25 in the 2000s: tv shows
this is part of an ongoing series called 25 in the 2000s. if you want a bit of information about the series, you can find the introduction here.
you absolutely cannot talk about tv in the 2000s without immediately turning to reality television. it's certainly the hallmark of the decade and reveals a lot about cultural attitudes and values. but even beyond reality tv (which you'll find over in and over in my list), tv, in general, reveals the cultural climate during a time period. so, with this list, my selections should tell you something about both the decade and the lens in which i viewed it (both literally and figuratively).
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a few thoughts concerning the shane montgomery arrest
Fri, Dec 11 2009 08:06 PM
| personal, church, news, little rock, jesus, eikon, christian subculture, theology, current events
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today has been a day full of assorted and disparate emotions. this morning, like many of you, i learned of yesterday's arrest of shane montgomery, the now-resigned church planter/pastor of the river church. while most people know the story at this point, in essence, shane has been accused of (and, according to some sources citing the arrest report, admitted to) sexual contact with a 15-year old male who he met online this past summer.
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25 in the 2000s: sports moments
Tue, Dec 8 2009 08:15 AM
| videos, personal, sports, news, favorites, popular culture, lists
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this is part of an ongoing series called 25 in the 2000s. if you want a bit of information about the series, you can find the introduction here.
one of the hallmarks of any time period is a reflection on what occurred in the world of sports. naturally, the 2000s are no different. while it's still hard to completely put its impact in historical context, the 2000s certainly had many memorable moments and were defined by some of the greatest athletes of all time: lebron james, peyton manning, albert pujols, shaquille o'neal and many more. so, here's a look at the greatest sports moments of the last decade
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25 in the 2000s: technological innovations
Wed, Dec 2 2009 09:29 AM
| photography, t.v., technology, graphic design, music, favorites, popular culture, science, iphone, current events, lists
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this is part of an ongoing series called 25 in the 2000s. if you want a bit of information about the series, you can find the introduction here.
in technology standards, 10 years is a very, very long time. innovative people and programs are constantly looking for new ways to connect people, spread information and make life easier through advances in technology. in this list, i've used technology in the broadest sense: science, mechanics, computer, social media, etc. so, here's the best in what's happened in technological innovation over the last 10 years.
25 in the 2000s: religious stories
Sun, Nov 29 2009 01:29 PM
| personal, movies, news, emergent, christian subculture, theology, favorites, lists, church, jesus, music, popular culture, current events, politics
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this is part of an ongoing series called 25 in the 2000s. if you want a bit of information about the series, you can find the introduction here.
it seem as if the last 10 years have been a particularly explosive and salient time in the world of religion. from a new pope to the brazen use of religion in political campaigns to the culture of islamic suspicion since 9/11, religion has been at the forefront of conversation and headlines. in the following list, i'll talk about the good, the bad and the ugly of the decade in religion.
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25 in the 2000s: an introduction
Sat, Nov 28 2009 10:00 AM
| personal, technology, movies, theology, music, favorites, popular culture, politics, current events, lists
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the year: 1999. your shopping list: several flash lights, 4 or 5 large packs of batteries, a few cases of bottled water, nonperishable food items, a swiss army knife and several boxes of zombie repellant.
why? y2k, of course.
yes, in 1999, the world prepared itself for the certain meltdown of all that we had previously known as organized civilization. now, we find ourselves in 2009—a decade later—still waiting for the world to come to a screeching halt. while we're waiting, though, i thought it would be a good time to bask in what has been a great decade: the aughts.
from the eikon blog: a day of eucharist
here's a little something i wrote over on the eikon blog and rather than trying to force the obligatory, "what i'm thankful for..." post, i thought i'd just reblog what i wrote there.
so, happy thanksgiving.
so, happy thanksgiving.
pro-abortion, anti-communion: when religion becomes a weapon
Wed, Nov 25 2009 08:47 AM
| personal, church, emergent, jesus, eikon, christian subculture, theology, worship, politics
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religion can be used as a lot of things. it can be used as a way to bring seemingly disparate people together. it can be used as a mode of transcendent conversation. it can be used as a way to connect thousands of years of generations of people and to bring hope to people who might otherwise feel hopeless. certainly, it can be used for many, many great and noble things.
but it can also be used in very dangerous and divisive ways.
sadly, those who choose to use religion as a weapon of politics has become more and more frequent and severe.
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do you f*#@ing love bacon!!??: a religious flowchart
Tue, Nov 24 2009 02:17 PM
| church, eikon, humor, christian subculture, theology, websites
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over on the blog of john hardin, john posted a great religious flowchart from holy taco. so, which religion should you follow??
hbo's big love returns in january 2010
Tue, Nov 24 2009 08:30 AM
| videos, t.v., favorites, popular culture
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it's no secret that i'm a huge fan of hbo's big love. bar none, big love is my favorite tv show of all-time. it has drama, humor, mystery, intrigue, death, religion, plot twists…everything you could possibly want from a tv show.in typical hbo fashion, the gaps between seasons of big love are long and maddening. so, it's with great excitement that i post the teaser trailer for the upcoming season—season
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our sweet little olive turns 1
one year. wow.
it's nearly impossible to avoid all the necessary clichés with this type of post. it feels like yesterday... time flies... she'll be a teenager before you know it. blah blah blah. the reality, though, is that all the clichés are true, really.
it does seem like just yesterday that we were taking off for the hospital at 1:30 in the morning and seeing olive for the first time just a little after 5 a.m. (you can read the overview of those events here). time does fly when you have a sweet little girl that turns 1 without you realizing that even a day or a week has passed. and yes, the reality that she'll be all grown up very soon sets in when you begin making plans for that first birthday party.
twitter me this: 5 twitter gripes
i love twitter.
for a lot of different reasons. it's fast, it's streamlined, it's connective, it's educational, it allows regular exercise in brevity, it's ADD-friendly, it's bridge-building, it's uniquely expressive. :) it's all this and more.
but.
i do have a handful of gripes. there's several things that consistently bug me on twitter. one of the beauties of twitter is that it's not too strictly-defined, so you can use it for whatever purposes you might have. so my list of gripes is highly personal. it isn't like these things are violations of some kind of twitter equivalent to the code of hammurabi or the 10 commandments. and while i do think my list is probably shared by a large number of twitterers, it's still necessary to say that it's just sorta "one of those things" kind of deals for me and maybe not for anyone else.
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pulaski academy, marching bands |||amp; the new racism
Fri, Nov 13 2009 08:11 AM
| rant, general life, personal, little rock, theology, family, popular culture
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when i saw, on the arkansas blog, the teaser, "A local blogger has written—unhappily—that Pulaski Academy won't send its band to a football playoff game in Helena-West Helena", i thought this was going to be a flashback to 1993 when the conway high school football team lost to pine bluff in the state championship game. after a searing defeat, some conway fans looked for a direction in which their finger could point. of all places, they found the band, saying that their minimal playing caused the team to lose. yes, you read that correctly: the band's lack of horns and drums and cymbals. so when i saw this headline, i thought i was in for the same disbelief from nearly 16 years ago.
that, though, is not what i discovered.
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anne pressly |||amp; curtis vance: the uncomfortable unspoken reality
Thu, Nov 12 2009 08:00 AM
| news, little rock, theology
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for this post, i'm working under the assumption that most of you know the story of the rape and murder of little rock news anchor anne pressly. it's a heartbreaking and deeply saddening story that received a little closure today with the announcement that vance was found guilty of all charges.
as a father to two daughters, i can't begin to imagine what it would be like to be anne pressly's parents and family. the deep, deep pain would be unbearable and it would be difficult to maintain any semblance of a normal life. it's honestly hard for me to think about it as i write this.
on the other hand, though, as i watch all the coverage of the trial, i keep coming back to one particular thing: i have a deep sense of sorrow that goes out to curtis vance and his family.
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from mcsweeney's: an open letter to the guy at my gym who screams when he lifts weights.
Mon, Nov 9 2009 12:14 PM
| general life, humor, favorites, websites
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mcsweeney's consistently produces both quality and hilarious content. one of their best ongoing series is their Open Letters to People or Entities Who are Unlikely to Respond. it's reminiscent of the Budweiser Real Men of Genius commercials from several years ago, but even smarter and more biting.
i came across one today that was so great that i had to repost here. you can find it at the mcsweeney's website or you can read it here. we've all seen (or know) this dude, so i thought it's something the beingryanbyrd crowd would enjoy. so, enjoy.
i came across one today that was so great that i had to repost here. you can find it at the mcsweeney's website or you can read it here. we've all seen (or know) this dude, so i thought it's something the beingryanbyrd crowd would enjoy. so, enjoy.
when churches attack!: scaring the hell out of the masses, pt. 2
last week, on halloween, i blogged about the phenomenon over the last 20-30 years of churches putting on what's commonly known as hell houses. to put it lightly, i didn't really give them a glowing endorsement. :) you can read it in its entirety here.
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when churches attack!: scaring the hell out of the masses
wanna talk eternity? hell yes?
hell no, actually.
tonight, across the country, there's a wave of church productions that will be saying no to hell as well. eternity house. hell house. i'm sure there are other names than those out there, but maybe you've heard of one of these in some similar iteration.
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a solution to the little rock homeless problem: let them die
on any given day, there are thousands of people living in the streets of little rock. we have to walk by them. we have to hear them ask for money. we have to cross to the other side of the street when we see them ahead. we have to feel guilty when we drive by in our hard-earned suv.
it's a real problem.
so, i'm offering a solution: let them die.
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designing obama: scott thomas talks about obama design campaign
Mon, Oct 26 2009 04:10 PM
| awesome, graphic design, favorites, politics
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i don't write a lot about design, but i have certainly written my fair share about politics. this is a post where those two things meet.
if you've kept up with my blog since at least this time last year, you know that i'm, um, to say the least, a supporter of president obama. one of the many layers of his campaign and subsequent victory that i focused on was the design campaign that was particularly pivotal. never in the history of presidential (or any other kind) elections has design played such a prominent role than it did with obama's campaign. everyone knows obama's logo. everyone knows the "obama blue" and everyone knows gotham font (even if they don't know it's called gotham...which i still regularly find myself obsessed with...).
if you've kept up with my blog since at least this time last year, you know that i'm, um, to say the least, a supporter of president obama. one of the many layers of his campaign and subsequent victory that i focused on was the design campaign that was particularly pivotal. never in the history of presidential (or any other kind) elections has design played such a prominent role than it did with obama's campaign. everyone knows obama's logo. everyone knows the "obama blue" and everyone knows gotham font (even if they don't know it's called gotham...which i still regularly find myself obsessed with...).
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BeingRyanByrd.com has low self esteem, receives a facelift
Sat, Oct 24 2009 11:23 PM
| personal, technology, awesome, graphic design, websites, blog stuff
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it was just time. really.
i redesigned this website last december/january and i had just gotten really tired of staring at all the heavy colors and overworked design. so, here you have it: the newly redesigned BeingRyanByrd.com!
i redesigned this website last december/january and i had just gotten really tired of staring at all the heavy colors and overworked design. so, here you have it: the newly redesigned BeingRyanByrd.com!
