Paultastic Musings

It took me long enough. :) I'm finally on Twitter. See me at www.twitter.com/c0achmcguirk.

What is Twitter?

Twitter is a service founded around one simple question: what are you doing? Users update their Twitter feed with status updates that are 140 characters or less in length. Sound useful? Or maybe it sounds a bit overwhelming? Maybe you want to check it out?

I saw Derek Webb perform here in Omaha on November 10. I took notes with my phone so I could remember his set list. I'm recording them here in case anyone finds them interesting.

I Want a Broken Heart

Nobody loves me

...talk about mockingbird...hard to follow jesus

Mockingbird

A New Law

King and a Kingdom

...talks abot wife...traveling

I Hate Everything But You

...talks about his whole family in lincoln pas in heaven caedmons brother reason for migration to nebraska

Can't Lose You

...talks about no setlists...chance for humiliation...hard to write a love song when married..truth will sabotage...I have been to the other side of the mountain...and it is good...but you trade one set of complications for another set of complications. Hate about xian music...witnessed to and go and live perfectly. They take half the truth and parade it around like it were the whole truth...which is a lie. Love songs lie...its all great...youre great im great...next song is a love song about martin luther...

Saint and Sinners

...talks about long line of leavers...how he hated the version of "Dance" recorded on long line of leavers...so he hated the song for about five years

Dance

Rich Young Ruler

...most difficult song...im commanded to love my enemy...if someone who wants to repay violence with violence...jesus says we must love our enemies...i must renew my mind on this...mlk the only way to defeat an enemy is to love them into being our friend...i know i could do much violence to others...look at our world...violence at our prisons. Dont become a monster to defeat a monster. The church should have the answer for the world.

My Enemies Are Men Like Me

Wedding Dress

...mockingbird free for one more month...tour break coming up and he is happy...digital piracy doesnt bug him as long as people are sharing his music...you can copy his music and give it away...he is the copyright holder.

Lover

Great show. Derek was inspirational as always. See him if you get a chance. He's one of the great ones.

This game is awesome! Pick out the 50 dark movies hidden in the painting. Done to promote M&Ms dark.

50 Dark Movies, Hidden in a Painting

If recent college graduates apply for a job at Killian Advertising in Chicago, they'd better mind their grammar, spelling and punctuation -- not to mention their sentence structure, syntax and diction -- lest they end up in the company's "Cover Letters From Hell" that it posts on its Web site.

Six years ago, Bob Killian, owner and founder of the agency, began posting anonymous excerpts from poorly written cover letters he received from those asking for employment.

The mistakes ranged from unfortunate omissions ("I am seeking a new position as i have recently been laid" and "I also have a degree English which serves me well in editing text for poor grammer or typos") to nonsense sentences and topics ("It is through the innovational process, as well as media, that the features of an image can be highlighted and brought to the forefront for the consumer viewing" or "The colors red, blue, and lavender are those that I identify with the most. I feel they accurately describe my personality. I choose red because I turn red when I get embarrassed ...").

Some candidates even try their hand at poetry -- one girl rewrote "'T'was the Night Before Christmas," editing herself and the advertising company into the story and substituting presents for a job.

The goal of putting the letters online, Killian said, is to show job seekers that, "Hello! This is not a recognizable form of communication!"

Ridicule Not the Point

Recently, Killian went through 100 letters that arrived at his agency from applicants requesting jobs and interviews. Of the 100, not one was without some kind of spelling, grammar or syntax error.

At first, Killian thought that a personal approach was best. When one of the letters came from a senior graduating from a fairly prestigious college and did not contain a single sentence without an error, Killian drafted a "gentle note," advising the student to get some help with his writing.

What Killian got in response was an angry four-page reply.

"That really set him off," Killian recalls. "We haven't done it since. We don't want to have to change the locks on the building."

Unfortunately, in the 19 years of the company's existence, the problem seems to be getting worse, which Killian attributes to changes in technology and everyday communication.

"There are a whole lot of people that can't speak in an authentic voice," Killian said. "We're not a generation that writes a lot. Colleges don't seem to be very demanding.

"Texting is making it worse. We're getting printed letters with the letter 'U' standing for 'you.' And this kid wants to be hired in a communications position!"

While the site started off as just a joke within the company, its popularity has helped Killian find business clients and literary agents find him. A small book is currently being compiled with "Cover Letters from Hell" excerpts the company has collected over the years.

Though the site's commentary pokes fun at applicants, Killian insists that ridicule is not really the point of the compilation.

"Quite a few [potential applicants] are intimidated from applying, or sending a cover letter at all, but all that they should do is exercise some care," Killian said.

"I think if people just absorb what's in there, they'll at least be able to write clearly and express themselves in a meaningful way."

A Colorado fan sees the light.

From http://www2.steamboatpilot.com/news/2006/sep/10/brent_boyer_seeing_red/

I emerged from the bowels of Memorial Stadium a lone Buffalo on the Great Plains.

In the weeks leading up to my trip, I had thought nothing of flaunting my Colorado Buffaloes gear in enemy territory, but my pre-game confidence quickly gave way to the realization that I was outnumbered — 85,181 to one. Me. Alone. And yes, even a little bit scared.

Of course, I would soon discover I had nothing to fear, and that upset me even more. It was as if the Big Red Nation wanted to prove it was better than me — us.

They did, and it wasn’t hard.

As I walked along the chain-link fence that separated the University of Nebraska players from the fans who idolize them, I felt a little like one of those poor Louisiana Tech players on the visitor’s sideline — outnumbered, undersized and pretty sure that at some point of the day I would be humiliated. (They were, by a score of 49-10. And so was I, but CU’s opening-game loss to Division I-AA Montana State wasn’t announced until most of the crowd had left the stadium.)

As a proud CU alum, there was nothing about the University of Nebraska that I could even pretend to like. The Cornhuskers are the Giants to my Dodgers, the Raiders to my Broncos.

But that was before my visit to Lincoln, Neb.

Don’t get me wrong — I never have been nor ever will be a Cornhuskers fan. But I just can’t conjure up the hate like I used to, and it’s because the University of Nebraska is what my beloved CU will never be: a college football paradise.

It was instantly apparent how much better of a college football atmosphere thrives in Lincoln than ever will in Boulder. It’s like comparing apples to oranges, or Champs Sport Bowls to Orange Bowls.

n The student section was standing-room only 45 minutes before kick off; CU students often don’t file in to Folsom Field until the second quarter, if they bother to show up at all.

n Nebraska’s marching band actually takes the time to learn each opponent’s fight song — and plays it before the game as a sign of respect. At Folsom Field, visiting players (and their fans) are greeted with hurled oranges, marshmallows and language that would make Andrew Dice Clay blush.

n Pouring rain had zero — ZERO — effect on attendance at Memorial Stadium last weekend. In Boulder, a light drizzle provides many “fans” with an excuse to not go to the game.

n Cornhuskers fans know every team cheer, chant and song. The best-known cheer at CU is an eight-word diddy that includes two f-bombs.

I had always joked that Nebraskans so love their football team because their geographic misfortune leaves them little else to do. And that still may be the case, but I have a new respect for the greatest fans in college football. And in case they should forget, there are signs over every stadium entrance (“Through these gates pass the Greatest Fans in college football) reminding them of their place in our football-crazed country.

I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. And if I’m lucky, I’ll get to see it again.