Archive for the Category »Just for fun «

Culture is always changing, but bass players are always Kickin’!

March

One of the things that intrigues me is to watch people interact with others and study how culture changes with time and location. We are so constantly affected by our culture and constantly affecting our culture. I probably think about it a little too much sometimes, and allow those around me to affect me a lot.

With that introduction, I share a video that a coworker, Bob, shared with me the other week. The video below is from the early 1940′s and done by a famous percussion group. Two things I find interesting… the ladies’ dresses could fit in with the style of today (I think) which goes to show the cycles of styles that come and go. But the funniest thing about this video starts at about 1:10 into it. You can watch the upright bassist the whole time, but he really starts kickin! at the 1:10 mark! I tell you, culture may change, but every bass player I have known (upright or guitar) seem to have their own culture. I mean what is going on in the mind of that cat?? My brother-in-law Clint plays the upright and I think he can bring it too…although I don’t think I have ever seen him perform.

Enjoy!

Category: culture, Just for fun 2 Comments

Celebrating the First Day of Spring!

March

written by:brian | One Comment

So today is the first day of spring! And around here that means it is the seasonal grand opening of Rita’s Italian Ice! So we decided to celebrate with many others in the area by going to Rita’s because they give out FREE Italian Ice to everyone. (see the picture of my cup of Pina Colada)

Now the funny part of all this is that after dinner we began to get ready to go and had to get all bundled up to celebrate spring. I had long sleeve shirt, a fleece and my winter coat. Not only was it 40 degrees, but also had winds of 22 mph!! We got there to greet a line of about 35 people all bundled up waiting to get their celebratory ice. It was freezing cold. Some others were draped in blankets and after getting our orders we ran to the car to turn the heater on so that we could eat our ice cream. It was also fun to see familiar faces there, like the Glicks, Gregory’s, and Kubinec’s!Â The kids loved their ice and at home, Owen followed us all around, mouth open like a little bird screaming for more.

It was a fun and memorable time! Just another reminder that we are still not completely used to living up north! My aunt sent a picture from TX of my grandmother’s Azaleas in FULL bloom!! Now that is what we grew up remembering about the first day of spring!

Category: Family Life, Just for fun, weather One Comment

global warming

February

written by:brian | 5 Comments

Those who know me, know that I am a bit of a weather nerd. I watch the weather online, read weather blogs, look at forecasting maps like the NAM & GFS, and get depressed when a snow storm misses our area. Honestly most of this is in the winter, trying to sniff out when we might have snow which I love so much. How did a guy who grew up in South Texas get such a love of and hunger for snow??
Well the winter here in PA has been a terrible year so far for snow which always brings the global warming debates to mind! And recently we at the Moore house have been increasing our “green” awareness and thinking about how we can reduce our carbon footprint more. This past summer we listened to a great sermon series with Matt Krick and Rob Bell from Mars Hill Bible Church called “God is Green”.

I am a bit ashamed to say that when I was younger my attitude was “it’s all going to burn anyway, so why worry about it!” But this goes contrary to everything that I love. I grew up spending a lot of time camping, hiking, and loving the outdoors. I realized that this is something that I treasure and want to pass along to my kids too and that if we don’t make a priority to care for the creation, they won’t be able to enjoy it as I have.
Additionally, listening to Rob Bell, he pointed out that this is a sanctity of life issue! How long will life be able to be sustained on this earth if we continue treating it with neglect. So I am seeking to be more Pro-Life, for the unborn and the born!

Of course WHAT to do is a much more complicated issue. We do things like recycle aluminum, plastic, etc. We are hoping to gradually get some better gas mileage vehicles (although I don’t know that we can afford the new flexfuel Suburban!). There is much debate going on about global warming or global atmospheric cycles and some seems to be just politics as usual. I was excited about the recent rise in ethanol production and use, flex fuel cars, and other carbon reducing measures. But changing one thing causes a ripple effect to other things in the world economy.

Check out the video below to hear an alternate perspective on what we should be doing about global warming. And then share what you do to lessen your carbon footprint.

Category: Brian, Just for fun, pro-life, weather 5 Comments

A New Reason I am a Longhorn at Heart!

December

written by:mandy | 2 Comments

My Dad, my Mom, my Granddad, my Aunt, and my cousin are all alumni (or soon to be) of the University of Texas!! I grew up wearing burnt orange and watching or listening to the BIG game at Thanksgiving! That would be when UT plays Texas A & M, the biggest rival I have ever known. I told Aggie jokes when I was like two! (ok maybe not, but you get the point) Although I did not choose to go to UT I still consider myself a Longhorn since it is in my blood.

Now Brian, he is an Aggie fan. Does he have multiple relatives to list that are alumni??? No, just one his brother. But most of his family are Aggie fans completely. We enjoy a good jeering back and forth from time to time. Alan has purchased our children many A&M shirts, bibs, stuffed Reveille toys… and his parents gave Addie a sweat suit when she turned two. (That same year my Dad gave her a UT wind suite!) It has been fun to watch our kids try to figure out who to cheer for and what they think of this rivalry stuff.

This year after the BIG game I received a text message from Alan, Brian’s brother (“Ags WIN!”) That was how I found out the game results since we had Tivo-ed the game to watch the next day. But we still watched it as a family the next day and really enjoyed it (even though the wrong team won). Addie just loves to watch football! She often asks on Sunday if there is any football on Emma is not as big a fan right now.

Well the girls started getting into the team cheers and wanted us to teach them to them. And here is where I found a new reason I am a Longhorn! I submit as my evidence the following clips:

First The University of Texas:

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And now for the Texas A & M War Hymn (listen carefully)

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Did you hear it? With UT I do not have the need to edit the song in teaching my children. But not so with A&M! Now you might say that it is a “biblical” word that they use (“hell”), but I still don’t want my little girls running around singing it

So I found a new reason to kick up my heals and shout HOOK ‘ EM HORNS my blood runs burnt orange!!

(This one is for you DAD!!)

Category: Colleges, Family Life, Just for fun, Mandy Tags: College rivalies, Just for fun, Texas A&M, UT 2 Comments

Family Fun Night & The North and South

September

written by:brian | 2 Comments

Tonight is family fun night and we are celebrating the girls doing well on their daily responsibilities with a movie night! We were doing some searching online for what movie to watch, and went the direction of more classic than new release. So we are going to watch Beauty and the Beast and eat pizza together!

While searching online we came across this clever rendition of “the cotton eyed joe”. Then Addie started teaching us a dance that they learned in school to “yankee doodle”. Then I put something together that I never thought of before. In the south we learn the “cotton eyed joe” and up here in the north they learn “yankee doodle”! Is that right? Any northerners learn the cotton eyed joe in school or learn square dancing like we did in Texas??

Here is some further information on the history of “cotton eyed joe” and “yankee doodle”.

Category: Family Life, Just for fun 2 Comments

Theopedia

June

written by:brian | One Comment

Do you ever need to know who Geerhardus Vos is or need to look more deeply into monergism? Well, I have found the place to go…it’s called Theopedia! You’ve probably heard of Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia of “open source” information (currently at 1,836,908 articles in English), well now there is a place to go to look up or contribute to “open source” information on Biblical Christianity (currently 1,434 articles in English).Â So next time someone asks you one of those questions that you just don’t know the answer to but know someone does, try Theopedia.Â And if you are the more scholarly type you can become a contributor of information for the world to consult.