SunnyD and Rum

First you laugh a little…

Then you cry a little…

*burp*

Filed under: YouTube

Friday Flashback

Hello, my name is Crispy how do you do?
Crispy Critters cereal’s entirely new!
It’s indubitably, indubitably delicious!
Oh here comes Crispy Critters a good wholesome bunch,
the low-sugar cereal with lots of crunch!
Yes it’s indubitably! Indubitably! Indubitably!
Indubitably! Indubitably! Delicious!
…Ah-cha-cha-cha!

I’ve been saying “Crispy Critters a good wholesome bunch” for years without remembering why that was in my head, so I looked it up and was pleasantly reminded of the commercial above. Turns out Crispy Critters was a short lived cereal in the 80′s, but that jingle sure has lasted a while.

Below we have another classic from the 80′s. It was the very first song I can remember as being my “favorite song.” The older kids would play it on the jukebox at the arcade, and then play hours of pinball. I was in the third grade at the time.

Freak-A-Zoid — Midnight Star

“I’ll be your freak-a-zoid, c’mon and wind me up!”

Filed under: 80's, Music

The Incredible Shrinking Man

In less than four weeks I’ll be joining the man seen above in his first Half Marathon. Almost a year to the day my brother-in-law Eric was over 200 lbs. heavier than he is now. Since then he’s been a man on a mission, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed training and running in races with him along his journey. I suppose that’s why I find the video below so moving. It’s like watching Eric’s story put to music with one of my favorite songs (Fix You by Coldplay).

Since watching that video I’ve been following Ben on his blog Ben Does Life. Today he had a great post for those asking the question:

“What advice can you give me, as someone who needs to lose a lot of weight, and is just starting?”

» Ben’s Four Commandments for Getting Started

I couldn’t agree more.

Filed under: Exercise

Time To Dominate

I’ve run a few races in the last two years, but I’ve never run for a cause, or even wore anything specific for my race. However, for my Grand Rapids Half Marathon on October 17 I’m going to join with my buddy Aaron Conrad and support former University of Michigan kicker Phil Brabbs and his battle against a form of blood cancer called Multiple Myeloma.

We’d love for you to join us in this, whether you’re running or not.
Order your own shirt today and help support this great cause. They come in Maize and Blue, or Scarlet and Grey for those that prefer an inferior color pattern.

For more information visit CancerKicker.org

Filed under: Running

Pac-Man Fever

Thanks to Ryan Byrd and his tremendous MixDay playlists, I ran across another 80′s classic on my ipod yesterday while riding my bike home from work — Pac-Man Fever. That brought back memories I had long forgotten about. This morning I immediately downloaded the entire album.

From Wiki:

Pac-Man Fever is a 1982 album recorded by Buckner & Garcia. It is also the name of the first song on that album. Each song on the album is about a different classic arcade game, and uses sound effects from that game. The album was released as an LP, a cassette, an 8-track tape, and later completely re-recorded for CD release in 1999, and 2002. The title itself is a parody of “Cat Scratch Fever” by Ted Nugent.

The title song was released as a single in December 1981 and became a top-ten hit, peaking at #9 in March 1982 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earning gold certification by the RIAA. “Do the Donkey Kong” was the second single released from the album, but it failed to chart except on Billboard’s Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles at #103.

Here’s the full track listing:
1. Pac-Man Fever
2. Froggy’s Lament
3. Ode to a Centipede
4. Do the Donkey Kong
5. Hyperspace
6. The Defender
7. Mousetrap
8. Goin’ Berzerk

Pac-Man Fever – Buckner & Garcia

Filed under: Video Games

Review: Outlive Your Life

There’s nothing better than knowing you’ve made a difference in someone’s life, that your life served a purpose beyond your own self gratification.

In Max Lucado’s newest book, Outlive Your Life: You Were Made to Make A Difference, he shares stories and personal experiences about people doing just that. It’s a simple yet profound message:

These are difficult days in our world’s history. 1.75 billion people are desperately poor, natural disasters are gouging entire nations, and economic uncertainty still reigns across the globe. But you and I have been given an opportunity to make a big difference. What if we did? What if we rocked the world with hope? Infiltrated all corners with God’s love and life? We are created by a great God to do great works. He invites us to outlive our lives, not just in heaven, but here on earth. Let’s live our lives in such a way that the world will be glad we did.

Each chapter flies by as it reminds us of different ways we can leave a legacy by living better lives today. One of my favorite stories in the book was the one that involved a football game between Gainesville State School and Grapevine Faith High School. It’s so easy to bring hope to the world when we start seeing the world through the eyes of others. It just takes initiative, and action.

Max ends each chapter with a relevant scripture and prayer. In the back he provides a discussion and action guide to help further personal reflection, or to assist in a small group setting. And to top it all off, Max is donating 100% of his author royalties from all Outlive Your Life products to benefit children and families through World Vision and other ministries of faith-based compassion

“None of us can help everyone, but all of us can help someone.”

4 out of 5 stars

Download Chapter One »

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program.

Filed under: Books, Reviews

Wisdom, Justice, and Love

Many thanks to Linkin Park for providing me with this classic Martin Luther King, Jr. quote (from their latest album, A Thousand Suns)

“A true revolution of values will lay hand on the world order and say of war, “This way of settling differences is not just.” This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation’s homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love.

A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”

—Martin Luther King, Jr., April 4, 1967

More wise and prophetic words of Martin Luther King, Jr. here.

Wisdom, Justice, and Love – Linkin Park

Filed under: Lyrics, Martin Luther King Jr., Music, Quotes

August Debrief

August has always been my favorite month.

13 - Softball Tournament (5th place)
27 - Birthday (35 years old)
26-29 – Mancation (Road trip to Traverse City + Fantasy Football Draft Party)

August Running Totals
8 workouts
5:24:47 duration
36.39 miles
8.39 per mile average
4018 calories burned

Tweet of the Month

Having a hard time figuring out why the whole world is actually taking Favre at his word this time. September 9 is when we’ll find out.
— @mudpuppy August 3, 2010 11:54:01 AM EDT

Books Read in August:
Broken Record: Enjoying the Music of Relationship Through the Hisses, Pops, and Scratches — John Voelz

Movies Watched in August:
Encounters at the End of the World – 1/5
Old Dogs – 3/5
Point Break – 4/5
The Ghost Writer – 4/5
Brewster’s Millions – 3/5
The Hangover – 4/5
The Exorcist – 4/5
Arlington Road – 4/5
Dead Man – 3/5
The Whole Nine Yards – 3/5
Paycheck – 3/5
Zach Galifianakis: Live at the Purple Onion – 3/5
Pirates of Silicon Valley – 3/5
The Expendables – 3/5
Pirate Radio – 4/5
Poltergeist – 4/5
Cop Out – 2/5
Art & Copy – 5/5
Summer Rental – 2/5
The Losers – 3/5
8 Heads in a Duffel Bag – 2/5
First Snow – 4/5
Four Rooms – 3/5
Bella – 4/5
The Burbs – 5/5
Repo Men – 3/5
Romulus, My Father – 2/5
Lord, Save Us From Your Followers – 5/5

Filed under: 2010, August, Books, Movies

Kenny Robertson

Above is one of my favorite entries from my 1988 Harding Academy Wildcat Yearbook. We had just completed the seventh grade. His full name was Kenny Robertson.

I only knew Kenny for the two years I spent at the Academy, and I spent more time with a couple other friends than I did with Kenny, but I knew Kenny was a special human being. Everybody did. He was one of the nicest people you’d ever meet, and always had a huge smile on his face.

As happens in life, my family moved and I lost touch with most of the people I met at Harding. But thanks to Mark Zuckerberg, and his time machine called Facebook, twenty years later I started reconnecting and catching up on the lives of all my friends from Harding. Just last week (Selah) I was looking through all of Kenny’s photos on Facebook and thinking to myself that I really wish I had gotten to know him better.

Turns out that Kenny joined the Marines and became a helicopter pilot. After leaving the Marines he became helicopter pilot for Air Evac, a private air ambulance / EMT service. He flew all over Arkansas, especially the rural areas, to get seriously injured people to one of the area hospitals as soon as possible. Tragically, yesterday Kenny’s helicopter crashed and he lost his life, leaving behind a wife and 3 beautiful children.

I’m reading a book right now by Max Lucado called Outlive Your Life. The premise is that we should live our lives in such a way that world would be glad we did. I can tell you personally, and you can read the comments left on his Facebook page, that Kenny certainly did just that. The world is missing a great person today, but we’re all blessed because of the impressions he left.

Legacy – Nichole Nordeman

Filed under: Friends, Legacy