Over the last few months I've been taste testing various freeze-dried backpacking food.
I've tried the following:
Mountain House's Rice and Chicken
Alpine Aire's Sierra Chicken
Backpacker's Pantry Chicken Cashew Curry
Richmoor's Natural High Classic Beef Stroganoff.
All four came in convenient foil pouches that stand up after you add hot water to them.
My very brief reviews:
Rice and Chicken was really salty ... a little too salty. I suppose you could add more water but then it would probably get soupy which I suppose is okay since after a day of hiking it will help you re-hydrate!
Sierra Chicken and Chicken Cashew Curry were both rather bland.
Classic Beef Stroganoff was not bad. It is, after all, just freeze-dried food but this seem to go above bland and offer some taste without crossing over into excessive saltiness.
I'll be trying a few more and reporting back.
Bon Appetite and happy trails!
Sports: Dodgers make some deals
Colletti has pulled the trigger on two deals at the deadline. The biggest is moving Izturis to get Maddux. He also dealt prospects Joel Guzman and Sergio Pedroza in exchange for Julio Lugo.
The lineup card is going to get juggled a bit with these moves.
Maddux will take a spot in the starting rotation with Penny and Lowe.
The question is who gets moved to the bullpen: Sele, Billingsley or Hendrickson?
Sele has an older arm and got roughed up on his July 17 and 22 starts. He did two innings of relief on July 26. He is slated to start August 1 and will be watched closely. If it appears he is running out of gas he could be moved to middle relief the next go around. He would be joining Beimel, Carrara and Dessens as the middle relief to get to flame throwers Saito, Broxton and Tomko.
Billingsley walks a lot of batters so I'm guessing he won't be moved to the bullpen and the Dodgers may want to keep the youngster as a starter to continue his development.
Hendrickson is the only lefty besides Beimel so perhaps he will be moved to the bullpen and be used as a situational lefty and for middle relief.
Middle relief will be important to the Dodgers if the rotation is Penny, Lowe, Maddux, Sele and Billingsley.
Penny a hard thrower often runs up the pitch count because batters foul off his stuff for long at-bats. Maddux and Sele are older arms. Billingsley walks too many people which runs up his pitch count. Thus, with four starters who are often done by the 5th and 6th inning, middle relief that Grady Little can count on will be huge if the Dodgers are to make a run at the post-season.
As for obtaining Lugo, he will take second base where Izturis was filling in for Kent. Ramon Martinez will probably be sent to Las Vegas to make room for Lugo. If Kent comes off the DL as scheduled, I can imagine that Loney will be sent down and Kent will play first base while Lugo stays at second. The log jam occurs when Garciaparra comes off the DL. I suppose at that point Lugo will occasionally give Furcal a break and Kent a break. Given Kent's injury problems this year, when he comes back, I think Little will rest him more often than in the past.
The lineup card is going to get juggled a bit with these moves.
Maddux will take a spot in the starting rotation with Penny and Lowe.
The question is who gets moved to the bullpen: Sele, Billingsley or Hendrickson?
Sele has an older arm and got roughed up on his July 17 and 22 starts. He did two innings of relief on July 26. He is slated to start August 1 and will be watched closely. If it appears he is running out of gas he could be moved to middle relief the next go around. He would be joining Beimel, Carrara and Dessens as the middle relief to get to flame throwers Saito, Broxton and Tomko.
Billingsley walks a lot of batters so I'm guessing he won't be moved to the bullpen and the Dodgers may want to keep the youngster as a starter to continue his development.
Hendrickson is the only lefty besides Beimel so perhaps he will be moved to the bullpen and be used as a situational lefty and for middle relief.
Middle relief will be important to the Dodgers if the rotation is Penny, Lowe, Maddux, Sele and Billingsley.
Penny a hard thrower often runs up the pitch count because batters foul off his stuff for long at-bats. Maddux and Sele are older arms. Billingsley walks too many people which runs up his pitch count. Thus, with four starters who are often done by the 5th and 6th inning, middle relief that Grady Little can count on will be huge if the Dodgers are to make a run at the post-season.
As for obtaining Lugo, he will take second base where Izturis was filling in for Kent. Ramon Martinez will probably be sent to Las Vegas to make room for Lugo. If Kent comes off the DL as scheduled, I can imagine that Loney will be sent down and Kent will play first base while Lugo stays at second. The log jam occurs when Garciaparra comes off the DL. I suppose at that point Lugo will occasionally give Furcal a break and Kent a break. Given Kent's injury problems this year, when he comes back, I think Little will rest him more often than in the past.
Devotional Thoughts: God is not finished with me yet
Am looking over Philippians 3:17-4:1.
What is today's "three-point" sermon from the Bible passage? 8-)
(1) Learn from the example of godly believers
Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.
Sometimes people get down on the institutional church. And to be honest, as a person who attends a pretty typical church, there is good reason to get discouraged!
However, having said that, what is the alternative?
If we try to live out our Christian faith on our own, the potential for self-deception is too great. Without other believers to bang heads with, we may get certain ideas into our heads that might have nothing to do with real Christian faith!
Within the community of faith, we are provided with older, wiser and more mature believers for us to learn from. In this setting, we, me too (gasp!), need to set an example of what wrestling with following Christ looks like to believers who are new to the journey.
(2) Watch out for those who are not setting a good example.
For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame - who set their mind on earthly things.
Paul takes no delight in seeing people heading the wrong way. He weeps for them because they are headed for destruction. He weeps as he warns believers not to be deceived by those individuals.
"God is their belly" is a very vivid metaphor for driven by desire. The instinct of hunger is one of the strongest in the human experience.
Another strong desire is sex especially in our media saturated society which pours gasoline on the raging fire that burns even without the assistance of the media!
I was reading C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity the other day and here is an extended excerpt on that subject:
We need to pray for ourselves that we don't get drawn into worshiping the false god of living only for the present. We need to pray for our society to be transformed.
(3) Seek transformation from Christ
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved.
Transform. Wow! Jesus is in the process of transforming us, lowly us!
Paul talked about transformation in Romans 12:1-2. We need to offer ourselves as sacrifices to God. Transformation can then take place and we come out of it with a completely different mindset.
I want to spend a few additional moments on this "body" part.
In the cultural milieu of Paul's time, a lot of the religions and philosophies thought that the body and the physical is bad. As a result some people became hedonists seeking pleasure because if the spirit is completely separate from the body then why not live it up? Others became ascetics and avoided all pleasures because they believed anything associated with the body was bad.
However, Jewish and Christian theology integrates body and soul/spirit. Here is another excerpt from C.S. Lewis:
Lord, forgive me when I seek the earthly things. So often, my eyes are on those things instead of you. Help me daily to offer myself to you and to allow you to transform my mind and my being so that I can do that which is good and pleasing to you. Give me the humility to learn from others and give me the boldness to be an example. Amen.
What is today's "three-point" sermon from the Bible passage? 8-)
(1) Learn from the example of godly believers
Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.
Sometimes people get down on the institutional church. And to be honest, as a person who attends a pretty typical church, there is good reason to get discouraged!
However, having said that, what is the alternative?
If we try to live out our Christian faith on our own, the potential for self-deception is too great. Without other believers to bang heads with, we may get certain ideas into our heads that might have nothing to do with real Christian faith!
Within the community of faith, we are provided with older, wiser and more mature believers for us to learn from. In this setting, we, me too (gasp!), need to set an example of what wrestling with following Christ looks like to believers who are new to the journey.
(2) Watch out for those who are not setting a good example.
For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame - who set their mind on earthly things.
Paul takes no delight in seeing people heading the wrong way. He weeps for them because they are headed for destruction. He weeps as he warns believers not to be deceived by those individuals.
"God is their belly" is a very vivid metaphor for driven by desire. The instinct of hunger is one of the strongest in the human experience.
Another strong desire is sex especially in our media saturated society which pours gasoline on the raging fire that burns even without the assistance of the media!
I was reading C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity the other day and here is an extended excerpt on that subject:
We have been told, till one is sick of hearing it, that sexual desire is in the same state as any of our other natural desires and that if only we abandon the silly old Victorian idea of hushing it up, everything in the garden will be lovely.Indeed, one need only look at the headlines of the magazines at the grocery checkout counter or channel surf the television to find people who seem to be examples of those "whose glory is in their shame" who are part of the "cult of celebrity" leading the way with dysfunction.
........
They tell you sex has become a mess because it was hushed up. But for the last twenty years [ed. note, Lewis wrote the section on Christian Behavior in 1943] it has not been. It has been chattered about all day long. Yet it is still a mess. If hushing up had been the cause of the trouble, ventilation would have set it right. But it has not. I think it is the other way round. I think the human race originally hushed it up because it had become such a mess.
We need to pray for ourselves that we don't get drawn into worshiping the false god of living only for the present. We need to pray for our society to be transformed.
(3) Seek transformation from Christ
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved.
Transform. Wow! Jesus is in the process of transforming us, lowly us!
Paul talked about transformation in Romans 12:1-2. We need to offer ourselves as sacrifices to God. Transformation can then take place and we come out of it with a completely different mindset.
I want to spend a few additional moments on this "body" part.
In the cultural milieu of Paul's time, a lot of the religions and philosophies thought that the body and the physical is bad. As a result some people became hedonists seeking pleasure because if the spirit is completely separate from the body then why not live it up? Others became ascetics and avoided all pleasures because they believed anything associated with the body was bad.
However, Jewish and Christian theology integrates body and soul/spirit. Here is another excerpt from C.S. Lewis:
I know some muddleheaded Christians have talked as if Christianity thought that sex, or the body, or pleasure, were bad in themselves. But they were wrong. Christianity is almost the only one of the great religions which throughly approve of the body - which believes that matter is good, that God Himself one took on a human body, that some kind of body is going to be given to us even in Heaven and is going to be an essential par of our happiness, or beauty and our energy.Thus, we work at transformation in the here and now because even though our citizenship is in heaven, the Kingdom of Heaven has already broken into this world. We are part of the transformation process now and it will continue and will find its full realization when Christ brings the Kingdom in its fullness.
Lord, forgive me when I seek the earthly things. So often, my eyes are on those things instead of you. Help me daily to offer myself to you and to allow you to transform my mind and my being so that I can do that which is good and pleasing to you. Give me the humility to learn from others and give me the boldness to be an example. Amen.
News: 48 hour suspension of air attacks
The latest news is that Israel will suspend air attacks for 48 hours. On Fox cable news, they say some sources are saying it will be a 24 hour suspension.
Fox news analyst Oliver North pointed out that Syria has been resupplying Hezbollah and without the threat of air attacks on supply convoys, this move will be a disadvantage for Israel.
I suppose if recon flights spot convoys moving in, the Israeli air force will be given the green light to attack once again. Of course, you can imagine the Syrians might mix military resupply convoys with humanitarian aid convoys.
Fox news analyst Oliver North pointed out that Syria has been resupplying Hezbollah and without the threat of air attacks on supply convoys, this move will be a disadvantage for Israel.
I suppose if recon flights spot convoys moving in, the Israeli air force will be given the green light to attack once again. Of course, you can imagine the Syrians might mix military resupply convoys with humanitarian aid convoys.
Devotional Thoughts: staying on track
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Humbling. Challenging. Exciting.
Those are the three emotions I get reading this passage.
Humbling in that Paul, the great missionary that took the Gospel to so many places and planted so many churches and wrote the letters that comprise much of the Christian Scriptures, recognized he still had a long way to go in following Jesus!
As a side note, I wonder if Paul knew that the letters he wrote would become a major part of the Bible?
Having grown up Jewish, he knew the Hebrew Scriptures well. Did he realize that this letter he was sending to Philippi would one day be bound together with those Hebrew texts?
I feel challenged by this passage from Paul because it is hard to forget what is behind.
As a pretty typical human being, I am influenced by my past.
As a Christian, I need to leave behind the bad stuff. I need to forget the bad habits and live differently. I need to let go of the guilt of past sins which Christ on the Cross paid for. But I also need to "forget" the good things too. Not in the sense of forgeting and thus not being grateful but "forget" in the sense of not resting on past successes. Rather I need to focus on the present moment and push ahead to greater devotion to Christ.
Isn't it exciting to press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus?
We live in the here and now and God has many blessings for us to enjoy and opportunities to experience satisfaction in serving Him and others. Yet, we also look ahead to being with Jesus in the future. The kingdom of God is here in part so we know it in part and see it as through a glass darkly and we can look ahead with anticipation that in the future we will experience it in full.
All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
Maturity is equated with taking such a view of things.
Thus, maturity as a Christian is about focus (on Christ) and perspective (on past, present and future).
Today's passage was Philippians 3:12-16. For a potent paraphrase of this, check it out from the Message. Excerpt:
I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward - to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.Lord, help me to focus on Jesus and let nothing distract me from that! Help me to live strong in the here and now and be inspired by the future glory when the going gets tough. Please hear this prayer of your follower! In Jesus name, amen!
Devotional Thoughts: For Christ Alone
Am reading over and turning over in my mind Philippians 3:7-11.
But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.
Do I really believe this and live this out?
I want to but I know in my heart that there are things I clutch onto. The total surrender and total focus of the will in this passage is something I aspire to but know I fall short of.
I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.
As I continue in my journey of faith, I do recognize how my own righteousness is rubbish in comparison to Christ. Periodically, the thought still slips into my mind, I'm not such a bad person, I can stand before God! The thought usually doesn't last long as I am soon confronted with my own sinfulness in some big or small way. After a period of time (which varies) of hiding from God (yeah, like one can really hide from God) I have to confess my fault and claim again the righteousness that Christ made possible.
I want to know Christ ...
To know His words and deeds in my mind and heart and to live a life that is infused, covered, focused and empowered by Christ.
and the power of his resurrection ...
I want to see victory over sin in my life. I want to see power to defeat evil in the world around me. I want to see restoration. How frightening, how amazing, how unbelievable that Jesus has called me to live in this world to be his representative? To be the broken and leaky vessel of his grace and truth to the world?
and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death ...
This scares me. I don't have a high tolerance for pain. Yet, this too is part of the human experience. If Christianity is to have any meaning and utility in life then faith must be demonstrated even in suffering and in death. Indeed, the world will know we are Christians by our love but also by how our love looks like amidst suffering.
I'm in my 40s and the thought of death occasionally intrudes into my mind. I wonder, how will I die? Will I die well? Will I honor God in my life and yes, will I honor God in my death and in the process of death?
I can't answer that because I'm still young and healthy. But that will not always be so. In 2004 and 2005, I got a taste of mortality in two hospitalizations. The times of communing with God while staring at the ceiling at 2AM alone in a hospital bed were my small journeys into the "fellowship of his sufferings." It was not an easy time but it was a time that deepened my faith.
and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
It is through the suffering that Jesus was exalted and brought back up to the right hand of God. And so it is with us, as we live life with Jesus, as we go through seasons of suffering that one day ends in death, we will then be ushered into the loving presence of our God!
Lord, I sit in wonder at it all. I'm a sinner. Forgive me for sometimes I know not what I do. Forgive me when sometimes I know exactly what I am doing and it is wrong. Thank you for your forgiveness. Thank you that you have poured your grace on me a broken and leaky vessel. Help me to know you and your power. And in the proper season, help me to know you and share in suffering. Lord, grant me rest in you and renew me with your power to live for you each day knowing it is a gift from you. Amen.
But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.
Do I really believe this and live this out?
I want to but I know in my heart that there are things I clutch onto. The total surrender and total focus of the will in this passage is something I aspire to but know I fall short of.
I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.
As I continue in my journey of faith, I do recognize how my own righteousness is rubbish in comparison to Christ. Periodically, the thought still slips into my mind, I'm not such a bad person, I can stand before God! The thought usually doesn't last long as I am soon confronted with my own sinfulness in some big or small way. After a period of time (which varies) of hiding from God (yeah, like one can really hide from God) I have to confess my fault and claim again the righteousness that Christ made possible.
I want to know Christ ...
To know His words and deeds in my mind and heart and to live a life that is infused, covered, focused and empowered by Christ.
and the power of his resurrection ...
I want to see victory over sin in my life. I want to see power to defeat evil in the world around me. I want to see restoration. How frightening, how amazing, how unbelievable that Jesus has called me to live in this world to be his representative? To be the broken and leaky vessel of his grace and truth to the world?
and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death ...
This scares me. I don't have a high tolerance for pain. Yet, this too is part of the human experience. If Christianity is to have any meaning and utility in life then faith must be demonstrated even in suffering and in death. Indeed, the world will know we are Christians by our love but also by how our love looks like amidst suffering.
I'm in my 40s and the thought of death occasionally intrudes into my mind. I wonder, how will I die? Will I die well? Will I honor God in my life and yes, will I honor God in my death and in the process of death?
I can't answer that because I'm still young and healthy. But that will not always be so. In 2004 and 2005, I got a taste of mortality in two hospitalizations. The times of communing with God while staring at the ceiling at 2AM alone in a hospital bed were my small journeys into the "fellowship of his sufferings." It was not an easy time but it was a time that deepened my faith.
and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
It is through the suffering that Jesus was exalted and brought back up to the right hand of God. And so it is with us, as we live life with Jesus, as we go through seasons of suffering that one day ends in death, we will then be ushered into the loving presence of our God!
Lord, I sit in wonder at it all. I'm a sinner. Forgive me for sometimes I know not what I do. Forgive me when sometimes I know exactly what I am doing and it is wrong. Thank you for your forgiveness. Thank you that you have poured your grace on me a broken and leaky vessel. Help me to know you and your power. And in the proper season, help me to know you and share in suffering. Lord, grant me rest in you and renew me with your power to live for you each day knowing it is a gift from you. Amen.
At the Movies: Cars
Mater the tow truck (Larry The Cable Guy) and Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) become friends in Pixar's latest film, Cars.
Pixar has the Midas Touch. They haven't had a bomb yet. Their films have all been successful to various degrees with the critics and at the box-office. Their collection of hits is impressive.
My all time favorite so far is The Incredibles. In terms of a creative story line and top notch execution of voice and images, IMHO, that film is their best!
The two Toy Story films would come in a close second.
In my book, Cars doesn't take the checkered flag and but is in good company with the other solid Pixar films.
The visuals of Cars is terrific as always. The story is not quite as compelling and creative as Incredibles and Toy Story. It is a familiar idea: speedy city slicker car Lightning McQueen meets the small town but good hearted cars of Radiator Springs and in time he comes to appreciate them and changes his ways.
The story arc though not an unfamiliar one is carried out with sympathy with the strong voice work of Owen Wilson and Bonnie Hunt but especially by Paul Newman.
Doc Hudson (Paul Newman) shows some speed on the dirt track near Radiator Springs.
Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) and Sally (Bonnie Hunt) take a drive.
The main quibble people have had with the film is the pacing. I agree the film is a bit uneven. Certainly some contrast needs to be established between the fast pace life being missed in the rear-view mirror as we are introduced to McQueen versus the slower pace off the interstate. However, it was a bit overdone and could have been tightened up but still make the point.
The main joy is the visuals (look closely at the production still I've sourced) and good humor and earnestness of the voice work.
I'll give it a thumbs up for all but the most fidgety.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)