Month: May 2007

  • Stupid Smartphones

    Just two months shy of a year old, my T-Mobile MDA smartphone is behaving more like a redheaded step-phone. While it was touted as one of the best best PDA smartphones, it has not performed to my expectations. Not only did the touchscreen stop working when the keyboard was visible (which in and of itself is inconvenient enough); it also costs more than I expected to operate the Web & email access. For the price of email access on my phone, I could have premium cable television. To me, that is not good value for my consumer dollars.

    When selecting a smartphone last year, T-Mobile was my only choice because they had the best phone plan rates. Sure, Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T probably offer more cool phones, but T-Mobile offered a deal for 1500 anytime minutes per month for something like $49.99. Phone options were fairly limited. It was either the T-Mobile Sidekick II, the MDA, the SDA, or a Blackberry. I knew I didn’t want a Blackberry, because at the time music players weren’t an option. Their functionalities were still too limited to work-centric. I wanted something more my style.

    My choices were boiled down to the MDA and the Sidekick II. I loved the feel of the Sidekick keyboard. The bubbled out buttons made typing messages and emails easy. But, in the end, the Sidekick II lost out to the MDA because its screen display was much duller than the MDA. I’m wishing I had chosen the Sidekick now. Even with lower resolution, the screen wouldn’t crap out on me and typing would be much easier.

    Now that my MDA is acting like it’s on the verge of crossing over, I look at what changes a year has wrought and I must say that I’m disappointed. Every other mobile phone service carrier has introduced great new smartphones like the Motorola Q and the Blackjack. T-Mobile seems to be behind the times now.

    Who knows? I might give up and just settle for a Razr. I’d rather have a phone that works and is portable than a smartphone that costs as much as premium cable to operate.

    Of course, now that I’m looking at switching to a family plan, T-Mobile still beats out the competition by at least $10 per month. I’m no cheapskate, but why spend more money than you have to, right? So we’re sticking with T-Mobile.


  • Bridge to Terabithia

    * don’t read this if you haven’t seen the movie yet – I don’t want to ruin it for you.
    Wow… I just got home from the dollar movie. Bridge to Terabithia was NOT what I expected, but it was powerful. Boy (Jess) meets new girl (Leslie) in school. New girl has a vivid imagination and a creative spirit. She teaches the boy to open up his mind and see the world of possibilities. Boy is introduced to Terabithia, a land of wonder just a rope swing across the river.

    The girl is luminescent. She is a bringer of light to a dull existence. And in a single moment, she is gone. Boy is left alone, haunted by her absence. Alone with a half-created world of imagination as the most tangible evidence of her existence.

    Let me tell you, this was no ordinary children’s film. Those of you who have read the book will, of course, not be too surprised by the film’s events. I’d never read the book, so this film was fresh and new and powerful. The loss you feel when the Jess loses Leslie is choking. Something powerful about the sense of loss we feel at the prospect of dying young.

    Even more touching is the fact that the girl who is lost is someone unique. The boy is a talented artist. We somehow feel it is a greater loss for the tragedy to touch a boy and a girl so enraptured by imagination and the thrill of living.

    To lose someone angry, abusive, or evil is something else entirely. But we seem to so rarely come across a person who inspires us to live differently that we consider it an infinitely greater tragedy when one of them passes away.


  • 9 Foods My Wife Has Craved

    I’ve been thinking that this would make a good topic. Heather’s just now starting to get beyond the initial morning sickness phase. It was intense for three weeks. So here’s a list of the Top 10 foods Heather has craved during her pregnancy:

    1. Green Olives – as disturbing as this may sound to you, Heather not only craved green olives, she literally ate nearly two bottles of green olives in one day. Yes, she ate them by themselves, and, wait for it….. she drank the juice. Major ick-factor.

    2. Chocolate Chip Cookies – one of the more enjoyable trips to the grocery store thus far consisted of extra chocolate stuffed chocolate chip cookie dough which we baked in the oven and ate with milk….mmmmm. Sadly, this was a short lived craving.

    3. Potato Chips – the days of greasy food begin! On with the show!

    4. French Fries – suddenly, the uber-healthy wife transformed into the uber-junk food wife. French fries were a popular culprit.

    5. Vanilla Shakes – along the same vein as #3, Heather developed a sudden need for vanilla shakes twice a day.

    6. Mango & Pineapple – though this one was short lived, it was good to see her craving something that represented an actual food group

    7. Limes – yes, limes. Whole limes. She ate at least two limes with salt in one sitting. She just peeled them out of the rind, added salt, and down the hatch! Yeah, I couldn’t do it either.

    8. Orange Juice – we’re starting to see a theme here. What is it about citrusy / tropical fruits that her body needs so desperately? Who knows, but I’m enjoying it too. Apparently, she’s not the only one in need of a few vitamins.

    9. Popcorn – what is it about salty foods? Salt is apparently more important than we realize. She’s always liked popcorn, though. Maybe she has a sodium deficiency (shrug).

    There you have it! The list is complete.

    Strange how many things pregnancy affects that you don’t expect. Not only has Heather had wicked morning sickness, our eating habits are worse than when I was a bachelor (is that even possible?). This is due to the fact that for three weeks, Heather couldn’t prepare a meal without getting sick at the sight of it and then being unable to take a single bite. Hence, no more food prep… hence, fast food for Daniel….. hence, slightly rounder Daniel.

    One can only hope that this extra roundness will not last. To quote Scripture (with a slight twist), “She must increase, and I must decrease.” So be it, God willing.


  • Ex-Cranberries Lead Singer’s Debut Album Now Available!

    Despite the fact that my wife refuses to acknowledge her greatness, Dolores O'Riordan is, in my opinion, one of the top 5 best female singers in popular music today. After five amazing albums as the lead singer of The Cranberries, O'Riordan took a few years to relax at her home in Canada.

    Now she's back with a vengeance! Her new album, Are You Listening? is incredible! Of course, I'm such a huge fan that it would be difficult for me to not love it. I expect "In the Garden" to be one of the biggest hits on the album. It's upbeat, without sounding a thing like "Zombie" or "Salvation". There's more heartfelt angst involved here. "Human Spirit" is my favorite track. The intro piano and flute give it a different feel than the typical Cranberries song.

    Of course, once she starts singing, O'Riordan's sound is impossible to miss. The chorus sounds more like the band we're all familiar with. "Loser brings me back to the feel of my favorite Cranberries songs. "Black Widow" bears a very listless intro, with a whispering quality to her voice, which somehow evokes images of Gibson's Hamlet in my mind. Perhaps there's a bit of Ophelia in this song.

    And if you ever wondered what a hybrid of O'Riordan and Mazzy Star would sound like, check out "Ecstasy". It's still distinctly O'Riordan, with a breathy, husky quality that somehow reminds me of Star. It's a solid album, for sure. Check it out on iTunes today! Show her some love!


  • EnerMax Inc Launches New Site Design on CMS

    Congratulations to the team over at EnerMax Inc! Their new design has just gone live. For an independent oil and gas company in the Dallas / Fort Worth area, they’ve done an excellent job of providing a deep site with rich content about oil and gas drilling, oil and gas development, oil and gas investment, and the future of the industry.


  • CSI Miami Plays With Your Mind

    If you find yourself glued to the set during CSI Miami, it has more to do with psychology than acting. Someone on the team learned about the psychological affects of colored light on the emotions, and has turned CSI into one psychotically refreshing show. Just to be clear, I don’t watch the show. I have on occasion, however, turned off the volume and watched a few minutes just to catch the vivid colors.

    CSI Miami is like no other show I’ve seen. Granted, there are other shows out there like your Law & Orders and House that always seem to portray business at night with cool glowing office lights, but CSI Miami takes color to a whole new level. Look at the otherworldly yellows, blues, and greens that are always displayed in the background of every headshot. Tell me that you don’t somehow feel yourself in a better mood after watching, despite the fact that every show is about people being butchered by deranged lunatics and psychotic lovers.

    Despite the grotesque, graphic nature of the show, people are addicted to it like crack. And they’re addicted because the colors are so rich and vibrant that their eyes are getting high. It’s like the sugar rush of a Dr. Pepper.

    I cannot stand the show from a content and storyline basis, but even I must admit that the light filtering and colorization is uncannily effective. Someone is a genius.


  • Dallas Should Trade Dirk Nowitzki

    Here in Dallas, we’re still in shock and recovering from the disappointment that is this year’s Dallas Mavericks team. After the initial shock wore off, everyone in sports radio started asking the question: how did we ever expect this team to win a championship? And what will it take to get this team on the track we expected?

    There’s no doubt that Dallas needs a major change. Sure, we all think Dirk’s a nice guy and he’s great for regular season play. Yee-haw. That doesn’t solve our woes. We need someone who will carry the team on their back when it counts.

    We need someone like Tracy McGrady or Allen Iverson. AI is obviously not an option, but we need a player to come in and lead the team by example. Forget trying to pump up the players with speeches. Give them someone they can believe in who defies logic, and you’ll have a championship team.

    Of course, we’ve never had a championship in Dallas, so we’re not really expecting the Mavericks to get it right for next year. We expect that the team is in the condition it’s in because the leadership has terminal weaknesses.

    Don’t shrug it off and say that the Mavs just had a difficult matchup against the Warriors. Champions don’t make excuses.


  • Lennard Darbee Radio Sermons Coming Soon

    As some of you know, Lennard Darbee was my grandfather. He had his flaws for sure, but his radio show and traveling healing ministry reached hundreds of thousands over the span of his lifetime.

    I received the remaining print and audio materials from his ministry after he and my step grandmother both died. I am amazed by the paper saving abilities of that man! He wrote sermon notes on the back of every conceivable advertisement, napkin, church bulletin, and unused letter.

    I’ve had these materials for eight years now, and it’s time they were put to more efficient use. That’s why I will be opening a new website to make streaming audio and/or downloadable versions of his radio sermons available to the public. It will take me some time to make them all available, seeing as there are hundreds of them.

    A donation button will be located on the site. Please feel free to contribute whatever you feel is appropriate to assist me in the time and effort it will take to make these sermons and other materials available to the public.

    Look for it soon at LennardDarbee.com!


  • My First Book is in the Works

    It’s true… It’s in the works. I announced this to my friends and family a few months ago on MySpace, but I thought I’d go ahead and mention it here. I’ve given myself until January of next year to complete this book, though God knows I’d love to finish early and start shopping it around.

    The hardest part of writing a book is not the actual writing. Not even close. The hardest part of writing is narrowing down the topics to one final storyline or topic. There are so many possibilities. Some are only substantial enough to be short stories. Others require more life experience before the subjects are approached.

    I’m not going to give away any details just yet. One must properly exercise the art of The Tease in order to woo the public. Or so I’ve heard. After a year and a half blogging here on CultureFeast, it was time to move to the next level. Blogging is nice, and I will continue to post my randomness here. It doesn’t pay the bills, however, because I’m not OCD enough to blog 10 times a day on one topic in order to draw readers to click on my AdSense or other blog ads.

    I’m excited about this venture because it is something I’ve talked about and toyed with these past ten years. I’ve even despaired to the point of eternal surrender upon realizing that I’d already lived longer than John Keats without a single shred of literary accomplishment to my name. Then again, I should be grateful for not dying at a young age, so there is that.


  • Interpersonal Relationship Tip #1: Choose to Be Unselfish in Conversation

    If I had a dollar for every person I’ve met who has yet to grasp this concept, I’d be rich. Why do self-absorbed people never understand this simple lesson? I’m going to spell it out for you in simple English so you won’t miss it this time:

    Stop always talking about yourself!

    Okay, now for some elaboration. You’re not off the hook yet. This includes all of you who may not talk about yourself, but you’re only interested in the conversation because someone else is talking about you. If they discuss themselves for very long at all, your mind wanders and you wish the conversation was over.

    Here’s a tip: Grow up!

    Some people actually believe that they are very popular because the people they speak to are less selfish. Sorry, but you’re somehow taking their kindness and unselfishness and assuming that they don’t have a dozen other topics as interesting or more than you that they fail to mention. Well, if they have so much of importance to say, why do they always talk about me? Hmmm…. Well, the obvious reason is that you hung the moon.

    Right.

    Interpersonal Relationship Tip #1: Engage the other person on whatever level they are capable. Start by discussing the other person. If and when they appear comfortable discussing other things for any length of time, feel free to follow their lead. At times, it will be necessary to prod someone out into unfamiliar waters because without some help they’re going to stay put forever.

    How do you know which type of person you are? It’s simple, really. Does the conversation revolve around you or the other person? There you go. If you don’t regularly express interest in other people’s lives, you are the weaker one in the relationship (don’t freak out, guys – this includes any level of knowing another person).

    This post comes from years of being the person who always asks dozens of personal questions about other people in an attempt to get people to talk. It’s great to know people, so don’t think that I’m complaining for all the information I’ve received. Far from it. But there comes a point when you realize that after all the effort you’ve put into knowing someone, they’ve never reciprocated interest. They still know you only on the levels which you engage them.

    At some point, we call these people leeches. They feed off the attention of others who are willing to get to know them. But they’re uncomfortable allowing someone else to receive positive attention, so they either stick with selfish topics or they lash out in resentment. Some people already know that they fall into this category, but feel powerless to change. Others don’t care to change. Still others are unaware, or refuse to become aware, and they choose instead to make others feel stupid when the conversation ceases to revolve around them.

    There are two types of bodies of water: flowing and stagnant. People very closing resemble these two types. Stagnant water becomes a swamp: rotting, infested with insects and mold. Flowing water remains fresh and healthier to drink. People who absorb all the attention and conversation are a swamp. They start to stink after a while.

    Think about it. Even if you’re too proud to overtly acknowledge the point, maybe there’s someone in your life you’d rather not lose to your own selfishness. It’s worth considering.