friday fun link: 2007/09

September 28, 2007

Inspirational Commercial

This is one of the better commercials I have seen in a long time. It is for a great product and features and amazing percussionist.

September 23, 2007

This summer the Dunn Brothers Coffee Shop in St. Paul started serving a drink named Vanilla Iced Nirvana. It is made with cold press coffee. These days I have attempted to order lattes and mochas made with cold press instead of espresso. This is usually met with a weird look from the barista and a lot of confusion when it comes time to ring up the coffee.
I have decided that it would be great to try and learn how to make cold press at home. This weekend I made my first attempt. I did my research, but I found a lot of conflicting recipes. I am working with this cold press recipe at the moment. The basic gist is coarse ground coffee, 4 parts water, 1 part coffee, steep for 3 to 24 hours. My first attempt was a 24 hour steeping (is that even a verb?). I'd love to hear tips from anyone who has attempted this. My goal is to avoid purchasing a Toddy Maker if possible.

September 21, 2007

Game: Grow Island

I believe the original "grow" game by eyemaze is the first flash game that I was ever addicted to playing. They have pulled through with another excellent sequel.

Grow Island

September 19, 2007

Harry Potter and the Mysterious Ticking Noise

Here is a joyous little video featuring a great beat, puppets, and Harry Potter. In other news, I've just returned from vacation so expect a rash of posts in the near future as I attempt to play catch up.
Here is your Video:

September 12, 2007

Video: Mitch Hedberg

I love Mitch Hedberg. 'nuff said.

September 10, 2007

I hate my writing

So, I read my photo post and realized that I hate the way I sound when I am writing. I just plain old don't like it. It feels like fingernails on a chalkboard. This isn't a new issue for me. When I traveled with Youth Encounter, we each had to write a journal entry and submit it online to some sort of forum database thing. (Think blog but slow and less pretty.) The first two months all of my journal entries sounded as if I was possessed by some sort of writing demon. The lowest quality of my journal entries was about one of the more memorable experiences I had stateside. The overall unimpressive nature of my writing has been preserved at the archive section of the Youth Encounter pages. I managed to turn a great experience into something trite. I feel as though I am doing this again and I am now issuing a call for help.

Here is what I am reading right now: If you write like you talk, readers will listen
Any critique out there for me? Help me sound human again.

Update: 4/6/2013
Anne Lamott's text Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life has been very helpful.

Photo Post: ACTC

ACTC - Andhra Christian Theological College
Originally uploaded by newcoventry

I traveled to India and Nepal in 2002 essentially as a church tourist. I went with a group of friends to visit the churches and learn about differences and similarities to the churches in the United States. The first place we visited in India was Andhra Christian Theological College. This is a seminary located in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. I ate the hottest meal of my life at this school in the cafeteria.

Throughout all of India people did their best to accommodate our westernized taste buds. ACTC gave us the opportunity to eat dinner with the students in the cafeteria after our evening program. I was excited by our first opportunity to spend time with Indians our age. They appeared to be very excited by watching our reaction to un-westernized curry. My friend Debbie began sweating profusely. My lips became numb and I drank about 32 oz of water. it was almost 6 hours until I could taste anything again. I was glad to see that dorm food could unite two very different cultures.

New Feature: Photo Posts

Erin and I recently went Flickr Pro, so I have begun backing up tons of images from my computer to Flickr. As a result, there are tons of images that have great stories that I would love to tell. I am planning on posting a new Photo each Monday with a story. The first round of images will be from India and Nepal.
Enjoy!

Movie Review: Once

There are a few movies that I have seen that I instantly know I want to own and watch over and over. They are in no particular order: Walk the Line, Garden State, The Motorcycle Diaries, Almost Famous. Once has now been added to this list. The movie is by far one of the most "feel good" movies that I have seen in a long time. The soundtrack was awesome, the acting was sensational, the filming was casual and created great depth.
I strongly recommend this movie to anyone and everyone.
Here is the trailer to whet your proverbial whistle:

September 7, 2007

Mindless Fun: Acrobots

Every now and then I love a well designed game that has absolutely no point. Acrobots remind me of all the fun of wacky wall walkers without ending up with a hair covered sticky plastic thing after your done playing.

Enjoy Acrobots

September 5, 2007

Hip Hop Violin

I love a good fiddle player. Every now and then some hip-hop is excellent as well. Thankfully the world of YouTube allows us to connect the two in a visible way.
Enjoy