When News Isn't News

Regardless of how you feel about the death penalty, does it shock you that letters to Ohio's governor are running 5-to-1 in favor of ending capital punishment? It shouldn't. On a whole, people aren't death-mongers. How many people do you know that would write a letter to the governor like this:

"Dear Mr Governor,

Please keep using the electric chair. Lethal injection is cool, too.

Your friend, Steve"

It just doesn't happen.

But people will crawl over land and sea in order to voice their objections to the death penalty. I'm not quite sure why people are so passionate about defending the lives of murderers when there are innocents all around the world dying preventable deaths that could also use advocates.

Personally [and I know you're dying to know], I am for the death penalty; it's a necessary punishment for those who take another life. Despite those who wish to use a few isolated comments of Jesus to condemn capital punishment, you can easily derive a Scriptural ethic exists that would support it. It's a post-Noadic flood [second creation] mandate that "whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man." This commandment precedes Mosaic law, making it very difficult to refute.

We should not rejoice in the taking of life, but there are times when it is necessary.

SKCUS RACSAN

Allow me the opportunity to disrespect my southern roots. What the crap is up with NASCAR? Isn't this sport the biggest sham going?

They penalize numerous teams for cheating before the Daytona 500 so that all the other teams get the message: cheating is bad. Then they run the qualifying for the pole position and Jeff Gordon wins. But in a post-race inspection they discover that his quarter panels were too low. NASCAR officials admit that it probably happened accidentally during the race, but still he went from first position to last position to start Sunday's race. Makes me want to watch cars going in circles really fast.

Gordon was cool about it, though. Remember that Jeff is hated by true NASCAR fans because he's the sophisticated, educated racer. His interview after being penalized shows his intellectual depth:

"It was nice to get out there and just go racing. I've been glued to the TV as much as anybody else over all this stuff. Between that and Anna Nicole Smith, I couldn't pull away."

NASCAR and Anna Nicole Smith: the working man's cocktail.

The whole thing is backwards, if you ask me.

Things That Go Bump

Don't call the Po-Po. And you don't need the Ghostbusters either. I saw a story on the local news tonight about people calling the police to report intruders. Loud noises on roofs been freaking people out, thinking it's a robber. Actually, it's the accumulated snow and ice reshifting and making some unusual sounds.

As we sat here tonight we heard a huge thump. It would seem to be man-made but it's not. Can't imagine anyone wanting to break into our place with the veritable ice rink on our deck.

So if you're here in Cincy and you hear something strange, refrain from pulling out your twelve-gauge.

It's just a little water.

Seacoast Out

So far, we've only missed a few American Idol episodes. I'm not sure why I don't find it as annoying this year. Maybe it's a sign of how far television programming has fallen. Beit Carr's runaway favorite is Chris Sligh, the Jack Osbourne look-alike with a killer sense of humor. And apparently he's a worship leader at Seacoast Church in South Carolina. He was my front-runner before and, now that I now he's obviously God's choice, he's a shoe-in to be the next Carrie Underwood, or Reuben, or something like that.

It's a reason to keep watching anyway.

HT: Ben Arment

I Have No Heart

It's been a rough day around the Carr household and cabin fever doesn't help. Then, I realize that I made a massive mistake. No, I didn't forget Valentine's Day.

I did, however, lose my Valentine's Card for Kelly.

I bought while in Danville, Illinois this past weekend. It was a stellar card, too. Somehow, between there and the house, the card has disappeared. And before you think that I'm covering my rear-end, my sister saw the card herself and can vouch.

But without a card, how will my wife every know how I feel about her?

How can she understand that she's my everything, that the past ten years have been the best of my life? Will she now not realize that I'm nothing without her? Is the fact that she's the most amazing wife and mother in the world lost forever? Will the reality that even after all these years my heart skips a beat when I see her smile ever be made known?

I could really use that card. Maybe I can give her a piece of Juicy-Fruit instead.

If I were my father, I'd have boxes of Esther Price stashed around the house and wouldn't have to deal with this. He's a genius.

Cincinnati School Closings

I'm getting even more hits here from people looking for school closings. I'm betting this title will bring even more. I'm a jerk. Here's your updated closing list: Cincinnati is closed.

This weather is just nasty. While the ice-covered trees are beautiful, I fear for what it could do to us. I'm just glad we still have power; over 100,000 homes in the city are without it. They just showed some footage of the bottom of our street on the news and the lights were out. I'll probably wake up every few hours to make sure we still have juice. You never know.

I'm pretty sure there's a snow emergency out, which means my park is illegally parked. I'll applaud any officer who stops by and tickets me.

After that mild first few months of winter we enjoyed, it's time to pay the piper.

Uno

February 12, 2006. It was a Sunday night and I had just preached at our church. I called Kelly who was in her third week of hospitalization at Good Sam. She encouraged me to go out to eat with church folk. I said I preferred to pick up some food and come back to the hospital where I had spent every night with her. After a quick stop by Wendy's I was back in the same old room eating dinner with Kel. There was a new nurse on duty who had called the doctor to check on the baby's progress.

We both thought the nurse was overtly cautious and finished our french fries. The doctor, after checking Kelly out, said they were moving us over to the other birth wing. We didn't quite get it until he said, "the baby will be here in a little more than an hour."

It was finally time.

As they prepared Kelly for surgery, I was alone in a prep room with time to kill. I don't recall thinking much, just wondering what it would be like.

I had no idea . . .

. . . how awesome . . .

. . . it would be.

I smile constantly. I love having a little girl. It is very good.

I pray that that God continues to use Kaelyn make me and many others smile.

I know she will.

And thanks to my wife, who was amazing during those first few weeks. She's an incredible mommy. And Kaelyn knows it.

If you're interested in what I was thinking then, here's a go.

My City Is Dumb

. . . but it's still my city. We had a record number of homicides here last year. The infrastructure for economic growth is severely lacking. The most prominent acreage of Cincinnati real estate [the Banks] is still a barren wasteland. So what is City Council's response: pass a resolution disapproving of President Bush's troop escalation in Iraq.

Brilliant.

In case you are confused, the Constitution has not been rewritten giving Cincinnati's city council the power to determine national policy.

There are some who say that there is an "interconnectedness of American society" that requires local politics to influence the national. If this is the case, then why limit resolutions to the Iraq war? Where are the local municipalities voicing official positions about issues like AIDS in Africa, North Korean nukes, and the invasion of aliens [space, not illegal]? Nowhere to be found. Why? Because it's now sexy to come out and criticize the war. And some in Cincinnati don't want to be left behind.

Sidebar: Let's be honest about Iraq for a second. Ever since the poorly conceived "Mission Accomplished" banner was unfurled on the USS Abraham Lincoln, people have slowly joined the bandwagon against the conflict. It's now uber-chic to bash the war and dropping the Vietnam card is the new red ribbon. But there's a definitive difference between Vietnam and Iraq: a volunteer army. The Vietnam protests were rooted in opposition to the draft. But we forgot that because . . . well . . . we were stoned, young, or unborn then. War is hell. Our generation is finally seeing this firsthand.

But as far as City Council is concerned, this is nothing more than a waste time. It's not like there's anything else out there that our city needs. If you're that interested in Iraq, find a job that affects our international policy. This city's citizens are unimpressed.

***I refer you to an interview with a dissenter on the resolution. Councilman Chris Bortz gives an excellent explanation on why he voted against the resolution.

Catching Up

The family was in two different time zones this weekend [literally] so I have a lot to write about here. For starters, check out the wife's recap of Kentucky's loss to Florida this weekend that she witnessed firsthand. Pay special attention to her expert analysis of why the Wildcats lost.

A wife who has a great sports IQ. I am blessed.

Thanks to my father-in-law for raising her right.

Roll'd

Here's an advanced warning for you: I've got a picture further down in this post that you might not want to look at. You have every opportunity to turn away. You've been warned. For the past month I've been waking up twice a week to play basketball at Cincinnati Christian University. Used to play all the time when I worked there. I really suck at basketball but it gives me good exercise. Since I have no other physical activity right now, it's become a highlight of my week.

Last week we were playing and I landed on my left ankle. Hard. It was bad, but I messed up my right one worse playing at the wonderful carpeted court in Mason. That time I was on crutches for a few days, went to physical therapy, and didn't fully heal for two months. Since this one wasn't that bad, I thought it'd be a couple days and then back to normal.

Eight days later, I'm still hobbling. I have to tip-toe up steps to relieve the pain. Had to take a picture to prove that I'm not a wuss. And now you have to see it:

Nice coloration, eh? The bruise almost looks like a Nike swoosh. Oh, and you're welcome.

Honestly, I freak out about getting injured now. I used to roll ankles all the time playing soccer in college but I'd pull on an ankle brace, pop some Advil and not miss a beat. Now, I'm out for extended lengths of time. I don't think my body heals as quickly as it used to.

I'm not feeling old otherwise, but this is rather noticeable. I'm still going to fight off the effects of aging as long as I can [thank you, Oil of Olay], so as soon as this heals I'm going back to the basketball court . . .

. . . where I can suck again.

White Out

In the winter, when all the leaves are off the trees, we can catch a glimpse of Interstate 71. At 10:50pm, it's still bumper to bumper heading into the Lytle Tunnel. That's a lot of snow in a little time. All over the news tonight people were complaining that road crews didn't get the snow up long enough. When did they have the time to get it done? An inch a snow an hour is a ton, especially when the roads are littered with cars.

I heard someone from Chicago today mentioning that Cincinnatians don't know how to get around in the snow. Considering that the Windy City has a rather intricate train system that doesn't slow down when it snows, it's not an apt illustration. I've heard similar crap from people from Indianapolis. I just wish people would stop bashing the 'Nati and think objectively: we're an extremely hilly city dependent on motor vehicle transportation. Snow slows the city down. Get over it.

When this much snow falls during rush hour, expect the delays and suck it up.

Exit Stage Left

This is the most American Idol we've watched since season 1. This is still my favorite part of the entire show: the bad auditions are unbeatable. It seems like even Paula is a little less sympathetic to the bad singers. One thing that's bothered me this year is the doors of the audition room. Some producer thought it would be humorous to leave one of the exit doors locked, offering up some embarrassing moments for people who just completely embarrassed themselves. There's no other reason to have the door locked; it's a quick exit push bar. I've been telling Kelly about it for weeks and, sure enough, tonight was their "locked door montage."

Of course, why am I expecting American Idol to be sophisticated? The snow is making me crazy.

Carr out.

No School Today

I love how this city gets into snow mode. We're 24 hours away from a predicted winter storm and everything is already shutting down. Notice that we're still not sure exactly how it will all unfold, but cancellings and delays are out in full force. Fortunately, when it comes to forecasting, Cincinnati weathermen are never mistaken. Sidebar: still miss ya, Rich Apuzzo. Any-hoo, checking my blog stats tonight I discovered that four people today found Beit Carr by Googling "school cancelings Wisconsin." In December of 2005 I used all three of those words in various posts. It's the only response that Google lists.

Embarrassingly, I guess I misspelled "cancelling," so I only attract those Wisconsinites who are either bad spellers or poor typers. Most likely, they're school kids so confused that they still have to go to school with three feet of snow on the ground that they inadvertently omit the second "L."

So to you kiddies who made your way to my corner of cyberspace because you can't spell: welcome. I'm pretty sure you'll have school today. My advice: move to Cincinnati. Most of our districts shut down at the mere hint of a snowflake.

Oh, and the Badgers suck. Yeah: insult+injury.

S**** Bowl

I don't have to preach today, so I thought I'd drop a little wisdom down here on the ol' blog. Topic: Church Super Bowl Parties. If you haven't heard by now, the NFL dropped a "cease and desist" this past week on an Indianapolis church who was going to show the Super Bowl at their church. The mistakes made by the Falls Creek Baptist Church were many:

1) They used the copyrighted term "Super Bowl" all over their website/advertising. 2) They advertised that they would show it on a huge projection screen . 3) They were charging admission to the event.

When the Baptists attempted to renegotiate, the NFL said, "talk to the hand." Inundated by complaints, the NFL finally did a 360, saying as long as the image shown is less the 55 inches, they're fine with it.

There are a ton of great angles on this one, but here are six I'd love to point out:

1) The fifty five inches limit will probably be challenged soon. This is supposed to be in effect for all private and public viewings. But now that they're making a whole slew of flat panels over sixty inches, I'd say they'll have to reexamine this.

2) Many say the NFL takes exception to these large viewing parties because it hurts their ratings which, in turn, brings down their advertising revenue. Really, it makes no difference unless you're a Nielsen family who has a box on your TV monitoring all your viewing habits.

I have always longed to become a Nielsen family, even sucking up to my friends who work for Nielsen [Dale and Emily!] but even they have no pull here. It's a totally random selection. If I was, however, a Nielsen family, I'd probably leave my TV on 24/7, even when away from home. What Nielsen family wouldn't have their TV tuned to the Super Bowl, anyway?

3) The NFL didn't realize who they messed with. Church folk ain't anything if they're not grumpy. This move made headlines all across the Bible Belt, even locally, as people declared this a travesty. The League has long excused sports bars of this viewing rule, giving the Christians a chance to complain of an anti-family bias.

4) What's even crazier is that another Indianapolis Baptist church that sent out a press release stating they would defy the NFL's policy and show the game on a huge screen anyway. Their pastor stated, "We want to save souls by any means necessary. Football, traditional service, street ministry -- it doesn't matter." Yikes! So now showing the Super Bowl at church is a salvational issue. If you like football and Jesus, Second Baptist is for you.

5) I find it ironic that many churches chose to take the moral high road here. Across the country churches began cancelling these Super Bowl gatherings, stating they didn't want to break laws. But churches break bigger copyright laws all the time. Whether it's mass publishing photos they don't know, making copies of curriculum, or having movie nights in the sanctuary, it's just not legal. But nobody bats an eye over that.

I'm not trying to excuse the actions. I'm just saying that there are 364 other days in a year when churches are in danger of violating copyright laws and you won't hear a thing about it after tonight. If you're going to play the "it's the law" card, do it consistently.

6) In a somewhat related note, I had to laugh that a large Texas church was giving away Super Bowl tickets [including free airfare and hotel] at their services last night. Part of their defense of the gimmick was posted on the web:

"It’s all about life change. If even one person comes hoping to win a free trip to the Super Bowl and experiences something positive in their life as a result, it’s worth the effort to do this promotion."

Um, if some church had given me free Super Bowl tickets, I'd say that would be a positive experience. This kind of thing is getting ridiculous, but that's another post.

In case you're curious, we'll be showing the Super Bo . . . er, the Big Game tonight at Echo. In case you're curious, I'm going with the Colts by ten.

Admission is free and I'm bringing a tape measure with me.

Bloody Valentine's Day

One of the benefits of our current abode is a beautiful view of the Christ Hospital. It's a beautiful edifice to observe, with its white-capped tower. But for a few days each year, it gets a little icky. I don't remember it well from last year since we were actually living over at Good Samaritan Hospital waiting for Kaelyn. At the beginning of February, they add filters to the lights atop Christ Hospital so that it looks like this:

Yeah, this is what we have to see for the next few weeks.

Not quite sure how I feel about this. I understand the desire to be seasonal, but is Valentine's Day the best choice? Instead of making me feel amorous, it makes me think of a horror flick. And I'm pretty sure that if I were being rushed to the hospital and observed that spire, I'd suggest that the driver head on over to University Hospital.

Happy Valentine's Day.

It Is What It Is

A few weeks ago I told Kelly that "it is what it is" will be the new catchphrase of 2007. I just heard someone on ESPN say it again, as it seems that it's the only phrase athletes and coaches are willing to offer nowadays. Apparently, I'm a few years too late as USA Today declared the phrase the cliche of 2004. Al Gore even used it publicly in 2002 when reflected on his failed Presidential bid. Maybe I haven't been paying attention. But I've started hearing it lately beyond the sporting world. "It Is What It Is" is ready to take over the world.

And, honestly, I've been trying it out myself lately. It's kinda fun.

Sample conversation:

Old Lady: "Mister, you just ran over my cat, got out of your car, kicked it a few times, got back into your car, and peeled out over its carcass!!!"

Steve: "It is what it is, Ma'am."

My advice: try it, Mikey. You'll like it.

The Power Of Colbert

Watching the Colbert Report tonight, Stephen once again enticed his viewer to attack Wikipedia. In his "Word" segment, he offered up a rant on Microsoft paying people to change Wikipedia entries. Colbert enticed his nation to change the entry on elephants, tonight he offered $5 to the first person who changed the "Reality" entry to state, "reality becomes a commodity."

I had my laptop open so, no sooner had he said it, I had the page up and it was changed. Then I refreshed the page and someone had already protected it.

At least I got the screenshot to prove it worked.

Observe the power of Colbert: once he says it, things happen.

Brilliant.

Echo Pub

The latest issue of CCU 514, the quarterly newsletter of Cincinnati Christian University, includes an article about Echo. You can download the PDF here. They asked me to write up some words about our endeavor, so I sent them a few paragraphs. I assumed they'd do a rewrite to make it third person, but they pretty much published it as is. My only regret is that there's a sentence in there that begins, "When I started Echo Church . . . "

Makes me cringe just thinking about it.

I read a lot of blogs by church planters that detail their ministries. Honestly, a few of them make me want to vomit; they come off like online tributes to these pastors' greatness. That could very well be me, so I'm always trying to keep my ego in check [Kelly does her part quite well]. Don't get me wrong: you do need to be pretty confident to start a church from scratch, but not too confident.

That's why I'm embarrassed I wrote the word "I." I didn't start Echo Church. There's a incredible group of people that God has called together to do this thing. Without them, it wouldn't have happened. They're some of my favorite people in the world. They deserve all the credit. I have no earthly idea how I could've written that.

Yet despite that inappropriate pronoun, I don't think it's half bad. Check it out.

I Make Art

I had a project I wanted to get finished over Christmas vacation. Unfortunately, I didn't get started on it until after my birthday, so it took me up to last week to wrap it up. Ever since we moved into the condo we've had a blank space over the fireplace. It's been daunting to think of the selecting the right piece to hang over the fireplace so we finally settled on a non-traditional pick:

A Steve Carr original.

I've not really painted since junior high so I was a little nervous. But I have the "Little Engine That Could" mentality so I went for it. Jessica Pendell graciously lent me here painting supplies, a huge array of various brushes, so I had all the tools I needed. Kelly helped me pick out the base colors so it would match the living room decor. We picked a canvas that would fit in the allotted area, something like 28" high and 36" wide, so I was ready to go.

Like I said, it took me a few weeks to work through it, a total of ten to twelve hours total, but I'm pretty satisfied with the first effort. Here it is:

No official title, I just always wanted to do a montage of Cincinnati landmarks. I did a good job with some of them [I liked the Tyler Davidson Fountain and the Roebling Bridge] and struggled through others [still don't like the white Central Trust building]. I'm not sure that all the buildings are straight either.

It's crazy because I thought I'd be relieved when I finished but I'm not. I now feel somewhat paranoid because I see the painting all the time while in the living room; I'm constantly see the flaws I left out there. If anything, it's a good opportunity for me to come to grips of my imperfections. I did the best I could. I might even try it again sometime, but it'll be a few years to be sure.

If anything, Kelly likes it, so it works for me.

Am I A Grup?

Caught an article from USA Today . . . today . . . about the next generation of fathers. It discusses the need for "hipster" dads to try to remain cool despite transitioning into the fatherhood role. Some are referring to them as "grups." What exactly is a grup? This definition from the New York Magazine:

"Also known as yupster [yuppie + hipster], yindie [yuppie + indie], and alterna-yuppie. Our preferred term, grup, is taken from an episode of Star Trek [keep reading] in which Captain Kirk et al. land on a planet of children who rule the world, with no adults in sight. The kids call Kirk and the crew “grups,” which they eventually figure out is a contraction of “grown-ups.” It turns out that all the grown-ups had died from a virus that greatly slows the aging process and kills anybody who grows up.

So, yeah, I think it's an insult. The point is, it's supposed to describe dads who don't want to let fatherhood be the fast track to dorkville.

Let me try and break this down. Where did grups come from?

I believe it's the inevitable result of American parental evolution. Our parents, the Baby Boomers, had parents that were products of a couple World Wars and The Depression; they were more concerned about survival than staying hip [was "hip" even a term then?]. So when the Boomers had kids, they swore they'd one up their parents in the coolness area, holding on for dear life. How else do you think the Rolling Stones and the Eagles were able to do so many farewell tours. By the time you get to us, the MTV generation, we've evolved into the hipsters.

So the question that currently haunts me: am I a grup?

I'm not quite sure.

Disqualifying me would be that I've never owned Doc Martins, a Volkswagen Jetta, or Death Cab For Cutie CD. Yet I do have a fear of becoming irrelevant. Not quite sure where that phobia came from but I never want to be the guy wearing acid-wash jeans and sporting a mullet while jamming to Foreigner [unless that becomes fashionable again, then I might be game]. Because of this I try to keep up on my pop-culture. I listen to new music, read Entertainment Weekly, and stay up to date on new trends via the interwebs. Heck, we live among uber-hip urbanites, so there's some grup street cred.

Admission: I do watch VH1, but it's not as lame as it used be . . . unless I've finally crossed over and become the lame kind of person who watches VH1. Suck.

But the reality is, I'm not obsessed with staying cool. Don't get me wrong: I'm not going to mail it in yet, but I have higher priorities. More than working my gruppiness, I care about being a good husband and father. I'll admit this: I'll keep making a minor effort to stay cool, but I would never do it at my family's expense.

Ain't grup enough for that.