Random Essentials for the ADD-addled Mind

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1. An irresistible reminder that relief is as close as your nearest bunny.
2. How the heck do I select a good seat on an Airbus A320?
3. Best free online documetaries.
4. Of the many reasons to hate the band Nickelback, this is probably the best.
5. A brief, lucid summation of the dangers of paternalism and imperialism for western
Christians
6. Google's effort to illuminate the tragedy of Darfur
7. Didn't get into MIT? Trip not, my friend.
8. Probably one of the nicest songs you'll hear today
(HT: Kottke, Evangelical Outpost, Cute Overload, Between Two Worlds)
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"Pearls Before Breakfast"

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The Washington Post had a question: If you took a world-class violinist and had him play for spare change in the D.C. subway, would anyone recognize the genius? Would people stop and listen? How much money would he make?

This fascinating article answers these questions and contains some remarkable insights about beauty, context, children and gratitude.

The speculation during the planning of the experiment:

In preparing for this event, editors at The Post Magazine discussed how to deal with likely outcomes. The most widely held assumption was that there could well be a problem with crowd control: In a demographic as sophisticated as Washington, the thinking went, several people would surely recognize Bell. Nervous "what-if" scenarios abounded. As people gathered, what if others stopped just to see what the attraction was? Word would spread through the crowd. Cameras would flash. More people flock to the scene; rush-hour pedestrian traffic backs up; tempers flare; the National Guard is called; tear gas, rubber bullets, etc.

Did these concerns prove justified? Read the article and find out.


(HT: Kottke)
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Here You Go, Mac Snobs

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(HT: Between Two Worlds)
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Well, I'm Impressed

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(In a nasally Yorkshire accent) I suppose this represents, yet again, the democratization and degredation of high-brow art forms by YouTube. Now the proletariat can hear Vivaldi being massacred by common Brummy louts, flailing away on 20th century instruments to the abecedarian delight of their college mates. Bullocks.



(HT: Neatorama)
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10 Most Magnificent Trees in the World

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I like trees. Always have. And maybe you do, too. If so, here's an interesting top-10 list of the world's greatest trees (includes some nice photos). Make sure to scroll down and read "Bonus #2."

(HT: Kottke)








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Amnesty International Outdoor Ad Campaign

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The text of the Amnesty ads reads, “It’s not happening here, but it’s happening now.”





(HT: Adland)
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More On How to Handle Criticism

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Last October, rap artist Curtis "Voice" Allen performed at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis at the invite of Pastor John Piper. He writes in Boundless Webzine about the harsh criticism he received from some Christians who saw a video of the performance. Here's an excerpt from the article:

Now how did I get from anger and judgment to encouragement and gratitude? It was through the cross of Jesus Christ. Let me explain.

The Holy Spirit brought to my mind a 1999 Journal of Biblical Counseling article called "The Cross and Criticism," by Alfred Poirer. The article pointed out that Christ's death on the cross criticizes us more than anyone else ever can. The fact that Jesus had to die for us to be forgiven indicates that we are a lot worse than we think.

"In light of God's judgment and justification of the sinner in the cross of Christ, we can begin to discover how to deal with any and all criticism. By agreeing with God's criticism of me in Christ's cross, I can face any criticism man may lay against me. In other words, no one can criticize me more than the cross has. And the most devastating criticism turns out to be the finest mercy. If you thus know yourself as having been crucified with Christ, then you can respond to any criticism, even mistaken or hostile criticism, without bitterness, defensiveness, or blame-shifting."

In other words, whenever you receive correction or criticism, look to the cross and see the ultimate critique of all you have done. Nothing we do apart from His Spirit is ever motivated by a love for Him or a desire to please Him (Romans 3:10-12, John 15:1-5). Even after salvation and our desire changes, at best our motives are mixed. This is humbling, I know. It is offensive to our pride.

The Lord also worked on my heart as I was beginning to write an angry e-mail to my critics. He showed me that I am not morally superior to them. He reminded me that I have slandered others and gossiped about others many times. How was I any better than these people? I could almost hear these questions, audibly, in my head. The Holy Spirit convicted me of my self-righteousness.

Read the whole thing.


(HT: Between Two Worlds)
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Homespun Advice: On Receiving Criticism

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You didn't ask for it, but I'm going to dole out some free, homespun advice here.

If I am given the privilege of one day walking my (currently in utero) child through adolesence and the teen years, I am going to tell her this:

Learn how to accept and receive criticism, but do not think that is enough. When your work is critiqued and your character judged, the ability to receive that criticism is good, but the constancy to receive it and yet refuse to complain is even better.

Here's why. Usually we are receiving criticism from someone with superior acumen and experience. And even when such correction is given in a tactful way, it is natural to chafe at the abrasion and to find solace in complaining to our colleagues who are in the same place (think high school and college). Indeed, it is often the default posture upon receiving correction to immediately whine about the faults or style of the corrector, but if whining becomes the ordinary reaction to criticism, two problems arise.

One, we simply do not develop the backbone to handle it. We get used to pandering to our own bruised psyches by lying to ourselves about the merits of our work. We blame the critics and the crude systems that give such luddites the power to give correction and generally assume an intellectual fetal position on the couch of self-pity. This process is a sure-fire way to create small, perpetually provoked people with little capacity for dialectic learning and accountability.

Two, when that time comes wherein an authority figure does give some plainly bad or undeserved correction, we have no grid with which to discern such faulty advice. The years of knee-jerk rejection of any criticism has left us bereft of discernment and unable to actually differentiate between bad advice and good advice poorly given. The internalization of some criticism is inevitable, and even while complaining, we usually are considering and sometimes heeding correction. But the whining retards our growth in discernment. Discernment and complaining have a polar repulsion that makes the exercise of one the abandonment of the other.

But there is an even deeper problem inherent in complaining and, conversely, a greater glory than simply being able to handle criticism. Read this from Philippians 2:

(14) Do all things without grumbling or questioning, (15) that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world

It's interesting that the criteria for "shin[ing] in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation" is, in this passage, simply to not bellyache or question. Do you want to shine out in this depraved and darkened world? Then do stuff without complaining. Obviously, the list is not exhaustive, but it does serve to remind us that our refusal to complain is meant to set us apart in this generation. Our ability to display the glory of God, in a significant way, is contingent on our willingness to shut up, be grateful, and not complain when we are criticized at work or school or in friendships. So, in light of this, I leave you with my amplified version of the well-loved "Serenity Prayer":

God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed,the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other, and the strength to simply shut up and learn from criticism. Amen.

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Three Quality Minutes

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You need to multi-task while watching this video, created by my friend Josh C. at Spec-ta-cles. Listen, get annoyed, read, and consider. It's worth your viewing.
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Warning Bono-philes!! Possible Blasphemy

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So far, I haven't spent a red cent
on Bono's "Red Campaign," but apparently some people have.

The problem is this: It appears that the advertising effort undertaken to promote the program (people paying a premium for "red" items, with the extra money sent as aid to Africa) has dwarfed the actual funds raised.

So, some groups are calling the campaign out and imploring people to "Buy less crap"and simply donate more directly to relief work.

I don't know enough to have an opinion on this dispute, but I do know that it will
not help my recovery from Bono Fatigue.


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"The Only Indigenous Piece of Journalism in Darfur."

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An article on a remarkable journalist - 24-year-old Awatif Ahmed Isshag. For 10 years she has been reporting first hand on events in Darfur. A rather prolific start to a journalism career, I would say.

(HT: Instapundit)
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Thought(s) of the Day

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Shift Happens . . . to Celtic sounding movie scores, apparently.

Don't know if all these assertions are true, but I assume most of them are.



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Thought of the Day

A Shameless Appeal For Blog Set-up Advice

I am looking to receive and share tips on setting up attractive, functional blogs.
"Nate," you say, "why not just get tips and input from Dashboard?"

"Because Dashboard cannot personally critique my blog, nor is it as acutely aware of this blog's many maladies as are my friends," says I.

So, if anyone want to share their blogging acumen with me and the legion readers of The Ricochet, it would be greatly appreciated.

I Just Discovered Your Comments . . .

. . . buried in an "unmoderated comment" page. How was I to know that your comments needed my moderation? As any reader of this blog knows, the last thing we need around here is more moderation.

Anyway, I figured it out and comments should show up automatically. Provided my crummy blog-setup skills haven't failed me. I'll make a ribald appeal in my next post.

Stop Worrying About Killer Astroids; The U.N. is on It.

Some may say that it's a bit premature to start worrying about killer astroids scheduled to graze earth in 2036, but those people would probably not be members of the U.N.

A confidence-inspiring quote from Reuters:

The favored approach to dealing with a potentially deadly space rock is to dispatch a spacecraft that would use gravity to alter the asteroid's course so it no longer threatens Earth, said astronaut Ed Lu, a veteran of the International Space Station.

Personally, I favor giant rock-busting lasers shot from triangular-shaped spacecraft, but I could be persuaded otherwise. Which approach to do you favor?

(HT: www.powerlineblog.com)

Upcoming Movie on Human Trafficking

I believe this is the first major motion-picture centered on the issue of sex-slavery. From the film's description, it looks to be a jarring and appalling night at the movies. From the Yahoo Movie Details Page:

Two different girls from very different backgrounds are both sold into prostitution and the sex slave industry. One is a Romanian girl forced into sex slavery after being promised a better life in America. The brother of the other girl--a Mexican girl abducted and forced into the trade--joins forces with a cop and discovers he is the father of a young daughter who is also likely a sex slave.

This film will undoubtedly raise awareness of the sex-slave trade and hopefully will also create the same kind of response as did Hotel Rwanda. The difference being that Hotel Rwanda had a retrospective posture toward a unimagineable tragedy, while the evil being portayed in Trade will likely feel much more current.

How Many of These 37 Fads Owned You at One Time or Another?

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone . . .

Smart or Stoopid?

Perhaps you've wondered your whole life whether you were Einstein or dumb-as-a-stein.
Wonder no more.

I'm Back . . . with Explanations

Those of you who have frequented this site in the past may be wondering if my typing fingers (the index fingers on both hands) were chewed off by a moray eel over the holidays or if I had simply left the blogosphere to publish my own hard-copy newsletter which I would specially hand-deliver to my most devoted readers.

As usual, the truth is somewhere in the middle.

After milking the eel injuries for as long as I could and finally being told by my mom that she had enough newsletters for her scrapbook, I decided to return to blogging. Thus, here I am - but with new principles.

Previously, I resolved to post only things that I deemed to be of a high quality. Obviously, my discernment as to what constitutes "quality" may be lacking, but what I found is that I simply did not have/take enough time to write good, edifying material. But I wanted to post stuff, so I would, nevertheless, pound out some tiresome tripe about nonesense and suffer you to wade through it.

So, I was at a juncture. Either post quality at the fequency of an ice-age; or post reality at a more frequent pace.

Easy choice.

So, you may be deluged with mounds of gravel in the coming months, with an occasional fleck of gold tumbling through the rubble. But for the most part, this season in life will only afford enough time to provide time-wasting-but-hopefuly-interesting material.

Love always,

Nate