me a Few More Episodes
While trying to escape that weird part of Youtube, I landed on the first video posted below, of C.S. Lewis on the problem of evil. He explains, with much better clarity and elegance, what I mentioned before about God having preferences (he even used the same word), and that He prefers free moral agents over … Nothing Racks Up Adsense Money Like Another Post on Theodicy
I recently replaced my copyright disclaimer on my blog with a Creative Commons license. Coincidentally, my friend Seth, who has been publishing Buzzgrinder for over a decade, ran into a trademark issue with the buzzgrinder brand name and the twitter.com/buzzgrinder account. It turns out someone had secured the buzzgrinder name on twitter before, and Seth … If Your Hands Were on My Trademark I’d Smack Them
I’ve thought before that, sociologically speaking, people look to attribute God’s qualities to other phenomena, like the universe, politics, aesthetics/art, or science. People much smarter than me have undoubtedly come across this before, like Voltaire when he said that if God didn’t exist it would be necessary to invent him. I like that quote because … An Inexhaustive, Scatterbrained Post on Atheism and Science Fiction