Surf The Friendly Skies?
By kirk noonan | May 8, 2008
This summer those who fly select airlines will be able to surf the Net. That’s a good thing for those of us who spend hours in cramped airplane seats waiting anxiously to get to our destinations and stretch our legs.
Or is it?
Providing passengers with Internet capabilities is akin to giving us a big screen television with unlimited channels and a remote. If flight attendants thought we weren’t paying attention to the pre-flight safety instructional while absent-mindedly flipping through Sharper Image catalogs, imagine what will happen when we can surf the Net.
Aye-yi-yi.
From the comfort of a miserable seat in coach at 30,000 feet, we will now be able to e-mail, shop, read the latest news, blog and probably even stream television shows as we jet across the sky to domestic and international destinations.
It seems just a few years ago I saw a throng of people gathering around another passenger who had a portable DVD player on his tray table. Everyone was astonished that such technology existed. “And it cost less than a seven hundred bucks,” the man said proudly. “But it’s totally worth it.”
Nowadays you can get on a plane and never utter a word to a fellow passenger if you’re not in a talking mood. Pop in your ear buds; bury your nose into your computer, magazine or book; pretend you’re asleep; or just do the burning stare technique into the headrest in front of you and most people won’t bother you.
Will Internet capabilities just be another excuse for travelers to ignore one another? Or will they bring people together as they travel and search the Web for the perfect toaster or latest score?
Who knows?
But if I’m the student of human nature I think I am I would lean toward us passengers becoming even more reclusive. Which is fine with me because I am not much of talker when I fly.
But what about those people who use flight time as an opportunity to share their faith? Will the Internet prove to be just one more obstacle to clear before they share the gospel? Or will they be able to parlay the new technology into genuine conversations about faith? I guess it depends on the person and his or her determination. But that’s just a guess. What do you think?
Spill the beans by clicking on comments (just a little below this post).
By the way: Simple Plan won’t post again until May 22.
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Good to the last drop?
By kirk noonan | May 1, 2008
Following is the lead line of a recent New York Times article: Starbucks, faced with a sharp drop-off in customers, reported on Wednesday that earnings declined 21 percent during the second quarter.
That is absolutely stunning news.
Who w
ould have thought that Starbucks would ever experience a sharp drop-off in customers? Then again, who would have thought gasoline would even come close to four bucks a gallon or the price of eggs would skyrocket or the housing market would plummet or flying would begin to move back to being for only those with large, disposable incomes?
Certainly not most people. If they had, many wouldn’t have operated with a no thought for tomorrow philosophy when it came to their finances. With blind abandon hundreds of thousands of homeowners liquidated the equity in their homes, took vacations they couldn’t afford, racked up huge credit card bills and bought vehicles that were way out their league. Countless consumers also didn’t give one thought to dropping four or five bucks a day at Starbucks either.
Now here we are. Inflation is making people reprioritize their needs and wants. Discretionary incomes have been zapped. People are beginning to watch their pennies and Starbucks is having a sharp drop-off in customers.
Excellent (not really).
Though it’s easy to point a finger at the government or big oil companies or food corporations for the current economic downturn maybe we should be pointing a finger at ourselves. After all, we’ve helped create the economic beast that is now feasting on our pocketbooks.
Topics: Media, Culture | 1 Comment »
What Does Oprah Want You To Believe?
By kirk noonan | April 17, 2008
Untold numbers of viewers can’t seem to get enough of their favorite talk show host Oprah Winfrey. That’s understandable.
Winfrey is everyone’s best friend. She’s easygoing, smart, wise, and imperfect, yet sure of herself. She’s also the kind of friend you could easily imagine yourself sitting down with and telling her all your secrets.
It’s easy to envision her empathizing with you and giving you sage advice. After all, she does that several times a week with famous people. If Angelina Jolie can open to Oprah, so can you.
Oprah is also rich beyond measure and does numerous good deeds throughout the world. But spend a few minutes watching her show and you begin to believe she lives in suburbia and shops at the SuperCenter with a fistful of coupons, just like you. Like I said, she’s very likable. So much so, you wouldn’t want to disagree with her for fear of losing a great friendship.
And then there’s her fame. Movie stars love her — so do politicians. She’s been in movies too. She promotes books and has her own magazine that she regularly appears on the cover. Who wouldn’t want to be associated with this woman?
It’s no wonder countless people would love to call Oprah their BFF (best friend forever).
But even better than all those admirable qualities is that she’ll share with you. Whether it be her friends, her feelings, her money or her ideas on religion and the way things should be. They’re there for the taking.
Currently, she is touting Eckhart Tolle’s book A New Earth. It’s not only one of her book club’s selections, it’s also the basis for a weekly Internet class on Oprah’s Website that she and Tolle are teaching. Required reading? You guessed it: A New Earth, which has been described by some as New Age thinking repackaged for the umpteenth time.
Recently, Roger Friedman, wrote Is Oprah Starting Her Own Cult?
Simple Plan wants your to answer Friedman’s question here.
Topics: Media, Culture, Entertainment | 1 Comment »
American Idol puts Jesus back into “Shout to the Lord”
By kirk noonan | April 10, 2008
Just watched the opening of AI tonight (Thursday) and the final contestants sang “Shout to the Lord” again. Jesus was back in the lyrics.
Topics: Media, Culture, Entertainment | 1 Comment »
American Idol gets religious?
By kirk noonan | April 10, 2008
“Shout to the Lord” by Darlene Zschech was sung as the grand finale last night on “American Idol’s” special “Idol Gives Back.” The use of the song and a questionable word swap have some Christians celebrating, others shaking their fists, and a few 
scratching their heads wondering what to make of such a cherished worship song being used in a music competition. Check out Going Up? for more on the debate.
Four years ago TPE interviewed Zschech. Following is an excerpt of that interview where Zschech talks about the place worship music should have in culture.
TPE: What’s your take on the popularity and commercial success of worship and how it is used?
ZSCHECH: I think we’re going to have to deal with a lot more of success. Christian music should be on the radio and on the mainstream airways. It’s not just for the church. It has the ability to draw people to the church because God’s presence is attached to it. It’s so inviting for the hungry heart of humanity.
Looks like she got her wish in terms of going mainstream.
To read the entire TPE interview click here.
Topics: Media, Culture, Entertainment | 1 Comment »
The Water Rant
By kirk noonan | April 3, 2008
Researchers now say drinking eight, eight ounce glasses of water a day might not be as beneficial as once believed. For years, it has been widely held that by drinking at least 64 ounces of water each day, a person could improve his or her skin and flush toxins out of his or her body. Unfortunately, according to recent research, there is little data to prove that drinking that much 
water really does the body all that good.
And that’s the rub with a lot of research — it’s vulnerable to being changed, updated, adjusted, redefined and tweaked.
Like research, the Bible has been criticized, questioned, scrutinized and attacked for hundreds of years by some of the world’s brightest minds. But the striking difference between the Bible and research is that the Bible remains intact and steadfast in the Truth it proclaims. It absolutely offers no revisions, corrections, tweaks or retractions.
Maybe that’s why the Bible drives researchers battier than Homer Simpson when he sees donuts or a vat of gravy. They can pick and prod the Bible, day in and day out, but they never make any real headway in dispelling the Truth it proclaims.
That must really hurt.
Though partial to the Bible, why gloat?
The Bible is what it is. And of course, research is what it is.
Which brings us back to the water. Maybe next year, researches will be touting the benefits of drinking eight, eight ounce glasses of water again. Until then, throw a little Red Bull or Mountain Dew into the daily mix and check out the Bible for yourself to see if it is as infallible as claimed here.
Topics: Media, Culture | No Comments »
Put the needle on the record
By kirk noonan | March 24, 2008
Explicit references to drug or alcohol use are mentioned about 35 times for every hour of music you listen to 
— if you’re listening to popular secular songs (as determined by Billboard magazine). This news, from a report in The Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, has some researchers worried that teenagers who listen to such music might fall into unhealthy patterns for the rest of their lives.
“While 15- to 18-year-old adolescents are forming health attitudes and behaviors that will last a lifetime, they are exposed to 2.4 hours of music per day,” according to the report. “There is convincing evidence that exposure to certain media messages increases substance use in adolescents. For instance, viewing smoking in movies prospectively predicts a substantial proportion of adolescent smoking initiation … Alcohol use in movies and promotions is also linked to actual alcohol use.”
The big deal?
The New York Times — who ran a story on the report — had this to say: “Adolescent exposure to music is much more frequent [than to movies], accounting for an average of 16 hours each week for music compared with about 6 hours each week for movie images, according to the study authors. But frequency of exposure is not the only factor. Unlike visual media, music is a powerful social force that also taps into an individual’s personal identity, memories and mood.”
Scary.
If you’re a teenager or have influence in a teenager’s life what is the best course of action when deciding what music to listen to or not listen to? If you ban it, what alternatives do you offer? If you don’t restrict or ban it, what parameters do you follow?
Looking for viewpoints and answers.
Topics: Culture, Entertainment | 1 Comment »
Stories to watch
By kirk noonan | March 19, 2008
Shack Daddy: College housing experiments gone awry?
“Gender-neutral housing” is a nice (and I guess politically correct) way of describing living arrangements at some of America’s universities. Plus, say some administrators, it can also shield institutions of higher learning from getting sued.
Pays to be nice
A new study suggests that nice guys do finish first.
Where are you getting informed?
Many print magazines are struggling as circulations drop and readers demand more instant information. Let Simple Plan know if you have ever picked up TPE.
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Heaps, hot rods and death
By kirk noonan | March 12, 2008
Boyd Coddington, a legendary hot rod builder and subject of the cable program American Hot Rod, died recently. The car builder who wore bright Hawaiian shirts and a baseball cap was a leader in the car customization industry.
I had never heard of Coddington until I saw an episode of American Hot Rod a few years ago. In the following months I became an avid view
er, which was surprising because I had never been an aficionado of cars — let alone hot rods.
What I loved most about the show was how Coddington and his crew could take a miserable heap and turn it into something absolutely spectacular. To do that, the crew would strip an automobile to its barest essentials before painstakingly designing, reconstructing, fabricating and assembling a far superior automobile than the one that was dragged into the shop.
No doubt there are countless spiritual analogies that could be drawn between the restoration of those cars and the work God can do in our lives, so I’ll let the reader draw his or her own conclusions. But it is worth mentioning we do have a choice in this life. We can choose to live life like we’re driving in a heap or we can ask a Master Designer to build us something spectacular.
Topics: Culture, Entertainment | 1 Comment »
Airport Blocks Porn
By kirk noonan | March 5, 2008
Denver International Airport offers free Wi-Fi to travelers, but there’s a catch. Airport officials have blocked Internet sites it deems provocative, according to an Associated Press report.
Officials say they have blocked the sites so they don’t have to deal with “angry parent whose children might see pornography.”
According to the article some critics are accusing the airport of using the same technology used by “repressive regimes in Sudan and Kuwait.”
Huh?
What do repressive regimes in Sudan and Kuwait have to do with free Wi-Fi and parents who get upset when their children are exposed to pornography at an airport?
It sounds like DIA officials are only trying to be good hosts to the millions of travelers, with kids in tow, who pass through its terminals.
Simple Plan wonders if the critics referred to in the article bust out the porn when children are present in their homes. Just guessing here, but most likely not.
And why not?
Because no matter what your moral code is, it wouldn’t be appropriate in the eyes of God, our society and probably the law in most states to expose children to porn.
Hopefully DIA stands strong and sticks to its new standard operating procedure regarding Wi-Fi. After all, people aren’t born with a right to free Wi-Fi served up just the way they like it.
Topics: Culture | No Comments »