Finals, Papers, and Other Stuff

Hi all. It's been a while since I last posted, so I thought I'd take a quick break from writing papers to throw a little something up here. I went home last week for Thanksgiving and learned that there are actually people who read this blog, so I figured maybe I should post something.

This will be short, because of the aforementioned papers. I have quite a bit to finish up before the end of the year, which is rapidly approaching. Luckily, I have most of my required reading done for the semester. Unluckily, these papers keep refusing to write themselves. Also on the unlucky side of things, I seem to be coming down with a sore throat, which I'm hoping doesn't turn into something worse, because I cannot handle that right now. So, if you're reading this, I would covet your prayers over the next couple weeks as I try to survive my first semester of seminary.

Anyway, that paragraph was kind of a downer, so I'm going to spend the rest of this post listing things that are making my life better these days (mostly in the form of YouTube videos)

Things I Like

• This:

This season of Glee has been wildly inconsistent, but this is a fantastic performance. I don't care if you like Glee or not, if you can't enjoy this, I don't understand you.

• John Piper. Really, I love John Piper. One of the papers I'm writing now is on Soli Deo Gloria, so I've been reading tons of Piper (nobody has written more on the glory of God and its implications than Piper in the past few decades). He really has a passion for God that comes through in every talk that he gives and every book that he writes. I recently sent Shannon a sermon of his because I thought it was so cool. He's speaking on missions, and in the middle he just stops and sidebars for a minute to talk about how in the bulletin they listed the man who was saying one of the prayers, and it said "Dan Porch, Missionary". Piper says:
  

"That is a great title. Dan Porch. MISSIONARY. I just hope that that hits you like it hits me, 'Ambassador for King Jesus ' among an unreached people group. Go declare the amnesty, Dan! Go tell them if they lay down their arms of unbelief and swear fealty to King Jesus, they live forever, Dan! MISSIONARY! What a great title."

• X-Factor: I know I posted about this a while ago, but I thought I'd pass along a couple of the better performances that have come since then.

• Tap-Tap Revenge: This is a free app for the iPod Touch, and it's basically guitar hero, only instead of playing a guitar, you tap the notes as they get to the bottom of the screen. It's awesome for a free game, and super-addictive.

• Community: This deserves its own post, which I will get to once I have time, but suffice it to say that if you aren't watching this show, you should be. 8:00 on Thursdays. It's the funniest thing on TV, and nothing else is remotely close.
  

• Craig Ferguson: I don't watch late night talk shows very often, but I always make sure to check his interviews on YouTube every now and then. On most late night shows, the interviews are the weakest part, since the people are just there to promote their movie/book and the whole thing is a pretty boring affair. Ferguson is absolutely brilliant though. He doesn't work off cards, he's genuinely interested in his guests, and he's perfectly happy letting things get wacky and zany. I mean, this is a guy who did a full show just interviewing Stephen Fry (amazing) and won a Peabody for his interview with Desmond Tutu, but also has a robot skeleton sidekick and often ends his interviews with an awkward pause. Rather than posting an individual video, I'll simply link you to this amazing YouTube channel, where some fantastic fellow has taken it upon himself to post all of Ferguson's shows. Seriously, check out some of the interviews, this guy is awesome.

That's it for now. I'll check in again with a new post in a few weeks if I'm still alive.