Parenthetically Yours

Favorite Things Friday

This has been an unusually difficult past few weeks for many friends of ours--deaths, tragedies, job losses, etc--so today I'm just going to lighten the mood for everyone. 

If you are/were a fan of Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre (and really, who wasn't?), then you'll be excited to know about this upcoming movie called Gentlemen Broncos. It was written and directed by Jared Hess, the writer/director of those two movies. Plus, it stars Jemaine Clement, the better half (in my opinion) of Flight of the Conchords. If you're into ridiculous parodies of ridiculous self-help gurus, then check out Clement's character, Dr. Ronald Chevalier's own website. 

If you can make it through the 30 commercial, the trailer follows immediately:

I'm going to get in line now for tickets. Unfortunately, there's no release date set...yet.

Have a great weekend...next week: Regular blog posts resume! 

(rw)

Night of Joy

One of life’s great joys happened to me last night. Not just once, but twice.

Last night, Katie and I filled our respective bellies with chips, salsa, and enchiladas from our favorite local Mexican spot. Then we moved on to Curious Gourmet (only because Ivey Cake was closed) for a Lemon Basil cupcake (with the frosting piled so high we threw half of it away…heresy!) and then home for some French press coffee. Well, to say the least, all was right in the world. Katie settled in the back room for an overdue phone call with a friend, and I settled on the couch for an overdue date with a Wal-Mart documentary I’ve been wanting to watch (nerd alert!).

About 45 minutes in, I start nodding off. Bad. Like someone had roofied my coffee. You know, the whole head-violently-falling-into-your-chest thing. After a couple of those moments when I thought I was falling off the couch (or out of an airplane), my heartrate had skyrocketed and I was alert for another hour or so, just enough time for us to fast-forward through the American Idol results show we’d recorded. 

At this point, it’s only 10:30 but I’m barely keeping my eyes open. We’d gone to bed around 1 a.m. the night before, so this was a bit on the early side. Teeth brushed, lights out, kiss goodnight…ZZZZzzzz.

I casually woke up (as I often do around 4 or 5 a.m.) feeling hungover and/or dead. With a heavy sense of impending doom, I slowly turned my head toward the alarm clock glowing in the darkened room to my right. I feared the worse: that it was only 30 minutes or so before the alarm, which means my mind wouldn’t allow me to get back to sleep. If I know I have to get up soon, I can’t for the life of me go back to sleep. In fact, I never actually need an alarm because my body automatically wakes up beforehand. This is only one of the joys of being me. Welcome to my world.

Knowing this, I was certain that my day was beginning. I didn’t want to look at the clock at all because it was going to be bad news. But the only thing worse than knowing something is NOT knowing something, so I made myself look.

But something didn’t look right. Now, if you know me, you know that without glasses or contacts, I have the vision of an 85 year-old bat. As you can imagine, at night it’s worse. So here I am, pressing my face closer and closer to the green glowing numerals until they come in clear. 11:58. 11:58?? Really? It’s not even midnight yet? Oh Hallelujah! I’m not even usually in bed at this point! I have an ENTIRE NIGHT of sleep remaining. Oh Heavenly Day! 

With a cozy sense of relief and joy, I snuggled back under the covers and pulled the comforter up close.

Then it happened again! I woke up, this time in a heated fear that the house might be on fire because I’M BURNING ALIVE! I violently throw the comforter off and begin wiping the sweat from my face, neck, and torso. Katie’s awake too doing the same thing. I jumped up to turn the heat down (when I say “jumped up,” think “stumbled like a wino across the bedroom”) and came back to bed. Another glance at the clock: 12:48. What? We went to bed later than this the night before! AHHH…Glory to the Lord of Hosts on high.

Twice in one night, I thought my sleep was over. Twice I was given the gift of many more hours of sweet slumber.

Needless to say, I woke up refreshed and ready to take on the day. Lots of writing to do today, quite a few items on my to do list…but I’m prepared.

Maybe after just the tiniest of naps.

(rw)

Favorite Things Friday!

Would you look at this? I'm writing two days in a row! You'd think I could carve an hour out of each day like a succulent slice of turkey (that's two Thanksgiving references in two consecutive blog entries, for those of you who care about the trivial and the self-indulgent side of me), but it's not that easy when you have no self-discipline or "goals."

But here we are, one week after I introduced Randy's Favorite Things, and I'm back and ready to promote, wag, push, sell, extol, celebrate, honor, and hail the fabulous, the funky, and the funny things I run across each week. It'll always be a little different, it'll always be the same: One man's opinion (albeit a totally awesome opinion). 

First up, my friend Barak (pronounced like military sleeping quarters, not our president-elect) is a funny, funny man. You'll find a link to his site over there on the right side of the page. He's been getting some fairly steady work lately in commercials and he's always the sarcastic guy with indie glasses and a beard. I thought he was being unfairly typecast until I remembered that's he's a sarcastic guy with indie glasses and a beard. At any rate, he recently shot a commercial for Swedish Fish. Remember those things? Sorta like gummy bears, but better and more, uhmm...european? They're an odd little snack. The marketing is just as odd. As a side note, apparently it was in the 90s when they shot this outside Los Angeles. 

Swedish Fish from 50YearPlan on Vimeo.

Next, in an attempt to come across as "smart" and "well-read" and "able to type quotation marks," I found a great quote by one of my favorite writers, Jon Meacham. He's the managing editor of Newsweek and a native Tennessean, which explains why he wrote a new biography on Andrew Jackson, arguably the most scandal-ridden president in U.S. history. You think Clinton had problems? Jackson was in an entirely other league. The quote is from Meacham's new book, American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House.

"The number of scandals that threatened to consume Jackson between his admission to the bar and his election to the White House--declaring Marshall Law in New Orleans, the execution of mutineers in the field, invading Florida (arguably without proper authority), killing British subjects, his murky marriage, his slaying of Charles Dickenson, the gunfight with the Bentons--would have ended most political careers."

Funny.

Last up, is a shout-out to a hometown homie (and my former boss), Tim McGraw who got called in at the last minute to host Saturday Night Live, my favorite show on television for the past 20-something years. Apparently, Justin Timberlake was supposed to host but had to cancel. This could give a bit of a boost to his plateau-ing career. Anyway, I'm happy for the guy and here are a couple of promos for tomorrow's show. 

 

For those of you who care, Katie and I have been 99% successful in our quest to stay off bread. We indulged in the occasional pinch of cookie or cake when it was offered. We don't wan't to be rude.

(rw)

RANDY'S FAVORITE THINGS

Hear ye! Hear ye! Friday's are becoming a whole new thing here at the ol' blog. Today I introduce RANDY'S FAVORITE THINGS...sorta like Oprah, except I'm not going to give you any money or free iPods. I'm just interested in turning people on to cool sites, music, companies, books, movies, etc. I'm spreading the love and hope you'll like what you see/hear/read/buy. 

I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with PASTE Magazine, but it's, without a doubt, my favorite. They cover every genre of music, film, and books, but only by people who have something substantial to say. You won't find the latest flavor-of-the-month music or big-budget movie release...but you will find the latest Griffin House or Wes Anderson offering. Their tagline is Signs of life in music, film, and culture. and it was started by these Christian guys in Atlanta who realized there was an entire genre and subculture of art going nearly unnoticed--that is, there's a whole lot of art out there dealing with Eternal and Universal themes. Great stuff, but it's usually pretty under-the-radar. Their point was and is to get this stuff noticed.

Well, one of my favorite new sites, www.noisetrade.com (started by Derek Webb and others) is offering a Name Your Own Price subscription to PASTE. You can get an entire year's subscription for as little as $1...or more, you decide. I signed up for $5. You can even renew if you're currently subscribing. Here's the catch: after the year is up, you will automatically be renewed for another year at the going rate of $19.99. Not a bad deal, in my estimation.  So, CLICK THIS for the Paste offer.

FAVORITE THING #2:

My favorite local music happening, Ten Out of Tenn has released their Christmas CD and tour dates. I'm not going to over-hype it too much because I did that already here. If you'll click the link to their Myspace site, you can hear many of the songs and find out how you can own it. This will be the most-played music this season in the Williams household. 

Well, except for our own little Christmas EP. You'll be hearing more about that soon enough. Let's just say my wife has a ridiculously great voice. 

(rw)

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

Franklin is a ghost town. By that, I don’t mean that it’s uninhabited. I mean it in the same way one might say, “Arkansas is RAZORBACK country,” or, “Nashville is a guitar town,” or, “Rome is a Pope town.” In other words, they like their ghosts around here. Last year around Halloween, Katie was at Bible study one evening, so a couple of friends and I went on the Haunted Franklin Ghost Tour (yeah, I get the irony). We spent 90 minutes touring various buildings downtown behind a sarcastic thespian-type wearing a civil war-era get up as she filled us in on the local haunts of Franklin’s sordid past. It was actually really informative and since I’m a history nerd, I loved it. I also know which downtown buildings I DO NOT want to spend the night in. Scary stuff. Who knew my town was Tennessee's most haunted? I mean, if you believe all that.

My memories of Halloween revolve around KISS because I only remember dressing up as Ace Frehley for three years in a row. I also remember watching KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park on Halloween night one year. It had to be 1978 or something. Mom and dad were at a party so we got stuck next door with our neighbors. After returning home from tricks and treats, our bellies full of discount candy, we settled down by the warm glow of the television. It was my generation’s Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. Of course, the main difference is that the Beatles were geniuses and KISS were buffoons. Tell that to a 10 year-old boy with stars in his eyes, though. It was bigger than Star Wars for me. 

I’ve never lived in Franklin, though, until after the wedding in January, so this will be my first official Halloween here. Apparently, it’s a pretty big deal downtown where we live. Our neighbors said they spent hundreds on candy last year and that kids are literally lining up the sidewalks. One lady used a counter to keep track of her ghoulish little visitors and by the time the night was over, she had clicked the thing over 1,500 times. Up and down Main and Fair streets people have begun decorating like it’s Christmas. One family is readying their garage to be transformed into a haunted, um, garage (?) with a GIANT pumpkin façade. Kids will walk through the mouth of said pumpkin to get inside. I’m not kidding when I say they’re REALLY into Halloween here.

But before some of you get up in arms about the theological correctness of “celebrating” All Hallow’s Eve—don’t. It’s all in good fun here and the kids get to play dress up and get free candy. That’s it. Hopefully my (and your) faith and theology can withstand one night a year giving away sweets to 6 and 8 year-old Spidermen and Hannah Montanas. And I can’t wait. I already have my Ace Frehley mask.

Check back next week for my Top 10 Ways to confuse trick-or-treaters.

(rw)

OH yeah...it's Watercooler Wednesday!

The Daylights

Busy busy day today, so I thought I'd share these videos from my friends, The Daylights. Ricky, Ran, and Sven will one day be bigger than Dallas, so you can say "I heard about them before they were famous." Ricky and I played during communion at the wedding this past weekend and the brothers sang in my wedding back in January. They're simpatico, my blood brothers, believers, and their talent comes from somewhere beyond. Enjoy your Wednesday. And go buy their stuff on iTunes!

You'll never love if you protect yourself...Lay down, lay down your weapons, boy.

Oh, sure, this is part of Watercooler Wednesday over at ETHOS!

(rw)

Right Wing Nut Jobs

I used to be so bright-eyed and optimistic, then the information age happened. Since I’m a sucker for information, I’ve soaked in it—and nearly drowned in it. See, I have a problem (surprise) and that is I believe everything I read. Maybe it’s because I grew up with such an appreciation for printed words. For whatever reason, if it’s written, I’ll give it consideration.

This, however, does NOT apply to forwarded emails. I unequivocally doubt the validity of any email that has been forwarded to me claiming things like bottled water will give you cancer or that Starbucks doesn’t send coffee to the troops. Neither are true. If you are a frequent forward-er…please spend a few minutes at Snopes.com. The truth will set you free!

But other than that, I believe most things I read. This is a useful habit when it comes to things like reading the Bible, or Shelby Foote, or Johnny Cash’s autobiography. It is not beneficial or helpful in the least, though, when faced with websites about Federal Reserve conspiracy theories, the supposed illegality of a federal income tax, and the positive teachings of Scientology. I read a few pages of this stuff last night and I was ready to stockpile weapons, move to Montana, and hole up until the rapture.

I also made the mistake of watching a few melodramatic “documentaries” by the conspiracy theorist (read: nutjob) Alex Jones. These films are more slanted than an isosceles triangle and make Michael Moore look like an honest filmmaker. You think The Exorcist is frightening? His take on the Illuminati made me want to sleep with the lights on for three days.

I Thessalonians 5 says to “test everything and hold on to the good.” St. Paul was mainly talking about theology and preachers, but I think there can be a broader application here. In today’s over stimulated cache of information, I think Paul’s saying that we shouldn’t be so idealistic and naïve that we accept everything at face value yet not so cynical that we instantly put up an impenetrable wall of doubt. This comes, unfortunately, with wisdom and maturity—two things I’ve yet to master.

Whether we’re reading up on the IRS, the Emergent Church, forwarded emails, or Britney Spears—we have to know how to filter, how to study, yet never ever throw the baby out with the bathwater.

(rw)

Tavin Dillard

It's Friday. You need a break. You need a little Tavin Dillard. We all could use a little Tavin Dillard. If you're like me, you have a distant (or not-so-distant) relative a lot like him.

Tavin is the brain-child (without a brain) of my friend Joel Berry from Riverside, California. Joel is an aspiring screenwriter and filmmaker who loves the South (especially Arkansas) and I could always count on the Berrys and the Lamberths to make me feel at home when I lived out there.

Here's his site: Sweet Tea Films. Here's his You Tube Channel. Go ahead, spend some time there.

(rw)

I'm not a cynic, really

I don’t like feeling cynical about anything, especially my fellow faith journeymen, but my first trip to the International Christian Retailers Association’s convention (also known in the industry as CBA—or Christian Booksellers Association—week) did nothing to lessen my inner cynic. I don’t want to bad-mouth my good-intentioned brethren (and sistren), because truth be told, there are some unbelievably talented people among the aisles of this trade show. My problem with most Christian art (including music, writing, film, design, artwork/crafts, etc) is a profound lack vision and/or purpose. Or a business plan.

It’s quite a spectacle, the CBA trade show. There are several rows of booths featuring everything from major record labels to the the tiniest mom-and-pop start ups hoping to peddle their wares to the major and minor Christian retailers. There are some amazing things and some full-on gringe-worthy embarrassments. Or should I say embarrass-mints? There was a booth for children’s books and videos that featured a guy walking around dressed as Jesus. I suppose he was there to suffer ye the little children, but he more or less looked like Barry Gibb in a toga. When I saw him—sorry, Him—there was a gaggle of 20-something girls lined up to take photos with Him. I was hoping they wanted the pics for cheeky, ironic reasons, but I’m afraid they just thought He was hot. You could tell Jesus liked the attention. There was a big display for a new book coming out called “Lord of the Flies,” which is apparently a devotional for fly fishermen. Call me crazy, but that seems like a pretty small niche. Why not open it up to all fishermen and just call it “Hooked on Jesus”? Or “Thy Rod and Thy Reel, They Comfort Me”? There was an entire booth dedicated to hawking a bad, melodramatic poem and, of course, the awful parody t-shirts were everywhere. Things like Ourapostle instead of Aeropostle, or Jesus died for Myspace in Heaven, or Church Girls Gone Wild, and so on. And they will know we are Christians by our t-shirts. Ugh.

To be fair, there was some cool stuff too: a new book called “Evolution: A Fairy Tale for Grownups” by Ray Comfort (Darwin’s 200th Birthday Special Edition. Genius.) debunks the theory of evolution simply using quotes from many evolutionary scientists and experts without “quote mining” (using quotes out of context). And Hayley DiMarco has a new set of short books for teen girls and if nothing else, she has some of the best designed books in the CBA market. Most of the Christian publishing industry could learn something from the modern design of her books and the understated booths of Oxford University Press and Penguin Books, two of the mainstream publishing houses in attendance. By far the thing that got me the most excited, though, is the announcement of Crossway’s English Standard Version Study Bible. I’m feeling so nerdy right now, but I’m kind of obsessing about it. Who gets that excited about a study bible? Me apparently.

As much as I hate to say it, though, the bad outweighed the good. It’s just that so much of what I saw was simply a reaction or response to something offered up by the general market. I’m not one of those people who say Christian art shouldn’t exist in the first place, though. I totally believe in "the industry" and that there’s a place for it. I think some people have a gift and, if you will, calling to the church to encourage, uplift, and lead. BUT I also believe that they should be doing things in such an excellent way that when the un-churched come in contact with their work, they’re drawn towards belief, not repelled by it.

(rw)