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sirtravisjacksonoftexas · 4 years

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Does the Bible Teach That Aliens Do or Do Not Exist? Um, None of the Above, and Moses Will Show you why:

The 1980’s was a great decade to grow up in. Even today, I’m still in love with the rock, pop and country music that came out of it. MTV got its start in the 80’s (and to anyone who was born afterwards; yes, Music Television DID have music during the 80’s). This was the decade of Atari and Nintendo, of games like “Asteroids” and “Super Mario Brothers”. This was the decade that saw Ernest P. Worrell become a house-hold name, the decade that saw children collect Garbage Pail Kids trading cards (I miss those things). Arguably the best science fiction and fantasy movies were made in the 80’s (“Star Wars: Return of the Jedi”, “Dune”, “Labyrinth”, “Dark Crystal”, “The NeverEnding Story” etc). Kids had cartoons like “Thundercats”, “He-Man”. There were also great TV shows like “FraggleRock” and “Punkie Brewster”.

And, of course, who could forget Alf?

For those of you who are 80’s challenged, “Alf” was a TV show about an alien named Gordon Shumway (aka Alf) who crashes into the garage of a human family called the Tanners. They take Alf in and keep him hidden from the US government. Though he gets into mischief and occasionally tries to eat cats, he nevertheless becomes a member of the family. I’m still a fan, having all the Alf episodes on DVD. From childhood to now, I often imagine what it would be like if Alf and other aliens like him truly existed, roaming across the universe in search of adventure and discovery.

But do aliens exist?

This has been the subject of intense study by scientists for decades now. Indeed, there is a scientific field dedicated to the study of extraterrestrial life forms (called “Astrobiology”). Though we have not yet found life beyond earth, scientists expect to eventually do so, and soon.

But does this subject belong to science alone? Can other fields of study answer the question about whether there is life on other planets?

Surprisingly, many a Christian theologian and apologist has considered the possibility.

And what did they say about it?

Aliens don’t exist.

Some will dismiss the scientific case for the possibility extra-terrestrial life as pure bogus. Others will tackle the subject of UFOs, saying that they’re either natural phenomena, misidentified secret aircraft or both. Some will even go so far as to say that both UFOs and supposed alien abductions are actually demonic instead of alien in origin. There are books, documentaries and even movies that support this latter idea. Some theologians say that when the rapture occurs, people might invoke aliens as an explanation for it; people will say that the earth has had a mass alien abduction. We’ve had decades of supposed alien abductions, as well as Star Trek shows where people are beamed up from a planet to a space ship, both of which could lead people to mistake the rapture for alien activity. Many see this as evidence that aliens therefore don’t exist (which is a complete non-Sequitur, but more on that later). Some will even say that if aliens exist, then there is a conundrum; how can they accept Christ as Lord and Savior? Christ died for fallen humanity, for humans who suffer from a sinful nature, due to Adam and Eve’s sin. How could aliens be saved, since Christ didn’t die for them as well? How could their sins be forgiven? Should we believe that Jesus was incarnated on countless worlds and died for them too? This would seem highly unlikely, and this is supposed to make us conclude that aliens therefore don’t exist. Some will also bring up the many requirements for life to exist on earth, and say that all of these factors would be highly unlikely to exist on other worlds. The chances of that happening, according to some Christian theologians and apologists, would be astronomical.

So, are they right? Can one make a Biblical or theological case that ETs don’t exist?

Um, NO, and here is why:

1. ARGUMENT FROM SILENCE.

Does the Bible say that Extra-terrestrials exist?

No.

Does the Bible say that they don’t exist?

No.

Does them Bible mention them at all?

No.

This should make one logically conclude that the Bible is silent on the issue, and nothing more. One could speculate on why God would be silent about the idea, but one couldn’t go from speculation to fact when it comes to this question, especially considering that the Bible is not a total revelation of all facts. Instead, it is God’s love letter to humanity, Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth (B.I.B.L.E.). However, many will use this silence as an argument that aliens don’t exist, because if they did, then surely God would have told us in his word, right?

Wrong.

To argue such a position would be to commit an “Argument from Silence” logical fallacy. It’s basically arguing that absence of evidence is evidence of absence, and it’s an error of reasoning that people often make. For example, let’s say that a “historian” (we’ll call him “Richard”) says that no one mentioned Jesus Christ during the time when Jesus lived on earth. If nobody mentioned Jesus at that time, then therefore, according to Richard, Jesus never existed. However, this kind of argument is unbelievably faulty; The vast majority of written documents from the ancient world didn’t survive to the modern era, many historical figures have no contemporary writings about them (Thales of Miletus, Boudicca, Zoroaster the Prophet, Buddha, etc), some historical events have no contemporary written accounts about them (the Pompeii disaster), most people who lived in Galilee at the time of Christ were illiterate (most people in the ancient world were), and historians do not discard a person as a historical figure because they have no contemporaneous accounts about them. No, to be fair, there are some circumstances where you can get away with using an argument from silence (though even then, the argument would be circumstantial), but you have to meet several criteria in order to use is properly. Would God have a good reason to mention aliens in the Bible (If you say yes, then why? What would be the good reason? Are you simply assuming? Remember, assumption is the mother of all screw ups)? Is the subject relevant to God’s purposes in scripture? These are but a few questions one would need to ask themselves before trying to make an Argument from Silence about the question of ETs and the Bible, and just getting one wrong could lead to a fallacious argument.

And guess what the answer is to the questions I just asked?

NO!

Like I said, God doesn’t reveal everything in his word. Not every scientific fact is found in the Bible. Indeed, there are numerous things that we know exist (including on other planets) that the Bible never mentions:

1. Black Holes

2. Volcanoes on other planets (like Olympus Mons, a 16-mile-high Martian Volcano)

3. Mountains on other planets

4. Canyons on other planets (Mars has one that dwarfs the Grand Canyon).

5. Moons orbiting other planets (Jupiter alone is now known to have 79 moons).

6. Water on other planets and moons (Mercury, Uranus, Neptune, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn have water ice. Jupiter, Saturn and Mars all have water vapor. Mars may have liquid water underground, and used to have oceans. Pluto, a dwarf planet, has water ice. Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest moon, has an underground ocean that may have more water than all of Earth’s oceans combined. Europa, another moon of Jupiter, is covered in ice, and may have either an ocean or slushy ice beneath it. There is water ice on our own moon. Such moons are far from unique in our solar system when it comes to water ice. K2-18 b, a planet in another solar system, has water vapor in its atmosphere).

7. Dust devils on other worlds (Mars has dust devils that can reach 5 miles high, dwarfing those of earth)

8. Skies on other planets (the only planet in our solar system without an atmosphere is Mercury.)

9. Weather on other worlds (Jupiter's Great Red Spot is a giant storm that has lasted for at least 150 years)

10. Saturn’s rings (which are made of particles that are more than 90% water ice. These rings were discovered in 1610 AD)

11. Gamma Ray Bursts

12. Coronal Mass Ejections (when the sun spews both plasma and a magnetic field. It’s basically a solar burp).

13. Radiation

If the Bible doesn’t mention any of these things, and yet they have nevertheless been proven to exist…then why would we say that there is no life on other planets because the bible doesn’t mention them? Can you imagine a theologian saying in the 19th century that “The Bible doesn’t mention other planets having mountains, volcanoes, canyons, water, atmospheres, dust devils, weather, and so on, and thus they don’t exist! If they did, God would have told us!”. What if one said “The Bible doesn’t say that Black Holes exist, or that Gamma Ray Bursts or Mass Coronal Ejections exist, therefore they do not exist! Otherwise, God would have surely told us!”? That would be an absurd line of argument, an argument that would have a very poor track record, considering all the things that the Bible doesn’t mention that turned out to actually exist.

But notice, in particular, how many things are found in and around other planets…that the Bible never mentioned. Water, mountains, canyons, volcanoes (including the largest in the solar system), skies, weather, and giant dust devils. They all exist…and yet the Bible never mentions them. Moons exist around most of the planets in our solar system alone (let alone ones in other solar systems), and yet out of all of them…only one moon-ours-is mentioned in the Bible. All of these marvels of God’s creation…and not one of them is mentioned in the Bible.

If the Bible doesn’t mention mountains, volcanoes, water (including ice and oceans), skies and weather on other planets…why would it mention life on other planets?

Now, to be fair, some may object, saying that all of these other things were indeed mentioned in the Bible, albeit not specifically. Instead, they are mentioned in a general, collective sense in Genesis 2:1;

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.”

This passage is a continuation of the creation account in Genesis 1. It indicates that God created the heavens, earth, and all the “host thereof”, which some would comfortably include planets and everything on them.

However, if some of my fellow believers do so, then they just shot themselves in the foot, for just as the passage indicates that the earth has “hosts” (including living things)…and since the heavens have hosts of their own…then one can conclude that living things on other planets (planets are in the heavens)could possibly be mentioned here in a general sense too! True, the “host of heaven” or “heavenly host” usually means the stars in the bible, nut the passage in question relates that earth also has hosts, which indicates that stars alone are not indicated here. One may try to say that angels are in view here, for they are at times referred to as the “host of Heaven” (1 Kings 22:19) or “heavenly host” (Luke 2:13), and angelic beings (as well as demons) can be found both on earth and in the heavens (Genesis 3:24, Ephesians 2:2, 6:12, Revelation 7:1, 19:14-15). However, there are several problems with this idea. You see, not only is the creation of angels never mentioned in Genesis 1 or 2 (Or anywhere in the Bible), the creation account of Job 38:4-11, when combined with the Genesis creation accounts, indicates that angels existed prior to the 6 days of creation, and thus could not be referenced here in Genesis 2:1 as products of the creation week. True, the creation of aliens is never mentioned in Genesis either, but neither is the creation of land, seas and skies on other worlds, and yet they can be placed within Genesis 2:1 in a general sense.

Why not aliens?

Also, as I’ve written in a previous article, the first creation account in Genesis was not meant to be taken as a literal scientific account of origins. Therefore, it should NEVER be used to dictate or argue scientific truths, including on cosmology and astrobiology. Thus, it doesn’t really answer our question about whether aliens exist or not.

Plus, we need to keep in mind that the ancient Israelites didn’t know that other physical worlds truly existed, let alone had mountains, volcanoes, water, etc. Indeed, the planets in the night sky were thought to be wandering stars, and no one knew in the ancient world that stars were physical objects. None knew that other planets besides those in the night sky also existed, let alone those that orbit other stars (extrasolar planets are yet another thing not mentioned specifically in the Bible, yet are known to exist). Many ancient civilizations thought that planets were gods. Some ancient Jewish thinkers thought that stars were angels, and “morning stars” (usually planets) were personified as part of the angelic or heavenly host by ancient Israelites (special note: though angels were at times called “stars” (Job 38:7, Revelation 12:4), the Bible itself doesn’t teach that stars are angels. This was a non-biblical teaching, and Genesis 1 shows that stars were no personal beings, but simply parts of God’s perfect creation). Thus, while we can conclude from the creation account that God truly made all things, we cannot conclude that the ancient writers of scripture had modern scientific discoveries in mind when they wrote scripture, or that God likewise had them in mind when he was communicating through that very scripture. He was talking to ancient people in a way that they could understand, not in a way that modern people would desire him to.

2. DEMON THEORIES AND THE RAPTURE

Many of my fellow Christians accept the idea that some UFOS and most, if not all, alien abductions are demonic in nature. Many will bring up the fact that some UFOs seem to defy the laws of physics, pulling off maneuvers and speeds that would be supposedly impossible for even advanced alien technology to do…yet possible for supernatural beings to pull off. Many also cite similarities between alien abductions (along with several other kinds of supposed “close encounters”) and demonic activity. For example, both phenomena are at times associated with a sulfur smell (sulfur aka brimstone). This is a great way to scare some Christians away from the subject of life on other planets for sure. To be fair, I wouldn’t put it pass people to mistake demons and even angels as UFOs, nor would I put it past demons to masquerade as UFOS and or aliens in order to jack with people, pull pranks or even lead people away from Christianity (there are UFO cults). Indeed, there are many similarities between alien abduction and Fairy Abduction

(according to European folklore, if a person stepped inside a fairy ring (a natural occurring ring of mushrooms), then faeries would party with him or her, keeping the individual “prisoner” for a considerable time before letting him or her go free. Like flying saucers, fairy rings are circular. Like Greys (grey skinned, black eyed aliens), faeries were said to be smaller than human beings…).

Given these factors, should we conclude that aliens don’t exist, that only demons and angels are beyond the wild blue yonder?

Um…nope.

Remember, one can accept the existence of life on other worlds without accepting that UFOs or “Alien” Abductions are extraterrestrial activity. Indeed, most mainstream scientists disregard both UFOs and alien abductions as bonafide evidence of aliens, yet they accept that ETs are a possibility. But let’s dig deeper into these arguments, shall we?

To say that advanced alien technology cannot pull off the stunning feats of some UFOs is shortsighted, considering the many times in the history of science where the “impossible” was proven possible. People once thought that you couldn’t sail around the world because it was flat, yet long before Columbus people started to realize that that wasn’t the case. They said that we could never land people on the Moon, and that the sound barrier could never be broken. Indeed, while scientists accept that the speed of light will never be broken (and with FAR better reason than those who thought the sound barrier would never be broken), they accept that its possible to warp space so that two locations can temporarily come far closer together. You could potentially travel across an entire galaxy in mere moments instead of many, many years. This kind of tech would be a loophole around the light barrier. Imagine what other loopholes technology could achieve if an alien race was centuries, millennia, even millions or billions of years ahead of our technology? Thus, this objection has no merit.

But what about alien abduction?

Sorry, folks, but alien abduction has less to do with demons and more to do with the waking mind.

The symptoms of alien abduction are strikingly similar to sleep paralysis, a condition where a person awakes and is paralyzed. This occurs when the mind awakes before the body. Our bodies are designed to limit our physical movements when we sleep. This is why most of us don’t run in real life while we dream of running, or why we don’t punch our pillows when we dream of being in a fight or a boxing match. This is a safety mechanism, keeping us from harming ourselves and others while we sleep. However, some people have trouble with keeping their bodies in check while they slumber (sleepwalkers). Those who suffer from sleep paralysis have the opposite problem; they have trouble regaining their ability to move when they first awake. This symptom would be frightening enough on its own, but there is another eerie symptom that comes with it.

Dreaming while awake.

People who suffer from sleep paralysis will at times hallucinate while paralyzed, and such hallucinations can be frightening. Indeed, what you end up seeing can be influenced by the culture you grew up in. Europeans in the Middle Ages would see incubus or succubus demons, while people in other ages might see djinns or old hags.

In our culture, you’ll most likely see aliens.

True, demons could potentially jack with our dreams, but why should we invoke demons in every case of sleep hallucination that involves aliens? You don’t have to invoke the supernatural when it comes to nightmares, let alone those that are caused by sleep paralysis. Thus, this objection has no merit.

Neither does the rapture-alien theory.

Just because people may blame aliens for the rapture after it occurs doesn’t mean that aliens therefore don’t exist. It’s a non-sequitur. Indeed, many have come up with other potential explanations for the rapture. I’ve heard laser beams being invoked before as a possible way to explain away the rapture. One can invoke a physics disaster at CERN or the cumulative effects of radiation from nuclear testing (the latter explanation was used in the Left Behind films). Nobody would thus argue that laser beams don’t exist, or that nuclear tests therefore don’t produce radiation.

Why then use such an argument against the existence of extraterrestrials?

3. MISSIONARIES…IN SPACE!!!!!!

If aliens exist, how can they be saved? Surely if they do exist, they would need to be saved, for they’d be sinners like us, right (remember what I said earlier about assumptions?)? And what other beings apart from humans exist that don’t need Jesus’ gift of salvation?

Well, other than angels, animals, plants, fungi, microbes…

True, angels long to look into the subject of salvation (1 Peter 1:10-12), but they are nevertheless not covered by the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ. Indeed, angels did not descend from Adam and Eve, and thus didn’t inherit a sinful nature. They have the potential to sin (case in point: Satan), but they are nevertheless not burdened with a sinful nature that can only be overcome by the death and resurrection of Christ. Likewise, though animals have a spirit (Ecclesiasts 3:21), they likewise did not descend from Adam and Eve, and thus didn’t inherit their sinful nature. Indeed, they are incapable of sin (and please don’t bring up the Serpent in the Garden: even in ancient times, that was known to have been a supernatural being, not a legit snake).

If aliens exist, if other life forms were created by God on other worlds, then they likewise would not have descended from Adam and Eve and thus would not have inherited their sinful natures. Could they sin? Possibly, just like angels (who have no sinful nature) could potentially sin. This doesn’t mean that they would need Jesus to die and rise from the grave for them, just as angels don’t need Jesus to die and rise from the grave for them.

Indeed, who is to say that alien life would be able to understand right from wrong, let alone consciously chose to do evil? Who’s to say that there will be sentient life elsewhere? What if other worlds are only inhabited by animals, plants, fungi, microbes and perhaps other forms of life we haven’t even imagined yet, none of them intelligent? Indeed, some scientists, such as the paleontologist Peter Ward and the Astrobiologist Donald E. Brownlee, believe that the universe is populated with mostly microbes, and that multi-cellular life like our own is exceptionally rare. This view is called the Rare Earth Hypothesis (which both the above scientists wrote about in their book “Rare Earth”). I sincerely doubt that there are microbes that understand right from wrong, or that sin against God (more on the Rare Earth hypothesis later).

But let’s say that there are alien species out there who are sentient, and who are intelligent enough to chose to obey God or not. Once again, the angel example has to be considered in such cases, but we need to ask another question as well:

Who is to say that aliens likewise had a fall?

Who is to say that all sentient alien species chose to eat forbidden fruit?

Could there be intelligent alien species out there that never suffered the stain of sin? Could there be alien Adam and Eves living in other-worldly Edens?

Also, what if God made at least some aliens species that already had the knowledge of Good and Evil from the beginning? Humans obviously weren’t ready for it in the Garden of Eden, and it led to a sinful nature that was passed on to Adam and Eve’s descendants, but who is to say that a sentient alien species wouldn’t have been initially made not only with that knowledge, but with the maturity to handle it?

And even if there are sentient alien species whose ancestors had a Fall, whose is to say that God would chose to save them in the exact same way he chose to save us? Whose to say that he wouldn’t cover them under a different kind of grace? Indeed, who is to say that the ultimate ancestors of sinful ETs would have passed on a sinful nature to their descendants like Adam and Eve did with theirs? Wouldn’t their “Falls” be different from that of Adam and Eve? Would it really have involved forbidden fruit as well?

At first, these ideas about Edens and Falls on other worlds seems impossible, considering that the Bible teaches that all creation suffers due to humanity’s sin (not alien’s sins) in Romans 8:18-22. However, this could be hyperbole, over-exaggeration used to prove a point. It seems hard to understand how galaxies countless lightyears from earth could be affected by human sin. Indeed, how could Pluto or Mars be affected by it? True, one could imagine that Adam and Eve’s sin may have spread physical death across the universe…but that’s where things get very, very complicated…

You see, some may bring up the supposed “fact” that Adam and Eve’s sin brought death into existence (1 Corinthians 15:20-21), and that death is only mentioned as being on earth (Romans 5:12). However, this is faulty for several reasons.

1. Just because the bible mentions death only on earth doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist on other worlds. If I say that soccer is played in Brazil, does that mean that it is not played elsewhere? If I say that black bears inhabit Texas, does that mean that Texas is the only place were black bears can be found? If I say that monotheism, the belief that there is only one God, was a major tenet of ancient Israelite religion, does that mean that the concept was not known in other cultures (for a time, ancient Egypt worshipped Aten the Sun Disk, and no other God)? If I say that Pizza is Italian food, does that mean that pizza is only found in Italy?

2. Whenever we look at these passages more closely (as well as another connected passage (Romans 6:23), we can see that it is relating to humans, not other creatures. Now, animals, plants, microbes and fungi die as well as humans, and yet…humans are the subject of the context of the passages in question.

Why?

Because these passages are not talking about physical death, but spiritual death.

This is confirmed in Genesis 2:17 and 3:2-7. Let’s look at the first passage:

“but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (emphasis mine)

Now let’s look at the second passage:

“And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.” (Emphasis mine)

Now, compare this to the rest of Genesis chapter 3.

Um, notice that Adam and Eve are not killed?

Wow, was the Serpent right after all? Was God fibbing when he said that Adam and Eve would die if they ate the forbidden fruit? After all, their eyes were “opened” after they ate, just like the serpent said, and they lived over it. Was the Serpent actually telling the truth?

Only if God was referring to physical death.

God, however, was referring to spiritual death. He was referring to the separation that sin makes between God and man, a separation that can only be overcome by Jesus Christ and his gift of salvation.

That is the kind of death that these passages are talking about.

3. Death existed before the Fall.

As I’ve argued in an earlier article, death actually existed before Adam and Eve’s Fall. Not only were they not created immortal (they would have had to have eaten of the Tree of Life in order to live forever, and they never got the chance to do it (Genesis 3), the Bible never indicates that any animal ate of the Tree of Life and likewise became immortal. Indeed, the Bible indicates that the tree of life was not found anywhere else in the world (Genesis 3:22-24). If Adam, Eve and the animals were already immortal (they weren’t but indulge me)…then why would there be a tree of life, whose fruit offers immortality? It’s a tad redundant, don’t you think? Its on par with putting a tree whose fruit is designed to help people get thin at a supermodel convention,

or trying to sell fertility drugs to pregnant women.

In both cases, there is a product available to people who obviously don’t need it. Indeed, the fact that Adam and Eve had not eaten of the Tree of Life before or after the Fall, the fact that they were not immortal at the time means that, if they hadn’t sinned in the Garden yet still never ate of the Tree of Life…then they would eventually die. The potential for physical death was already there, implying that physical death was already in the world. Thus, physical death didn’t enter the universe because of the Fall. Spiritual death did. That spiritual death sentence didn’t spread to animals or angels, so why would it spread to aliens?

Another thing we have to ask ourselves is what do we mean by intelligent life and sentient beings? Non-human apes are actually both, yet they are not sinners. They are still animals and not as intelligent as humans, they are nevertheless intelligent, in some cases enough so to learn sign language. Indeed, some have argued that many animals have a more code, knowing “right” from “wrong” (though not knowing it intimately as humans, which wouldn’t have been the case before the Fall. There was a primitive sense of right and wrong that Adam and Eve knew of before the Fall (God allowing them to eat of the garden, but not of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. There were right choices…and a wrong choice). Would aliens as intelligent and sentient as the great apes, and with a primitive sense of morality, need a savior?

No more than animals do.

But this brings up an important question: What makes man different from animals? The Bible indicates that, unlike animals, we are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26-27). As I noted in another article, this does not mean that we are the only creatures with a soul. This is an eisegetical interpretation that has no basis in the historical and cultural background of the Bible, let alone merit. Indeed, ancient near eastern kings were often said to be in the image of a certain god. This reinforced their authority as kings over their people. It was a reason why they had dominion over them. Likewise, Adam and Eve are made in God’s image, and had dominion over their subjects, the animals. We are all in God’s image, and thus represent God to nature. We represent his authority to the earth. Hence, one major reason why God is ticked off when we sin; we violate the very image that we bear when we sin.

But what if aliens, even intelligence aliens, were not made in God’s image? What if they were never given a sacred dominion over their worlds? At first this seems impossible, for surely aliens with at least our level of intelligence would be the dominant life forms on their worlds as we are over earth, but then again…angels are likewise intelligent (FAR more so than human beings), and yet…where are they ever said to have been made in the image of God?

Name one Bible verse that says that angels are made in God’s image.

Indeed, angels rule in Heaven under God, just as we rule on earth under God, and yet angels are still not said to be in the image of God.

Also, the ancients already set down the basics for intelligent beings that weren’t made in the divine image; unlike the Israelites, many in the ancient near east thought that only their kings were made in a deity’s image. Everybody else, every other member of homo sapiens, the most intelligent life form on earth…was not. And yet they would have recognized humans as the dominant life form on the planet. We likewise might see intelligent ETs in a similar light. They can have dominion over their planets, but not one based on the divine image of God. Indeed, there would have been other ruling authorities in ancient near eastern kingdoms (such as queens, princes, etc), yet they neither had the power of a king nor were thought to be in the image of a deity. Aldo, dinosaurs practically ruled the earth for millions of years, and yet they were not made in the image of God (or for that matter remotely intelligent, save for a few species). Same goes for the Theraspids or mammal-like reptiles who were the dominant land animals before them, and other animals which dominated the earth before mankind was created.

Thus, if intelligent aliens sinned from the beginning, yet weren’t made in God’s image…would they still have passed on a sinful nature to their descendants? Would their sin be as grievous as ours? Would it necessitate the death and resurrection of Christ? These questions are even more interesting considering the fact that there is Biblical and other evidence to show that Adam and Eve were meant to not just be intelligent life forms in the Bible and have dominion over earth, but were also to be a priest and priestess of God, respectively (both a priestly and royal role, like Melchizedek and Christ himself). Would aliens have likewise has such a priestly role initially? What if they didn’t? What if they also weren’t made in the Image of God? Would they still need a death and resurrection of God the Son in order to enter Heaven…or would they be under a different kind of grace? Seems like the latter would be far more likely. If aliens didn’t have a priestly and kingly role, would humans actually have more authority than them, at least in some way? Not impossible. Though they weren’t the most powerful tribe (and unlike the others, had no land appointed to them), the Levites where in charge of religious matters and the Tabernacle (later Temple). Due to Adam and Eve’s priestly role, would we likewise have religious authority over aliens? Would we have even more authority? Were we meant to be a priestly race? It’s interesting to note that not only are Christians a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9), but one day, we as believers in Christ will judge even angels (1 Corinthians 6:3).

4. MATH, CHANCE AND THE RARE EARTH

Some Christians have taken to the rare earth hypothesis, which as previously stated is the idea that complex life is exceptionally rare. The reason why some scientists believe this is because there are supposedly at least 152 parameters needed for life like our own to exist on earth, including having a moon of the right size, having only 1 moon, having a specific tilt and volcanic activity. Indeed, if we calculate the chances of another planet like ours having all of these parameters, it would be 1 in 19 with 193 zeros behind it. To put this into perspective, the estimated number of planets in the universe is 10 with 22 zeros behind it. In other words, the chances aren’t good for advanced life forms like ours to exist on other worlds. The chances that one world-ours-would have all these parameters would be astronomical, let along if there were at least one other which likewise beat the odds. Ours would be a universe filled with microbes, but not animals, fungi, plants or sentient beings. This is an intriguing possibility, but it has several fatal flaws.

1. If you are a Christian (Like I am), then you believe that all life, including human life, has something in common with every other aspect of creation; it was all created by God, not chance.

Indeed, creationists will argue against the idea that life on earth came about by chance and certain circumstances (stating that it would be impossible for chance and circumstances alone to do it. You’d need a supernatural creator to explain how life began), and yet when it comes to life on other worlds…they will invoke chance and circumstances as an argument against it, without considering God. That would be the equivalent of an atheist saying that just because there is no contemporaneous accounts of Socrates or Thales of Miletus doesn’t mean that they therefore didn’t exist…and yet later say that there are no contemporaneous accounts of Jesus Christ, therefore he didn’t exist.

If God made us, why would aliens be made by chance and circumstances?

Is God incapable of overcoming the mathematical odds? Since when did he become weak? Since when did he become incapable of overcoming math?

You cannot use a Double Standard as a logical argument, and the chance argument is being used in such a way.

2. Most scientists do not hold to the rare Earth Hypothesis. Indeed, in science, the term “hypothesis” is used in the same way as we use the word “Theory”, while “Theory” in science is a scientific explanation that has withstood a lot of testing. This doesn’t make scientific theories absolute (some theories have been discarded), but it does mean that it has past enough tests to be considered a theory. Hypotheses, however, have not withstood a lot of testing yet. Thus, the Rare Earth Hypothesis, though interesting, is not as powerful an argument against advanced alien life as many believe it to be.

3. The parameters needed for our form of life (or even for planets like earth and solar systems like ours to form) are not as rigid as you think. For example, contrary to purveyors of the Rare Earth hypothesis, life on earth would actually be possible if earth was 2-5% further away from the Sun and tilted on its side like Uranus. Indeed, it could be 1.4 times further from the sun and tilted, and still have our kind of life if an intense greenhouse effect were present. Likewise, there is biological evidence to show that not having a big moon would not have made complex life impossible on earth. Indeed, the idea that complex life couldn’t be on earth if it rotated faster is bogus, considering that it rotated more than 10 percent faster during the Ordovician Period (490-443 million years ago).

The days in the Ordovician were 21 hours long, not 24. Though there were few living things on land at the time (lichens), the seas were filled with animals like trilobites, sea scorpions, armor-plated fish and Cameraceras, the giant orthocone (see below).

Indeed, the rotation of the earth has been constantly slowing since that period of time, until we attained a 24-hour day. This means that the rotation of the earth was faster in the Permian period (the time of Dimetrodon), the Mesozoic period (the time of the Dinosaurs), and through all the ice ages afterwards.

Obviously, a faster rotation wasn’t a problem for complex life back then. Why would it be a problem for potential life on other planets with a faster rotation than earth? If modern living things couldn’t survive on an earth with a faster rotation (I don’t believe that, but let’s indulge the idea for a second), then obviously animals, plants, fungi and microbes that lived in eras where the earth had a faster rotation were obviously adapted to survive in an environment than living things in the modern world are not.

Just as alien life forms could be adapted to survive on planets with faster rotations.

4. What if, during ancient times, the Fijians of the Fiji Islands sailed down to Antarctica? What would they have thought about that vast region of ice and howling winds? Its obviously not suitable for the animals and plants that are native to Fiji, such as the Monkey Face Bat (aka the Fijian Monkey-Faced Flying Fox), Coconut Crab, Fiji Crested Iguana and Coconut palm. It’s too cold, has too great a wind chill, has no plant life, no true summer or spring, none of the marine species familiar to Fijians or their terrestrial wildlife, little if any fresh water (and what would be there would be too cold), etc. Antarctica doesn’t meet all of the parameters needed to sustain animal and plant life native to Fiji.

Would the Fijians conclude therefore that no life exists on Antarctica?

Perhaps they might…until they saw penguins there.

Likewise, just because most, if not all worlds in the universe don’t meet the parameters to sustain our form of complex life doesn’t mean that they don’t have complex life on them. Remember, we didn’t come about by chance, but by God, and God is a master artist with an unlimited imagination. Want to see proof of God’s great imagination? Look at a Duck-Billed Platypus. Look at a Giraffe. Look at a Crown of Thorns Starfish or a giant tube worm. The latter alone lives on the Pacific sea floor, in an environment without plants. It never experiences sunlight, has no stomach or true mouth, and yet “feeds” off Carbon Monoxide and Hydrogen Sulfide, poisons which would kill most other animals on earth. Once these gases are inside it, they are consumed by bacteria, which make up half of a giant tubeworm’s weight. Once these bacteria “poop”, the giant tube worm consumes their excrement. Oh, and by the way; they live near underwater volcanoes, withstanding temperatures that would make a Texas summer seem cold! Such an environment doesn’t meet the parameters needed for surface or even marine life that lives far above the habitat of the giant tubeworm, and yet…the giant tubeworm, along with other life forms at the bottom of the sea, survive and thrive.

And that, of course, is far from the limits of what God, the Artist of Artists, could come up with.

Indeed, at one time, it was thought by scientists that the deepest parts of the ocean could not support life. After all, it didn’t meet the parameters needed for life to be there; no sunlight (thus no plants), extreme cold and unearthly pressure should have made life (like ours) impossible, and it’s true, such an environment was not suitable for land animals or even animals that live in shallower waters. This concept was known as Azoic Theory, and it would be accepted by a scientific consensus for years.

And yet…it was overturned.

Several expeditions were finding evidence that the theory was wrong. The final nail in the coffin came in 1960, when the bathyscape Trieste reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the world’s oceans (11 kilometers).

There, Jacques Piccard, the Trieste’s pilot, spotted both a shrimp and a flat fish.

In other words, God made what was thought to be impossible to exist.

Our God is a God of the impossible (Matthew 19:26)!

True, the parameters needed for our kind of life to exist on other worlds could potentially be staggering (though as seen above, not as staggering as you think), but that assumes that life on other world would have to be like our kind of life, that God wouldn’t design living things to exist on different planets with far different environments. Why would God limit himself? After all, he’s made purely supernatural life forms (angels), so why not make biological life forms on other worlds that differ from those of Earth?

By now, we can see that such arguments against the idea of ETs are flawed. Indeed, its quite interesting that a lot of my fellow Christians try to use science to debunk the concept, even though science supports the idea that life exists on other worlds, and that some alien life will be complex. One could understand if Evolution was the subject, but alien life is the subject, and the Biblical message isn’t harmed by either the existence or non-existence of ETs (though as I’ve mentioned in another article, even evolution fails as an argument against God, let alone Christianity).

Indeed, as I’ve mentioned, the Bible doesn’t say yeah or nay on the issue.

Why?

Well, once again, the Bible isn’t intended to give all knowledge; its intended for us to know that God loves us. As Galileo once said “The Bible tells us how to go to Heaven, not how the heavens go.” It’s also seems obvious that God didn’t consider life on other planets important enough to mention, just as he didn’t consider mountains on other planets, volcanoes on other planets and ice on other planets as important enough to mention. God’s word isn’t a science treatise, but his message of love and reconciliation with mankind.

So, since God doesn’t say yeah or nay on the subject, how can we use the Bible to figure out whether there is alien life or not?

We can’t.

Indeed, if you study what the Bible says about such unclear matters, you would not even make the attempt.

Why?

Read on…

5. THE SECRET THINGS…

Moses gave a lot of speeches to the Israelites. In one of these, recorded in Deuteronomy 29, he goes over some of the recent history of the Israelites, as well as warning them not to stray from God’s word, from his teaching.

At the end of his speech, he says something quite perplexing:

“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.”

Read that passage several times…then consider the fact that aliens are never mentioned in the Bible, that it never states whether aliens exist or not. Do this several times, then ask yourself…is the existence (or non-existence) of aliens a secret thing that belongs to the Lord? It obviously has to be, if God doesn’t say yea or nay on the issue. If God chose not to reveal the answer to this question, then it truly is a secret thing that belongs to him. This doesn’t mean that we can’t study this question scientifically (remember, the bible doesn’t mention ice, volcanoes, mountains and canyons on other worlds, yet we know they exist on them. We learned this because we studied this scientifically, not theologically). However, this does mean that God chose not to answer this question in his word. The Bible has FAR more important things to teach us, including Jesus and his gift of salvation. When it comes to aliens, we must never say that the Bible indicates that they exist or don’t exist. The Bible is unclear on this, which indicates that it is a secret thing that belongs to the Lord. We cannot therefore be dogmatic on the issue, saying that they exist or don’t exist for theological reasons. If we want to answer this question, we need to scientifically figure it out. God gave us the minds and the abilities to do this, and whether the ultimate answer to this question is yay or nay, either way we will learn more about God’s creation, and give further glory to God in the process.

Sources:

https://www.npr.org/2018/07/17/629396121/galileo-would-be-stunned-jupiter-now-has-79-moons

https://www.space.com/28807-jupiter-moon-ganymede-salty-ocean.html

https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/black-holes

“Alien Oceans: the Search for Life in the Depths of Space” by Kevin Hand, 121

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Alien_Oceans/mGW1DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Ganymede+has+an+ocean&pg=PA121&printsec=frontcover

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/09/first-water-found-in-habitable-exoplanets-atmosphere-hubble-kepler-k2-18b/

https://www.spacecentre.nz/resources/faq/solar-system/which-planets-have-water.html

https://www.space.com/jupiter-great-red-spot.html

https://mars.nasa.gov/gallery/atlas/olympus-mons.html

https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_83.html

https://www.space.com/41554-water-ice-moon-surface-confirmed.html

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/jupiter-moons/europa/in-depth/

https://www.space.com/how-long-to-find-alien-life-iac2019.html

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/nasa-s-hubble-finds-water-vapor-on-habitable-zone-exoplanet-for-1st-time

https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/objects/bursts1.html

https://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/explore/ice/background/iceSolarSystem/

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/difference-between-hypothesis-and-theory-usage

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/ocean-worlds/

“95 Worlds and Counting” Documentary

“Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” Documentary

https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/encyclopedia-of-the-bible/Priests-Levites

“The Handy Geology Answer Book” by Patricia Barnes-Svarney and Thomas E. Svarney, 353-370

“The End Times-in the Words of Jesus” Documentary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PZ2Vfcx76g

https://historyforatheists.com/2018/05/jesus-mythicism-3-no-contemporary-references-to-jesus/

http://www.tektonics.org/jesusexist/jexfound.php

https://www.history.com/news/was-jesus-real-historical-evidence

https://www.ancient.eu/Jesus_Christ/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thales-of-Miletus

“Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible” (NIV), 867, 2244

“IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament” by John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews and Mark W. Chavalas, 509

“The Biblical World: An Illustrated Atlas” by Jean-Pierre Isbouts, 267-69

https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/exploring-the-planets/online/discovery/greeks.cfm

https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/phenomena/coronal-mass-ejections

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Broken_Bible/WLSgOByXmVIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=UFO+sulfur+smell&pg=PA299&printsec=frontcover

https://www.ancient-origins.net/human-origins-folklore/do-you-dare-enter-fairy-ring-mythical-mushroom-portals-supernatural-003677

“Abduction: Human Encounters With Aliens” by John Edward Mack, 391

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Abduction_Human_Encounters_with_Aliens/gw4ex2zpcMgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=UFOS+defy+laws+of+physics&pg=PA391&printsec=frontcover

“Unexplained!” (New Edition) by Jerome Clark, 424-25, 443,

“Unexplained Phenomena: a Rough Guide” by Bob Rickard and John Michell, 132-34,

https://www.murdoch.edu.au/news/series/series-articles/future-in-technology/will-travelling-at-warp-speed-ever-be-possible

https://www.google.com/books/edition/What_Is_Relativity/e9erAgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=the+sound+barrier+could+never+be+broken&pg=PA28&printsec=frontcover

https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/ring-a-round-the-saturn.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15881271

https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/exploring-the-planets/online/solar-system/mars/wind/dust-devils.cfm

https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/06/science/alien-abduction-science-calls-it-sleep-paralysis.html

“Attack of the Killer Facts!” by Eric Grzymkowski, 218

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2005/09/alien-abduction-claims-explained/

“The Oxford Companion to Consciousness” by Time Bayne, Axel Cleeremans and Patrick Wilken, 351

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Oxford_Companion_to_Consciousness/ICf-AgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=incubus+old+hags++aliens&pg=PA351&printsec=frontcover

“Are you Dreaming? Exploring Lucid Dreams: A Comprehensive Guide” by Daniel Love, 48-49

https://careicahealth.com/news/corporate/2018/64/an-intruder-at-the-foot-of-the-bed-alien-abductions-and-other-sleep-phenomenons/

http://sleepeducation.org/sleep-disorders-by-category/parasomnias/sleep-hallucinations/overview-facts

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/narcolepsy/symptoms/hallucinations-and-sleep-paralysis

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Sleep_Paralysis/NErCCQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=sleep+paralysis+alien+abduction&pg=PT192&printsec=frontcover

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Sleep_Paralysis/mtqmCAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=sleep+paralysis+hallucinations&pg=PA76&printsec=frontcover

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO13BSSjsYU&t=740s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw2LCTQHMUI&t=405s

“Life Everywhere: The Maverick Science of Astrobiology” by David Darling, 91-116

https://sirtravisjacksonoftexas.tumblr.com/post/615429668528668672/was-there-animal-death-before-the-fall-were

https://sirtravisjacksonoftexas.tumblr.com/post/616937902725857280/is-genesis-1-scientifically-inaccurate-um-no

“Science: Was the Bible Ahead of its Time?” by Ralph O. Muncaster, 20-21

“Why are Scientists Turning to God?” by Ralph O. Muncaster, 26-27, 28-35

“Creation VS Evolution” by Ralph O. Muncaster, 10, 29, 36, 38-41

“Chased by Sea Monsters” by Nigel Marvin and Jasper James, 26-45

“The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life” by Tim Haines and Paul Chambers, 13, 21-22

https://www.captaincookcruisesfiji.com/blog/fijis-plants-wildlife-look-holiday/

https://vacationinthetropicalrainforest.weebly.com/animal-life.html

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Rough_Guide_to_Fiji_Travel_Guide_eBo/6FI4DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Coconut+crab+fiji&pg=PT433&printsec=frontcover

“Weird Science: Mad Marvels from Around the World” by Matt Lake and Randy Fairbanks, 13

“Into the Deep” by Karsten Schneider and Peter Batson, 172-73, 196, 218

“Ocean Odyssey” Documentary.

“Alien Planet” Documentary

https://www.centerforgreatapes.org/treatment-apes/faqs/

https://www.livescience.com/24802-animals-have-morals-book.html

“Horizons: Exploring the Universe” by Michael Seeds and ‎Dana Backman, 57

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Horizons_Exploring_the_Universe/cMfWYFSITOgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Galileo+bible+tells+us+how+to+go+to+heaven+not+how+the+heavens+go&pg=PA57&printsec=frontcover

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pauldeckerus · 6 years

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The Top 200 Things I’m Thankful For This Thanksgiving

Today is a big holiday in the US; it’s a day where we take time off to celebrate all the things we’re thankful for. We get together with family; over-eat a traditional Thanksgiving Day meal, and then we watch football until we pass out. It’s just about a perfect day.

I got up this morning feeling especially grateful for the many blessings I enjoy all year long, and I wanted to take a few minutes to share the things I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving Day. I believe counting your blessings is one of the best things a person can do (and that this list of 200 is only a start, is a real blessing to me for sure).

Here they are, (in no particular order):

I’m thankful….

1. that I got to marry the girl of my dreams (it’ll be 30-years this coming September)

2. for Keurig Coffee Makers

3. for little hole-in-the-wall restaurants

4. for having a big brother I could always look up to

5. that she said “yes!”

6. for the “Skip” button on YouTube ads

7. when I hear the ringtone that lets me know my son is texting us

8. for Seinfeld reruns

9. that I learned how to use Photoshop and Lightroom

10. for lazy Saturday mornings when we just chill

11. for Saturday College Football games and that our son chose a big football school (#rolltide!)

12. for Hulu and Netflix and Amazon Prime

13. for Maggie the Wonderdog

14. for how happy Maki the SuperDog makes my wife

15. for that first cup of coffee in the morning

16. that my wife got us a Latte maker

17. for big greasy double-cheeseburgers served in restaurants whose cleanliness is so suspect that my wife would never eat there.

18. for anytime I drive up to our house, and see our son’s truck sitting out front

19. that first morning hug from my wifey

20. that the Buc’s miserable season is mercifully almost over

21. that this year the Patriot’s aren’t as good as they usually are

22. for any chilly day here in Florida

23. for my daughter’s wonderful sense of humor

24. when my daughter shares her drawings with me

25. for CoffeeMate individual creamers

26. that my son was born with the built-in love of helping and looking out for other people

27. for the text my son just sent us as I’m writing this that brought tears to my eyes

28. for my daughter’s laugh

29. for all the family traditions that my wife fosters and we all lover

30. that our kids get to attend great schools

31. for Dunkin Donut’s drive-thru in the morning, and that they’ll make your coffee just the way you like it

32. for Terry White

33. for the kind people who read my blog each day

34. for all the little things

35. for our cozy couch for watching TV

36. for Logic Pro X (the wonderful recording studio software on my Mac)

37. for Pizza, and the fine people who deliver them.

38. for mornings where Maggie doesn’t bark at other children and parents in the car line

39. that my son is such a faithful person by nature

40. for Sunday night’s texting my buddy Jeff Revell as we watch ‘The Walking Dead’ together, while 1,000 miles apart

41. for our tradition of watching “Love Actually” again every Christmas

42. for living so close to Disney World

43. for how awesome my wife is at planning trips

44. for being married to such an amazing cook

45. for a really comfy bed pillow

46. for Rick and Susan Sammon

47. for all my guitars

48. for beautiful offices for us to work in each day

49. to have Jessica, Kim and Cindy work on my books

50. that people actually buy my books, which lets me keep writing them

51. for the smell of my wife’s cooking when I walk in the door

52. for times when just my daughter and I get to go out to lunch

53. for Moose and Sharon

54. for Dave, Peter, and Glyn

55. for having such a wonderful mother and father growing up.

56. for being able to play musical instruments

57. for having mentors whose wisdom and whip-cracking have helped immeasurably throughout my life

58. for Jeanne Jilleba who helps me so much each day

59. for having a great relationship with my mother and father-in-law

60. for having a mother-in-law who stepped in for my own mother when she passed away

61. for the trips my brother and I take together once a year

62. to Delta, their SkyClub, and all the upgrades I get each year

63. to Erik Kuna for being my friend

64. for all the folks who come out to my seminars each year.

65. that I still get to work with my friend Ted Waitt

66. for Levi, and Sally and Dianne for caring so much about our members

67. for Chris, Susie, Karen and Pam – I’m lucky to work with them

68. for my wife’s beautiful smile

69. for how my son always shares new songs he finds with me

70. for all the times my wife texts me a heart emoji

71. for somebody’s else’s fries

72. for how my friend Dave Clayton’s texts always make me laugh out loud

73. that my kids know they are loved completely and unconditionally

74. for my Pastor and friend Douglas Poole

75. for Victoria’s sweet texts, and for what a joy she is

76. that I get to drive a car each day that makes driving a joy

77. for really good air conditioning

78. that I get to use such great camera and lighting gear

79. for Google’s news app on my phone

80. for my great Web team; Adam, Aaron, Yo, and Curt

81. for everybody who checked on my wifey when she got in an accident

82. for black t-shirts with logos on them

83. for Dave Black, Kristy Sherk, Lindsay Adler and Peter Hurley,

84. for the beautiful baby grand piano Kalebra bought for my birthday 20+ years ago

85. that I’ve been able to be a part of the Photoshop World conference all these years

86. for when great ideas pop in my head, and for being able to move on when it turns out some of them aren’t as great as I thought

87. for all my friends who came to the rescue

88. for the pretty drive to work in the mornings

89. for Juan, Steve, Jason and Christina

90. that my daughter and our niece are such great friends

91. that my son loves so many different kinds of music (everything from classic rock to Sinatra to rap to metal)

92. for all the times my big brother helped me, and guided me, when I was growing up.

93. for my apple watch and all the reminders it gives me

94. for weekends and days off

95. for the smell of coffee brewing

96. for Margie, Angela, Jacque, John and Rachel

97. for Maxx Hammond for being such a great friend to my son all these years, and for being an important part of our family

98. for comfortable shoes

99. for having a friend like Manny

100. for loving every minute with my family

101. for the men and women of our military

102. for Julie, Kleber, Heidi and Cheryl

103. for the little Blackstar tube amp sitting on my desk

104. anytime I get to go to New York City

105. for our dear friend and partner Jean A.

106. for James Taylor

107. for all the awesome texts I’m getting from friends today

108. that my daughter still cares that I bake my special “Christmas Cookies” each year when we put up the tree (and I’m grateful she thinks Pillsbury mean ‘special’).

109. my guardian angel

110. for bagels with cream cheese

111. for Larry Tiefenbrunn

112. for first responders

113. that my camera bag has four wheels

114. for Viktor and Ron

115. for Larry Becker, Rob Sylvan, and Dave Williams

116. for my friends Chicky Nando, and Big Mike, and Cathy B, and Mimo

117. for all the stuff in Erik’s backpack (since he always has that thing I need that I forgot to bring)

118. for waking up feeling great in the morning!

119. for Joe and Annie

120. that our dog Maki has a best friend in our son’s dog Nami

121. for beautiful clouds when I’m shooting a sunrise

122. for a yummy breakfast after a sunrise shoot

123. for my wife’s homemade chocolate-chip pancakes

124. for the sound of my wife’s voice

125. for mornings when I get up early and get a bunch of stuff done and I look up and it’s only 8:15 am

126. for landings in London

127. the quiet time my wife and I share with our coffee in the mornings before the kids wake up

128. My MacBook Pro and how much easier it makes my business life each day

129. for forgiveness

130. that I realize what a privileged, blessed life I lead, and to whom I owe the thanks

131. that I start each day getting centered reading the Bible and daily devotionals

132. for how my daughter is always dancing

133. for the night’s where our family gets together to play games

134. for when we all lay on the floor, looking up and debate how tall the ceiling is in our living room

135. for our holiday trips to Disney’s Hollywood Studios

136. for cheese. Any kind of cheese. Even if it dispenses from a can

137. that somebody kept reading even though we’re down to number 137

138. that we have doggie treats when we really need them

139. for breakfasts at First Watch

140. for Carmine’s on W. 44th Street

141. for all the awesome instructors I get to work with

142. for empty middle seats

143. for my iPad and all the awesome apps, like the Kindle Reader

144. for the Texture app so I can read all my favorite magazines on my iPad

145. that I get to make new friends along the way

146. that people come to my workshops and I get to make new friends

147. for everyone who has stuck up for me in an online forum

148. for all the people who helped me along the way, and who may be gone, but are not forgotten

149. for the great companies and partners who sponsor The Grid

150. that I get to do a weekly live photography show and have such wonderful photographers as guests

151. for my Platypod Ultra

152. that my employees have a long weekend this weekend

153. for my lunch this week with an old friend

154. that we work so close to one of the best Cuban restaurants

155. for Tara our awesome official Chilis server for over 10-years now

156. for how happy fresh flowers make my wife

157. to see how happy it makes Kalebra when we all eat our vegetables at dinner

158. for a beautiful yard for the doggos to run in.

159. for Sundays when I sleep in really late

160. that my son left his awesome drum kit here so I can play it

161. that my old rock band from high-school still gets together to play our high-school reunion party

162. that I live in a very sunny place

163. for Google search

164. for every time my wife is cooking and says “I’m trying something different tonight.” It always leads to a delicious meal!

165. that I always remember our anniversary

166. that our family makes birthdays really special for each other

167. that we have a photographic art gallery and that we get to celebrate our member’s work there

168. that I have such a great art director for my shoots in Kalebra

169. for William C. Miller, my high school band director, who taught us more than music.

170. that I was born and raised here

171. for Deb, John, Bob, Sam, and all my friends in Boston

172. for the Sci-Fi Drive-In Theatre restaurant

173. for Frank Doorhof

174. for all the summers in Sarasota at the beach when I was growing up

175. for getting to board early

176. for Larry Grace, Ed Buice, and Rob Foldy

177. for Superchargers

178. for when the dogs realize it was just a random sound and stop barking

179. for all the live concerts, Broadway shows, and performances I’ve experienced

180. for my wife’s guardian angel, who has been working overtime lately

181. for Zephyrhills bottled spring water

182. for the times my brother and I get to play golf

183. for the Genius Bar in the Apple Store

184. for Chili’s chips and salsa

185. for now thoughtful my wife is

186. for afternoon’s at the movies

187. for the times when I could think of the perfect gift

188. for all the people who participate in my Worldwide Photo Walk and for the joy it brings me to see their smiling faces in their group shots

189. for everyone who has donated to the Springs of Hope Kenya orphanage

190. for all the wonderful gifts I treasure that Kalebra has gotten me over the years

191. for all my friends at Canon USA

192. for everybody who follows me on social media, and shares a kind word or says something nice about one of my images.

193. for every handmade birthday card my daughter has made for me

194. that my son is a way better version of me

195. for all the times when my wife knows exactly what to say and how to say it

196. that people are kind when they point out my typos on my blog

197. that I love to drive

198. that I still get to play with Scotty and Tony in a band.

199. for how easy it was to come up with 200 things I’m grateful for

200. for God, and His Son Jesus Christ, for leading me to the woman of my dreams, for blessing us with such amazing children, for allowing me to make a living doing something I truly love, for always being there when I need Him, for blessing me with a wonderful, fulfilling, and happy life, and such a warm, loving family to share it with.

Here’s wishing you a Thanksgiving full of family, food, gratitude for our many blessings, and I hope your team wins this weekend unless you’re playing Alabama! #rolltide!

All my best,

-Scott

The post The Top 200 Things I’m Thankful For This Thanksgiving appeared first on Scott Kelby's Photoshop Insider.

from Photography News https://scottkelby.com/the-top-200-things-im-thankful-for-this-thanksgiving/

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mikeisafighter · 6 years

Text

200-1:My best of the best

This is it. The last of the best of the best from my top 1000 personal list basing it on so many factors which I will not reveal right now

FINAL WAVE

200 Lindsay Ell - Worth The Wait 199 Jason Aldean - She's Country 198 Temperance - Save Me 197 Cimorelli - Oceans [cover] 196 Danny Gokey - Rise 195 Joe Nichols - Sunny & 75 194 Dream - When I Get There 193 Martina McBride - Just Around The Corner 192 Nemesea - Forever 191 3 Doors Down - It's Not My Time 190 Cimorelli - Reckless Love [cover] 189 Daryl Hall & John Oates - Out Of Touch 188 Christina Perri - Arms 187 Rachael Fahim - What I Don't Know 186 Kira Isabella - Shake It If Ya Got It 185 Cimorelli - I Can Only Imagine / What A Beautiful Name [cover] 184 Baylor Wilson - Daddy's Girl 183 Koralyst - Run Away 182 Runner Runner - So Obvious 181 Cimorelli - Never Let Me Fall 180 Oblivious Signal - Crash 179 April Kry - While We're Young 178 Kerrie Roberts - Come Back to Life 177 Lindsay Pagano - Everything U R 176 Cimorelli - Easy To Forget Me 175 Luke Bryan - I Don't Want This Night To End 174 Skillet - Hero 173 Third Eye Blind - Never Let You Go 172 Lifehouse - Hanging By A Moment 171 Five Finger Death Punch - I Apologize 170 Walk In Darkness - A Way To The Stars 169 Zac Brown Band - My Old Man 168 Cimorelli - Pretty Pink 167 Chris Young - Who I Am With You 166 Kobra & The Lotus - Light Me Up 165 Ashentide - Homelands 164 Lindsey Carrier - I Would 163 Britney Spears - Stronger 162 Aaron Shust - My Hope Is In You 161 Kenny Chesney - Rich & Miserable 160 Abi Ann - Future Ex-Boyfriend 159 Atlantis Bound - It Was My Fault For Waiting 158 LeAnn Rimes - How Do I Live 157 Shinedown - If You Only Knew 156 All That Remains - The Thunder Rolls 155 Cimorelli - One More Night 154 Matt Moore - Fading 153 Of Mice & Men - Feels Like Forever 152 Delta Goodrem - Believe Again 151 Matthew West - The Motions 150 Signum Regis - Come And Take It 149 Temperance - Of Jupiter And Moons 148 Unwritten Law - Seein' Red 147 Cimorelli - Fight Song [cover] 146 Ashley Tisdale - He Said She Said 145 Eclipses For Eyes - DeadWeight 144 M2M - Everything 143 Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway 142 Elferya - Fairytale 141 Vanessa Carlton - A Thousand Miles 140 12 Stones - Broken 139 David Cook - Light On 138 Joanna Beasley - Energy 137 Adley Stump - Stay At Home Soldier 136 Carmen Justice - Flaming Arrows 135 Cimorelli - Hearts On Fire 134 Hollow Haze - An Ancient Story 133 Veracity - Back To Life 132 Against Myself - Through The End Of Times 131 Cassie Steele - Bluebird 130 Chris Young / Cassadee Pope - Think Of You 129 Cimorelli - I Got You 128 Sleeping Romance - Where The Light Is Bleeding 127 Starset - Carnivore 126 Tim McGraw - Humble And Kind 125 Helion Prime - Life Finds A Way 124 Cimorelli - Fall Back 123 Play - Us Against The World 122 The Ones You Forgot - Here Forever 121 Poison - Every Rose Has Its Thorn 120 Sirenia - Dim Days Of Dolor 119 Belinda - See A Little Light 118 Kelsea Ballerini - Peter Pan 117 Scene 23 - I Really Don't Think So 116 Within Silence - Heroes Must Return 115 Adora - Save Yourself 114 Christie Lamb - Judgment Day 113 Don Henley - The Boys Of Summer 112 Paula DeAnda / The Dey - Walk Away (Remember Me) 111 Tim McGraw, Taylor Swift & Keith Urban - Highway Don't Care 110 Roxette - Listen To Your Heart 109 Maggie Baugh - Catch Me 108 Hilary Duff - So Yesterday 107 Hinder - Better Than Me 106 Searching Alaska - Abandoner 105 Touchstone - Contact 104 Blameshift - Secrets 103 The Offspring - The Kids Aren't Alright 102 Trivium - Strife 101 Weezer - Pork And Beans 100 Zoe Ann - Better Than Revenge 99 Cimorelli - Hope For It 98 Love & The Outcome - King Of My Heart 97 Silversyde - Circus Circus 96 The Dirty Youth - Alive 95 Stone Sour - Bother 94 Lost In Atlantis - Hypnotic 93 Britt Nicole - Believe 92 Caroline Kole - If He'd Ever Look Up 91 Cellar Darling - Avalanche 90 Michelle Branch - All You Wanted 89 Seduce The Heaven - Reflection 88 No Secrets - That's What Girls Do 87 Cimorelli - Before October's Gone 86 Natalie - Goin' Crazy 85 Willa Ford - I Wanna Be Bad 84 April Kry - Perfectly Imperfect 83 Victoria Avenue - Knock Knock 82 Skillet - Rebirthing 81 Nirvana - Heart-Shaped Box 80 3 Doors Down - Here Without You 79 Abi Ann - Matches 78 Stacie Orrico - I Promise 77 N Sync - Tearin' Up My Heart 76 Divine Ascension - Answers 75 Halflives - Crown 74 Lonestar - Amazed 73 Elisa - Come Speak To Me 72 All That Remains - What If I Was Nothing 71 Lights - Second Go 70 Tight Leash - Closer To God 69 Starset - Halo 68 Shiny Toy Guns - You Are The One 67 Melissa O'Neil - Speechless 66 Natasha Bedingfield - Pocketful Of Sunshine 65 Skarlett Riot - The Wounded 64 Cimorelli - Alive 63 Joanna Beasley - Rooftops 62 Ashley Tisdale - It's Alright, It's OK 61 Bad Pollyanna - Hollow 60 Jump5 - Beautiful World 59 Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun 58 Rachael Fahim - Brake Lights 57 Krystal Meyers - The Beauty of Grace 56 Sleeping Romance - The Promise Inside 55 Crossfade - Cold 54 Vertical Horizon - Everything You Want 53 Lillix - It's About Time 52 P.O.D. - Alive 51 Fools For Rowan - Dead 50 Cimorelli - Good Enough 49 Pat Benatar - Love Is A Battlefield 48 April Kry - Beauty Queen 47 Kings Of Leon - Use Somebody 46 Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants To Rule The World 45 Pia Ashley - Dream 44 Goo Goo Dolls - Here Is Gone 43 Bryan Adams - Heaven 42 Lastwatch - The Countdown 41 The Smashing Pumpkins - Tonight, Tonight 40 Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars 39 Mixi - I Miss Those Days (Ghost) 38 Britney Spears - Born To Make You Happy 37 Kerrie Roberts - Outcast 36 1GN - While We're Young 35 M2M - Don't Say You Love Me 34 Cimorelli - Worth The Fight 33 Savvy & Mandy - Comin' Back As A Cowboy 32 Amaranthe - Hunger 31 Tori Darke - Disposable 30 Belinda & Finley - Your Hero 29 Hearts Under Fire - Knots 28 Eden's Crush - Get Over Yourself 27 Delain - Stardust 26 Stephanie McIntosh - So Do I Say Sorry First 25 'Song Suffragettes' Crew - Female [cover] 24 Caitlyn Shadbolt - Running In Circles 23 KSM - Read Between The Lines 22 Aerosmith - I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing 21 Kaylens Rain - Is That All There Is 20 Natalie Grant - I Will Not Be Moved 19 Victoria Avenue - Quit You 18 Backstreet Boys - As Long As You Love Me 17 Bon Jovi - Livin' On A Prayer 16 Three Days Grace - Never Too Late 15 R.E.M. - Losing My Religion 14 Icon For Hire - Get Well 13 Dream - He Loves U Not 12 Pearl Jam - Jeremy 11 Megan & Liz - Simple Life 10 Within Temptation / Tarja - Paradise (What About Us?) 9 Creed - With Arms Wide Open 8 Tim McGraw - Live Like You Were Dying 7 Fuel - Hemorrhage (In My Hands) 6 Aly & AJ - Rush 5 Gary Allan - Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain) 4 Linkin Park - One Step Closer 3 Scorpions - Wind Of Change 2 Carrie Underwood - Blown Away 1 Cimorelli - You're Worth It

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lit--bitch · 4 years

Text

Current-Reads (06/04/2020 - 12/04/2020) 📖🌷

(Disclosure: I don’t know any of the authors (two of them are dead, sadly) nor the publishers from any of the books I’m recommending this week. Three cheers for impartiality, everyone.)

All the blossoms’s out and it’s raging blue skies at the moment. I’ve found some peace in it at times. I really can’t stop thinking about the sacrifices key workers are making, especially those in healthcare, and wishing I could do more. Keep loving the people around you, keep appreciating the springtime blossom, and I hope you’re all keeping safe and well.

So, every Sunday I draw up a list of what I’ve been reading over the week and share them on here, in the hope that maybe some of the suggestions might pique your interest too. I know not everything will be everyone’s cup of tea, and if you think there’s something out there I should read, drop me a line and tell me about it.

I generally gravitate towards a lot of emerging writers or contemporary literature from the 21st century. But as of late I’ve looked at some 19th and 20th century literature, which has been fun to read and write about.

Anyhow, this week I’ve been reading Georges Bataille’s Story of the Eye, Cunt-Ups by Dodie Bellamy, E M Cioran’s The Trouble with Being Born, The New Fuck You: Adventures in Lesbian Reading edited by Eileen Myles & Liz Kotz, and Adam Phillip’s Attention Seeking. It’s been great. So below I’ve got a small-ish breakdown in terms of what they’re all about, what they do. Sometimes I add ‘RECOMMEND’ next to some of the titles, but that’s not to say I don’t recommend all of them, I just love some books more than others. C’est la vie.

***

Okay so, first up:

Georges Bataille, Story of the Eye (RECOMMEND): Bataille spent most of his life being rejected by various writers and thinkers, (the Surrealists, the Existentialists, etc.) He was considered far too extreme, far too transgressive. Look at him now. He’s a Penguin Modern Classic. I have no doubt if he were alive today, he’d hate this. Though I find the idea of the canon a tenuous subject, I don’t necessarily avoid all the books. For the most part I absolutely loved this. I had been meaning to buy it since my old tutor from RCA asked us in class if any of us had read Story of the Eye and when my friend Tom (The Death of a Clown, Tom) said he read it when he was a teenager, and told me what it was about properly, I picked it up as soon as I finished my MA.

Story of the Eye is about a guy looking back on his life and recalling his sexual exploits as a teenager with a girl called Simone. The relationship from the off is just odd, and for that reason well-matched. They take pleasure from the same fetishes that they explore together. They share that weirdness in each other. Some of these perversions get really specific, and I mean really specific. Like in the first sexual encounter (which happens on the book’s second page, Bataille doesn’t fuck about at all, no pun intended), Simone sits butt-naked in a dish of milk and it gets the narrator really hot under his collar. It’s a piece of psychoanalytic eroticism, and it just gets weirder and weirder. I suppose it’s all tied up in misadventure and adventure, and Bataille’s own life, his psyche. If you buy a Penguin Modern Classic edition of this, you’ll get his notes on Story of the Eye (which btw was originally published under Bataille’s pseudonym, Lord Auch, you’ll see this), and an essay from Susan Sontag and Roland Barthes. I do think overall the ending is kind of abrupt... and it’s intentional but I wish Bataille had said more. Overall, I did love it for the beauty in Bataille’s choice of words to describe (what I deem to be) the surreality of sexual conquests and even the macabre at times.

Dodie Bellamy, Cunt-Ups (RECOMMEND): Oh so wonderful. This book introduced me to the joys of the cut-up method and it is a sweaty, relentless fuck of a book. I salute Dodie Bellamy. It is exactly what Sophie Robinson says in the book’s foreword, ‘a kind of erotic Midas touch’. Everything this book touches is sex, queer, wet, shaky, writhing. It is absolutely exhausting. It consists of exchanges, voices, rooted in porn, rooted in love, the unachievable and the real in its gendered body. Won’t say anymore. You may have to look hard to find a copy available to buy in the UK, but when you do, just buy it.

E. M Cioran, The Trouble with Being Born: This was the first time I bought Cioran. I was looking for new philosophy to read and came across this one line in an article, which quoted The Trouble with Being Born.

It said: ‘I have decided not to oppose anyone ever again, since I have noticed that I always end by resembling my latest enemy’.

It has been true of me sometimes in my life, to have fallen prey to imitating the ones who hurt me. It just so happened I read this line at a particularly difficult time, where somebody had failed me. So I bought the book. Did I use this text as a coping mechanism? Maybe a bit. Apparently everything goes to shit when you’re born, not when you’re hurtling towards death. That’s Cioran’s two cents. I like this book when I feel like life is never going to be okay ever again. It indulges my mindset at that point, then it gets so depressing I wake up and never read Cioran again until someday something else makes me feel lifeless. In his inherent nihilism, Cioran revives my optimism, and lust for life.

Ed. by Eileen Myles & Liz Kotz, The New Fuck You: Adventures in Lesbian Reading (RECOMMEND): Incidentally, at the same time I read that line about never opposing your enemy again from Cioran, I was at the time, ill at ease with men. So I went looking for Kathy Acker. Instead I found this, an anthology of 37 writers talking about everything. The book was published in the 90s, at this point ‘queer lit’ isn’t really a term being mobilised, and the work isn’t always for lesbians, or written by lesbians. Some stories do wane, not everything here is my cup of tea, but that’s what you find in anthologies, the diversity of voices. It’s also deeply rooted in the real. It doesn’t sugarcoat at all. There’s sex, cancer, drugs, alcoholism, cake, driving, seasons, pizza, stairs and diabetes. There’s everything.

Ultimately, to be a woman is to be in pain all your life. It’s chronic. This anthology soothes and chafes these difficult wounds.

Adam Phillips, Attention Seeking: Food for thought in the psychology literature of Adam Phillips. I like his hypotheses, and I enjoy his explanations. His writing is engaging and playful. Attention Seeking is about why and what we choose to pay attention to, why we seek attention for ourselves in four essays. He begins saying everything in life depends on what we find interesting. When we’re interested, we pay attention.

This is an argument for attention-seeking in each of its facets. There’s no conclusions or set answers. Our selectivity makes up the very basis for who we are. And to understand this book you need to pay attention to it, and if you don’t, you’re only proving Phillips right. Now isn’t that masterful?

***

That’s all this week. Next Friday I’ll be reviewing Crispin Best’s Hello published very late last year. Hugs and snugs. Stay safe. 💕💁🏽

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thesinglesjukebox · 7 years

Video

youtube

THE KILLERS - THE MAN [6.08] Officially better than "Somebody Told Me"...

Alex Clifton: I've loved seeing the Killers' evolution with every album; I appreciate their constant musical expansion, rather than cloning Hot Fuss four times (which, admittedly, I would've bought). "The Man" feels like a natural fit for the band: it's '80s Bowie and a funky bassline and Las Vegas glitz and thrillingly un-self-conscious. (I wouldn't buy "USDA certified lean" from any other band, but Brandon Flowers delivers that line with believable swagger.) Moreover, it's just plain fun and goofy. Yes, the chorus is a pile of cliches -- "I've got gas in the tank/I've got money in the bank" -- but the whole thing is so damn sweeping that I don't even care. After Battle Born, which was too serious for my liking, it's nice to hear the Killers take joy in their music. [9]

Alfred Soto: Still rueing the fact that God didn't make him gay, Flowers remembers Neil Tennant's career advice: "you got looks and some brains and you've made lots of money, plus you're a songwriter of modest talent and a singer with a mediocre parched voice fronting dudes with a cloppety idea of disco." I'm assuming Flowers has listened to Queen's "Body Language" a couple times, furiously licking himself as he sings this track's ridiculous hook over what he thinks is a sexy dance beat. It's about time a handsome male example of polyurethane design said fuck it and blew a kiss at his legion of gay fans. I mean, this is an actual couplet, folks: "You see what I mean?/USDA certified lean." That "The Man" isn't better is tied to Flowers' sense of shame. [5]

Austin Brown: What made the Killers so distinctive on Hot Fuss and Sam's Town was their distinctly chintzy, near-slacker take on glam: on "Mr. Brightside" and "When You Were Young," to name the obvious best of each, Brandon Flowers exploited his vocal limitations and took Strokes-style cosmopolitan cool supernova. By now, though, his ambitions (in vocal range and not much else) have gotten the best of him, manifesting on his solo albums in lovable Bowie pastiche, but here making him the histrionic weak link in an otherwise well-oiled synth-funk machine. [5]

Ryo Miyauchi: It's a wonder how it took so long for The Killers to merge with Arcade Fire. That chorus, though, sets them apart by a vast gap. Win Butler would never pull off such a thing with success. And really, who knew I wanted Brandon Flowers to sing, shamelessly, "I got news for you, baby: you're looking at the man"? [5]

Maxwell Cavaseno: You know, it feels absurd that someone as flamboyant as Brandon Flowers wouldn't do something along the lines of "campy disco-style track with The Darkness-type falsetto bits and meat jokes about himself and his body," so any initial shock and confusion goes away as soon as you register the first pun. However, this sounds something closer to Maroon 5 than I bet your average Killers fan would like to admit. There's a lot of clever ideas, but it ultimately falls as flat as the purposefully upchucked 'mahn' on the end of the chorus. [5]

Katie Gill: I like this because it sounds like Hot Fuss as interpreted by the Scissor Sisters but run through a layer of Duran Duran. And that sentence right there is why I've got a feeling a lot of more diehard Killers fans are going to HATE this song. [7]

Thomas Inskeep: They wanna be Duran Duran so bad, but unfortunately they're nailing being Duran Duran circa the late '90s, and that's not a good look. That wasn't even a good look for Duran Duran. [3]

Nortey Dowuona: This has great synthesizers and nothing else. [5]

Scott Mildenhall: When has Brandon Flowers ever been so invulnerably swaggering? There's a sense of power in something like "Andy, You're A Star", for instance, but it's bound in all kinds of tension. This time there's no doubt, anxiety, melancholy, regret or resignation, and it's so unusual that it seems entirely unserious. That conflict of being exceedingly lithe yet emotionally jagged holds such an appeal that losing the latter part feels very much like a loss. On the other hand, the music is lither than ever, and beyond the emotion the jaggedness is still up front. It is, too, a lot of fun; a lot of potentially participatory, performative fun. It just doesn't completely feel like these are the people to be performing it. [7]

Will Adams: I can't think of a worse fit for Brandon Flowers' limited voice than this piece of dick-swinging machismo, and yet there he goes, claiming to be the man with a plan while showing he's instead the man with the voice crack. [5]

Stephen Eisermann: The Killers come back swinging with disco-rock, oozing with proclamations of their success. Brandon Flowers sounds especially confident in his delivery. It's raunchy, muddy, and dirty, all while being extremely polished in the chorus. It's, frankly, a fucking blast. I just... yeah, I can't take it seriously. Flowers is one of the best male vocalists of our generation, by my ear, so it's hard to hear him singing songs this pedestrian, regardless of how fun. I'm praying this is some big joke about how those with the most white privilege often celebrate it as if it's some sort of huge accomplishment that they've succeeded, but I'm positive that's my mind spinning it so I can enjoy it without guilt. If I'm proven wrong, oh well. I'll just dance with my fellow oppressed to the music of our oppressors. [7]

Claire Biddles: Your flight touched down last Monday, but you still haven't gotten used to this heat. You can see it rise from the concrete like it does in films. You've finally managed to sneak out from the early morning shift Natalie hooked you up with at the motel and take a smoke, your first glimpse of the day's white-hot sun framed by high-rise blocks. You're about to crush the end of your spent cigarette to the ground when you see a car pull up. Everything's oversized in Vegas -- buildings and billboards standing on their tip toes to outsize each other -- but there's something about this mid-century car, and its Stetson-wearing driver, that feels even more towering than its surroundings. The driver gets out, takes off his hat and -- wait. You recognise that face. Something peripheral from ten, fifteen years ago? You were a teenager then, still living back East. What are the chances of someone from that shithole winding up here too? He walks towards you -- actually, who are you kidding; he walks towards the casino entrance that you're standing beside, you must seem invisible to someone as handsome as him, older than you and a little weathered around the temple, sure, but with a face like a kick to the gut. A face you've seen before. Then it hits you, and your body feels like it's shooting upwards and falling through the ground at the same time. It must have been 2004, your last year in high school. It was all over the local papers and some of the national ones too: 'Jealous Lover Kills Football Star's Sweetheart', 'Local Girl Slain In Gay Affair Scandal'. The girl -- Jenny something, you can't remember -- was in your English Literature class for two years, but you didn't speak. Blonde, beautiful, dated a guy on the football team. Andy something. There'd always been rumours about Andy and this other guy, but nothing concrete until he was taken in for questioning when Jenny's body was found washed up on the beach the next town over. He was never charged, but everyone thought he did it -- 'he's sure pretty but there's something about his smile that I don't trust' your mom once said over dinner, thumbing the 12 page report in the paper with the innocent accused splashed across the front page. And now he's in Vegas, with the same sly smile on his face but the rest all changed: his tan deep and his teeth done and his boots and hat just the right side of costume shop. He counts through a wad of hundreds flashily as he disappears inside. Nobody knows him here. Probably think he's some big shot. You wonder what will happen when they find out. [10]

Katherine St Asaph: First thought: "blowhard syndrome" in song form. But really, what the hell in the canon isn't? [6]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox ]

#The Killers #The Man #USDA certified lean

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crotchexplorer666 · 7 years

Note

ALL

Ri beat yew to it, Gnart. x’”D

1. Who was the last person you held hands with?My brother. He messed something up on one of my game accounts and kept crying even though I kept telling him I wasn’t angry.

2. Are you outgoing or shy?Both? This is a hard question..

3. Who are you looking forward to seeing?Uh, all of my friends?? No matter how long it takes...

4. Are you easy to get along with?If I like you. I’m really good at avoiding people.

5. If you were drunk would the person you like take care of you?Probably. They better tell me that I did some wacky things while I was drunk, or I will be very ashamed of myself.

6. What kind of people are you attracted to?No single personality type. People who don’t think they’re smarter than me are nice. ;D

7. Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now?No.

8. Who from the opposite gender is on your mind?Chuck Norris. When there’s a meteor shower, Chuck Norris grabs a bar of soap.

9. Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable?A little, but it depends on who’s bringing up the conversation.

10. Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with?Does insulting myself with deep remarks count..? Otherwise, @rubbishbin--trash. c”x

11. What does the most recent text that you sent say?“My Gatorade bottle is empty... RIP x666”@the-devils-assisstant

12. What are your 5 favorite songs right now?- “Take Me Home Tonight” by Eddie Money- “Magic Man” by Heart- “Hells Bells” by AC/DC- “Renegade” by Styx- “Come on Eileen” by (I think) Dexy’s Midnight Runners- +1000 more13. Do you like it when people play with your hair?No, but people really like to??

14. Do you believe in luck and miracles?Oh, yes. What else would I do?

15. What good thing happened this summer?Summer camp, and I drew a little-

16. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?My dad? I don’t care..?

17. Do you think there is life on other planets?Eh, I don’t mind hearing other people’s opinions.

18. Do you still talk to your first crush?Carlos? Nah.

19. Do you like bubble baths?I’ve only had one bubble bath in my life. With Claire. x”D

20. Do you like your neighbors?They are so nice, and then I feel bad for not visiting them more often. One time, I had to borrow someone’s phone, so I went over to Anne’s house (she’s probably in her 40s because the neighbors around here aren’t usually young). Before she let me borrow her phone, she let me inside to eat cookies with her and started asking how I was doing and being so nice.

21. What are your bad habits?Biting my lip, hating on myself whenever no one else is around to distract me, forgetting to eat..? x”D

22. Where would you like to travel?To any of my internet friends. .v.

23. Do you have trust issues?No, but that isn’t all that great.

24. Favorite part of your daily routine?There is no “daily” routine ^^’, but I like going to jazz band practice on Wednesday nights.

25. What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with? M y n o s e.

26. What do you do when you wake up?Check my phone-

27. Do you wish your skin was lighter or darker?Lighter. I was always jealous of people with very pale skin because then their hair could be dyed any color without having to worry about it clashing with their skin color. ;o;

28. Who are you most comfortable around?Myself.

29. Have any of your ex’s told you they regret breaking up?I have no ex’s-

30. Do you ever want to get married?Yes. ;v;

31. Is your hair long enough for a pony tail?Yeah. xx I’m too wimpy to cut it short.

32. Which celebrities would you have a threesome with?No, thanks-

33. Spell your name with your chin.jdennkcvdfdOMG THAT ALMOST WORKED

34. Do you play sports? What sports?Cross country in ze fall, softball, and I wanted to do track but softball was in the same season. xx

35. Would you rather live without TV or music?No TV, pls. I’ll make my own cartoons if I have to..

36. Have you ever liked someone and never told them?Duh.

37. What do you say during awkward silences?Do you like cats?

38. Describe your dream girl/guy?Uh-- I’m very flexible-- Though I would love it if someone (even just a friend) wrote me a poem. ;w; I write poems for my teachers and friends.

39. What are your favorite stores to shop in?I go all around the place??

40. What do you want to do after high school?yo mama Go to UCLA

41. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance?Mhmm, even murderers. (A reasonable second chance with the adequate amount of security cameras making sure they don’t repeat their wrongdoings.)

42. If your being extremely quiet what does it mean?There’s chaos inside my mind.

43. Do you smile at strangers?Yeah, doesn’t everyone?? .o. Just me?? Okay..

44. Trip to outer space or bottom of the ocean?Neither.. c”x I like staying on dry land..

45. What makes is the reason you get out of bed in the morning?@natisuttertrash

46. What are you paranoid about?Everything-

47. Have you ever been high?Nah.

48. Have you ever been drunk?Nuh-uh, but I intend to one day. (weird goals)

49. Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about?I don’t think so.

50. What was the colour of the last hoodie you wore?Gray. (PE clothes..)

51. Ever wished you were someone else?Hell, yes.

52. One thing you wish you could change about yourself?M y n o s e

53. Favourite makeup brand?None?

54. Favourite store?Nope..

55. Favourite blog?I can’t choose a favorite, guys. ;o;

56. Favourite colour?Red. Any variation of red. Pink, maroon, etc. Black and white look great with red, too. ;v; Red, black, and white. y e s

57. Favourite food?All things with rice.

58. Last thing you ate?Pretzels..

59. First thing you ate this morning?P-pretzels..

60. Ever won a competition? For what?A chugging competition with soda. x”D

61. Been suspended/expelled? For what?Noooooo

62. Been arrested? For what?Nooooooooooooooooo

63. Ever been in love?...Yes

64. Tell us the story of your first kiss?Uh, I doubt kissing someone on the cheek in a game of “family” when I was 7 counts.

65. Are you hungry right now?Nah, I had an ass-load of pretzels. Many donkey bags full.

66. Do you like your tumblr friends more than your real friends?They are all equal. ^^

67. Facebook or Twitter?I don’t use either. xx (I have accounts, I just don’t use ‘em.)

68. Twitter or Tumblr?Tumblr

69. Are you watching tv right now?Nah.

70. Names of your best friends?Is it bad that I have ten-- I do have to admit, I have my favorites. (But I won’t say..)

71. Craving something? What?Pretzels.

72. What colour are your towels?All the colors. Literally. There’s even burgundy, mint, etc. in the mix. It’s kinda ugly.

72. How many pillows do you sleep with?Sometimes one, sometimes six.

73. Do you sleep with stuffed animals?I sleep with my kitty. ;v;

74. How many stuffed animals do you think you have?More stuffed animals than pretzels.

75. Favourite animal?Cats--

76. What colour is your underwear?Of course I just happened to be wearing my ONLY pair of hot pink panties right now.

77. Chocolate or Vanilla?Vanilla.

78. Favourite ice cream flavour?Mint chip, FTW.

79. What colour shirt are you wearing?What if I’m not wearing a shirt..? (It’s blue)

80. What colour pants?Black with ninja turtles.

81. Favourite tv show?S p o n g e b o b will always be my #1.

82. Favourite movie?Either Blended, Mean Girls, or this other one I can’t remember atm.

83. Mean Girls or Mean Girls 2?The original is always boss. Both slay me, tho.

84. Mean Girls or 21 Jump Street?Mean Girls

85. Favourite character from Mean Girls?KAREN SMITH ;O;

86. Favourite character from Finding Nemo?Nemo’s mom.

87. First person you talked to today?My dad.

88. Last person you talked to today?@the-devils-assisstant

89. Name a person you hate?I’d rather not say. c”x

90. Name a person you love?@natisuttertrash

91. Is there anyone you want to punch in the face right now?Me.

92. In a fight with someone?No? I don’t think so?

93. How many sweatpants do you have?I don’t know. x”D

94. How many sweaters/hoodies do you have?At least four.

95. Last movie you watched?The Cobbler.

96. Favourite actress?Marilyn Monroe.

97. Favourite actor?ADAM SANDLER-- YOU DONT NEED TO ASK ME TWICE

98. Do you tan a lot?Not intentionally ;^;

99. Have any pets?My precious kitty, Benjamin. .D.

100. How are you feeling?Do I have to answer every question on this??

101. Do you type fast?If you asked one of my friends, they’d say something along the lines of: “Hell, yes.”

102. Do you regret anything from your past?Ye; I lie about that a lot, though.

103. Can you spell well?Y E S

104. Do you miss anyone from your past?Oh, yeah. Sydney was the best. ;n;

105. Ever been to a bonfire party?Yes, actually.

106. Ever broken someone’s heart?Probably. xx

107. Have you ever been on a horse?Oh, yeah. My first time on a horse was TACKLESS on an ARABIAN on a RAINY DAY. (Luckily Liesie’s the horse wrangler.)

108. What should you be doing?I don’t know.

109. Is something irritating you right now?Yes. You never asked what.

110. Have you ever liked someone so much it hurt?Yeah. >~

111. Do you have trust issues?Refer to #23, I think.

112. Who was the last person you cried in front of?I don’t remember.

113. What was your childhood nickname?J-J

114. Have you ever been out of your province/state?Well, I was born in Tokyo, moved to the US, and moved three times within the state while visiting my grandparents in China every summer (until they passed away).

115. Do you play the Wii?I don’t have one of those thingies. x”D

116. Are you listening to music right now?Yes... PSYCHIC, I TELL YOU.

117. Do you like chicken noodle soup?Yes but I ran out of it ;o;

118. Do you like Chinese food?I am Chinese.

119. Favourite book?Any Percy Jackson book. ;D Is it bad that I still ship Reyco after Riordan crushed some of our hearts in a subtle way by having Reyna brother-zone Nico and then having Nico and Will get together??

120. Are you afraid of the dark?Not when I’m with someone else.

121. Are you mean?I don’t know. Am I?

122. Is cheating ever okay?Depends.

123. Can you keep white shoes clean?Nah. x”D

124. Do you believe in love at first sight?Y e s

125. Do you believe in true love?What’s your definition of true love?

126. Are you currently bored?No, because I have this 150-question thingy to take care of--

127. What makes you happy?Music.

128. Would you change your name?YES. I would literally change my name from Jenn to June.

129. What your zodiac sign?Gemini.

130. Do you like subway?Subway or subways? Subway is okay. I don’t think I’ve ever been on a subway.

131. Your bestfriend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do?Lock myself in a room and think everything through.

132. Who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with?Wasn’t this already asked??

133. Favourite lyrics right now?The lyrics of “Come Together” by Beatles. (I prefer the Aerosmith cover, tho)

134. Can you count to one million?Nope.

135. Dumbest lie you ever told?I tell a lot of dumb lies to make it obvious that I’m lying. That’s just how I fail at being funny. ;w;

136. Do you sleep with your doors open or closed?Closed.

137. How tall are you?5′3

138. Curly or Straight hair?My hair never decides. Everytime I take a shower I never know if it will drive straight, wavy, or curly. xx Plus it’s hard to brush.

139. Brunette or Blonde?Brunette. MY HAIR IS DARK BROWN; N O T B L A C K.

140. Summer or Winter?Winter days, Summer nights (I prefer Summer nights).

141. Night or Day?Night. ;u;

142. Favourite month?December.

143. Are you a vegetarian?No, but sometimes it seems like it. x”D

144. Dark, milk or white chocolate?A l l o f t h e m.

145. Tea or Coffee?

146. Was today a good day?Meh.

147. Mars or Snickers?Snickers.

148. What’s your favourite quote?Ahhh, too little time left over to decide.

149. Do you believe in ghosts?This question is too hard. c”x

150. Get the closest book next to you, open it to page 42, what’s the first line on that page?“The children’s pants had large wooden boxes in them.”

7 notes · View notes

dfroza · 3 years

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Today’s reading from the ancient books of Proverbs and Psalms

for Wednesday, march 31 of 2021 with Proverbs 31 and Psalm 31, accompanied by Psalm 12 for the 12th day of Spring and Psalm 90 for day 90 of the year

[Proverbs 31]

These are the words of King Lemuel. An oracle of wisdom handed down to him by his mother:

Mother: What shall I say to you, my son? What wisdom can I impart, child of my womb?

What insight can I share, son of my vows?

Do not waste your strength on women

or invest yourself in women who would destroy even kings.

Take care, my son, O Lemuel.

Kings should not drink too much wine

or rulers should not crave strong drink;

For if they do, they will become drunk and forget the decree they just made

and alter the course of justice for all the poor and afflicted.

Rather, give liquor to one who is dying,

and offer wine to those struggling with life’s harsh realities.

Let such a one drink and forget what he is missing;

then perhaps he won’t remember his sorrows anymore.

Speak out on behalf of those who have no voice,

and defend all those who have been passed over.

Open your mouth, judge fairly,

and stand up for the rights of the afflicted and the poor.

[The Radiant Bride]

Who could ever find a wife like this one—

she is a woman of strength and mighty valor!

She’s full of wealth and wisdom.

The price paid for her was greater than many jewels.

Her husband has entrusted his heart to her,

for she brings him the rich spoils of victory.

All throughout her life she brings him what is good and not evil.

She searches out continually to possess

that which is pure and righteous.

She delights in the work of her hands.

She gives out revelation-truth to feed others.

She is like a trading ship bringing divine supplies

from the merchant.

Even in the night season she arises and sets food on the table

for hungry ones in her house and for others.

She sets her heart upon a field and takes it as her own.

She labors there to plant the living vines.

She wraps herself in strength, might, and power in all her works.

She tastes and experiences a better substance,

and her shining light will not be extinguished,

no matter how dark the night.

She stretches out her hands to help the needy

and she lays hold of the wheels of government.

She is known by her extravagant generosity to the poor,

for she always reaches out her hands to those in need.

She is not afraid of tribulation,

for all her household is covered in the dual garments

of righteousness and grace.

Her clothing is beautifully knit together—

a purple gown of exquisite linen.

Her husband is famous and admired by all,

sitting as the venerable judge of his people.

Even her works of righteousness

she does for the benefit of her enemies.

Bold power and glorious majesty are wrapped around her

as she laughs with joy over the latter days.

Her teachings are filled with wisdom and kindness

as loving instruction pours from her lips.

She watches over the ways of her household

and meets every need they have.

Her sons and daughters arise in one accord to extol her virtues,

and her husband arises to speak of her in glowing terms.

“There are many valiant and noble ones,

but you have ascended above them all!”

Charm can be misleading,

and beauty is vain and so quickly fades,

but this virtuous woman lives in the wonder, awe,

and fear of the Lord.

She will be praised throughout eternity.

So go ahead and give her the credit that is due,

for she has become a radiant woman,

and all her loving works of righteousness deserve to be admired

at the gateways of every city!

The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 31 (The Voice / The Passion Translation)

[Psalm 31]

I run to you, God; I run for dear life.

Don’t let me down!

Take me seriously this time!

Get down on my level and listen,

and please—no procrastination!

Your granite cave a hiding place,

your high cliff nest a place of safety.

You’re my cave to hide in,

my cliff to climb.

Be my safe leader,

be my true mountain guide.

Free me from hidden traps;

I want to hide in you.

I’ve put my life in your hands.

You won’t drop me,

you’ll never let me down.

I hate all this silly religion,

but you, God, I trust.

I’m leaping and singing in the circle of your love;

you saw my pain,

you disarmed my tormentors,

You didn’t leave me in their clutches

but gave me room to breathe.

Be kind to me, God—

I’m in deep, deep trouble again.

I’ve cried my eyes out;

I feel hollow inside.

My life leaks away, groan by groan;

my years fade out in sighs.

My troubles have worn me out,

turned my bones to powder.

To my enemies I’m a monster;

I’m ridiculed by the neighbors.

My friends are horrified;

they cross the street to avoid me.

They want to blot me from memory,

forget me like a corpse in a grave,

discard me like a broken dish in the trash.

The street-talk gossip has me

“criminally insane”!

Behind locked doors they plot

how to ruin me for good.

Desperate, I throw myself on you:

you are my God!

Hour by hour I place my days in your hand,

safe from the hands out to get me.

Warm me, your servant, with a smile;

save me because you love me.

Don’t embarrass me by not showing up;

I’ve given you plenty of notice.

Embarrass the wicked, stand them up,

leave them stupidly shaking their heads

as they drift down to hell.

Gag those loudmouthed liars

who heckle me, your follower,

with jeers and catcalls.

What a stack of blessing you have piled up

for those who worship you,

Ready and waiting for all who run to you

to escape an unkind world.

You hide them safely away

from the opposition.

As you slam the door on those oily, mocking faces,

you silence the poisonous gossip.

Blessed God!

His love is the wonder of the world.

Trapped by a siege, I panicked.

“Out of sight, out of mind,” I said.

But you heard me say it,

you heard and listened.

Love God, all you saints;

God takes care of all who stay close to him,

But he pays back in full

those arrogant enough to go it alone.

Be brave. Be strong. Don’t give up.

Expect God to get here soon.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 31 (The Message)

[Psalm 12]

Quick, God, I need your helping hand!

The last decent person just went down,

All the friends I depended on gone.

Everyone talks in lie language;

Lies slide off their oily lips.

They doubletalk with forked tongues.

Slice their lips off their faces!

Pull the braggart tongues from their mouths!

I’m tired of hearing, “We can talk anyone into anything!

Our lips manage the world.”

Into the hovels of the poor,

Into the dark streets where the homeless groan, God speaks:

“I’ve had enough; I’m on my way

To heal the ache in the heart of the wretched.”

God’s words are pure words,

Pure silver words refined seven times

In the fires of his word-kiln,

Pure on earth as well as in heaven.

God, keep us safe from their lies,

From the wicked who stalk us with lies,

From the wicked who collect honors

For their wonderful lies.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 12 (The Message)

[Book Four]

[Psalm 90]

A prayer of Moses, a man of God.

Lord, You have always been our refuge.

Our ancestors made You their home long ago.

Before mountains were born,

before You fashioned the earth and filled it with life,

from ages past to distant futures,

You are truly God.

You turn people back to dust,

saying, “Go back to the dust, children of Adam.”

For You a thousand years is like a day when it is over,

a watch during the night;

there is no difference to You.

You release the waters of death to sweep mankind away in his slumber.

In the morning, we are blades of grass,

Growing rapidly under the sun but withering quickly;

yet in the evening, we fade and die, soon to be cut down.

For Your anger has consumed us.

Your wrath has shaken us to the core

and left us deeply troubled.

You have written our offenses before You—

the light of Your presence shines brightly on our secret sins,

and we can’t run or hide.

For all our days are spent beneath Your wrath;

our youth gives way to old age, and then

one day our years come to an end with a sigh.

We may journey through life for 70 years;

some may live and breathe 80 years—if we are strong.

Yet our time here is only toil and trouble;

soon our days are gone, and we fly away.

Who can truly comprehend the power unleashed by Your anger?

Your wrath matches the fear that is due to You.

Teach us to number our days

so that we may truly live and achieve wisdom.

How long will we wait here alone?

Return, O Eternal One, with mercy.

Rescue Your servants with compassion.

With every sun’s rising, surprise us with Your love,

satisfy us with Your kindness.

Then we will sing with joy and celebrate every day we are alive.

You have spent many days afflicting us with pain and sorrow;

now match those with years of unspent joy.

Let Your work of love be on display for all Your servants;

let Your children see Your majesty.

And then let the beauty and grace of the Lord—our God—rest upon us

and bring success to all we do;

yes, bring success to all we do!

The Book of Psalms, Poem 90 (The Voice)

and this closing line from The Message:

And let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us,

confirming the work that we do.

Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do!

The Book of Psalms, Poem 90:17 (The Message)

it’s important to know the affirmation of Love in what we do while in this world.

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foodoliplife · 5 years

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anthonykrierion · 7 years

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Marketing Insights from Bob Lachky: Behind the Curtains of the Iconic Anheuser-Busch Campaigns

In today’s episode of Marketers Talking Marketing Over Coffee, we have Robert Lachky, former Chief Creative at Anheuser-Busch. Robert is one of the most well respected creatives in the marketing world and was the man behind some of the most iconic marketing campaigns over the past 30 years.

Video Transcription

Adam Heitzman: Today, I’m excited to have the man behind some of the most recognizable and iconic marketing campaigns over the past 30 years. From Budweiser Frogs, to ‘Whassup?’, ‘I love you, man.’, and the Real Men of Genius, former chief creative officer at Anheuser Busch, Mr.Bob Lachky. Bob, thanks for being here.

Robert Lachky: Adam, my pleasure. Looking forward to talking to you.

Adam Heitzman: Thank you. Would you mind starting off and telling me a little about your background, how you got started in the marketing and advertising world?

Robert Lachky: Sure. In college, I went to University of Illinois. And I also went to grad school there. I was pretty focused at that time, on a career in advertising. They had a good advertising program. It was kind of unique in the country at the time. I think Michigan State, and there were a couple others schools at that time that had programs like that. That’s what I pursued. When I got out, I started right away at an old line big agency on Michigan Avenue in Chicago called Foote Cone and Belding. They no longer exist. They’ve evolved through all the mergers that happened in the 90’s. But I started there. And I moved over to the original Needham, Harper, and Steers, which slowly but surely became DDP Needham, and etc, all these iterations and new agencies.

I learned the business from the agency side. One of my clients, when I was in my young career as an account executive, I was not a creative person. I knew I had some skill in that area. But I wasn’t as good as a real good writer or an art director would be in the old traditional agency structure. I always wanted to be an account management person. My career took a big change when I actively campaigned for a job at Needham, Harper, and Steers, because they had the McDonald’s account. That’s a business that I really respected. I always followed campaigns. Ever since I was a kid I just was into that. I guess I was a TV person. I watched TV all the time. When I got in McDonald’s, it was a great experience. To me, that was like big time, big time advertiser, great client, being based in Chicago. I was born and raised in Chicago. It was great to work at a company that was based there as well.

But that was pretty short lived. It lasted a year. And we lost the business to Leo Burnett. And it was a whole other story you could write a book about. That’s when I got on to Needham, Harper, and Steers the previous year. But I really didn’t have a place to go. I thought I was going to get let go. Needham, Harper, and Steers, under the tutelage of Keith Reinhard, who is a legend in the advertising business, a creative guy. He actually saved everybody’s jobs that worked on the McDonald’s business and put us to work on pitching a piece of business from Anheuser Busch. Needham, Harper, and Steers at that time did have a small piece of business called Busch Beer. But they were pitching for the new light beer called Budweiser Light. And I worked on that pitch team. And I was young. I was certainly not instrumental in winning the business, which we did. But when we won the business, my job was saved. And I started working on Anheuser Busch, Bud Light.

Adam Heitzman: From an account management?

Robert Lachky: I did that for years. Long story short, coming to an end, finally, we ended up winning the business, changing some campaigns to finally get it into the mainstream. And about that time, Anheuser Busch had a fairly major transition in the late 80’s in their own ranks. They had a bit of a scandal that occurred where some executives were taking kickbacks from [inaudible 00:03:55] And Mr.Busch kind of cleaned house and was very reticent to get marketing people from the inside. He wanted people from the outside. I was about as far outside as you could be and still be in. So the hired me to be the Bud Light brand manager. And the rest is history. I started there in 19, late 88. Fortunately for me, I worked underneath August Busch the 4th from the very beginning. He was my Boss. We worked alongside actually, for the first year or two as he was coming into the company. That was really the greatest lucky I could have had, is to work alongside him first, get to know him. And then as he progressed ahead of me, he brought me along with him.

That’s how I got there. And that’s how I ended up at AB.

Adam Heitzman: Sure. Do you feel like the fact that you were on the agency side first actually benefited you somewhat, starting to work for the brand?

Robert Lachky: Absolutely. That was, to me, the lucky break of all time. My feelings about advertising were just about the creative development process. Although I was an account manager, on the account management side, even today, I would venture in agencies, you’re not really a business manager. You’re really a client liaison. When they recruited me, when they wanted me to come to their company, Anheuser Busch, I was very nervous, very reticent to do it. I really didn’t have the PNL, traditional MBA training that all my counterparts would have. I didn’t know a confidence in myself. They didn’t really care about that. They wanted my advertising skill. That’s what Mr.Busch said when he interviewed me. He said, “I want you to come here. We need help.”

They were having a problem with the Budweiser Light roll out. The brand was not getting traction. Miller Lite was kicking their fanny. I was charged with bringing Bud Light back from an advertising perspective. I was very lucky that was the skill set they wanted as nervous as I was, “Can I handle the business side, and the pricing, and all the things that go along with truly managing a brand?”

Adam Heitzman: Correct me if I’m wrong. You just somewhat mentioned it. Anheuser Busch was not the leader it is today back when you originally started. A lot of that growth happened with a lot of the marketing that was done over the last 20 to 30 years.

Robert Lachky: Actually, yes and no. Yes, in the light category, we were in our infancy, because Miller Lite had a 10 year had start on us. And Coors Light was already on the market as well. As an overall company, yes, AB was still the master, the giant of the industry. But I’ll tell you, they were stagnant in circa 1988, 89. Budweiser was starting to get eaten into by the light beers of which AB did not have. They had Natural Light, which was kind of a college beer at the time. It still is. Natty Light, right?

Adam Heitzman: That’s right. Everybody loved Natty Light.

Robert Lachky: They ended up not having enough volume, and certainly not heading where the business was heading. Budweiser was starting to get knocked around. This is in the late 80’s. Yes, they were still the largest American brewer. There was not really any craft business at all in the country at that time. There were imports, the Heineken of the world, Stella, and all those guys were coming in. But AB’s real problem was not having an established light beer. That was where the problem was at that period in time.

Adam Heitzman: Sure. Shifting focus slightly, you kind of mentioned his name earlier. I don’t know if this would be that person. Who would you consider to be your single biggest influencer as a marketer?

Robert Lachky: It’s really August Busch the 3rd. August Busch the 3rd was the chairman at that time in the succession. It was like a monarchy. For a public company to have that much family influence is kind of remarkable. Many books have been written about it. August Busch the 3rd was really the guy that was instrumental in me coming to Anheuser Busch. He really didn’t know me. I was just an agency guy. I was so far down the chain of his awareness when I was working on his business, servicing his company. When he knew who I was and my skill set, we became good friends, as far as you can be a friend with him. Let’s put it that way. He’s a great guy. But I still see him today.

His son was the next most important influence. Although he’s a little younger, he and I are very good friends. We still are. We learned a lot together. The experience I had over him, in terms of being in business, I helped mentor him a little bit. He taught me a lot. The Busch, as much as there’s been written, or said, or whatever, the good, the bad, have been absolutely influential in my career. Taught me a ton. If it wasn’t for Mr.Busch hiring me, I would have never experienced the things I’ve experienced. I dare not say we would have never done this or that. I don’t know that. I do say the man knew what he wanted. He wanted good marketing. Yeah, I had a lot of battles with him. Yes, he was tough to deal with. But with August the 4th’s help of running air cover for me for 15 years, we were able to get remarkable work produced, and make a great impact for the company.

Adam Heitzman: That brings me to a good question. You just touched on it, about having some of those battles. One of the things that happens, especially in marketing, one of the difficulties is getting by in from superiors on a thought or particular campaign, whatever that marketing campaign is.

Robert Lachky: That’s a great question. It was really a day and night story. The night I’ll give you first, is when I first came in, the advertising process was largely still being approved all the way up to the top level of the company. In other words, you’d be bringing a 12 or 24 frame storyboard from the agency, or the agency would help present it for you. A lot of times you’d be carrying the boards up yourself to the board room. You’d be showing it to a bunch of 60 year old guys. Careful making fun of 60 year old guys. It was like a comedy to be presenting ideas that were intended for a 25 year old target audience to guys that are all sitting in country clubs, and aren’t even drinking beer anymore. You think, “Oh my God. How are we going to get anything approved?”

That was the night. When August the 4th came in, it helped immensely, because his father is going to give his son some leeway. As he was getting coached by me on what we need to do, and himself. He had great instincts. We were able to break the pattern of not having to go upstairs to show ideas. The great first ideas we did together, August the 4th and myself were for Bud Light, right when we were struggling. We’re trying to find our identity again. We had had “Gimme a Light. No, Bud Light.”

As a campaign, you may or may not remember, but it was the positioning of Bud Light that finally got a toe hold against Miller Lite. But that ran out of gas. We were struggling. We knew we had to get back to comedy. When we started doing some work together, August the 4th and I, because he was my boss’s head of Bud family, and I was still the Bud Light brand manager, we started doing stuff without anybody’s approval. Some of it was pretty risky. His dad would forgive us, but he’d beat us over the head for not having approved stuff. We even had problems with the agency, because we had a renegade creative team at DDB Needham by that time. I think they were DDP, who was giving us ideas off the beaten path. And we were going and producing them on our heels of an approved shoot. So August and I would be out in LA and say, “Hey, we got this new director. We got this idea.”

And he goes, “Go. Go get it! Go get it!”

I’m going, “Man, we’re going to get shot if get it, get it.”

So we’re in LA for two more days. We’re shooting commercials without anybody’s authority. Even the agency doesn’t know about it, except my little creative team. That kind of approach is exactly what we needed. We needed to go and do ideas, and get out there. Some of the greatest early work we did was done that way. Granted, we eventually got ourselves into a little bit more of, I wouldn’t say professional, but we kept their management in line, and said, “Look. Here’s what we’re out trying to get.”

We followed this formula of going to get it if our gut was right on a lot of things like the ‘Yes I am.’ Campaign, the ‘Wassup?’ We kind of kept going with that approach, because look, we don’t need anymore interference. The last thing you need in a big company is a committee. You even saw it in the big agencies. They’d have a committee before ideas would spit out of the agency. You can’t believe how much stuff would get killed or modified. Lines that were just right would get changed because some old guy is sticking his nose in the business. Come on, man. You’ve got to cut through it and have stuff that’s edgy, and entertaining, and cutting through. Great question. There was a day and a night, night first. And then daylight hit when we realized we’ve gotta do this on our own. We don’t need anymore interference internally.

Adam Heitzman: And you’ve gotta make sure that you’re communicating. Like you said, if that audience that you’re bringing those ideas to is not your core demographic audience, obviously, there’s a disconnect there.

Robert Lachky: You can see, Adam on … I was watching the Super Bowl this last week. Honest to goodness, I would love to just predict most of the stuff I saw, most of the work I saw, was somebody with a particular point of view, jamming it down somebody else’s throat. Whether it was the choice of a certain celebrity, “You know, I always wanna work with Steven Tyler from Aerosmith.”

It’s like, “What? For Kia? What are you doing?”

“Danny Devito. He’s great. I loved him on Taxi.”

What? Who’s Danny Devito? I know who he is. I know who Steven Tyler is. But when you try to marry stuff like that up … Or, “I really think we need a politically correct message for this and that.”

Yeah, but you’re T-Mobile. What are you doing? This has nothing to do with advancing your … You see the landscape littered with these bizarre, unbelievably twisted messages with no strategy on the biggest stage you could possibly have as an advertiser. And all you’re doing is wasting money, and leaving people scratching their head, or angering people. I see that as an offshoot of not clarity as to what you’re trying to do. Are you really on a strategy? Sometimes people get in this play room called doing the creative. Man, they gotta touch it. That’s the danger.

Adam Heitzman: In terms of strategy, what did your ideation process look like? How did you know when you had a winning idea?

Robert Lachky: That’s a great question. We were in such desperate straights in the late 80’s. When I got in there, I was actually hired to get rid of Spuds Mackenzie too. Spuds Mackenzie was an idea that Bud Light had that was … It’s a long story on the evolution of where it came from. But it was a really genius idea, and it ran out of gas pretty quickly, about a year once the government stepped in and said, “Hey, you’re trying to appeal to children.”

That was never the idea. But the fact that the brewery started producing stuffed dolls of Spuds Mackenzie, not a good idea. That does look like you’re advertising to children. Not even on anybody’s radar screen. When I got in there, I knew that Spuds Mackenzie was dead as well. I had been at the agency prior to that producing Spuds Mackenzie commercials. It was a high ride for us. It was like, “Wow, People Magazine is following us on shoots with Spuds. And it’s such a novelty.”

But we got chopped off at the knees pretty quick. You start to realize that you’ve got to have a plan. And our problem on Bud Light was very simple. We’ve got to get back to a personality that’s different than Budweiser. We can no longer be seen as just a flanker with a one off idea like the dog. What is our idea? And the idea was really nurtured out of Spuds and from the original ‘Gimme a Light’ campaign. It’s like, “Look, we have to have preference strategy. We have to have a strategy about people want a Bud Light for no reason other than that’s the best one there is.”

This was the backdrop of Miller Lite being the dominant presence in the market. We had to tell people that they had a choice. You could go into bars across America at that time, and you’d ask for Light. They owned the bar call, and it was on their label. Any bartender in his right mind, “You mean Miller Lite.”

We had to get people asking for Bud Light, and to make it distinctive from Miller Lite. They had a brilliant campaign at the time, which featured retired athletes and pseudo celebrities. It was brilliant. They walked away from it. I don’t know why they did it. They probably just got tired of it. That’s when our opportunity to get back and return to humor opened up. It not only was a strategy of people going to great lengths, a preference strategy, but it was an executional strategy as well that had to be adhered to. It was, “Whatever you do, you’re going for Bud Light, and it’s gotta be surprising, and fun, and hilarious. You gotta create a Bud Light world that nobody else can create. It’s gotta be so preposterous, yet semi believable. You’re always winking at the customer with this.”

That was the well thought out strategy. It was only validated by doing some work, testing it, seeing what took. We realized there were certain mistakes we were making at times, where it was really too stupid, or it was too sophomoric. You’d always run that line. Some people like ‘The Three Stooges.’ Some think they’re repulsive. Comedy is very hard. It can’t be foul. You want it to be funny mainstream. That’s the battle that was the Odyssey. 15 years, that’s what I protected with my heart. Every new brand manager I had always wanted to come in and play around with it. It’s like, “No. You’re a shepard. You just keep shepherding the sheep along. Nobody needs to change the main deal here.”

That’s the battle you have. Now Bud on the other hand, the thing we had to do is, we had a lot of ‘your dad’s beer’ type of things going on. That’s why we had to take the Clydesdales off the hitch, and start giving them more human personalities. Although the Clydesdales was not your own campaign, the only thing you did for Budweiser. It was a corporate campaign as well. But that was a critical eye opener for us, that we could play with the hitch. We could take the horses off. They could develop personalities. Today, I’m proud to say, that’s at least something that’s continued on. The shocking thing to me is how the current owners of the company don’t even put the Clydesdales in the Super Bowl anymore. Blows me away. To me, the Clydesdales was always the umbrella for the entire company. It helped sell Budweiser. It helped sell Bud Light. It helped the wholesalers, the local distributes. It was America. Blows me away that these guys lost that thing. That’s their deal, not mine.

That’s kind of it. It’s not twelve pieces of paper. I saw creative briefs from people. We’d get a brand manager from some other company package goods train. They’d be in there pontificating with a binder. They’d give the creative team a binder. It’s like, “Get rid of that thing. Throw that away.”

If this thing isn’t stated in a page, you’re not going to get any ideas. You’re never going to get the ‘Was sup?’ You’re never going to get ‘Real Men of Genius,’ if you think that way. The key here is, you get an idea. It’s not change it every year. That’s what drives me nuts is, I see great campaigns that are brilliant. And they suddenly change. I know exactly why it changed. Some new knucklehead got in there. He’s changed it, or she’s changed it. Change for change’s sake in marketing is death. You can evolve it. Most of the time, you can evolve it.

Adam Heitzman: One of my favorite campaigns of all time is the ‘Real Men of Genius.’ But I know, probably from a general audience stand point, correct me if I’m wrong, what won the Gold Lion award was the ‘Wassup?’ How did that idea come about?

Robert Lachky: That’s a great question. ‘Real Men of Genius,’ we were starting to hit our stride again. This is circa late 1999 or so. We were doing well with the television advertising on Bud Light. But radio was always a battle for us. How can you create more of a theater of the mind? The guys actually came up with a precursor to this that ran for maybe half a year, with Charlton Heston. We had done an ‘I love you, man’ commercial with Charlton Heston of all things. Why, I don’t know to this day. He was funny. And they put him in radio as the voice over. It was a very funny idea. A guy, kind of a drone like voice, “Well, I was standing in the line at the theater.”

And then you’d hear Charlton Heston’s voice, “He was standing in the line at the theater!”

And the guy goes, “Uh, yeah. And then I was … “

So you’re getting this dialogue between this slacker and Charlton Heston pontificating. And somehow, Bud Light gets into the story. And it was very funny. It was kind of, we saw it as cenergy to the fact that we were running Charlton Heston on TV in a couple of these, ‘I love you, man.’ Commercials. We realized that he starting to have issues. I don’t think he got the campaign. He was a nice man. We had him to our convention. He’s obviously a legend. With all due respect, he’s just the best. He was wonderful for us, and funny. It was good. We just started thinking, “Is there something else we can do?”

That forced us. The guys came up with an idea that was originally termed, ‘Real American Heroes.’ That was the name of the campaign. And it was done exactly in this format. The sung voice from the guy from Foreigner. That’s the band. I can’t remember his name. He was the lead singer. He’s a great guy. And the voice that you hear very often, is the main delivery voice. It was very good counterpoint, just parodying people in life. It worked. The problem was, when the campaign had just launched, that’s when 9/11 hit. We knew, “Oh my goodness. These are not real American heroes. We’ve got to change this.”

We thought we were gonna have to change the whole thing. We thought, “Oh my goodness. This is so disrespectful to use a line at this terrible time in our country.”

The guys made a real simple fix. It seems like, “Wow. It must have been there all the time.”

We just called it ‘Real Men of Genius.’ Grammatically, it didn’t sound right. It was kind of like, “What? What?”

We just went with it because we loved the format of the singing and the very deep voiced announcer that we thought, “Well, let’s just go with it.”

The rest is history. I think we did over 450 of these things. It ran for how many years until, again, new owners in all their genius just decided to the campaign was no good anymore, that it wasn’t selling beer. It’s like, “Alright, idiots.”

It was something that was so good. We ran it forever. We also adapted it for television, which was kind of an ill fated venture, because when you start showing people, the bald guy or whatever, the nudist colony man, it’s like, “What? We can’t do that, because you know everything is going to go to slow motion. Fat people jiggling. No. We don’t need to do that.”

But I was told, “You have to do it.”

By my senior guy, the chairman of the board, because he heard from somebody that’d be good on TV. You do it on TV and it doesn’t make it as funny, because the theater of the mind goes away. We ran a couple of those for a month and realized, this isn’t funny. It’s hurting the radio campaign, because you’re revealing too much. You’re pulling too much of the curtain back. Long winded, but that’s the story of ‘Real Men of Genius.’

Adam Heitzman: You talked a little about this as well. It seemed like you all had hit after hit with campaign. How did you know when it was time to cut that campaign off, and sunset it, and move on to the next version?

Robert Lachky: That’s a kind complement. It was always with anxiety. I knew this stuff would burn out pretty fast. It always made you worry that, where do we go next? On Bud Light, I wasn’t as worried, because I knew the strategy was right. I knew we were going to be okay as long as we got funny spots. The way we managed that was, we made sure that we were hitting topical things as we went through time. Any creative team could come in and pick up and put their signature on it.

We created our own celebrities. For example, the guys wanted to come up with an idea with Kings of Comedy. Kings of Comedy was not a real well known cable thing that was going on at the beginning. But Cedric the Entertainer was starting to emerge as a key piece of Kings of Comedy. We ended up getting Cedric to do a spot that launched a four or five spot pool with Cedric that ran for two years. That was a great discovery. Not a celebrity for celebrity sake. But a celebrity that could be helped by this. Catapult his fame, because he started doing movies after the Bud Light gig. The fact that he brought so much, but it was always about Bud Light. And another guy we found that could deliver our Bud Light message was Carlos Mencia from ‘Mind of Mencia.’ It was a Cable thing that was starting to become popular. Those are some examples there.

But also doing things like, we had a spot called ‘Robo Bash.’ When these electronic robot battle reality TV things were starting to occur, we did our version of it. We did one spot. We moved on. We were always trying to tap into popular culture with Bud Light. What’s hot now? Let’s try that. What’s fashionable? What programs are people out there talking about? On the Bud Light side, for me it was easier to do. It was much easier to figure out how to stay on the tracks. Bud was a little different. It was difficult because we were starting to his some home runs with some of the things we discovered through other means. ‘Was sup’ is a great example. ‘Wuss up’ is great because the guys found it on an independent film festival. They saw this thing called ‘Wuss up.’ Exactly the way it’s produced was exactly the way it was filmed without Bud by the original director, Charles Stone the 3rd. They showed me the tape. I’ll never forget this. They said, “Well, you gotta see this.”

It was funny. It was cool. I said, “Okay, what do you want to do with it?”

“We want to insert Bud into it.”

I go, “How are you gonna do that?”

They said, “Well just ‘Hey B, what are you doing?’ ‘Nothing. Just watching. Was sup?!'”

That was the way it was. And said, “Just having a Bud and watching TV.”

And they always had a Bud. I said, “Well yeah. That’s cool. So you’re going to call this guy that did it?”

“Oh no. We’re going to rip it off.”

I go, “No you’re not gonna rip it off. You can’t rip it off. You can’t do that. This is this guy’s property. And it’s not going to be as funny if this guy didn’t do it. Plus, those people are perfect. Why don’t we just get those guys to work with us?”

The agency was not really wanting to do that. They swallowed their pride, went and contacted Charles. Charles agreed to do it. As we were going through the process creatively, it was funny how the guys kept trying to put in new people. We said, “No! What are you doing?”

One good time, I can honestly say myself, and August, and the brand team blocked these guys from making mistakes just so they could have creative, … It’s not their idea. It’s his idea. The company will benefit more and more from the good positive PR, if nothing else that we let this guy do his idea for Budweiser. I don’t care what the creative awards program say about you ripping something off. This is a great idea. As a result, we were vindicated by that. The guys even wanted to change. My guys wanted to change the line from, true to right on. I go, “Right on? That’s like a 1970’s Billy Dee Williams move. Are you out of your mind? It’s true.”

“Well, we didn’t think you knew what it meant.”

“Give me a break. I know what it means. I get it. I get it. It means right on. But we’re not saying right on, okay?”

And then poor Charles, he’s sitting in the middle wondering, “Why am I getting into this with these guys?”

He was very grateful to us at the brewery for protecting the idea. They kept trying to change it. My guys are brilliant and did so much great work at DDP. This was one time I was shocked at how they didn’t get it. It was more about, “We want to get credit for this.”

No. You take credit with this man. You brought it to life for him. That was a tough one. A different one is ‘Frogs’ where you see a one off idea, and you just go get it. You know the thing’s not going to run for more than a year or two. The brilliance of what we did there, I think, was we said, “Okay, we know we can’t keep having frogs say, ‘Bud-wise-er.’ You’ve got them talking to each other. They’re riding an alligator. How many more things can we have ‘Bud-wise-er’ do? Not much.”

We’re fortunate by the way we structured our agencies at that time. We had more than one agency. The primary agency didn’t like it, but it saved us. Goodby Silverstein was the secondary agency. They came up with an idea. We asked, “Is there a way you guys can evolve ‘Frogs?'”

And Goodby’s idea was, “Yeah. Let’s have other jealous swamp creatures try to get in the Bud commercial.”

I go, “What? What do you mean, jealous swamp creatures?”

He goes, “Well, you know, like weasels, or lizards, or whatever.”

And honest to goodness, that’s how we came up with ‘Louie the Lizard.’ And the whole idea of their intro to it, that almost got me fired, was to assassinate the frogs on the Super Bowl. The electrocute them in their frog bar. When you still think back to the story boards, you go, “Are you, are you kidding me? We can’t do assassinations.”

“Oh, it’s just a commercial, man.”

And it’s like, “Okay.”

You’re buying into this, and you realize, “I’m going to get killed here.”

We went through it. We did it. They unsuccessfully didn’t electrocute the frogs on national television on the Super Bowl. But it did launch ‘Louie the Lizard,’ which was brilliant. And it got us at least three more years of ‘Louie the Lizard.’ TV spots for sure. But the other brilliant thing about ‘Louie the Lizard’, it worked on radio, because the voices of Louie and Frank, which at the time, ‘Sopranos’ was so big. Again, borrowing from the influence of what’s going on. We got two guys out of Queens who were stage actors that talked like thugs, hilarious. And on radio, they were even better than TV, because they were like, “Aye, Frankie.”

It was just like, “Oh my God. This is exactly what we tried to do on Bud Light. And now we’re doing it on Bud.”

If you can evolve and idea and be open minded enough to say, “Maybe this thing can leapfrog.”

I think you start saying, “Look, I’ve got about a year, year and a half. As soon as I get tired of it, it may be too late, because you’ve got to get out before the customer gets tired of it.”

So maybe we jumped early on some things. But I always felt we made good calls on evolving it. Even when ‘Was sup’ ran out of gas, and it was only a year, it was more driven by the fact that Charles Stone didn’t really want to do this anymore. That was okay. He’s a good guy. We started producing ‘Was sup’ spots ourselves. We decided, “Well, is there another way to say, ‘Was sup’?”

And then we started doing parodies of ‘Wassup’. How do gangsters say ‘Was sup’? They go “How you doin’?”

“How you doin’? How you doin’? How you doin’?”

We started doing evolutions of ‘Wassup’. And the consumer followed us. We got through that. We probably extended the idea another couple years because of that. That’s how you do it, I think. If something is so wickedly popular, and you can slowly get the customer to the next place by an evolution that they understand, then why wouldn’t you do it? A company is doing great right now, a couple companies, is the insurance sector. When you look at Progressive, whether you like Flow or hate her. Farmer’s insurance. These guys are evolving. Geico, my God. It’s the greatest. Geico is doing what we done. I always admired Geico when I was working at the brewery. They’ve been doing it forever. They do have the 15 minutes. “You give me 15 minutes, we’ll give you 15%.”

I get it. I get it. I get it. But I’m always entertained, and I get a good feeling out of their marketing. I think that’s the plan. Evolve. Don’t blow it up. If you have to blow it up, it’s going to be hard to get back on those tracks.

Adam Heitzman: Since you date back to even the mid 80’s ish. Obviously, a lot of digital components and digital campaigns, that’s where everything’s at nowadays for the most part.

Robert Lachky: I agree.

Adam Heitzman: There’s a lot in TV and radio for sure. Is a good campaign a good campaign no matter what platform it’s on?

Robert Lachky: Yeah. I think. I experienced that with ‘Wassup.’ When ‘Was sup’ came out, we originally debuted it on Christmas day. NBA always has a Christmas day basketball game. We had a 60. And the 60 seconds of “Wassup? Wassup? Wassup?” Was like whoa. You have to be a real fan to like that much ‘Was sup.’ And I loved it. August the 4th loved it. His dad was like, “Oh, I don’t know, man. You guys are running out of, … Four African American guys like, all over your, …”

And it was awesome. They’re the coolest looking guys, guys you want to be buddies with. That’s the way we looked at it. But when you’re talking to old wholesalers at Anheuser Busch, all over the country, black and white going, “What are you guys? Are you guys nuts?”

They found it repulsive and we were in trouble. When we launched that, within a week, we were getting crushed. We had just put a call center phone number on our can, packages. And our call center was getting inundated by people who hated the idea. We very quickly, and thank goodness for Mr.Busch as our leader, the 3rd, he allowed us to do some quick fixing. I took the 60 of the air right away. We moved it to 30’s. We had 30’s cut. We had a couple other renditions of it cut where we focused on a single character. And it nullified a little bit of the outrage of that 60 seconds in your face. Within two weeks, because we ran ‘Was sup’ on the Super Bowl three weeks, four weeks later. Within a couple weeks already, you were getting Katie Couric on ‘Today Show’ and Howard Stern, two totally opposite people saying, “Hey, did you see that thing for Budweiser? The guy’s going ‘Wassup’. Isn’t that cool?”

And you’re like, “Oh my God. This is what we need.”

And you started getting people now, and this was the beginning of video content sharing to your original question. We were getting parodies within two and a half weeks of ‘Wassup.’ And we tracked one Iceland. We got one out of Israel. We had this worldwide thing where we had rabbis doing it. We had ladies planting tulips in a garden doing. And they were mocking it, and aping the idea, and sending it. We were getting these videos. We were like, “Oh my God. This thing is taking on.”

And all the negative criticism from our own system, we got thrown out of a few accounts across the country. But the wholesalers backed us, because they started to realize this was a very cool young idea. And it’s about, it doesn’t matter what race you are. This is about friends. We stuck to our guns. Video content, and the sharing of it on the internet, even this was year 2000 I believe. That’s when it was really hitting a zenith. People were ripping the thing. And it was awesome. And that saved us for sure. This is in the space of a month.

Adam Heitzman: Right. That’s crazy. What are you up to now days?

Robert Lachky: I’ve been consulting a little bit in talking to smaller, more privately held companies. It makes it a little easier. I do a lot of speaking engagements and things. People like to hear about what we used to do. You start to feel a little old doing that. I think there’s some really tried and true strategies that we followed, and other great companies have followed. You see many doing it now, like in the insurance category, following, being true to their brands. Not getting mesmerized by hiring a celebrity or doing whatever you think is cool, or following too much of a current production technique. For us, at our era, I’d say early 90’s, it was, we called it the cinema verite. The camera is moving around, trying to find the right- It’s like, “Give me a break. Let’s focus on a certain style that benefits us. And let’s not chase technique. Let’s chase our strategy.”

That’s kind of what I advise when I go. I got to be honest. A lot of people call and say, “Wow. You can help us because of Budweiser.”

It’s like, “Look, you don’t need Bud. You need a good digital strategy. You need a good online thing.”

I have a group of guys that I work with. We do more rebuilding websites, making sure they have suitable video content. Basically front end. That they have a strategy. I guess they think since I just did funny commercials, I never thought about it. It’s always about doing a spot analysis to me, at the front. You absolutely have to know, what are you trying to do? What are your strengths, weakness, and opportunities? What are your threats? You’ve got to understand that. I can’t believe how many small or mid sized companies that I’ve worked with who really are kind of making money and don’t know how, or why, or how they can sustain it. That to me, is the shocking thing. Believe me, nothing that’s too taxing. I had enough of that in one lifetime. That’s about where I’m at these days.

Adam Heitzman: Well, that’s great to hear. Bob, I really enjoyed speaking with you today. It’s been very enlightening. Your stories are awesome. Thank you again, for your time. Like I said, thanks. It’s just been an absolute pleasure.

Robert Lachky: Thanks, Adam. I appreciate it. I really enjoyed it. And good luck to you.

Adam Heitzman: Thank you.

Robert Lachky: Take care.

Adam Heitzman: Bye.

Marketing Insights from Bob Lachky: Behind the Curtains of the Iconic Anheuser-Busch Campaigns was originally posted by Video And Blog Marketing

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christianitywithouttheinsanity · 8 years

Link

Gen 3-5; Mark 2

Discuss in the comments section.

The following text is from the New International Version. Occasionally we will rotate the translations just to have some variety.

Genesis 3-5

3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

“Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring[a] and hers; he will crush[b] your head, and you will strike his heel.”

16 To the woman he said,

“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’

“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

20 Adam[c] named his wife Eve,[d] because she would become the mother of all the living.

21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side[e] of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Cain and Abel

4 Adam[f] made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.[g] She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth[h] a man.” 2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord.4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”[i] While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

10 The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear.14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

15 But the Lord said to him, “Not so[j]; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. 16 So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod,[k] east of Eden.

17 Cain made love to his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his sonEnoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.

19 Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah.20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play stringed instruments and pipes. 22 Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of[l] bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain’s sister was Naamah.

23 Lamech said to his wives,

“Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. 24 If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.”

25 Adam made love to his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth,[m] saying, “God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.” 26 Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh.

At that time people began to call on[n] the name of the Lord.

From Adam to Noah

5 This is the written account of Adam’s family line.

When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female and blessed them. And he named them “Mankind”[o] when they were created.

3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth. 4 After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 5 Altogether, Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died.

6 When Seth had lived 105 years, he became the father[p] of Enosh.7 After he became the father of Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters. 8 Altogether, Seth lived a total of 912 years, and then he died.

9 When Enosh had lived 90 years, he became the father of Kenan.10 After he became the father of Kenan, Enosh lived 815 years and had other sons and daughters. 11 Altogether, Enosh lived a total of 905 years, and then he died.

12 When Kenan had lived 70 years, he became the father of Mahalalel.13 After he became the father of Mahalalel, Kenan lived 840 years and had other sons and daughters. 14 Altogether, Kenan lived a total of 910 years, and then he died.

15 When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he became the father of Jared.16 After he became the father of Jared, Mahalalel lived 830 years and had other sons and daughters. 17 Altogether, Mahalalel lived a total of 895 years, and then he died.

18 When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch.19 After he became the father of Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 20 Altogether, Jared lived a total of 962 years, and then he died.

21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah.22 After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. 24 Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech. 26 After he became the father of Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters. 27 Altogether, Methuselah lived a total of 969 years, and then he died.

28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. 29 He named him Noah[q] and said, “He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.” 30 After Noah was born, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters.31 Altogether, Lamech lived a total of 777 years, and then he died.

32 After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Mark 2

2 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in such large numbersthat there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man,carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners

13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Phariseessaw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jesus Questioned About Fasting

18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”

19 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. 20 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.

21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

25 He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26 In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”

27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

The reading plan I’ve chosen is from Bible Class Material and it’s a 5 day plan, with weekend days to catch up or get ahead or just take a break!

http://ift.tt/2hfNLzf

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