Shocking Voltage

The much anticipated electric powered Chevy Volt was given a pricetag today... $41,000!!! Yeah, I typed that right, Fourty One Thousand American Dollars!!! This vehicle does qualify for a $7500 tax credit, but it still comes to $33,500. (source)

Now, I understand that this car is brand new technology and that you are paying a premium for being on the cutting edge, but I think they have priced themselves into a pretty tough corner with this. Afterall, the key market for a car like this is people my age, young and environmentally conscious, who aren't known for having a lot of money to spend on a city commute car.

And at the same time, it doesn't appear luxurious enough to compete with the BMWs and other cars normally found at that price point. The Prius is such a huge success because it is a hybrid under $25,000!!!

What's your reaction to the Volt?

P.S.
In looking for a picture of the Volt I read that the President of Audi called anyone who buys the Volt an "idiot".

The Decision

Almost as funny as the real thing:)

... so intense.

I'm sure many of you have seen this already, but if you haven't... you need to see the video from Double Rainbow guy. He is more happy about seeing a double rainbow than you are about anything in your life. (warning: it's full of OMG's)



This viral video is only made even more awesome by this AutoTune parody. (warning: they do add a bleeped f-bomb)




Here's the weird thing about these videos: the first dozen times you see it you can't help wondering what's wrong with this crazy guy, but then a funny thing happens when you see it some more... you start to wish YOU got that excited about double rainbows and the other amazing things we're surrounded by in life. How cool would it be to have a guy that positive around you?

I can't wait until I see a rainbow.

How do you Connect?

I've been thinking lately about using a social media client to manage my various networks. Twitter, Facebook, IM, Buzz... they're all fighting for my attention, not to mention to other social media apps which I'm not currently using. Right now there are 3 apps that look center stage right now:

Digsby

TweetDeck

HootSuite

Anyone have a recommendation? Testimonies?

I'm really not sponsored by Old Spice

I just love their commercials.

More Old Spice

Remember this amazing old spice commercial?




Well they made another sequel that is almost as awesome as the original. Here's a clip from G4 interviewing the actor and telling us how they made it. You have got to see this...

Game Trailers - E3 2010 - Movies and TV

Oldest Postal Worker in America Retires at 95

This guy is amazing.

He attributes his health to eating an onion and mayonnaise sandwich everyday. In my opinion, it's adding years, but that ain't really living:)

Summer Reading

It's book season! I'm trying to select a new summer book and here are a couple list that I'm using as references. None of them stick out to me yet, any recommendations??

CNNs Top Ten Summer Reads

EWs LOST: the essential reading

Fake YoYo Master

In case you didn't know, I am personally going through a big transition right now. I have begun a new career in Kalamazoo and we are between homes. I'm staying with the endlessly generous Cryderman family while my family is staying with her extended family. It's difficult and very busy so blogging has taken a back seat. But I don't want this space to wither up and die, so I am going to make a renewed effort to keep supplying you with the best 3 minutes of your day. I probably won't be posting much original material, but I'll try to keep a fresh roster of links going so you can engage in what I'm following around the web.

I just saw this today. It's a hilarious interview with a comedian who has tricked a TV station into believing he is a YoYo master. Very funny stuff.

See more funny videos and Entertainment Videos at Today's Big Thing.

LOST Finale thoughts

I hope to write a complete entry on my reaction to the series finale of LOST soon, but my initial reaction is that I loved it. I have not been able to stop thinking about it all day. I found it very moving.

No matter you're reaction to the last episode you should really take 10 extra minutes and read "Doc" Jensen's LOST review here.
"Doc" has been covering LOST since the beginning for Entertainment Weekly and has been following every trail and thought the show has ever put out there. He's researched all the literary and philosophical references and is about as big of a LOST geek as you can get. I really like his review.

My complete thoughts will follow soon. What did you think?

Lost Supper

Give me a break...

I took a bit of time off from blogging early in the year so that I could focus on searching for a new job. Now I need to take some more time away from the blogosphere as I search for a new home.

I'll be sure to post pics once we buy one.

See you soon

Warriors... come out and pla-yay

I shared on Facebook a couple days ago that Evan (5) and Aaron (3) have been interested in a variety of non- mainstream sporting events lately. It has been a lot of fun to watch the things that they get interested in. Aaron has always been a sporty guy. He has a knack for golf and baseball and pretty much any other game or sport. Evan likes sports too, but he doesn't have the same natural ability. However, they both love to imagine themselves as celebrated, world- class athletes.

It started with the 2010 Winter Olympic games in February. They were mesmerized and inspired by the speed skaters and cross country skiers; they ran around the house in circles as fast as they could. They even went to the point of inventing fictional persona's of T-breaker (Aaron) and Thomas Jansen (Evan).

Then a few weeks ago we watched "the World's Strongest Man". Aaron was especially inspired, but they both walked around picking up everything they could over their heads. Chairs and tubs full of toys were no match for either one.

And yesterday, they found a new favorite: Ninja Warrior.



It's a Japanese competition of the most ridiculous obstacle courses ever invented. While at first glance it may look a bit like summer reality fave "Wipeout", it's actually a serious competition. 100 people qualify to compete each year, and if (or when) you fall, you're done. Finished. They have four separate stages (3 are timed) and after 23 competitions it has been conquered only 3 times. Yeah, it's possible for nobody to win.

Evan and Aaron were inspired by there modern warriors to climb and jump off of everything in the house. Stairs, beds, chairs, and tables all became obstacles to overcome. So today Becky and I put together our own ultimate obstacle course for our boys to try. Here they are in all their heroic glory:

Aaron's Amazing Song

Last week we spent a family vacation at the Wisconsin Dells. It was a great week and I'll take some time to share those experiences over the next couple of days. One of my top memories of the trip was from the car ride back to Indiana.

Aaron started singing this verse over and over and over. At first it seemed like nonsense, but then I figured out that he was singing the "bridge" of Fee's Glory to God Forever. But as kids do, he was singing with his own interpretation of lyrics.

Original Lyrics:
Take my life and let it be
All for you and for your Glory

... and Aaron's version. Listen to the whole thing, he changes up the song like a pro:



Aaron's Lyrics:
Take my life and Kevin me
All for you and glore your baby

He sang it for at least 10 minutes straight. I've been singing it ever since.

A little refreshing honesty

Brian Kelly on Irish: 'We stink right now'

You have go to read this blurb on the new football coach of Notre Dame talk about how much his team stinks. It is so nice, and surprising, to hear a coach actually talk about what is going on with his team rather than spew out a few cliche's. I don't know anything about Brian Kelly, but I'm already a fan.

Rock you like a hurricane

I've been listening to David Crowder's Church Music a lot recently. I think it's a great album, but I am particularly moved by How He Loves. Here's the music video, but I actually prefer the album cut (it's slightly different), they are both great.

I love the opening lyrics:

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.

I love the imagery of God's love as an overwhelming force. It reminds me of another powerful Crowder song, Here is our King. You can listen to him tell the story behind the music here, but the song is an allusion to God returning as a tsunami to sweep us back to him. I think that both of these are amazing and moving thoughts about the power of God completely changing the landscape of our hearts and lives. After all, when a hurricane or tsunami passes, everything left behind is totally transformed; there is no mistaking that an unstoppable, unwavering force has been there.

We often use themes from nature to talk about God, but I think most of the time it tends to be a soft, whispering wind or the brightness of the sun. We rarely talk about God in terms of the terrible forces that we fear (hurricanes, forest fires), probably because of the devastation and loss associated with them. However, I appreciate and am awed by this lyrical re-interpretation of those incredible events.

I hope you are touched by it too.

The End of Bauer Power

Well Bauer-ites. It's been confirmed... this is the last season of 24.

It's not over until Jack says it's over

Through 8 'splosion filled seasons, Jack has un-apologetically shot, fought, and tortured his way through friend and foe alike to protect the USA (and you and me). Eight television seasons in this century should be measured in dog years, there aren't many series that last that long in an era of instant criticism. So it's really like 20 seasons.

I must admit that after watching the first 4 or 5 episodes this particular season I gave up. Perhaps we've been desensitized to the constant action and ever impending doom (there's always another terrorist...), but I just didn't find it as compelling as past seasons.

Too soon? or is it time to pull the plug?

No 3D for me

Am I the only one bothered by the recent explosion of 3D technology? I am not interested in this emerging technology at all, and I'm normally excited about tech trends.

I saw Avatar in 3D because I wanted to see what it would be like. I loved the movie, but I didn't really feel like the extra dimension added to the film. It was cool, but it didn't make it better. And I was not happy with the fact that it cost FOUR MORE BUCKS to watch it in 3D. Not cool. I plan on seeing very few other films, if any, in 3D if I have to add a premium onto an already pricey ticket.

That is one of the reasons why Avatar made a bazillion dollars, because they charged even more money per ticket. And that's one of the reasons why Alice in Wonderland is making so much money right now. Eventually the public hears about how much money a film is making and they don't want to miss the action, and they pay up for a new pair of shades for one use.

I am really not looking forward to every new film rushing to become 3D. And it's already happening. They are retrofitting movies already in post production to cash in on the fad; Alice was the first, Clash of the Titans is next. They aren't filmed in 3D, they just use computers to make it 3D (which James Cameron hates). They are even making a 3D computer animated Popeye. Yeah, that'll be awesome...

And now they are releasing 3D blu-ray, 3D tv's (which you have to watch wearing stupid goggles).

Although they'll be less conspicuous once they develop transitions lenses

Nintendo, just today, announced a new 3D handheld DS system to be released next year. An my fear is that all of this is going to lead to crappier and crappier media getting shoveled at us just because it's "the next thing".

Call me old fashioned, but I'll be looking for 3D in real life, not on a screen.

A Tale of Two Dunks

I was listening to Jim Rome today as he debated between the which is the top slam dunk of the year: Amare Stoudemire over Anthony Tolliver or Dwayne Wade over Anderson Varejao. They are both devastating dunks, but Jim went with Dwayne Wade because he's a smaller guy throwing down over a big guy. I respect that argument, but Amare absolutely destroys Tolliver, crushing it with everything he's got. I've got to give it to Amare.

Which do you think is better?

The Cove

Becky and I watched the "The Cove" a last week. It won the '010 Oscar for best documentary feature, and boy was it good. It is about the slaughter of dolphins in a cove in Japan, looking at it from two angles: the first is the needless and brutal killing of such a beautiful creature, and the second is the health hazard created by putting the meat into the marketplace (they have extremely high levels of mercury).

I recommend this film both the for compelling story and the quality of the film-making. If you think documentaries are boring, this one isn't. You should watch it.

A week later I find myself unsure of how to respond. I mean, I was genuinely moved by the storytelling and frustrated by the unbelievably convoluted politics surrounding the entire operation. But nothing has changed in my life, and that's got me thinking about the process of change: how it moves from inspiration to action to commitment.

I saw "Super-Size Me" a couple of years ago. Another fantastic documentary. It really makes you reconsider fast food. But I still eat it, still love it, just as much today as I did before I saw the film. Facebook is inundated with cause after worthy cause, but does being a Fan really mean anything?

There are changes that I want to make in my life. Personally and Professionally. Spiritually and Socially. However, we all know that there is a big difference between desiring change and creating change. So here I am at the crossroads between the two... what's next?