If Meat Eaters Acted Like Vegans

If you know a vegan, you know that this is pretty darned close to the truth:

The Left and Their View on Islam

This one graphic immediately nails what the world is like in the mind of progressives:

This isn't exaggeration.  This is truth.

Why is that?

Fr. Don Provides Lots to Chew On

Fr. Don, in his post from yesterday, provided some really thought-provoking stuff for me.  In two simple paragraphs, he packs a lot.  Hence, I'd like to share it here in its entirety:

"Since you have been raised up in the company with Christ..., be intent on things above rather than on things on earth. After all, you have died! Your life is hidden now with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:1-2). Christian belief that by our faith and baptism the risen Christ is already living in and operative in us is the encouraging framework within which we can see the less appetizing facts of life. If we are sorrowing because of enduring disagreements in the family, pain and illness, difficult financial circumstances, Colossians encourages us to still have a deep down confidence that God will enable us to live through this. If our faith makes others ignore us or consider us out of touch, even attack us, that is all a sharing in the cross of Christ which precedes a full resurrection.


Being risen with Christ, in other words, is no simple cure-all for serious, even desperate human situations. But it can encourage us to hope and trust that God does not mean this desperate situation to be the end, that God can, with the available human resources, help us through this, even bring good from it. Faith in Christ and our share in His risen life do not take us out of the mess and misery of human life. It offers us a way through all this with hope and strength. Celebrating Christ's presence at the Eucharist under the forms of such simple things as bread and wine reminds us that even amid the agony, discouragement, and drudgery of daily life we have God-given strength for facing them.

I hope you found something in these words like I did, and I hope you have a great Sunday

Saturday Song Share: Rickie Lee Jones - Last Chance Texaco

 A wonderful use of metaphor to create the finest song she's ever written.

Enjoy

Songs for My Brother

It's our annual staple here at YDP - on my brother's birthday we celebrate by gifting him some music.  Doesn't have to be new (although a lot is), it just has to be what's on heavy rotation here currently at YDP headquarters.

Ready for this year's installment?  OK, here we go:


Cuz I'm Here - Greyhounds: I'm a big fan of blue-eyed soul, and these guys are arguably the best in the business right now.  Really want to see these guys live.

1000 X's & O's - Prince:  With his recent passing, it would seem a miss not to include some Prince in this lineup.  While his newer stuff is a little more difficult to grasp, this is a recent one that really resonated with me.

 As I Walk Away - Yuck:  Yuck is making music right now that most bands wish they could make.  A lot are shooting for this kind of sound, but lack a lot of cleanliness and melody.  These guys are doing it very well.

Spirits - The Strumbellas: The award winner for the song on this list that will get stuck in your head all day.


Astonished Man - Thao & The Get Down Stay Down: Everyone has a story of how they were into a band well before they hit it big.  I'd like to think that applied to me with Thao.  There is no hotter band than this right now, and I've been enjoying their unique vibe for years.  A bit of an acquired taste, but good stuff.

Mistakes - Lake Street Dive: More blue-eyed soul?  More Minneapolis connections?  Yes, please, to both.


Lazarus - David Bowie: If we're doing Prince, we're doing Bowie too.  This is so, so Bowie on a lot of levels, and is arguably his greatest song ever.  

Willow - Israel Nash: I have been way into this guy for a while now.  I just flat love a pedal steel guitar, especially when it shows up in unexpected places.  He uses it a ton, and this is one great example.  Cool band, cool sound.


Lover Come Back - City and Colour: Almost a pop effort from these guys.  Highly enjoyable little tune.


Bad Blood - Ryan Adams: Ryan took Taylor Swift's 1989 album and covered the whole damned thing, track for track.  He even named it the same thing.  You'd think it would suck, right?  No way.  The reworked songs have added depth and are frankly incredible.  This is just one example.  The whole album is worth a listen.


With a Little Help from My Friends - Joe Cocker: Speaking of covers, here is a guy that usually did them very well.  While this song is very old, it has aged well.  


Fire Away - Chris Stapleton: The lone country representation from this list.  Voice sounds familiarly like Springsteen in some instances.  And, of course, there's a pedal steel guitar...

Crazy Mary - Pearl Jam: I'm not a fan of Pearl Jam - not at all.  There are only two songs in their entire library that resonate with me.  This is one of them.  The Victoria Williams classic is reworked exceptionally well here, and really matches the weirdness of the song.  


The Ecstasy of Gold - Ennio Morricone: From The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, this track is finding its way into a couple of pieces of current advertising.  Metallica actually used this as their walk-up music for one of their tours.  Good tune to have playing when humping up a hill during a jog or on a bike


She Can't Tell - MOTHXR: I usually don't go for the more electronic stuff, but the guitar and funkiness of this one puts it on this year's list.


Head Over Heels - JD McPherson: Hard core old school 50's rock and roll.  This guy is a real treasure.  

That's this year's installment.  Happy birthday, bro.  Can't want to see you in person and talk about this (and about 100 other things...)

Duracell Ad on Hearing Loss

As someone who loves somebody with hearing loss, I found this depiction from Duracell to be pretty much the most accurate reflection that I've ever seen:



While the baby thing was over the top, the rest of it remains quite accurate.  

Hearing loss in incredibly hard.  The entire world assumes you can hear just like everyone else, and accommodations are few.  It's not for the weak.

And that's one of the reasons why I admire and love my wife so much. 

How to Do Well on Skype Interviews

This is really great content for those of us that use Skype (or similar technologies) for interviews and/or meetings:

Gophers Basketball in Freefall

Coming off their worst season since I can remember, the Gopher Men's Basketball program appeared to have nowhere to go but up.  However, with the recent jailing of Reggie Lynch on sexual assault charges, things just got worse.

It is astonishing how far this program has fallen, and it has everything to do with the type of men that have been entered into the program.  Consider the following, all during Coach Pitino's tenure :

• 2 players arrested
• 2 dismissed from the program for conduct issues 
• 3 others suspended following the release of a sex tape on one of the player’s social media accounts 

These are some pretty incredible stats.  One would like to believe that they reflect an outlier in behavior, however their propensity is far from an outlier.  This looks to be a pretty damn big issue.

Ultimately, this falls on Pitino.  Sure, he's not the one committing these acts.  But he is the one finding, coaching, and ultimately responsible for the guys committing these acts.

Nobody wants to be a part of a team of thugs and criminals.  Nobody wants to be part of a team of bad players either.

Pitino has both.