Blake Thompson daht NetI'm just saying….

We should all look at doing this. And not just at Christmas.

The Advent Conspiracy Promo Video from theadvance on Vimeo.

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I thought I’d found some nice tickets to the Egg Bowl. Then I found some even nicer ones (they were free).

I really didn’t think MSU had much of a chance of winning. And I knew that Ole Miss had been steadily improving. Heck, they beat LSU @ LSU last week. But I didn’t expect what happened.

Ole Miss scored. Then got the ball back and scored. Then intercepted us and scored. Then scored again. And like that it was 24-0 at the end of the first quarter. Ole Miss totally dominated MSU today. I left at the half. Glad I did. It got worse. Ended up 45-0.

Now the question is what sort of changes will happen with the MSU coaching staff. Many say a complete overhaul needs to happen. Some say the coordinators need to go at least. Croom has a pretty good recruiting class coming in. Some think if he goes they won’t come. Who knows? Does it matter who your recruits are if there is not good coaching to manage them? And lastly, some consider a buyout clause to be too expensive.

No matter all the debating, my opinion is something needs to change. And change quickly.

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I asked this question to a friend the other day, but it seems vampires are so much “the thing” in pop culture.

• Right now the #1 movie in the country is Twilight. It focuses on a girl who moves to Washington (state) and becomes entangled with a “family” of vampires.
• The #1, #2, #3, and #4 books on the USA Today Best Seller list are Twilight and it’s three sequels by Stephanie Meyer.
• HBO‘s new series called True Blood has seen its ratings increase to now be its most popular series since the Sopranos and Sex In The City.
• I read that at least 18 vampire themed movies have been released this year with more on the way.

So why are vampires hot? What is making people eat up the books and movie tickets? I know it’s not because the books are outstanding literature. They’re not terrible, but not outstanding (I’ve read one and a half of the Twilight series). Is it the forbiddenness of relationships with them? Is it the fact they don’t die (a mortal death at least?) Dunno.

But at least in the way of the Twilight vampires, it seems Meyer is messing with the vampire legend some. Her vamps can come out in the day time, but their skin sparkles instead of smokes and withers away. And they can get nourishment by drinking blood from animals instead of needed it to be human blood. [The Japanese in True Blood have created a synthetic blood substitute for the vamps in that series, though they say it doesn't taste as good as the real thing.] And they can see themselves in a mirror. No mention of garlic or stakes through the heart or holy water (that I’ve read yet at least)

Do you think vampires are hot? Why or why not?

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A few years back Bev and I decided to invite all the family over to our house for Thanksgiving. I wondered if I should cook a turkey. I’d never cooked one before. So the pressure was on.

But then I was listening to Kidd Kraddick and he spoke of his perfect but obscenely simple recipe for turkeys. I told Bev about it. And she wondered if it was legit or would really work. I decided to give it a go with a backup plan of running to KFC for chicken.

But it tuned out wonderfully. And now in our new home in Oxford, we have a lot of family coming over for Thanksgiving again. So I’m dusting off the [sorta] Famous Kidd Kraddick Brown Bag Turkey Recipe for everyone.

You can check it out here for yourself. You’ll amaze your family.

• No, this turkey recipe won’t burn your house down because you’re using a brown paper bag…but it will taste great!
• First, take everything out of the inside of the turkey. There will be a giblet bag and some other stuff. You don’t want to leave that in there.
• Next, add vegetables to the inside of the turkey. This is easy because the veggies are just for flavor…you’re going to throw them away later.
• You don’t even have to peel anything. Take an onion and cut it into quarters. Roughly chop a nice long carrot. Do the same to a couple of stalks of celery. Add several cloves of garlic that you mash between a broad kitchen knife and the counter.
• Throw it all inside the turkey.
• Then rub the turkey all over with olive oil. . . not butter because butter usually has salt in it and that will dry out the turkey.
• Salt is the enemy of a moist turkey! Make sure the whole bird is covered!
• Put the turkey in a roasting pan and cover it with a large brown paper bag.
• Staple shut. If you have a huge turkey, use two bags, sliding one end of the turkey into one bag and the other end of the turkey into the second bag. It won’t stick to the bird because of the olive oil. Sprinkle the bag all over with water. Place into pre-heated 375 F oven, ON THE MIDDLE RACK.
• The bag won’t burn because paper burns at 451 and we’re at 375 degrees. The advantage of the brown paper bag over the Reynolds’s cooking bag is that the paper breathes so the turkey roasts. In the Reynolds bag the turkey steams, giving it a different taste. Also the brown paper bag retains the same advantage of the plastic cooking bag…no splatters all over the oven.
• Roast for 13-15 minutes per pound. When you think it’s ready, shove a meat thermometer through the bag and into the turkey and give it a minute to register. Make sure it doesn’t touch the bone. The thermometer should register between 163-170 degrees.
• Remove from oven, cut away the bag and remove from basting pan. Don?t throw out the drippings! To make the gravy, strain the pan juices into a really big pot. Any juices that accumulate on the turkey platter get poured into the pot.
• Add six oz. of boiling chicken broth and 1/8 cup of corn starch to the gravy to thicken it up. Cook at low heat and stir and cook and stir. If it seems like it isn’t going to be thick enough, add a little more corn starch.

Question: Can I use one of those disposable foil basting pans?
Kidd: Yes. It doesn’t matter.
Question: What about the talk that brown paper bags are unsafe for cooking?
Kidd: If you mean unsafe because of fire, it is important that the bag doesn’t make contact with the heating element of the oven. If you mean because of the recycled paper bag releasing toxins into the turkey, all we can say is that this recipe has been around for over thirty years. We’ve been posting this recipe for over ten years and never had a single complaint that anyone got sick. We’ve had hundreds and hundreds of emails that it’s the best turkey they’ve ever tasted and the perfect recipe for first-time chefs!
Enjoy!
-Kidd

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Off and on this high school football season I’ve been going to different games and taping them for a friend. He then compiles a lot of differnt game tape and sends them off to a recruiting service. They in turn cut them up and make tapes to send to college coaches.

On my end, I just tape them. And I help out a friend while getting to see some decent football teams. When I did the first one back in late August, it was hot and sticky. But as the months have gone on it has gotten colder. Last week @ Senatobia it was cool and damp. Then raining. Then raining sideways. Then just damp and cold.

Tonight’s forcast looks like this to the left. And I think that is without any wind chill factored in. So it’s a good thing I get to stand on top of a press box high up in the wind to get the best vantage point for videoing the game. My mom thinks I’m crazy. She said she wouldn’t do it for $500. I’d do it in shorts and a tshirt for $500.

What’s the coldest you’ve been? Did you lose any fingers? And what’s your best tip for staying warm out in the cold?

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My wife told me I needed to post something “personal” next on the blog. And she’s right. I’ve had a lot of ideas of whta’s next, but ran across this video this morning and simply had to share. It is one that I laughed at multiple times. Make sure you wait for the last song too.

[ht to Josh Griffin]

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This past weekend was quite full for the family. Friday was an adventure, then we left to go back to Clinton for a couple of days for Ella’s birthday. We even got to go to the morning service of our old church. But was glad to be back home Sunday night for church here at The Orchard. [More on the weekend to come.]

And Pat brought it. He’s been going through a series called Enough. This past weekend’s sermon was on Beauty. It’s probably the “toughest” sermon he’s preached in a long while ever. So if you have a spare 37 minutes during a commute or waiting in the car line or while you take your morning 4 mile jog…give it a listen. You can find it here or on iTunes here.

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And when I watch things like this video below, it makes me glad that my third child is a boy.

[ht to D.]

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Lost is tied for my favorite tv show (Friday Night Lights is the other one). And watching this trailer for the next season gets me excited about it.

And then there are plenty of trailers made by fans you can find on youtube. Here’s a really good one I saw recently.

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Last night the result that pretty much everyone expected to happen happened. But here are some thoughts of mine about it all.

• No matter who you voted for, you have to recognize the historical significance of the election.
  
• I don’t understand why we have the electoral college system. I mean, people call this a landslide victory, but Obama won about 53% of the popular vote. Even with Reagan’s landslide victory in 1984 (525 to 13), he still only got 58.8% of the popular vote. That’s a messed up system.
  
• I kept watching Facebook status updates last night. They made me laugh
• They ranged from “I’m moving to Canada” to “I’m quitting to work to get free money” to “Now our country is in the right hands” to “I’ve waited for this all my life”.
• Some people got really nasty in their comments on Facebook.
• Someone told me I shouldn’t be laughing because God isn’t laughing about it.
• But I think that I should trust in God much more than who has or is going to be living on Pennsylvania Ave in D.C.
• The President is just ONE MAN. Lots of people thought Bush was a screwup. But he alone didn’t ruin the country. Nor will this man ruin it or save it on his own.
• I’m still amazed by people who voted either for or against him because of his race. And I think there were plenty on both sides.
• McCain is a great American. His speech last night earned him the respect of tons of people.
  
• Someone was shooting fireworks off in my neighborhood last night.
• In the end, I’m going to seek God’s Kingdom first no matter who is President.
• And I believe followers of Jesus are called to pray for their leaders.
• And for the record, I didn’t vote for either of the two main guys…
  

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