We Might Be a Joke, But We're Laughing Too
When Jay Leno joked on TV about Kentucky's $15 million campaign to improve its image--he suggested "Kentucky: Got Teeth?" as the state slogan--the governor of the Bluegrass State asked for equal time. So on Tuesday, Ernie Fletcher appeared on "The Tonight Show" with a few zingers of his own about Mr. Leno's current hometown: e.g., "L.A.: Come for the Silicon; stay for the Botox." The Courier-Journal reports that the ribbing was good-natured, and the governor gave Mr. Leno a Louisville Slugger bat, but the "Tonight Show" host couldn't help offering Mr. Fletcher one more slogan to take home: "Kentucky: For the last time, Deliverance took place in Georgia."

I Can Only Imagine
Popular radio show host, Dick Staub, wrote the following about the virtues of imagination as seen through the eyes of C.S. Lewis.

In Lewis' view, conversion often proceeds from imagination to reason and then to the will. As a result, he placed a premium on the imagination once saying, "reason is the natural organ of truth and imagination is the organ of meaning." He believed you could not fully grasp the meaning of a word or idea unless it was associated with an accurate and captivating image.  This is why Lewis' writing, whether fiction or prose, was laced with analogy and imagery.
 
So I guess I shouldn't feel too badly that every elementary school teacher I ever had told my parents that I daydreamed too much.  Unfortunately, I didn't have C.S. Lewis quotes handy at the time. 
Paperback copy of Mere Christianity in 1985: $4. 
A well-placed C.S. Lewis quote from a third grader: Priceless.

Would You Use It?

How well do you trust technology? Can you mentally alter the information that your eyes are telling your brain? Here's a picture of a public toilet in Switzerland that's made entirely out of one-way glass. No one can see you in there, but when you are inside, it looks like you're sitting in a clear glass box. The question is, "Would you use it?".

insidetoilet Originally uploaded by Jules Verne.

My Unlikely Afternoon in the Sun
Amongst acres of weeds, thorns, and unsavory bugs, a ripe, juicy, ready for pluckin’ and eatin’ blackberry truly shines like a diamond in the rough.

In the 90-degree/90-percent humidity of a July Sunday afternoon, smelling like bug spray and with flies buzzing in my ear, I ventured out of my air-conditioned world to do some blackberry picking. Half terrified of encountering a snake, and swatting at what I hoped weren’t wasps, I tentatively stepped further and further into the brush, in a quest to reach the blackberries that those who came before me were unable to reach. I was careful at first, trying to slip my hand unscathed through the thorns and jaggers which sought to protect the berries from their would-be captors. But my search became more fervent and my greed grew until I was plunging shoulder-deep through the prickly mess, always hoping for the biggest one—always just out of reach. But for that rustic summer diamond, my aim was single-minded and whole-hearted.

Sweaty, sunburned, and with new bugs bites popping out on my skin to unmercilessly replace the ones that had been fading, I returned to my car satisfied, my Wal-Mart bag loaded down with the taste of summer. A taste that would have never been as sweet, if merely purchased at the aforementioned air-conditioned store. No, this taste had to be sought for and acquired like the diamond that it is. I believe it is in the challenge of the pursuit that the prize is won.

Bring Me to Life
Tonite a friend told me her testimony. It was a powerful testimony. I've heard a lot of testimonies before. This was like none other. This weekend at church, my pastor discussed the fact that 70 percent of the earth is covered in water - a wide, deep unknown expanse. Which means that all man really knows of this earth is 30 percent. Thirty measly percent. That's not even half. Sometimes I feel stuck in the 30 percent of my life from which I'm surely operating. I want the other 70 percent. After I dropped my friend off, I turned up the radio, and a song I've heard a million times was playing. Tonite it was different, however. Tonite the words resonated.

Bring Me To Life - Evanescence
how can you see into my eyes like open doors
leading you down into my core
where i've become so numb without a soul my spirit sleeping somewhere cold
until you find it there and lead it back home wake me up inside
wake me up inside
call my name and save me from the dark
bid my blood to run
before i come undone
save me from the nothing i've become

now that i know what i'm without
you can't just leave me
breathe into me and make me real
bring me to life

wake me up inside
wake me up inside
call my name and save me from the dark
bid my blood to run
before i come undone
save me from the nothing i've become
bring me to life

frozen inside without your touch, without your love, only you are the life among the dead

all this time i can't believe i couldn't see
kept in the dark but you were there in front of me
i've been sleeping a thousand years it seems
got to open my eyes to everything
without a thought without a voice without a soul
don't let me die here
there must be something more
bring me to life

Oh, Canada
Hats off to our neighbors from the north on their birthday.

Did you know?...
*On October 27, 1982, July 1st which was known as "Dominion Day" became "Canada Day".
*In 1981, the celebration was expanded to include fireworks displays in 15 major cities across the nation.

If you're feeling especially celebratory, you can take this Canada Day quiz.

They've got trees and mooses and sled dogs
lots of lumber and lumber jacks and logs
People think its kind of a drag
that you have to go there
to get milk in a bag
They say "eh?" instead of "what?" or "duh!"
That's the mighty power of canada

I want to be where lemmings run into the sea
where the marmosets can all attack me.

Let's go to Canada, let's leave today,
Canada, oh, Canada, I Sil Vous Plait.
- five iron frenzy