Category: Movies

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Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

Just because I’m not there doesn’t mean that I can’t do this:

1.  It’s 10 PM EDT in Homestead – and 9 PM CDT here on the River Walk en San Antonio as I begin posting this blog entry, and that makes it a true ‘Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts’. Normally these weekly thoughts are compiled and published late on a Tuesday afternoon, but that’s not the case this week. I was busy being a tourist on this particular Tuesday afternoon.

2.  As the 10:30 AM service was just getting started at Life Pointe Church this past Sunday morning me and my brother were just getting started with our 5-hour / 300-mile trek from Allen Texas (north of Dallas) to San Antonio. (We’ll be making the return trip back to Allen on Wednesday afternoon.)

3.  I saw this on a billboard on the President George Bush Turnpike north of Dallas – ‘YOUR WIFE IS HOT !‘ (in big bold letters). Underneath that it read (in much smaller letters) – ‘Better Get That A.C. Fixed’. Now that’s effective advertising that grabbed my (short) attention (span) !

4.  We stopped by my brother’s office in a generic high-rise office building in Dallas to pick up a few items. My immediate observation of the joint – he’s got absolutely no pictures of me in his office. Hopefully this public thought right here will give him a substantial guilt complex that will remind him to go home and retrieve a picture of me so that he can proudly display it in his office.

5.  Parts of I-35 southbound away from Dallas and towards Waco, Austin, and San Antonio kinda sorta reminded me of parts of I-4 westbound away from Orlando and towards Lakeland and Tampa. Central Texas looks a lot like Central Florida in many areas.

6.  We hit 100,000 miles in my brother’s 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee while driving southbound on I-35, and my brother actually captured the flip-over from 99,999 miles to 100,000 miles on video while driving about 75 MPH in the fast lane and passing an 18-wheeler. (I was slightly terrified during those couple of minutes.)

7.  Me and my brother ate dinner Sunday night at this place in San Antonio about 9 miles from downtown. It’s a place that I’ve been to once before – in October 2003 the last time I was in town. We saw the WWE PPV ‘Night Of Champions’ there.

8.  My brother is an official exhibitor (representing the company that he works for) at the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) 2008 presented by the International Society For Technology In Education (ISTE). Picture the Exponential Conference that we attended up in Orlando this past April but much bigger than that, and instead of Pastors and church staff members it’s teachers and principals.

9.  One of the most popular blog entries of all-time on here was from January 2008. It’s the one where I posted all of those funny names for Chinese restaurants that have ‘Wok’ in its name. Well here’s a new one. Yesterday I enjoyed Lunch at a mall joint known as the ‘Side Wok Cafe’.

10.  I saw “The Happening” Monday afternoon at the movies, and I thought that it was near-perfect (if you’re in to that type of box office entertainment). It was more eye-popping than it was bonechilling. What was even more horrific than the movie itself is the fact that parents actually brought their small school-aged kids into the theatre to watch the movie as well. If you know anything about this movie then you may just agree with me when I refer to those parents as ‘irresponsible’.

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Driving God Movies Music People

Life Pointe Church / InDependence Church Sunday Morning Tossed Salad

It’s after 6 PM as I begin this blog entry, and I just got home after 11-hours of service, praise, worship, fellowship, bi-county driving, and Hollywood movie fun. Here’s the skinny McPhinny:

1.  I arrived at the movie theatre at my normal time this morning – 7:20 AM – but that wasn’t early enough to beat Anne J. and Paul H. to the punch. I helped to setup, as we transformed a place of Hollywood movie fun into a place of worship on this glorious Sunday morning. As the Life Pointe Church family began to arrive for the 9 AM service I hit the road Jack.

2.  I got on Florida’s Turnpike at 8:50 AM, and I drove 48.3 miles north up to the heart of Weston Florida. I arrived at InDependence Church a mere 45 minutes later. Their Sunday morning service starts at 10:29 AM; however, their family pretty much straggles in during the first 30 minutes of the service. (It’s not just a Life Pointe tradition – it’s a South Florida tradition.) Their first 30 minutes consists of a long rockin’ Praise & Worship set followed by about a 10-minute intermission. This was my 2ND service at InDependence Church (my first was Presidents’ Day Sunday), and I’m happy to announce that Life Pointe’s Brannon & Taylor have made InDependence their church close to home. They live up in Weston now, and this was their first service there. They still plan to visit Life Pointe occasionally, as Brannon still works at the air base.

3.  We had a special guest speaker at InDependence this week – a guy that trains police departments around the world on truth detection. After he spoke briefly on his profession Pastor Nathan took the stage to wrap-up ‘The Moment Of Truth’ message series (loosely based on the FOX-TV show). This week’s topic – ‘Have You Ever Asked Someone To Lie For You ?’ Lying is hard to do. Telling the truth is easy. You don’t have to think real hard to tell the truth, but when you lie it requires extra brain cells and blood pressure. We always look toward the permissive. What can we get away with ?  If we can get away with it then what else can we get away with ?  It’s a spiraling effect. As believers, followers, and obeyers of Jesus Christ we must be different than what the rest of the world is saying and doing. We must know right from wrong. We must have integrity, truthfulness, and honesty forever. ‘The Moment Of Truth’ is always and forever before God.

Genesis 12:1-20 was this week’s primary Scriptures – ‘The Call Of Abram’ and ‘Abram And Sarai In Egypt’.

4.  I had a fantastic time at InDependence Church this morning. It was well worth the trip. As a 2007 church plant of Life Pointe Church it’s kind of like a reconnaissance mission for me to visit the new and developing church and see how much it has progressed since my last visit. It’s always cool to hear Pastor Nathan speak. Pretty soon I’ll be able to hear him speak on a regular basis – via their church web site – as they place their podcasts online. I’ll also be back LIVE and in-person later this Summer for a follow-up visit. Keep doing your thing up there in Weston. Transform that beautiful manicured city into a place where God is livin’ large and fully in-charge. Expand His Kingdom !  Kick the devil out of the city !

5.  On my return trip southbound I made a pit-stop at the Muvico Paradise 24 in Davie (right along I-75). I’ve always wanted to see a movie at that theatre ever since it opened for business back in the Spring of 1999, and today – over 9 years later – I finally did it. I saw “What Happens In Vegas“. It was fantastic. I laughed hysterically all throughout it, and it wasn’t nearly as dirty as the previous movie that I (unfortunately) saw (in Orlando).

6.  Once I got back home into Homestead I hung out with Travis, Kelly, and Tammy at the Life Pointe offices for a couple of hours. Trav introduced me to “Guitar Hero“, and each time I played it with him I got better at it. I even beat him in one game (barely), but it was a game in which he played it ‘hard’ and I played it ‘easy’. Now my fingers and arms hurt !  After today’s 11-hour adventure I feel like a worn-out 41-year-old rock star. I’m exhausted like that.

Have a great Sunday night everyone !  THANKS for hanging out with me earlier today LIVE and in-person – and / or right here right now on the blog.

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Blogging Career Food God Movies People Television

Bedtime Stories

Greetings Friends. It’s time for the 30TH edition of the ever-so-popular ‘Bedtime Stories’ series here on this blog. ‘Bedtime Stories’ is kind of like my version of ‘The Tonight Show‘ – a long-running staple that you can always depend on to be there with a fresh new edition on most nights.

The ‘Life Pointe Church Sunday Morning Tossed Salad’ is pretty much my ‘Meet The Press‘ on here. If it’s Sunday – then it’s ‘Tossed Salad’ day !

I’m not the only dude that recaps his Sunday morning experiences at Life Pointe Church. Pastor Travis created the concept. Check out his ‘Sunday Wrap-Up’. Trav’s real bro Phil (P.J.) has run with his ‘Sunday Life Pointe Talk Soup’ for 5 weeks now. And then there’s the ‘Ritz Crackah‘ who has his ‘Sunday Goosfaba’. (‘Goosfaba’ is a variation of ‘Goosfraba’ which is an Eskimo word that was made famous in the 2003 box office smash ‘Anger Management‘.)

I’ll be back at work bright and early tomorrow morning to kick-off a fresh new week at my job. I’m making it a special point to get away from the base during the Lunch hour to finally get a haircut and then to eat Chinese Food for Lunch. Be sure to check out ‘The Fortune Cookie Message Of The Week Club’ tomorrow (Monday) afternoon.

Have a safe and peaceful Sunday night everyone, and until we hang out again here on the blog remember this:

Big Hole, Kimberley South Africa

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Driving Food Holidays Movies Shopping

My 111-Hour Holiday Weekend

Here are a few things that I did today on the first full day of my long holiday weekend:

  • I went to Dunkin Donuts to get myself a medium coffee with cream, sugar, and blueberry flavouring. Good Stuff !
  • I took my car to my Saturn dealership to get its 3,000-mile preventive maintenance done on it. I was shocked to find out that my Saturn dealership is now a Saturn / Buick / Pontiac / GMC dealership. That’s not right.
  • I went to The Living Word Christian Bookstore in Cutler Bay for the first time ever. I spent nearly an hour inside that store. It looks like I’m going to be a regular customer there from now on. I love that place !
  • I went to Southland Mall for a rare visit, and I saw another movie today at the Regal Cinemas 16 there. I saw “Juno“. It was a great movie, and I now see why it’s nominated for so many awards – plus it’s a box office smash. I also looked around and dreamed a little bit while I was in the theatre. I wonder what Life Pointe Church would be like if it were held in this theatre ?
Iced Caramel Macchiato