Thursday, September 07, 2006
Resources for American Christianity
Information and reflection on selected projects funded by the Lily Endowment (worth browsing at length)
1 & 2 Kings Commentary in Brazos Series
I am already in love with this commentary series after reading the first volume on Acts by Jaroslav Pelikan. And of interest to Madison folk, the lamb imagery is from the altar at Luther Memorial downtown Madison, Wisconsin.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
McYoga Take Two
Ok, so, the Ronald on top of McDonalds in McFarland (see previous post first), is sitting in the lotus position. Ok, I know, I should capture this on digital image and post it here. And I might. But for the time-being, I simply invite you to a feat of imagination. Imagine an inflatable Ronald McDonald, maybe 20 feet tall, sitting in the lotus position on a brand new McDonalds directly in front of some BP gas pumps, with a strip mall in the background.
Apparently along with their salads and fruit cups, McDonalds is distributing yoga DVDs. It's what I eat and what I do So Ronald in lotus is not so incongruous. Nevertheless, it is quite a sight, maybe something one can only dream up in the smorgasbord of the North American marketplace.
After a quick philosophical dive into the ironies of Ronald adopting the McYoga pose, I went on a brief trip down memory lane. I remembered, to be exact, all the places my family used to eat after church on Sunday mornings. It was our habit, I think without exception, to eat out on Sundays after church. For a while, it was always the McDonalds on Duck Creek in Davenport. Then, for a while, we graduated to Denny's. I always preferred McDonalds because you didn't have to wait. For a small child, Denny's moves slow.
Plus, there was cool stuff, even small toys, distributed at McDs.
Later, we moved on to some other options. For a really long stretch of time, our top destination was Wendys. I'll admit that Wendys is still my favorite fastfood restaurant. When I was 12 or 13 years old, I was so impressed with Wendys that I bought stock in the company. For years, I held onto the stock (I didn't make that much money). Receiving the prospectus every year and a small dividend check periodically were worth the investment.
Finally, I think our regular after church meals became a little less regular- I think we started trying out various restaurants each week, as well as brunch options and buffets.
I remember also that at least some Sundays we went over to my great aunts (plural) house. They had a buzzer under their kitchen table that was used, at one time in the distant past, to page servants. My aunts didn't have servants. They just had us, who brought KFC chicken if memory serves correct. But the buzzer was cool for a small child interested in exploring old homes.
So, Sunday dinners.
Apparently along with their salads and fruit cups, McDonalds is distributing yoga DVDs. It's what I eat and what I do So Ronald in lotus is not so incongruous. Nevertheless, it is quite a sight, maybe something one can only dream up in the smorgasbord of the North American marketplace.
After a quick philosophical dive into the ironies of Ronald adopting the McYoga pose, I went on a brief trip down memory lane. I remembered, to be exact, all the places my family used to eat after church on Sunday mornings. It was our habit, I think without exception, to eat out on Sundays after church. For a while, it was always the McDonalds on Duck Creek in Davenport. Then, for a while, we graduated to Denny's. I always preferred McDonalds because you didn't have to wait. For a small child, Denny's moves slow.
Plus, there was cool stuff, even small toys, distributed at McDs.
Later, we moved on to some other options. For a really long stretch of time, our top destination was Wendys. I'll admit that Wendys is still my favorite fastfood restaurant. When I was 12 or 13 years old, I was so impressed with Wendys that I bought stock in the company. For years, I held onto the stock (I didn't make that much money). Receiving the prospectus every year and a small dividend check periodically were worth the investment.
Finally, I think our regular after church meals became a little less regular- I think we started trying out various restaurants each week, as well as brunch options and buffets.
I remember also that at least some Sundays we went over to my great aunts (plural) house. They had a buzzer under their kitchen table that was used, at one time in the distant past, to page servants. My aunts didn't have servants. They just had us, who brought KFC chicken if memory serves correct. But the buzzer was cool for a small child interested in exploring old homes.
So, Sunday dinners.
McYoga
Because there weren't enough McDonald's in our area, McDs has been busy building a new restaurant in McFarland (ha ha!) this summer. It opened about three weeks ago, and as we were driving through McFarland, we noticed that they had brought in a monstrous inflatable Ronald to set atop the new building. Well, not the Ronald of my childhood, but the new and healthier Ronald, the Ronald who might chant this song by Radiohead:
Whoops, didn't mean to go off on a Radiohead digression, but when you're obsessed, and listening non-stop to Thom Yorke's Eraser.
Now this post has ended up being about Thom Yorke and Radiohead rather than McDonalds. That's not a bad thing, really, but we do need to have a post about the Ronald sitting on top of McDonalds in McFarland.
more productive
comfortable
not drinking too much
regular exercise at the gym (3 days a week)
getting on better with your associate employee contemporaries
at ease
eating well (no more microwave dinners and saturated fats)
a patient better driver
a safer car (baby smiling in back seat)
sleeping well (no bad dreams)
no paranoia
careful to all animals (never washing spiders down the plughole)
keep in contact with old friends (enjoy a drink now and then)
will frequently check credit at (moral) bank (hole in wall)
favours for favours
fond but not in love
charity standing orders
on sundays ring road supermarket
(no killing moths or putting boiling water on the ants)
car wash (also on sundays)
no longer afraid of the dark
or midday shadows
nothing so ridiculously teenage and desperate
nothing so childish
at a better pace
slower and more calculated
no chance of escape
now self-employed
concerned (but powerless)
an empowered and informed member of society (pragmatism not idealism)
will not cry in public
less chance of illness
tires that grip in the wet (shot of baby strapped in back seat)
a good memory
still cries at a good film
still kisses with saliva
no longer empty and frantic
like a cat
tied to a stick
that's driven into
frozen winter s**t (the ability to laugh at weakness)
calm
fitter, healthier and more productive
a pig
in a cage
on antibiotics
Whoops, didn't mean to go off on a Radiohead digression, but when you're obsessed, and listening non-stop to Thom Yorke's Eraser.
Now this post has ended up being about Thom Yorke and Radiohead rather than McDonalds. That's not a bad thing, really, but we do need to have a post about the Ronald sitting on top of McDonalds in McFarland.
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