When Is St. Patrick’s Day?
Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated each year on March 17th.

Note for 2009:  Most secular establishments in the US and Canada, such as restaurants and bars, will continue to celebrate the holiday on March 17th, and the 17th will remain a national day off from work in Ireland.

Who Was Saint Patrick?
Even though Saint Patrick is one of the most celebrated figures around the world, the factual information about his life and times is quite vague. Saint Patrick was born somewhere near the end of the fourth century or the beginning of the fifth century. St Patrick was born a Briton under Roman rule – the exact location of his birthplace isn’t known but it was either the north of England or southern Scotland. In his teens he was kidnapped and brought to Ireland as a slave by Niall of the Nine Hostages, a famous king of Ireland whose son Laoghaire was later to play a large part in Patrick’s mission to convert Ireland to Christianity.

Patrick was taken to Antrim where he was sold to a local landowner, Meliuc, who put him to work as a shepherd.  For six long years Patrick lived upon the Slemish mountain with only his sheep for company. The land was bleak and the conditions harsh but Patrick found solace in the faith that his people had abandoned under Roman rule. He prayed day and night to the Christian God who brought him comfort during this time. One night he heard a voice calling to him, telling him that the time had come to escape. It told him, “See, your ship is ready.” Patrick knew that he had to travel south to seek the ship God had told him of. He travelled for 200 miles until he came to Wexford where, sure enough, a boat heading for Britain was waiting.

Patrick approached the captain, who at first denied him passage. He turned away, praying for God’s guidance. Before he finished the prayer he heard a member of the crew calling to him to come with them – they had changed their mind and could provide him with safe passage home.  Patrick did not seem destined to have an easy life – when travelling home through Britain he was captured by a band of brigands, who returned him to slavery. Desperate, Patrick heard God’s voice reassuring him that, “Two months will you be with them.” Sure enough, after sixty days in their company, God delivered him from their hands. Patrick then spent seven years travelling throughout Europe trying to determine what his purpose on earth was. Eventually he came to the conclusion that he should study to become a true servant of God, taking his message throughout the world.

He first studied at the Lerin Monastery, situated on an island off the Cote d’ Azur. On completing his studies he returned to Britain as a priest. He remained in Britain until a voice came to him in a dream. He recognised it as the voice of the Irish, which begged him, “We beseech thee, holy youth, to come and walk once more amongst us.” At this point, Patrick’s purpose in life was revealed to him – he would convert the Irish to Christianity. While back in his homeland, Patrick decided to become a priest and then decided to return to Ireland after dreaming that the voices of the Irish people were calling him to convert them to Christianity.

After studying and preparing for several years, Patrick traveled back to Ireland as a Christian missionary, preaching to existing Irish Christians and converting others. Patrick was arrested several times, but escaped each time. He traveled throughout Ireland, establishing monasteries and setting up schools and churches to aid in converting the Irish country to Christianity. He used the shamrock, which resembles a three-leafed clover, to help explain the concept of the Trinity (father, son, holy spirit).

Patrick’s mission in Ireland lasted for thirty years. It is believe he died in the 5th century on March 17, which is the day St. Patrick’s Day is commemorated each year. The first year St. Patrick’s Day was celebrated in America in 1737 in Boston, Massachusetts. The first official St. Patrick’s Day parade was held in New York City in 1766. As the saying goes, on this day “everybody is Irish!” Over 100 U.S. cities now hold Saint Patrick’s Day parades.

WHY IS THE SHAMROCK USED?

Finding that the pagan Irish had great difficulty comprehending the doctrine of the Trinity, St. Patrick held up a shamrock (similar to a three-leaf clover) to show how the three leaves combined to make a single plant, just as the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost combined to make the holy Trinity. The Irish understood at once, and from that time the shamrock has been the symbol of the land. Irishmen wear it in their hats on the saint’s day.

We talk alot in the church about understanding our surrounding culture and subculture.  But do we really?  Are we willing to invest time and resources to meet and dialog with the the skeptics where they are (virtual places like YouTube, Facebook, blogs, and real places like theaters, college campuses, bars) and be willing to respond with cleverness and creativity with the ageless truths of the Gospel?

Despite the fact that YouTube has grown over the last couple years and is a little large to be called a subculture, the majority of churches or corporations out there wouldn’t know what to do or where to begin if they saw something with the potential to turn into negative publicity surface on YouTube.  But some do.

Let’s look at Electronic Arts — earlier this year, a hard-core gamer took some video screen captures of a glitch in the Tiger Woods golf title from EA showing how the ball could be played by walking over a water hazard and swinging as if the pond were dry land.

The savvy folks at EA noticed the video, then produced and posted the following as a clever video response, turning a big time tech disaster into a positive response and accolades from the gaming community.

My darling wife moved over to the dark side (an Apple computer and Iphone) last year while I remain a steadfast Windows user.  So we always have fun, spirited discussions about the pros and cons of Windows vs Mac.  Again, given that it is Friday, here is a fun, light-hearted look at all the problems the majority of us face with our Windows-based computers.

With all the bad economic news out there, its good to have a laugh on this Friday, don’t you agree?

The World Premier of Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory” and “The Thanksgiving Visitor” presented by the critically acclaimed Provision Theater Company have been given the coveted RECOMMENDED status by the Jeff Awards Committee.  This adaptation by Tim Gregory opened on Nov 5th and runs to Dec 21 at the Royal George Theater.   More info

Based on the best selling books by Truman Capote, A CHRISTMAS MEMORY and THE THANKSGIVING VISITOR center on the author’s early years growing up in Monroeville, Alabama. After becoming a literary sensation in his 20s, Capote still referred to his late cousin, a recluse who had never crossed the county line, as “an irreplaceable part of myself.”

Sun Times says “see it” in their “Really Cool Things to Do”

Tickets are $26 and can be reserved by phone or Click here to buy online. Discounts for groups
Provision Theater Box Office – 312-988-9000. For more information about Provision Theater Company visit www.provisiontheater.org

Many of you know that Sue and I did a really cool thing about 12 years ago — we quit our jobs, packed up and took a once-in-a-lifetime, one-year World Tour, covering 25 countries (before kids and a mortgage!) in 1996-1997. Ask me about that awesome adventure – I highly recommend it to all! Anyway, I just came across this mapping tool at www.tripadvisor.com so I thought I would go through and see how may cities I have been to…..I stopped adding at 213 cities…..how many have you been to?

MY FAVORITE PLACES
1. Sydney, Australia
2. London, England
3. Wellington, New Zealand
4. Queenstown, New Zealand

• View my profile
• Create your own travel map or travel blog
• Travel Info at TripAdvisor

As an entrepreneur and CEO of www.fanfuego.com, a social network where pro athletes engage with passionate fans,  I read alot to learn more about being a great leader.  A while ago, Nightly Business Report (NBR) – the most watched daily business program on U.S. television – and Knowledge@Wharton joined forces to identify the 25 most influential business leaders of the past 25 years. This collaboration resulted in a book, written by Knowledge@Wharton in partnership with NBR and published by Wharton School Publishing, entitled Lasting Leadership: Lessons from the 25 Most Influential Business People of Our Times.  I thought it was a good list to reflect on as a CEO.

Lasting Leadership identifies eight attributes of lasting leadership, each of which has its own chapter in the book, that are evident to varying degrees in these individuals.

1.      They are able to build a strong corporate culture.

2.      They are truth-tellers.

3.      They are able to find and cater to under-served markets.

4.      They can “see the invisible” – that is, spot potential winners or faint trends before their rivals or customers.

5.      They are adept at using price to build competitive advantage.

6.      They excel at managing and building their organization’s brand (which in some cases may be their own name).

7.      They are fast learners.

8.      They are skilled at managing risk.

How do you do at this list?  Are these your attributes? Take some time and see how you did and let me know — these are excellent areas to look at and aspire towards in your entrepreneurial career. [Read more...]

 Check out the World Premier of Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory” and “The Thanksgiving Visitor”presented by the critically acclaimed Provision Theater Company.  This adaptation by Tim Gregory opens in just a few days (Nov 5) so get your tickets now! More info

Provision Theater Company at the Royal George Theatre

OPENING DATE: Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008
CLOSING DATE: Sunday, Dec. 21, 2008

TIME: Wednesdays at 1 p.m.
Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.,
Sundays at 3 p.m.
LOCATION: 1641 N. Halsted Street – Chicago

Thanksgiving and Christmas mean something different to everyone. For seven-year-old Buddy, it means a new home and a new family. When his mother drops him off with her somewhat eccentric family at the edge of a small town, Buddy’s first friend becomes his best friend. He develops an unforgettable relationship with his elderly cousin, Miss Sook Faulk. The two find themselves on one amazing adventure after another, proving that friendship is the greatest gift of all. Based on the best selling books by Truman Capote, A CHRISTMAS MEMORY and THE THANKSGIVING VISITOR, center on the author’s early years growing up in Monroeville, Alabama. After becoming a literary sensation in his 20s, Capote still referred to his late cousin, a recluse who had never crossed the county line, as “an irreplaceable part of myself.”

Tickets are $26 and can be reserved by phone or Click here to buy online. Discounts for groups
Provision Theater Box Office – 312-988-9000

For more information about Provision Theater Company visit www.provisiontheater.org

I read an article today laying out why we are in the housing mess that we are.  The writer, Orson Scott Card, is a Democrat and a newspaper columnist, and in this article he helps us understand what government decisions lead to the housing crisis we are in today.  He says”

This housing crisis didn’t come out of nowhere.  It was not a vague emanation of the evil Bush administration. It was a direct result of the political decision, back in the late 1990s, to loosen the rules of lending so that home loans would be more accessible to poor people.  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were authorized to approve risky loans. What is a risky loan?  It’s a loan that the recipient is likely not to be able to repay. The goal of this rule change was to help the poor — which especially would help members of minority groups.  But how does it help these people to give them a loan that they can’t repay?  They get into a house, yes, but when they can’t make the payments, they lose the house — along with their credit rating. They end up worse off than before. This was completely foreseeable and in fact many people did foresee it.

He then goes on to look at reporting which is not so much my concern today  — As a free-marketist (Is that a word?), I am not sure that having the government tell financial institutions who to make loans to gives us a solid financial footing in the long run…

What do you think?

The Chicago Tribune looks at Sarah Palin’s faith over the years, speaking to former pastors.  Says Pastor Tim McGraw:

“She was very conscientious about applying the worldview of what she was discovering in Christ to her day-to-day life.  But I think she did it with and does it with what the Bible calls wisdom—in other words practicality, not religious craziness.”

The article also looks at her youth, childhood and experience as Governor of Alaska, commenting:

As chief executive of Alaska, she signed a proclamation marking Christian Heritage Week as an occasion to remind Alaskans of the role Christianity has played in the state’s history. Palin also argued that public school students should engage in a “healthy debate” between evolution and creationism.

I got this in the email from a university professor and had to laugh. I always love it when the academics break things down for simple folks like me. Whichever way you vote (and please make sure you do), I found this entertaining. This is why Joe the Plumber is not happy about our tax system — it encourages him to make less, not work as hard, or leave.

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it
would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. ‘Since you are all such good customers, he said, ‘I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But
what about the other six men – the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share?’

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).
The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to
compare their savings.

‘I only got a dollar out of the $20′, declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,’ but he got $10!’

‘Yeah, that’s right’, exclaimed the fifth man. ‘I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I!’

‘That’s true!!’ shouted the seventh man. ‘Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!’

‘Wait a minute,’ yelled the first four men in unison. ‘We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!’

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

It’s Joe the Plumber’s time to speak out in  Tennessee.

Joe the Plumber, of Knoxville, that is, says he’s less concerned about whether he gets a tax break if his customers still can’t afford to hire him. Still, Joe Shanks, a licensed master plumber and owner of Joe’s Plumbing Service in the Cedar Bluff area, has followed the presidential campaigns the same as his much-quoted counterpart in Toledo, Ohio, who questioned Democratic Sen. Barack Obama over his proposed tax hike for those who make more than $250,000 a year.  Shanks said his business, which he jointly runs with his wife, Catherine, doesn’t earn the couple nearly that much income.

Shanks, an independent voter, said he’s supporting Republican Sen. John McCain, citing the official’s career experience in office as the deciding factor for him.  “I’d just feel more comfortable, confident and safe with McCain,” the plumber said. “McCain’s been there. Obama’s just not that experienced.”  Shanks likened the decision to a homeowner in need of a plumber – would you hire the guy who just got his trade license, he asked, or a seasoned professional?

Whenever I have a bad day, I watch this and don’t feel my problems are that bad….
(HT: Brain Nuggets)

Wow- this was sobering….I am a free market entrepreneur and even I did not think about all the government intervention in our lives if either party gets a supermajority (including more than 60 votes in the Senate that makes all legislation filibuster-proof).

Are you a Slacker? or an I-Podder?  Later this month, Slacker introduces it portable digital music player and the questions are already coming.  Is it an iPod? Is it an old-fashioned transistor radio? These are just some of the questions the Slacker portable digital music player will have to answer when it hits U.S. stores this month in time for the lucrative holiday season.

Owners of the more than 160 million iPods out there no doubt love their sleek digital music players and their favorite music. But even favorite music gets old, and that’s where the new Slacker G2 comes in.

The $200 Slacker is a new Web radio-enabled player whose makers hope will go one better than the iPod by helping music fans to update their songs while on the go — and for free.

Here’s how it works: Users pick from a variety of pre-programmed and personalized stations on the Slacker website (www.slacker.com), ranging from those that play classic jazz to ones that play the latest indie rock hits.

They can then save their favorite stations to the Slacker — about the size of a small deck of cards with a 2.4-inch color screen — by linking to their PC either via a standard USB port or by a wireless Internet connection.

The Slacker G2 comes in a 4GB version that carries 25 stations, or around 2,500 songs, with around 1GB of personal storage space for MP3 audio files. There is also an 8GB version that carries 40 stations, or 4,000 songs, has 3GB of personal storage and sells for $250.

WiFi access makes the device particularly elegant since it refreshes your player with new music for each station saved on the player every time you connect. Once an updated station is saved, users can skip ahead on songs, or save the ones they like to a personalized station on the Slacker player.

I try to stay apolitical on my blog, but I just love ole’ Joe Biden.  He says whatever he wants and sometimes, he angers his boss, sometimes he asks a man in a wheelchair to stand up, and other times he forgets history — but he is always sure to create some memorable quotes if he is given enough talking time.  He reminds me of another VP – Dan Quayle of the infamous “potatoe” episode……..

Yesterday,  in his interview with Katie Couric, it looked like he forgot to study his talking points closely. He said (video here):“When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on the television and didn’t just talk about the princes of greed. He said, ‘look, here’s what happened.’”

As I was growing up, my grandparents always told me about the stock market crash of 1929.  Two problems here: Television did not even exist in 1929, and FDR was elected in 1932, so he wasn’t even the leader at the time of the crash. When Joe was in history class, he must have been sleeping or doodling.  Of course, TV celebrity Katie Couric made no effort to correct the Senator on this obvious error.

He certainly adds to the spice of this election……