The Return

This past weekend was Family Weekend at the prestigious Winthrop University. It was pretty cool to see my parents and little siblings (minus Liz, who I saw last weekend), and have them see my uh, house. I guess little is a bit of a misnomer as well, Jeremy's almost as tall as me, dang it. If he surpasses me in height, you all as my witnesses I will punch something cute, innocent and vulnerable. Currently I'm thinking bunnies or kittens.

Anyways, back to the point of this post: On Saturday night, the entirety of the Schley clan that was in Rock Hill went and saw a DSU event, a performance by the Beatles tribute band The Return.

Now, judging by my last sentence and their website, you will probably roll your eyes and think incredulous, doubtful thoughts as I did. But beware, unbeliever, their performance was a-daggum-mazing. So good, in fact, that my brother and I spent the first 24 minutes [an exact figure] of the show trying to figure out if they were just playing the music and lip-syncing to the original Beatles vocals.

(We finally figured it out on their rendition of "Paperback Writer" during which their harmony was noticeably different than that of the Beatles. Not bad, just not the exact same.)

I'm not going to lie, it was pretty interesting to get the feel of what it would have been like to be at a Beatles show. Sure, there were not hundreds of hormone-driven teen girls inundating the stage, but from what I could tell, they really captured the feel of the Beatles as a group. Right down to their British accents and the exact instruments they play, the same types the Beatles played, according to my dad.

It was also entertaining to watch the middle-aged and up women get into the aisles and start dancing. From "Hold Your Hand" straight on through the last song I heard before we had to go, "Yellow Submarine," it was delightful performance to say the least. I'd recomment going to see them if you ever have the chance.

Oh, Kanye

Just for the record, I'm not a fan of Kanye West as an artist or a person. I don't hate the guy, but I'm not inviting him to any Office/Community/It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia Thursdays at the Testosterhome anytime soon. To say the least, I agree with President Obama's analysis of Kanye and his actions at the award ceremony I couldn't care less about.

That being said, the Kanye jokes that have surfaced since his idiotic interjection onstage are pretty dang hilarious. A friend sent me this one, from the quite hilarious site Halolz:


Comedic gold. Plus, it induces reminiscent memories of That Glorious Gaming System that was my first real committed interaction with video games. I still have it, it's at the Testosterhome. I'm thinking some old school Vectorman and Sonic is in order.

Blog Subscriptions

I don't know how you keep up with this blog (if you keep up with this blog), but for my subscriptions, I use Google Reader. It's a pretty bangin' tool, and makes it fairly easy to get all of your subscriptions in one location.

That being said, I have roughly 120 subscriptions, everything from friend's blogs to ministries' blogs, some authors, and several different webcomics. Over the summer, because I couldn't get online every day, I got way behind on my subscriptions. Like 400 unread posts behind.

Yesterday, I took it upon myself during my three hours at work to clear them all out, and I did. At 3:30 yesterday I had zero unread posts.

Now, I get on today and had 26 unread posts. Is that bad? Some people update two or three times a day, so it's a little understandable. But I could easily see blogging becoming as big a hindrance as Facebook was. Bleh.

How do you get your blog posts? Do you think it can be a hassle to keep up with them?

Martin Luther On Fun

Philip Melancthon:
"Today, Martin, you and I will discuss God's governance of the universe,"
Martin Luther:
"No, Philip. Today you and I are going fishing, and we'll leave the governance of the universe to God."

I am very glad that God leaves me to play video games and man the computer lab, write poetry and hammock, enjoy the fellowship of my friends and live, love, laugh while he takes care of the bigger picture.

As a theologically minded control-freak, I constantly want to know what is up when it comes to God's will, direction, and action. But I don't, and since I don't foresee me becoming God anytime in the near eternity, I never will. So I'm going to ride my bike.

What are you glad you can do instead of worrying about God's governance?

[from Jared Wilson via Jason Boyett]

Marc Johns

Found out about an illustrator named Marc Johns through Jason Boyett's Blog. This guys is hilarious, just check out some of his stuff:


I think I am going to go get his book, Serious Drawings, ASAP. I need to read more art anyway. I am definitely going to subscribe to his blog, huzzah!

Are there any artist who you are a particular fan of?

Filthy Roman Sponge

Have you ever been confused or unsure about that passage where Jesus is on the cross and is given something to drink from a sponge? [Matthew 27:45-50]



My stomach turned when I heard that, just the putridity of it. And how often do I still stick that sponge in Jesus' mouth?

[via The Resurgence]

Bill Clinton The Devoted Dad

I was pretty much floored when I saw this article. "No way," I was thinking, "Some idiot liberal journalist is trying to find a way to redeem the long lost image of William J. Clinton." (Maybe I didn't use his full name, but you get the gist of it). And to a certain degree, I was correct. But not as much as I thought.

I must admit that the examples the author provides are very compelling. He postponed a politically necessary trip to Japan to patch up international relations (an act that had Al Gore angry) so that he could support Chelsea during her school mid-terms. Dang, boss.

The most interesting part of the article I found was where it points out that "Any father can be proud of his daughter, but Branch's account suggests something more: that Bill looks up to Chelsea and finds the self he never managed to become." While they don't say anything directly regarding his morality, but it does point to the fact that "He [Bill] was one to gather laurels; she [Chelsea] preferred to share them."

That would be an interesting concept: that Bill saw in his daughter some redeeming qualities he could not see in himself. It definitely lends itself to a more compassionate view of the sinner Bill Clinton by the sinner T.J. Schley.

Was Bill Clinton a good father-President? Does deserve less hate and more (albeit just a little more) admiration?

[article found via Joshua Harris]

Of The New Calvinism

Apparently, according to Time Magazine, the New Calvinism is among the 10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now. (#5 was Amortality, an interesting article, I recommend reading all 10)

They say, to introduce it,

"In the early 1900s you might have heard "The Old Rugged Cross," a celebration of the atonement. By the 1980s you could have shared the Jesus-is-my-buddy intimacy of "Shine, Jesus, Shine." And today, more and more top songs feature a God who is very big, while we are...well, hark the David Crowder Band: "I am full of earth/ You are heaven's worth/ I am stained with dirt/ Prone to depravity."

Now, I will admit, I am coming from the "New Calvinist" point of view, but the summary they provide for New Calvinism, "Our satisfaction — and our purpose — is fulfilled simply by "glorifying" him," seems like nothing but good Biblical exposition.

The article cites the success of the ministries of John Piper, Mark Driscoll, and Albert Mohler, along with "The Calvinist-flavored ESV Study Bible" selling out its first printing. I would also address Joshua Harris and C.J. Mahaney, and the growth in reading, especially among the younger generation, of such classic authors as John Owen, Jonathan Edwards and Charles Spurgeon.

The Religious Newswriter's Organization did a small conference about it, and here's Piper's conversation there, I thought it was a pretty good summary:


[If you're using a reader, you'll need to click through to see the video]

So what do you think? Would you consider yourself a New Calvinist, or do you sympathize with some of New Calvinism's doctrine? Do you think doctrine should even be emphasized? Or do you think New Calvinism's influence is even worthy of talking about?

From the Sketchbook of T. Schley

Something my grammar professor (Dr. Gloria Jones) said the other day in class. I think there are definite poetic repercussions to this.

Do you agree? If not, what words are more descriptive?

Things That Would Be Better Left Undone

As I looked down at her lovely, innocent-yearning face, I was overwhelmed with a flood of adoration for the innocence brokenly beheld there. Quiet, sleeping, content with my caress. There is a great sympathy, a pity if you will, that can overcome and coincide with a hardness of heart with such a subtly strong force, it will make you crumble.