NPR : 'Sin City': Guiding a Comic to the Silver Screen

Check out Kevin Smith's great interview with Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller. There's a short and long version. I'm really looking forward to the flick. I was highly tempted to go see it when I was out and about this morning, but I'll wait to see it with my friend Mike in a couple days. The extremely excellent reviews are pouring in.

Discuss your opinions on how the Adrian School district can improve,
both financially as well as improving the quality of the district (question submitted by Cole Young).

Steve Cooper: That's a tough one. To give an answer you really need to be involved with board. The financial side is based so much on the state's reimbursement program, therefore it's hard to judge without working with the board. As for the quality of the school district, it's simple. It's based on the class and caliber of educators you hire. A school is only as good as its educators.

Steve Lewis: We can improve the quality of the district by electing quality board members, with the best interest of the children in mind. We can improve financially by making good decisions.

Monte Johnson: Ensure that every Adrian R-III School District employee has the resources and budget needed to assist/challenge our student body to excel in all phases of performance, no matter what the challenge. I short, increase every student's academic achievements. In my opinion, the most important issue facing any school board today is dealing with funding/budget issues. Today more than ever, we need to use every resource we can receive and I think we need to possibly increase our bonds/bonding capacity to ensure we are taking a proactive approach to all issues. The issue with improving is that, a person that is running for school board will not know all the issues that come with change until they have been a school board member for a while and become informed/educated about all the issues.

Vanessa Tallman: no reply

Kellie Case: no reply

Jim Hester: no reply

What qualities and experience will you bring to the board?

Steve Cooper: I have run my own business and been a heath care administrator, nursing home and long-term care consultant. That has taught me management in a large organization. Several of those have been larger than our school district.

Steve Lewis: I am a certified board member, with three years experience.

Monte Johnson: I'm 42 years of age, happily married with three wonderful children. My career field has been in construction with an area of proficiency in technical, administration and budgeting processes. I would be one more individual with different life and career experiences and an open mind to assist the team/board.

Vanessa Tallman: no reply

Kellie Case: no reply

Jim Hester: no reply

The good news is that Stephanie passed her drug test for working at the library.

The bad news is that she did not pass her TB test. That's right, Stephanie may have tuberculosis.

Now, I know what you're thinking: "I knew they were living in a refugee camp, but I didn't think it was this serious."

Or maybe: "TB is so retro, as diseases go."

Or possibly: "I better hurry up and get that five dollars she owes me."

But whatever you do, don't worry. Everyone will get the money they're owed. There is a difference between having a TB infection and having the disease. TB is passed by people with the disease, not by people with an infection, so if she is infected she cannot transmit TB to anyone else. The 'infection' status means that the TB bacteria are present, but completely contained by the immune system.

We're not completely sure that she has TB right now. We are going to make an appointment with her doctor and do some other tests.

On a related note, I am thinking of replacing the famed "What is Stephanie talking about?" series with one titled "What is Stephanie hacking up now?" Let me know what you think.

I've finally begun reading David Dark's new book, The Gospel According to America. I have eagerly awaited this new work after the profound impact that his previous book, Everyday Apocalypse, had on my view of faith and the world (which I have already explained in detail here). In the new book, Dark continues to mix the truth of scripture with diverse artifacts of American culture, this time to probe how we, as Christians, approach our faith and our citizenship in the United States. Knowing David Dark's own political leanings, I expected the book to be mostly a critique of the conservative Christian movement. Instead, I've found a lively and engrossing text that serves as a call to all Christians for a more gracious, introspective and Christ-centered view of the world around us than we are generally accustomed to. Mr. Dark must be one of the most intelligent Christian writers in America today. His prose can be lofty, abstract, and often challenging to read, yet he skillfully communicates difficult concepts that I intuitively know to be true. With every paragraph, I am amazed at how he can articulate truths I believe I have sensed all along, yet can't quite manage to put into words. David Dark manages to express my thoughts far better than I can:

"For many Americans, life is so full of persecution complex, fears of being tricked or made to feel guilty, and anxious anticipation of spin that we've come close to losing our ability to listen and look without defensiveness. We risk becoming unable to look at or speak to the world without assuming an adversarial posture, so in love with our abstractions that we can't look at human beings properly. We can hardly think of suffering children without feeling manipulated by an interest group. It doesn't have to be this way. And if we're going to engage the world without losing our souls, we won't let it be."

I could never have expressed this so eloquently, but I believe it was frustration with this adversarial approach to political issues that led me to embark on a media fast two months before the last election.

David Dark is able to penetrate through the patterns of thinking that have beset American political and religious talk, and illuminate a higher way of thinking and acting that we are called to as Christians. For this reason, I believe The Gospel According to America is an essential read for thinking Christians everywhere, regardless of political orientation. The first chapter of the book, available online at Christianity Today serves as a great introduction, if you're interested.

This is the last straw. They could have at least given us some warning.

I sent three questions to the six school board candidates. The answers are given in the order I received them. The election is on Tuesday, April 5.

Why do you want to be on the school board?

Steve Cooper: I'd like to pay back to the community what I've attained over the years. I have a thorough knowledge of education and understand what's needed to increase the abilities of our students.

Steve Lewis: I want to be on the school board because I want to help Make our school The best it can be.

Monte Johnson: I wish to assist in any way possible, with the continuing positive leadership teams that the school district boards, past and present have achieved. Board members are charged with determining the educational programs of our school district for our students. We should continue to be proactive in developing comprehensive strategies and programs for existing and future issues.

Vanessa Tallman: no reply

Kellie Case: no reply

Jim Hester: no reply

So I found the camera, and now here are some pictures of people who have come to visit:



This is Beth and Alex. They are friends from Missouri who came to visit people in California. Rob and Beth were out here for three years while Rob went to Fuller. Now they live in St. Louis.




This is Doug, who came out to present a paper at a pop culture conference and to interview a playwrite for his dissertation. Doug is engaged, and likes burritos. Actually, I think this burrito is the only thing Doug ate while he was here.

First of all, about the Pope. It's not like this is a surprise. He's been dying now for quite some time. The fact that they're having a mass honoring him before he's even gone seems a little bit weird to me.

All this talk about the Pope is reminding me of Rome. All the pictures of the Vatican online are like little flashbacks of my travels..

Anyone ever been to Rome? Rome is a busy city, not at all city-like in the sense that Paris is a big city. Rome has two old metro lines. Two. The'yre filthy. From those metro lines, you can probably easily walk anywhere in Rome because it simply isn't that big. When you're walking, you have to cross the street with confidence. The vespas everywhere estimate your walking speed and time their driving accordingly: they zoom past you on both sides as you cross the street. There's definitely a heavy scent of diesel at all stop signals. Rome is busy in the sense that there are tons of cars and people going by, but as for the big city mentality, it's just not there. The buildings are old and not always in the best condition. Rome is dirty. There's grafitti everywhere, and on our street there were several "regular" homeless people on the streets.

This all surprised Ric and me when we got there. I mean, it's ROME. You think of it as a major tourist attraction, and think it's probably well taken care of as a result. But not so. While standing in line at the Colesseum we noticed all these places where people had carved their names into the stones of the building. Carved names in the Colosseum!? It was like that everywhere we went in Rome. Surprising lack of security and lack of respect for these ancient landmarks.

So, one day we're taking a walk down the main roads of Rome and realize we've already made it to the entrance of the Vatican. It's like stepping into Oz. All of a sudden, the streets are clean, there's no grafitti, the lewd souvenirs disappear, and there's no sign of homeless people anywhere. Entering the Vatican Museum, all is pristine and well-secured. And the contrast of the beauty of St. Peter's with the rest of Rome is amazing.

It was all a bit bizarre. I like the respect that was given St. Peter's and the museum. It feels like that area will last forever, but it almost feels like the rest of Rome might eventually fall apart. I know they're starting to do a lot more excavating and exploring throughout Rome (a lot of its history is