Bart Blair

The Death of the Magazine Subscription

Once upon a time having a subscription to Sports Illustated was one of the coolest things. I've subscribed for a couple of shorts seasons in my life and always loved reading every page every week.

A couple of months ago, my boys were selling magazine subscriptions as a school fundraiser. So, being a dutiful father, I purchased a 6-month subscription to SI...you know, in suppport of the school!

So, I've now been receiving the magazine for about 5 weeks. I received this week's issue in the mail yesterday. It's the all-football issue. By reading this magazine, I've now learned that Pittsburgh will likely beat the Broncos 24-9. And there's also a great article on why Alabama will beat LSU in the BCS Championship.

Needless to say, the internet has changed my life in many ways. One thing is for sure, this will be my last subscription to SI. Why in the world would I continue to pay to read last week's news?

Medicine Hat: The First 7 Days

I can't believe it's only been a week since we arrived! We've laboured from sun-up 'til sundown every day for the last week trying to get unpacked and settled in. Here are a few notes on things that happened and that still need to happen:

• 80% of the boxes are unpacked; garage and office still loom
• Got a Costco membership; we've resisted for years, but with gas $.10/litre less at Costco, there wasn't much of a choice!
• Elizabeth applied for PT job at Ashley Furniture; with her Alberta mortgage license still in limbo, looking for some short-term income.
• Silas and Ephraim started school; only a half day this week. And the fun begins next week when they start riding the bus!
• Scooter having too many accidents in the house; not sure if it's the cold weather or just confusion about the environment change, but we haven't had problems like this since we first got him!
• Sarah has dropped off a number of resumes and job apps; looking for something soon and on an easy bus route from the house.
• Oliver and I had our first church planning meeting; so much to do!
• Met a couple of neighbors and got a meat pie; what else would you expect as a welcome gift from the French-Canadians next door?!
• Snow, snow, snow! Medicine Hat is on a record pace for snow this winter; we're hoping no one blames us for bringing it from Ontario!
• First chinook; temps went from -16 to +1 in a day - feels like spring already!

The Not-So-Benevolent Beard

The last day I shaved was December 28.  Attended a wedding that day.  Now, my face is getting hairy.

Why?  Many have asked.

Somewhere in the world is a guy named David who is growing his beard to raise funds for charity; one of which is Doctors Without Borders.  In light of the tragedy in Haiti and Doctors Without Borders' involvement in the recovery, I made a donation to the organization in connection with David's Benevolent Beard project.  You can read more about that here: www.thebenevolentbeard.com

Now, I wish I could say that my beard was being grown for such a great cause.  But it's not.  I'm being selfish (and maybe a bit lazy).

I calculated that I spend an average of 7 minutes per shave.  I usually shave 3 times per week.  That's a total of 21 minutes per week, translating to about 18 hours per year in shave time.  18 HOURS!  Is it just me, or does that seem like a ridiculous amount of time trimming facial follicles?!?

And with the cost of razor blades being at an all-time high, I just thought, perhaps, I could buy some time and money back in 2010 by not shaving.  You with me on this?

I have no idea how long I'll go.  Maybe another week or two.  Maybe a month or two.  Maybe just until the summer comes around.  Who knows?  But won't it be interesting to see?  Silas told me I should go for the ZZ Top look.  Maybe, just maybe, I'll try it out.

The Next 20 Days

10 Things That I'm Looking Forward to in the Last 20 days of 2009

1. Setting up the Christmas tree

2. 20 more advent readings with Silas and Ephraim

3. Sarah's report card ;0

4. Dad's visit to Mississauga

5. Christmas Eve Service at Grace

6. Watching "A Christmas Story" with Si and Eli for the first time

7. Jeff Haley's wedding in Oregon

8. New Year's Eve with my neighbours

9. The Mortgage Edge Christmas party

10. The Cowboys at the Saints

As My World Turns

Each year, since I've been blogging, I have concluded the year with a few "lists" as a review of the year or a look into the next.  It just occurred to me a few days ago as I was noticing end-of-the-year/decade lists being posted that we really are on the verge of concluding another calendar year.

My blogging has been spotty this year (blame the combo of Facebook and my crazy life), but I'll do my best to finish strong with a few good posts as we round out December.....starting tomorrow....:0

Faith and Football: My Conclusion

It is confirmed: God was NOT watching the Super Bowl.  If He had been, there's no way the Steelers would have won.

8 Things I'd Like to Avoid in 2009

1. News about Britney Spears

2. Car repairs

3. Celebrity baby pictures

4. Eating broccoli

5. Quadruple bogeys and/or four-putts

6. Any hope that the Dallas Cowboys might actually be a good team

7. Books by Cormac McCarthy (unless he learns to write an ending)

8. Driving to Toronto in a snow storm

8 Things I Hope to Accomplish in 2009

1. Finish recording and release a new full-length album entitled With the Breath in My Lungs

2. Get out of debt (except the mortgage)

3. Transfer all my family mini DV cassettes to DVDs

4. Lose 10 pounds

5. Read 24 books

6. Learn to use my digital SLR camera better

7. Take tennis lessons

8. Get a new Macbook

Should Greed Be a Crime?

"for from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.  All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.'"  Mark 7:21-23

Have you ever received one of those e-mails from some unknown person in a country you've never heard of with an amazing story about how you can be the beneficiary of an extravagant amount of money in exchange for a small one?  Of course you have.  I can't imagine that there is anyone with an e-mail address that hasn't received one of these at least once.

Have you ever responded to one?  Sent money?  Oh, I pray not!

The 419 scam, as it is known, predates the internet by about a decade.  But the world of e-mail has taken it to another level. 

I read an article today in which a Nigerian official is quoted as saying that "People who send their money (in response to the scams) are as guilty as those asking them to send their money."  His position is that the victims are only victims because they succumb to their own greed.  He believes they should be jailed along with the scammers?

What do you think?  Read the entire article here.

I'm Twittering

I must admit that I am not an "early adapter" when it comes to most things cool.  I bought a Mac long after the rage has hit it's peak.  I was a late joiner of MySpace and Facebook.  I still don't own an iPod; however this summer, that will change.

So, when I started hearing about the Twitter application that many people I know are using, I checked it out.  But I was skeptical.  It just seems like a lot of busy work that I don't really have time for.  In recent weeks, however, I've started noticing some of my favorite bloggers using Twitter (some reluctantly) and so I've decided to follow step and give it a try.  This will simply be a summer test.  If it proves to be too big of a distraction (or inconvenience) then I'll drop it.

Without any further delay....here we Twitter.... 

Check for my Twitter updates in the right column of this blog or on my Facebook profile.