Monsters Inside Me

Sometimes a television show just grabs me. Especially when it is in cable reruns and I stumble across a block of many consecutive episodes. I’ve accidentally dedicated evenings to watching blocks of CSI, Myth Busters, Man v. Food, and Pawn Stars. Tonight Monsters Inside Me was added to the list.

Early in the evening I turned on CNN to watch some discussion on the Amanda Knox trial verdict. After the segment I wanted to hear was over I switched the television to the Travel Channel and watched Man v. Food at a low volume while I worked out some final details in my musical arrangements for Sunday. By the time I finished my arrangements another show was coming on (some nonsense about ghost hunters or something), so I reached for the remote to shut off my television. And then I committed a grievous error. I decided to channel surf for a moment before shutting off the TV.

As I wandered past the Discovery Channel I saw Monsters Inside Me in progress. Three episodes later I finally shut off my television. The show is about parasites. It is educational, interesting, and terrifying.

Why do I say terrifying? For several reasons. The footage of the parasites, in both real life shots and CGI images, is enough to make you imagine your skin is crawling. Most of the people suffering serious infestations of parasites were exposed to them through very normal activities. All of those people had at least one misdiagnosis of their condition and some had many misdiagnoses.

A rat lungworm hatches (Image via Discovery Communications, LLC).

You can check out the show on Animal Planet or the Discovery Channel. Or if you just want a glimpse of it, here is a link to the AnimalPlanet Youtube channel, which has a series of clips from the show (link).

It’s a scary world out there.

Baseball 2009 – Summary

During the 2009 baseball season I attended seven games, spanning three levels of play (NCAA, A, AA). I went to three different ballparks (Altoona, Reading, State College) and saw eleven different teams play (Altoona Curve, Harrisburg Senators, Reading Phillies,  Auburn Doubledays, Batavia Muckdogs, Lowell Spinners, State College Spikes, NY-Penn AL All-Stars, and the NY-Penn NL All-Stars).

Here are some assorted total numbers:

Games: 7

Tickets: $50

Innings: 63

Game Time: 18 hours 33 minutes

Hits: 118

Runs: 59

Errors: 9

Walks: 49

Strikeouts: 90

Home Runs: 11

Stolen Bases: 12

Here are a few highlights:

March 27 – State College, PA -  #16 OSU Buckeyes 8, PSU Nittany Lions 3

This was the first non-Temple NCAA baseball game I have attended. Penn State scored two runs in the first, and starter T.J. Macy threw 4 2/3 innings of no hit baseball. I was just starting to get excited about it when he imploded and gave up 5 runs before getting the last out of the 5th inning.

April 9 – Reading, PA – Senators 6, R-Phils 5

This was opening night for the R-Phils and the mood was festive. The R-Phils squandered a lead, went to extra innings, and lost in the 10th. The R-Phils had at least one hit in every inning. I saw Michael Taylor play for the first time.

A future Phillies star.

July 9 – State College, PA – Spikes 2, Muckdogs 1

This was a well-played game that featured good defense and solid pitching. Each pitching staff surrendered 4 hits and 2 walks and had 8 strikeouts. The Spikes had the only extrabase hit of the game (a double), which did not factor into the scoring. After seeing the Spikes’ improved defense and pitching I was filled with optimism that the team might be much better this year than they were last year.

July 22 – State College, PA – Spinners 5, Spikes 1

On July 22 I decided to pull a doubleheader at two different parks. First was an afternoon Spikes game. The Spikes had a bad day. But it was still a beautiful afternoon to watch a game.

July 22 – Altoona, PA – R-Phils 7, Curve 2

As I drove from State College to Altoona for the second game of the day the weather took a turn for the worse. By game time rain was falling, resulting in a one hour and 14 minute delay. Kyle Drabek was the R-Phils starter, and I was excited to see him pitch. He threw a strong eight innings. I expect to see him pitching for the Phils in a couple of years.

August 1 – State College, PA – Spikes 8, Doubledays 5

I investigated the Nookie Monster’s Nook before this game. During the game I saw two unique things happen. early in the game a fielder’s choice occurred on which neither an out or error was recorded. Later in the game three consecutive batters hit doubles.

August 18 – State College, PA – AL 4, NL 2

This was the first All-Star game I have ever attended. It set my personal record for number-of-players-that-appear-in-a-game-I-attend-in-person, with 55 players getting into the game. It was also the first game I’ve seen in person that had six umpires on the field.

I regret not making it to any MLB games this season. I’ll do my best to prevent that from happening next year.

I love baseball.

A Weezer Wednesday

One of the first music videos I ever saw was Weezer’s song Buddy Holly from their debut self-titled album. The music video was included with Windows 95. Here it is, in all its Happy Days glory.

The Blue Album (aka Weezer) has held up well. I still play it often. In 2002 I saw Weezer at the Tweeter Center. By that time they had released three more albums, yet that night in Camden they played many songs from their first album, including Buddy Holly.

I noticed that Rivers Cuomo  and crew produced an album this summer called Raditude. One of the singles has the long name  (If You’re Wondering if I Want You To) I Want You To. An alternate version of the song was recorded with Sara Bareilles, making the lyrics of the verses a dialogue instead of a monologue. The drums and bass put down a glorious backbeat groove. Check it out:

SCEFC Set List (December 6)

On Sunday I am serving as the worship leader at State College E-Free Church. The sermon will be derived from John 11, which contains the account of the death and resurrection of Lazarus. As I put together the set list for this week I was thinking about the season of advent we are in and the expectation of the birth of Jesus (or the expectation of celebrating His birth) as well as the power Jesus has over death (a thought stimulated by the John 11 passage). Here is the set list that resulted:

Prelude: (E) Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus – Charles Wesley

Following this song there will be an advent reading and the lighting of the first two advent candles, so I thought it was appropriate to use an advent-themed song as a prelude. This is one of my favorite songs for the advent season, I play it frequently on my own time in December. The music is a lilting 3/4 mosey of goodness, accompanied by poignant lyrics.

Song #1: (G) Jesus Messiah – Chris Tomlin, Daniel Carson, Ed Cash, & Jesse Reeves

This song moves us from the theme of advent to the the Gospel. Expectation is realized, Jesus performs His redemptive work on the cross, and we honor Him for it. The second verse of this song speaks of the body of Christ being bread and His blood being wine, a reference to communion, which will be taking place later that morning. I really like the lyrical content of this song. The last time I coordinated a set i used it, and I’m sure I will use it many more times in the future.

Song #2: (E) Sing to the King – Billy Foote & Charles Silvester Horne

This song reaffirms Christ’s victory and the fact that we are His.

Song #3: (A) Mighty to Save – Reuben Morgan & Ben Fielding

Here we focus on our need for compassion, mercy, and the work of the Holy Spirit. We celebrate that our God is the Author of salvation and mighty to save. He has defeated death and the grave. In response to this we urge each other to be lights that brings glory to Jesus in the world around us.

Closing Song: (A) Jesus Paid It All – Elvina Hall & Alex Nafong

In the John 11 passage we reflect on Jesus restoring life. This song talks about Jesus being our hope for life, culminating with “Oh praise the One Who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead!” That’s a good note to end the service on.

Before the closing song there will be a time of communion. As the coordinator I am responsible for providing the musical background. I’m still trying to decide what to do. What are your opinions on background music during communion? Live music vs CDs? Instrumental music vs music with lyrics?  Music vs silence?

My inclination is toward silence. I like minimal distractions. Yet I suspect most people prefer some sort of music in the background. Feel free to fire away, opinions welcome.

The End of the 100 Crisp Declaration?

A few months ago I mentioned that I was conducting a Pringles Super Stack audit. The “100 Crisps in every can” claim that was written on the can bothered me. After counting a few cans I feel very confident saying that not every can contains 100 crisps.

A few weeks after I wrote the post about the audit in September I saw that the “100 Crisps in every can” was gone from the can graphics, but still appeared on the peel-off seal on top of the container. And now even that has disappeared. When I went grocery shopping this week I noticed none of the Pringles Super Stack cans at Wegman’s contained any mention of “100 Crisps in every can.”

Good riddance.