Monthly Archives: June 2008

Yesterday was a day of technological loss and deep sorrow. To cut to the chase – my iPod died. Better said, my iPod ‘fried’. How interesting that on the day Barak Obama opens his iPod playlist to the world, mine goes up in flames. I am currently teaching a class at Fuller entitled “Postmodern Theology and Contemporary Culture” and have been using music and film in the course. Wouldn’t you … There’s more to read here.

Finally got around to watching Into The Wild - Sean Penn’s adaptation of the John Krakauer novel. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. So much of the hype surrounding the movie was drawn either from the Eddie Vedder soundtrack (which was great mind you…) or just the notion of absolute disregard for society and the celebration of freedom. It is this last notion – … There’s more to read here.

The academic life this time of year is akin to the transition of monarchs. Where one dynasty leaves a legacy and another generation strives to make its mark in the shadow of that legacy, ultimately it is the Monarchy itself (in this case the place of education) that is maintained despite the transition of the ‘placeholders’ – be they the legacy or the innovators – during various historical epochs. The … There’s more to read here.

I just went for a jog along the canal and through the Princeton campus amidst their graduation ceremony. Quite the Ivy League show – topsiders and Izods from the 1980′s held over from my generation now adorn the parents of new grads. Opposite the maddening crowd of hungover undergrads was the Firestone chapel – a nice faux neo-gothic build in the early 1900′s with echoes of Fitzgerald’s Amory Blaine screaming … There’s more to read here.

I am currently at a Center for Youth Ministry Training consultation at Princeton Theological Seminary funded by the Lilly Foundation. The next 48 hours will be something akin to a reality show premise where they put 8 academics and 8 youth pastors into a closed room and see who makes it out alive (btw – if you are placing bets, don’t ‘double down’ on the academics…) Getting to Princeton, New … There’s more to read here.