My wife says I can't remember anything. I tell her it's because there's so much information and so many thoughts in my head I can't sort them out. It's like trying to find a paper in your office. It's hard to find just one single paper when you have so many in there. Consider this my mental office cleaning.
Thanks to several of you for your nice words about things I've posted here recently. I appreciate your kindness. You may have started something though because I might start posting more.
Earlier today I was listening to Louis Armstrong sing "What A Wonderful World". I realized it's not possible for a person to hear him sing that song and not smile. If you can keep from smiling when you hear that, I worry about you.
I also realized that song should never have been covered by any other artist. It's his song. I know a lot of singers have recorded it, some of them well but none of them like Satchmo. I love Tony Bennett and he recorded it. It's good but it ain't the same. I don't know what makes singers do that. You can't improve perfection.
Speaking of songs I'm really into Chris Isaak's new one called "We Let Her Down". It's from his first new CD in 8 years called "Mr. Lucky". I almost typed record as in, his first new record. I stopped myself because I realized that would make me sound old. I'll never forget the time I was talking to my 11 year old daughter about music. I told her about a certain record and she stopped me to ask what a record is! By the way Chris Isaak does one of the best live shows you'll ever see in any genre.
I come across other blogs all the time. Some I find on my own and some others point me to. I've had this thought for a while now. I'm going to start adding links to blogs I enjoy reading on the right side of the page. That's funny in a way because I'm lucky to find time to add to my own, let alone read others. Maybe you'll enjoy them from time to time though.
By the way, I'm experimenting with the layout a bit; changing colors, adding info boxes. I'm open to ideas and suggestions. I'm thinking of adding pictures from time to time so who knows what this may look like. I'm still trying to learn a lot of how this works as I go.
I wish I'd seen Roberto Clemente play baseball when he was alive. I've seen the videos. I wish I could have seen him in person. I've got a million great memories life has given me. That's one I wish I had. I missed him by two seasons. He died at the beginning of '73. My first game in Pittsburgh was in '74 I think.
If you want to read a great study about the crucifixion of Christ, get "Voices of Calvary" (Truths That Echo Through The Ages). It's written by David Pharr and published by Publishing Designs, Inc. He's currently preaching in South Carolina and was previously the director of the East Tennessee School of Preaching. I'm sure the school has it in their bookstore. It's great for personal reading and study. It would also make a great book for an adult or teenage Bible study class. For men, it's filled with great thoughts to share when presiding over Communion. Get the book!
I told you these thoughts were random so I'll prove it. How is it humanly possible for the Lennon Sisters and the Everly Brothers to create the harmonies they have in their music? I wonder what they would sound like together. Speaking of the Everly's if you ever see a CD version of their "Brown Eyes" or "Born Yesterday" records (there I said it), let me know. Yes, I've checked ebay and itunes. If you do I'll tell you about the time years ago when Don Everly gave me one of their boxed sets. That's another thought for another time though...
Monday, April 20, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
"Outta Here"
Harry Kalas died yesterday. To the uninformed he was the long time play by play announcer for the Philadelphia Phillies. To the rest of us he was a part of baseball history. He'd been with the Phillies for 37 years.
Radio play by play men are important not just to a baseball team but to the fans of that team. They become as identifiable as the colors and logos of the team. The days of announcers spending half a life time with a team seem to becoming to an end. The days of their easily recognizable broadcast styles are ending as well. Now everybody wants to sound like they're hosting Sports Center. Kalas' death brought us one step closer to that end.
Think about where all the great announcers come from. It's baseball. Look at the networks over the last few decades. When they needed announcers they looked to baseball. Vin Scully (Dodgers) was on NBC. Jack Buck (Cardinals) was on FOX. Al Michaels (Reds) was on ABC and is now on NBC. The list goes on and it includes Kalas. The NFL picked him for voice over work for NFL Films. That road only leads one way. You don't see basketball or football announcers being recruited for baseball. It's an art form. In baseball more than any other sport the announcer is painting a picture. It's theater for the mind of the thinking man. His voice rises and falls with the ebb and flow of the game and it draws us in. It's a form of music really.
Baseball also becomes a bigger part of the fan's life than other sports. Think about it. You might love a football team but you're only going to hear a game on the radio once a week for a few weeks each year. Baseball announcers are with you every night for an entire season; three seasons actually from spring until fall. For a young fan and even many not so young fans, that announcer is providing the soundtrack of your summers.
I remember getting a transistor radio for my birthday one year when I was a boy. I thought it was great that I could lay in bed under the covers and hear Lanny Frattare bring the Pirates games to me. When I discovered I could lay there and pick up Ernie Harwell in Detroit, Jack Buck in St. Louis or Marty Brenneman in Cincinnati I thought it was the greatest discovery since Columbus found his New World. I mean they were hundreds of miles away. If they were on the west coast broadcasting back to their home cities then on to me, that was even more amazing.
We don't have transistor radios anymore though. We don't have those legendary announcers like we used to either and as shameful as it is, most of us now wouldn't make the time to tune them in even if we did. Those of us lucky enough to have experienced that slice of life though have the memories. We can still play those sounds of summer in our minds.
In times past how a person died was very important. In the Civil War for instance if a soldier, particularly a commander died on heroically on the field of battle, he was remembered for dying a glorious death. A person was often remembered for how he died almost as much as for how he lived. Harry Kalas ended his career and his life by calling his Phillies to a World Championship last season; his last full season. He died yesterday in the press box getting ready for the Phillies game against the Nationals. He died a glorious death. Just like his call when a Phillie would hit one out, he's "outta here".
Radio play by play men are important not just to a baseball team but to the fans of that team. They become as identifiable as the colors and logos of the team. The days of announcers spending half a life time with a team seem to becoming to an end. The days of their easily recognizable broadcast styles are ending as well. Now everybody wants to sound like they're hosting Sports Center. Kalas' death brought us one step closer to that end.
Think about where all the great announcers come from. It's baseball. Look at the networks over the last few decades. When they needed announcers they looked to baseball. Vin Scully (Dodgers) was on NBC. Jack Buck (Cardinals) was on FOX. Al Michaels (Reds) was on ABC and is now on NBC. The list goes on and it includes Kalas. The NFL picked him for voice over work for NFL Films. That road only leads one way. You don't see basketball or football announcers being recruited for baseball. It's an art form. In baseball more than any other sport the announcer is painting a picture. It's theater for the mind of the thinking man. His voice rises and falls with the ebb and flow of the game and it draws us in. It's a form of music really.
Baseball also becomes a bigger part of the fan's life than other sports. Think about it. You might love a football team but you're only going to hear a game on the radio once a week for a few weeks each year. Baseball announcers are with you every night for an entire season; three seasons actually from spring until fall. For a young fan and even many not so young fans, that announcer is providing the soundtrack of your summers.
I remember getting a transistor radio for my birthday one year when I was a boy. I thought it was great that I could lay in bed under the covers and hear Lanny Frattare bring the Pirates games to me. When I discovered I could lay there and pick up Ernie Harwell in Detroit, Jack Buck in St. Louis or Marty Brenneman in Cincinnati I thought it was the greatest discovery since Columbus found his New World. I mean they were hundreds of miles away. If they were on the west coast broadcasting back to their home cities then on to me, that was even more amazing.
We don't have transistor radios anymore though. We don't have those legendary announcers like we used to either and as shameful as it is, most of us now wouldn't make the time to tune them in even if we did. Those of us lucky enough to have experienced that slice of life though have the memories. We can still play those sounds of summer in our minds.
In times past how a person died was very important. In the Civil War for instance if a soldier, particularly a commander died on heroically on the field of battle, he was remembered for dying a glorious death. A person was often remembered for how he died almost as much as for how he lived. Harry Kalas ended his career and his life by calling his Phillies to a World Championship last season; his last full season. He died yesterday in the press box getting ready for the Phillies game against the Nationals. He died a glorious death. Just like his call when a Phillie would hit one out, he's "outta here".
Monday, April 13, 2009
David's Rich Offering
I mentioned previously some of the numbers associated with Solomon and his wealth. Today while looking at First Chronicles I was reminded of David and his wealth. In verse 14 of chapter 22 of that book, David gives 100,000 talents of gold towards the building of the temple that Solomon would construct. That's 12 million pounds or 192 million ounces. In today's money that donation was worth $172,800,000,000. Yes, that's 172.8 billion dollars!
Chapter 16 recounts a song of thanksgiving David sang to God. In verse 29 he sang, "Give to the Lord the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come before Him. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness."
I think it's fair to say that David knew what he was talking about when he said to bring an offering!
Chapter 16 recounts a song of thanksgiving David sang to God. In verse 29 he sang, "Give to the Lord the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come before Him. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness."
I think it's fair to say that David knew what he was talking about when he said to bring an offering!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Play Ball!
So far everything I've posted here has been related to Christian faith. This entry will change that. The Major League baseball season has started. I came across something I wrote a few years ago and thought I'd post it here. If you're a baseball fan you'll get it. If you're not, indulge me anyway. After all, it's my site!
It was warm out tonight; not January warm but April warm in January. A warm breeze was blowing gently before a thunderstorm rolled in. It felt like a spring night. It's the kind of night that reminds you of the hope and assurance that spring is on the way and so is baseball.
It was the kind of night we loved when we were 18 and had all the answers before any of us had been confronted with the questions. We'd talk about which teams had the best shot that year. We'd talk about our teams and they were ours. They'd been a part of our lives since we were boys and they were still a part of our lives as we stood at the entry to manhood.
It would be a night to celebrate because the season was here and everybody was still a winner. All the teams are winners in the first week of April. As a result, all the fans are winners too. We were winners. Winter was over. Spring was here and hope came with it. We'd live forever and everything would always be as perfect as it was that night. We knew that as sure as we knew we'd be celebrating a Series victory in the fall with our heroes.
We all had the perfect girls picked out to marry. They'd be baseball fans. We'd make them fans. We could stay out here all night and celebrate baseball, our friendship, those girls and spring. It didn't matter that we were supposed to be in class in a few hours. The semester was almost over and besides, we'd already spent all those winter days in class. We deserved this.
We planned our lives and how we'd celebrate life next spring and the spring after that like we were celebrating now; on an empty baseball field in the middle of the night with no regrets about yesterday and no concerns about tomorrow.
As the night grew longer and the grass grew heavier we sat and laid there believing the cool wetness of the grass was like everything else in life. It was for us. It was our championship champagne that covered us in our victorious celebration; the celebration of hope, baseball, friendship and 18 year old invincibility. It was perfect and it was ours. It belonged to all of us and only us. Anyone not on that field at that time could ever feel that.
There was no reason to believe anything would change. It wouldn't be possible that in a few, quick years we'd lose track of each other. It was inconceivable to think my Pirates could only sniff a World Series once over the next 18 years. A sniff would be all they got though thanks to Barry Bonds' inability to throw out a crippled Sid Bream at the plate in '92. At that time, in that night how could it be possible for us to be spread around the country in different walks of life like free agents scattered around various leagues in different levels? We would have laughed at that thought on nights like this; on that night.
We were there. I was there. I had those thoughts and shared those feelings. They were thoughts and feelings brought to us on the quiet strength of that sweet and warm gentle breeze. I felt that breeze tonight. You know the kind. It carried with it the memories of that night from long ago and on its back was the hint and glimmer of new dreams. Then it rained.
It was warm out tonight; not January warm but April warm in January. A warm breeze was blowing gently before a thunderstorm rolled in. It felt like a spring night. It's the kind of night that reminds you of the hope and assurance that spring is on the way and so is baseball.
It was the kind of night we loved when we were 18 and had all the answers before any of us had been confronted with the questions. We'd talk about which teams had the best shot that year. We'd talk about our teams and they were ours. They'd been a part of our lives since we were boys and they were still a part of our lives as we stood at the entry to manhood.
It would be a night to celebrate because the season was here and everybody was still a winner. All the teams are winners in the first week of April. As a result, all the fans are winners too. We were winners. Winter was over. Spring was here and hope came with it. We'd live forever and everything would always be as perfect as it was that night. We knew that as sure as we knew we'd be celebrating a Series victory in the fall with our heroes.
We all had the perfect girls picked out to marry. They'd be baseball fans. We'd make them fans. We could stay out here all night and celebrate baseball, our friendship, those girls and spring. It didn't matter that we were supposed to be in class in a few hours. The semester was almost over and besides, we'd already spent all those winter days in class. We deserved this.
We planned our lives and how we'd celebrate life next spring and the spring after that like we were celebrating now; on an empty baseball field in the middle of the night with no regrets about yesterday and no concerns about tomorrow.
As the night grew longer and the grass grew heavier we sat and laid there believing the cool wetness of the grass was like everything else in life. It was for us. It was our championship champagne that covered us in our victorious celebration; the celebration of hope, baseball, friendship and 18 year old invincibility. It was perfect and it was ours. It belonged to all of us and only us. Anyone not on that field at that time could ever feel that.
There was no reason to believe anything would change. It wouldn't be possible that in a few, quick years we'd lose track of each other. It was inconceivable to think my Pirates could only sniff a World Series once over the next 18 years. A sniff would be all they got though thanks to Barry Bonds' inability to throw out a crippled Sid Bream at the plate in '92. At that time, in that night how could it be possible for us to be spread around the country in different walks of life like free agents scattered around various leagues in different levels? We would have laughed at that thought on nights like this; on that night.
We were there. I was there. I had those thoughts and shared those feelings. They were thoughts and feelings brought to us on the quiet strength of that sweet and warm gentle breeze. I felt that breeze tonight. You know the kind. It carried with it the memories of that night from long ago and on its back was the hint and glimmer of new dreams. Then it rained.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
First Kings Fun Facts
Several months ago I led a Wednesday night Bible class in which we studied the books of First and Second Kings. As any Bible student knows, there are certain things in the Bible that are difficult for us to understand based on differences in cultures, years and words.
I discovered as I prepared for the class that I couldn't really understand the wealth of Solomon and the size of the temple he constructed. I get that fact that he was the richest man in the world but I didn't realize or know just how rich. Afterall, I don't measure things in cubits and talents. I doubt you do either. I decided to convert the temple measurements and the gold and riches of Solomon into figures we use and understand.
As recently as last week I had a person tell me they were glad I did that. They thought it made the class interesting and allowed them to really get a grasp on these things as well. That got me thinking that maybe I should put some of those figures here. I hope you find them interesting.
I Kings 6:2 tells us the temple built by Solomon was 60 cubits by 20 cubits by 30 cubits. A cubit was approximately 18 inches in length. That equals 90 feet by 30 feet. It was 45 feet tall. Based on the length and width, it was 2700 square feet in size.
I Kings 7:1 tells us it took Solomons 13 years to build his own house. There was a good reason for that based on the next verse. Again converting cubits to inches and feet, his house stood 150 long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet tall. That's a total of 11250 square feet. I looked at the Knoxville Association of Realtors MLS today. Of the homes currently for sale in that range of size, the average asking price is $2,465,000. Remember, the real estate market is depressed!
The Hall of Pillars he built in chapter 7 and verse 6 was 3375 SF. Keep in mind the average American home is about 1500 SF in size.
We are all familiar with the Queen of Sheba's visit to Solomon in chapter 10. Verse 10 says that she gave him 120 talents of gold. A talent of gold weighed about 120 pounds. (Remember that when you read Christ's parables of the widow who lost her talent and parable on forgiveness in Matthew 18:23-35.) That's 14,400 pounds of gold.
Gold has been trading at over $900/oz. recently. With 16 ounces in a pound, Solomon received 230,400 ounces of gold. In today's money the queen gave him $207,360,000 in gold. That's two hundred seven million three hundred sixty thousand dollars! It's no wonder that verses 21 and 27 of that chapter tells us that silver was worth nothing in his days.
But wait, there's more. Verse 14 says he received 666 talents of gold each year. Based on the same figures we used above, he received 79,920 pounds of gold which would be 1,278,720 ounces. At $900/ounce, Solomon was given $1,150,848,000 in gold using today's dollars. Yes, that's 1.1 billion!
Now I can undertand that wealth. There are several other places in that book as well as in the rest of the Bible where you can use simple conversions to make it more understandable. I think doing that makes us really appreciate even more what the writers are telling us.
I discovered as I prepared for the class that I couldn't really understand the wealth of Solomon and the size of the temple he constructed. I get that fact that he was the richest man in the world but I didn't realize or know just how rich. Afterall, I don't measure things in cubits and talents. I doubt you do either. I decided to convert the temple measurements and the gold and riches of Solomon into figures we use and understand.
As recently as last week I had a person tell me they were glad I did that. They thought it made the class interesting and allowed them to really get a grasp on these things as well. That got me thinking that maybe I should put some of those figures here. I hope you find them interesting.
I Kings 6:2 tells us the temple built by Solomon was 60 cubits by 20 cubits by 30 cubits. A cubit was approximately 18 inches in length. That equals 90 feet by 30 feet. It was 45 feet tall. Based on the length and width, it was 2700 square feet in size.
I Kings 7:1 tells us it took Solomons 13 years to build his own house. There was a good reason for that based on the next verse. Again converting cubits to inches and feet, his house stood 150 long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet tall. That's a total of 11250 square feet. I looked at the Knoxville Association of Realtors MLS today. Of the homes currently for sale in that range of size, the average asking price is $2,465,000. Remember, the real estate market is depressed!
The Hall of Pillars he built in chapter 7 and verse 6 was 3375 SF. Keep in mind the average American home is about 1500 SF in size.
We are all familiar with the Queen of Sheba's visit to Solomon in chapter 10. Verse 10 says that she gave him 120 talents of gold. A talent of gold weighed about 120 pounds. (Remember that when you read Christ's parables of the widow who lost her talent and parable on forgiveness in Matthew 18:23-35.) That's 14,400 pounds of gold.
Gold has been trading at over $900/oz. recently. With 16 ounces in a pound, Solomon received 230,400 ounces of gold. In today's money the queen gave him $207,360,000 in gold. That's two hundred seven million three hundred sixty thousand dollars! It's no wonder that verses 21 and 27 of that chapter tells us that silver was worth nothing in his days.
But wait, there's more. Verse 14 says he received 666 talents of gold each year. Based on the same figures we used above, he received 79,920 pounds of gold which would be 1,278,720 ounces. At $900/ounce, Solomon was given $1,150,848,000 in gold using today's dollars. Yes, that's 1.1 billion!
Now I can undertand that wealth. There are several other places in that book as well as in the rest of the Bible where you can use simple conversions to make it more understandable. I think doing that makes us really appreciate even more what the writers are telling us.
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