Weekend Links 4-20-18

A weekly roundup of interesting stuff from the Internet:

The old adage is that you never leave a baseball game early. Never. Last Saturday, the Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves proved this adage to be true in one of the strangest innings of a baseball game ever. I was watching this game live and still cannot believe the way it turned out. I have never seen anything like it.

C.S. Lewis is known as one of the greatest Christian writers of all time. Many forget that he was once an avowed atheist. His experiences in the trenches during World War I changed his life forever. 

Adventures in etymology: Why are bananas, nuts, and crackers the only foods that say "crazy"?

How a notorious art heist led to the discovery of six fake Mona Lisas.

English isn't logical and that's a good thing.

How Schoolhouse Rock became the "Jingle of a Generation". (hat tip Witnify)

Five ways to recover the lost art of note taking.

Five years ago, Brad Meltzer put out a plea on social media for a kidney donor to help save his beloved history teacher. He then rewarded the donor by making her a major character in his latest novel.

Could a move towards localism help heal our political divide? It's certainly a good place to start.

Myrtle Beach is known as a great place for a golf vacation. But it also happens to be the self-proclaimed mini-golf capital of the world. 

Daily Links 4-8-13

Your daily dose of fun links. In today's edition: questions of Christian education, love and baseball, lessons in good listening, and more.

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Four questions that will help parents understand whether Christian education at either private schools or universities is successful. For anyone concerned about the education of their children these are questions you will want your child to be able to answer. (Hat tip: Aaron Armstrong) 

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Debunking myths about millenials and the church.

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More research about millenials and the news is not good.

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A children's bookstore designed to look like a long winding rainbow.

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Love and baseball: a pair of Red Sox fans who met on Twitter got married at Fenway Park.

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50 wonderful ideas for sprucing up your home library (Hat tip: Book Riot)

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It's difficult to be a good listener but applying these lessons will go a long way towards improving our ability to listen.

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15 grammatical errors that will make you look silly:
Like this infographic? Get more content marketing tips from Copyblogger.

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Daily Links 3-10-14

Here's a collection of links to help start off your week: remembering C. S. Lewis, gifts for grammar geeks, why community is so hard to find, and more.

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Reflections from Douglas Gresham about his stepfather C. S. Lewis.

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A collection of gifts for grammar geeks.

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There's a secret corporation that controls America. Well, not exactly but that's almost right.

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Why do we have such a hard time finding community?

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In praise of long pastorates. I'm of the opinion that pastors should look to plant themselves in a church and stay there. (Hat tip: Challies)

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A collection of kitchen gadgets for the Firefly fan.

Daily Links 2-25-14

In today's post: the Christian leader in the digital age, smartphones are making us tired and unproductive, food brands named after real people, and more.

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The Christian Leader in the Digital Age:

The Digital Age is upon us. In the span of less than three decades, we have redefined the way humans communicate, entertain, inform, research, create, and connect – and what we know now is only a hint of what is to come. But the greatest concern of the church is not a technological imperative, but a Gospel imperative.

The digital world did not exist a generation ago, and now it is a fundamental fact of life. The world spawned by the personal computer, the Internet, social media, and the smart phone now constitutes the greatest arena of public discussion and debate the world has ever known.

Leaders who talk about the real world as opposed to the digital world are making a mistake, a category error. While we are right to prioritize real face-to-face conversations and to find comfort and grounding in stable authorities like the printed book, the digital world is itself a real world, just real in a different way. 

Real communication is happening in the digital world, on the Web, and on the smart phone in your pocket. Real information is being shared and globally disseminated, faster than ever before. Real conversations are taking place, through voice, words and images, connecting people and conversations all over the world. 

If the leader is not leading in the digital world, his leadership is, by definition, limited to those who also ignore or neglect that world, and that population is shrinking every minute. The clock is ticking.

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21 English words we need to get rid of. It's surprising to me how many of these words are commonly used.

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For all their advantages, smartphones don't seem to be making us more productive. Quite the opposite:

For a productive day at work tomorrow, give the smartphone a rest tonight. 

Reading and sending work email on a smartphone late into the evening doesn’t just make it harder to get a decent night’s sleep. New research findings show it also exhausts workers by morning and leaves them disengaged by the next afternoon. 

That means the way most knowledge workers do their jobs—monitoring their iPhones for notes from the boss long after the office day is done and responding to colleagues at all hours—ultimately makes them less effective, posit researchers from University of Florida, Michigan State University and University of Washington.

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A handy infographic on why readers prefer print books to e-books.

via EBookFriendly.

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Real or Fake: The Names Behind 12 Famous Food Brands. I was pleasantly surprised at how many of these were real.

Daily Links 1-10-14

Here's a huge roundup of links to get your weekend started off right: some unusual things that have traveled into space, some neat history, perfect spaghetti marinara, and more.

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Over at Mental Floss, a list of 9 unusual things that astronauts brought into space. My personal favorite is the Silver Snoopy Lapel Pin.

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An interview with Glenn Harlan Reynolds over at National Review about the state of higher education and, of course, his new book.

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I always thought the first submarines appeared during the Civil War. Turns out I was wrong. The first submarine was actually invented during the Revolutionary War.

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Tips for becoming a successful writer.

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Kevin DeYoung shares the Ten Commandments of Twitter. Some great advice in this post.

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Chef Scott Conant shares his secrets for making the perfect spaghetti marinara. I've had this dish at Scarpetta Las Vegas (incidentally, one of the best meals I have ever had at a restaurant) and it is fantastic. If you start making spaghetti this way you will never want to prepare it any other way. Trust me on this.

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Is it possible to be a comedian without swearing or talking about sex? Jerry Seinfeld proves that it can be done. (Hat tip: Acculturated)

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A collection of nine sentences guaranteed to make a grammar nerd's head explode. English is tough.

Daily Links 10-11-13

Recovering the lost Doctor Who, the Civil War in color, how to accumulate frequent flyer miles without flying, how many spaces follow a period, and much more in today's links.

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Over 100 previously lost episodes of Doctor Who have been discovered in Ethiopia:

A group of dedicated Doctor Who fans tracked down at least 100 long-lost episodes of the show gathering dust more than 3,000 miles away in Ethiopia.

It was feared the BBC ­programmes from the 1960s – featuring the first two doctors William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton – had vanished for all time after the Beeb flogged off a load of old footage.

But after months of ­detective work the tapes have been unearthed at the Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency.

A television insider said: “It is a triumph and fans ­everywhere will be thrilled."

“This is a really big deal for the BBC and is set to make them millions from the sale of the DVDs.”

Ya think?

Hat tip: Neatorama

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Two professional colorists, a Briton and a Dane have created a remarkable collection of color civil war photographs:

General Ulysses S. Grant

General Robert E. Lee

There are many more photographs and the full story in this article. (Hat tip Power Line)

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Settling the important questions: one period or two at the end of a sentence?

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This is interesting: how to accumulate frequent flyer miles without boarding a plane.

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Stop worshipping, it's time for "Special Music":

Special music to me is a big “everyone stop worshiping, it’s time for the special music” part of the service.  Question: Intimate worship to the creator of the universe isn’t special enough for you?  ”Ok, lame worship is over, now it’s time for the SPECIAL music!” (“special” said in a very sarcastic voice of course)

My biggest problem with special music isn’t the title though (they could call it “super happy fun exciting time” for all I care), it’s that people come to church to experience God! Or maybe they didn’t and they don’t even know that an experience with God is what they need.  Either way, people are hurt and broken and an experience with God is what they need.

We have one or two hours to present God (most likely less if your church is still doing “special music”) and give people an opportunity to experience him.  AND WE’RE WASTING IT WITH “SPECIAL MUSIC?”  People need God! They don’t need to sit and hear Jim and sister Karen perform the bluegrass song they wrote.  People can get mediocre performances anywhere in the world.  What are we as a church giving them that they can’t get in the world?

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The true story of the Nobel Winners who foiled Hitler.

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Manuscript pages of Great Expectations.

Weekend Links 9-28-13

A little nostalgia, Alfred Hitchcock, some odd Disney facts, and more fun stuff for your weekend reading pleasure.


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If you are of a certain age, you likely had a Trapper Keeper while you were in school. Here's a wonderful history of our favorite school accessory.

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All of Alfred Hitchcock's cameo appearances in one video:




Source

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An assortment of odd Disney movie facts.

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Grammar rules: how to use a comma without looking like an idiot. (Hat tip: Neatorama)

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Five curious cases of international borders.

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Going the extra mile: A woman loses her wedding ring. A Panera Bread store manager finds the ring in their parking lot.  Key quote:‘This is Panera. This is what we do, we build relationships so our guests can come back."
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Ten baseball songs you probably have never heard (at least I had never heard of any of them).

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A guide to reading the Federalist Papers (hint: you don't have to read them all)

Weekend Links 9-7-13

In case you missed it, some of the links featured here during the week:

Don't Let Social Media Ruin Your Marriage

Tips for Teenage Girls on Social Media

Nutella Cake (with recipe and photos)

Ten Questions to Help You Identify Your Calling/Vocation

World War I prisoner asks for leave to visit dying mother, agrees to return to prison (and does)

Test your grammar skills: You Can't Write Proper English Under Pressure

Are you a Calvinist?

Life Lessons from Winnie the Pooh

Daily Links 9-6-13

Some reflections on hard work, Ronald Reagan's near-death encounter with a chimpanzee, theological labels, a double no-hittter, and more in today's links.

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Reevaluating the value of hard work:

For more than a generation, we have encouraged our children to aspire to careers that would enable them to work with their minds and not their hands. So, it should come as no surprise that we have an estimated three million job vacancies in the skilled labor force today that are going unfilled because many people erroneously consider these positions to be beneath their potential or otherwise undesirable.

We are now dealing with a problem of our own making. In our attempt to spare our children from the drudgery of physical labor, we have become a society that no longer respects or celebrates hard work. We have become a nation of consumers rather than producers and we are beginning to experience the unintended consequences of this transition in more painful ways. But just as the national narrative seems to be hopelessly unswayable, an unlikely voice of reason has emerged in guest appearances on the national talk show circuit.

Mike Rowe, who is best known as the host of the Discovery Channel's popular show Dirty Jobs, has decided to lend his fame and notoriety to a larger cause. He is encouraging a broader conversation about our nation's relationship with skilled labor. He feels it is important to "make a case for the trades," and I applaud him for bringing recognition to this issue through his many appearances.

Hat tip: Mike Rowe

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Ronald Reagan once famously acted with a chimpanzee. An unfortunate incident with the chimp nearly cost him his life.

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Are you a Calvinist?

The organ was playing. The choir was in the loft. Church members were seated and still. My Bible was in hand and I was prepared to take the platform. In moments the worship service would begin. It was at this instant an elderly gentleman introduced himself to me by stating, “I am so glad you are here to preach for us today. I have looked forward to meeting you. Before you preach, though, I have one question for you. Are you a Calvinist?”

That question is not an uncommon one, but it’s a question that might be more difficult to answer than first thought. To this gentleman, I reflexively replied, “To be honest, sir, I have no idea what you mean by that question.” He smiled and responded, “I have no have idea what I meant by the question either.”

We both chuckled, then I retorted, “I’ll be happy to discuss this as much as you’d like after the service, but know that I believe in preaching the gospel to all people and that anyone who repents of their sins and embraces Christ as Lord and Savior can be saved.” Reassured, he smiled and said “that is all I wanted to hear.”

That conversation, like so many others, reminded me of the challenge of theological labels. This seems especially so when discussing the often controversial topic of Calvinism.

Hat tip: Challies

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A challenge to read books outside of your comfort zone:

We who live in this peculiar world of the “Young-restless-reformed/gospel-centered/whozamafaceit” have a nasty habit: we tend to be pretty insular in our reading.

While there’s much to like (even love) about writers from this particular group—we are right to appreciate writing that makes the gospel great, to be sure. But there’s a danger, too: if you’re not careful you can wind up only reading and listening to people you agree with.

Your arguments become second- (even third-) hand. Your discernment dulls. You risk becoming, well, kinda boring (and not in a good way).

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How well do you know your grammar? You can put it to the test by trying out this quiz: You Can't Write Proper English Under Pressure. And it is harder than you might think.  (hat tip Neatorama)

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Going to the hospital can be unnerving for just about anyone but especially for kids. One Connecticut children's hospital came up with a unique solution: a pirate themed CT scanner room.

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Only once in baseball history has there ever been a double no-hitter for nine innings. Of course, the Cubs were on the losing end of this unique game.

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Some great advice to young writers: get lost.

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God Doesn't Hand Out Hypotheticals

Last weekend Matt and I had a young, engaged couple from our church over. It was so encouraging to talk to them about our faith. Although they are barely in their twenties, Greg and Mim are very mature in their thoughts about God. 

As the men were showing off their corn hole skills (maybe this is just a WV game??) in an intense match against our children, Mim and I were talking on the deck about the recent loss of her baby niece. As Mim was processing her thoughts from her experience over the last couple of dramatic weeks, she recalled something very wise her father told her. She said something to the fact that God doesn’t give us hypothetical grace, he gives us grace for today.

Hat tip: Blogging Theologically

Commas Save Lives

Related reading: The Best Shots Fired in the Oxford Comma Wars.

Daily Links 9-3-13

Discounts, grammar, literature, beer and Nutella all in today's links. Enjoy.

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From Lifehacker, Top 10 Tricks to Get Discounts on Almost Anything. Just as an aside, last week I canceled my cable television and satellite radio services (mostly to save money). In both cases the customer service reps tried to offer me substantial discounts to stay with them. If I could have afforded it they might have been deals to consider. If you think you're paying too much for a service it's worth seeing if the provider will offer you a discount to stay with them. Chances are they probably will.

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One girl took her love for Nutella and turn it into, well this:

Hat tip: Neatorama

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17 famous literary characters that were originally called something else.

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Sorting out the thorny affect vs. effect problem.

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Who says a little alcohol doesn't help get the creative juices flowing? Ten things that were created over a couple of beers.