Anyone else ever heard of cuil.com?

From my intern, Kevin Johnson’s blog: http://falloutofline.wordpress.com/

I found it too funny to let go. Hope all is well.

for those of you who don’t know yet, the supposed google-killer cuil.com has pretty much died itself.  it’s been called out on its lackluster approach to pulling up the most relevant information on the internet.  their servers crashed yesterday because they couldn’t handle all the visitors.  but here’s the deal:  i thought the front page looked pretty wicked awesome:

i thought the black and blue was pretty sweet.  and if you think about it, it probably saved some laptop battery power! not much backlight needed for that page.  go green by going black.  what a concept.  but yeah, when i was discussing cuil.com with my coworkers, Jay asked the question, “I wonder with the word cuil stands for?”  Within 30 seconds, Lindsey replied, “it’s an old irish word for knowledge.”  when asked how she came up with that, she quickly explained, “i googled it.”

Psalm 23:1

A PSALM OF DAVID.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Psalm 23: easily one of the most famous passages in scripture; poetic, encouraging, and empowering. This verse depicts God as a shepherd to David as a sheep. In God’s provision, David won’t have any need. It sounds pretty doesn’t it?

Never having spent excessive amounts of time with sheep, I did a little research. (Oh, how I love Google.) Sheep are often considered stupid animals. However, sheep range below pigs in intelligence, but on par with most cattle. In actuality, Sheep aren’t stupid, just easily spooked. Motivated by fear, they never walk in a straight line, and only feel safety when in a herd. Sheep love sheep.

Sheep also love food. Having four stomachs, they will devour a country side quite easily, but are susceptible to many kinds of toxic plant life. While animals can be trained to lead a herd of sheep, another simple method of leading a group of sheep is by placing food before them. They will go wherever the food goes. The stomach leads.

It is also true that sheep can recognize the faces of people taking care of them. They can learn voices, and even be given names and respond to them for years. In time, the care giver- in biblical times and term- a shepherd will be depended on for all of their needs. The sheep will trust the shepherd for protection, and provision.

It has been said, many of times, that men are pigs. I think we are a bit more like Sheep. We too aren’t stupid- just easily spooked. We will run at the first sign of danger, or commitment for that matter, and can be lulled into trust. Men also don’t like to be separated from other men. Don’t believe me? Drop one into a baby shower. Watch him never make direct eye contact, look completely uncomfortable, and look for the first chance to make a run for it.

Joking aside, I find great similarity to myself and sheep. I’m not stupid- just spooked easily. The figurative stomach of my life leads my decisions and direction for everything I do. In my hunger for provision and protecting, and am found wanting.

The Brick Testament

I’ve been sitting on this for a few days, trying to figure out whether or not it needed to be known.

I’ve decided that you may find it offensive, or just plain creative. Either way- Viewer beware:

Thanks to Justin P. for this link:

for the full version: www.thebricktestament.com

eucharist smuggler

Thanks to Russell Hilton for the article…

Last Edited: Monday, 07 Jul 2008, 11:38 PM EDT 
Created: Monday, 07 Jul 2008, 11:36 PM EDT 

Student Who Took Religious Icon Getting Death Threats  
By Cheryl Getuiza
FOX 35 NEWS

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35, Orlando) –A UCF student claims he’s getting death threats for messing with something sacred.

Webster Cook says he smuggled a Eucharist, a small bread wafer that to Catholics symbolic of the Body of Christ after a priest blesses it, out of mass, didn’t eat it as he was supposed to do, but instead walked with it. Catholics worldwide became furious.   

I bet the audience reaction was …. interesting….

Sacha Baron Cohen caper?: Racy martial arts show draws ire in Arkansas
By Jon Gambrell, Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas — Crowds in Arkansas came for the lure of cage fighting and $1 beer, but police say what they got instead was men ripping each others’ clothes off and kissing — a stunt suspected of being orchestrated by Sacha Baron Cohen of Borat fame.

“We had a contract for cage fighting. We were deceived,” said Dwight Duncan, president and CEO of Four States Fair Grounds in Texarkana, where the first of two Arkansas fights raised suspicions last month. Matt Labov, a Los Angeles-based publicist for Baron Cohen, said he had no comment Monday about the faked fights. One of Baron Cohen’s movies is due out next year. The day after the June 5 Texarkana bout, Fort Smith’s convention center hosted “Blue Collar Brawlin.” Fort Smith police Sgt. Adam Holland said organizers told him a character named “Straight Dave” would goad a planted audience member into the ring for a fight. The two men would then wrestle, rip away some of their clothes and share a brief kiss reminiscent of one between Baron Cohen and Will Ferrell in the film Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

An interesting article on Coldplay’s Viva la Vida.

Christianity Today’s Russ Breimeier has written an interesting article on Coldplay’s latest album. I thought it was worth a look at:

Coldplay

Viva la Vida (Capitol Records)
by Russ Breimeier

“I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing
Roman cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword, my shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can’t explain
I know Saint Peter won’t call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world.”
– from “Viva La Vida”

Once again, Coldplay proves a pillar in Brit pop/rock with a genre-defining sound swimming in texture and ambience. Once again, they’ve yielded a hit album, selling more than 720,000 copies of Viva La Vida in its first week of release. Once again, it’s an album rife with spiritual themes, packed with more explicit biblical imagery than 2002’s A Rush of Blood to the Head and 2005’s X&Y combined. And once again, many are expressing some frustration over Coldplay’s lyricism. The band is consistent, if nothing else.

Considering that many classic bands have reveled in the cryptic (Radiohead), the abstract (U2), and the nonsensical (The Beatles), it’s odd that some critics would be so quick to dismiss Coldplay’s songwriting as meaningless. Most all the band members in previous interviews have openly shared a belief in God and some understanding of the Christian religion, so with all the consistent spiritual references on this album, is it really all pointless babble to hang their stylish sound on? Coldplay has also indicated that the song sequencing is important to their work, making Viva La Vida worth exploring track by track.