"I get up every morning determined to change the world and have one heck of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult." - E.B. White

An Italian pasta company pays yacht owners for the right to advertise their product.

Lots of interesting stuff out there right now. Like this article from Slate.com on the prosperity gospel a' la Joel Osteen and how it plays in the middle of a depression.

You'll recognize this song but the acapella rendition is very cool, especially the first part where they create an African rain storm.
Perpetuum Jazzile

If you can still find it, pick up a copy of last week's TIME magazine. The cover story article about the importance of marriage and the damage infidelity does is well worth the price. Or, you can read it here. Surprising in a secular national mag.

The Tour de France heads into the mountains tomorrow, the kind of stage that has been a Lance Armstrong forte. He is now .22 sec. behind the first place rider. Can the old man's legs still pull everyone up the side of a mountain? How incredible would it be for Armstrong to be in yellow come Friday?

In the language and grammar trivia dept....
When used as a musical notation "forte" means loud and is pronounced fortAY, consistent with its Italian origins.
When used to describe someone's particular strength it comes from the French word meaning strong, and is pronounced fort. (Go ahead, look it up.)
You may go your entire life and never hear that second meaning pronounced correctly. And if you pronounce it properly you'll get corrected by someone who thinks you're an idiot. Trust me on that one.
So, which will you choose: correct or accepted?

I mentioned in last night's post that Sunday's sermon will come from 1 Cor. 15, the "resurrection chapter." Paul talks about the nature of the believer's resurrection body - imperishable, incorruptible, immortal. And so I read with particular interest one of today's big news stories.

Cemetery workers at a historically Black cemetery in Chicago are charged with removing the headstones and bones from up to 300 graves so they could re-sell the plots. Apparently the removed remains were piled indiscriminately in a back corner of the large cemetery.

You can imagine the reaction at word of this desecration. Affected family members, community leaders, law enforcement personnel and, of course, Jesse Jackson have all expressed outrage.

I've never been accused of sentimentality. Ask Pam. So as I read and saw coverage of this story I found myself responding in terms of what I believe the Bible teaches on the subject. My body is a gift from God (White Elephant?) and I am charged with being a good steward for as long as he gives me breath. But I am MORE than ready to be free of it and all the struggles that come along with it - physical and spiritual. I know what awaits me and it surpasses what I've got beyond description.

In the instant I leave this body it becomes a heap of organic material. It is no more me than the yellow shirt I wore last Sunday. It only served as a vessel that I inhabited for a time. And as vessels go it's been a pretty humble example, a condition that further deteriorates the longer I live.

Pam and I have opted for cremation when we die, primarily for financial reasons. But I hope that if my remains were buried and then unceremoniously dug up by a profiteer my family would offer up a collective "That sucks" and move on. A few bones, maybe some nearly-decayed cloth...what's the fuss? If they're going to fret about something it should be the VW, or maybe my power tools. At least they're worth some money.

I wish some of the most important people in my life didn't live so far away.