26Sep, 2008

Breaking News Exclusive, Hannah Montana is NOT a Reality Show

Posted by Don
51

*****Breaking News*****Exclusive**** -Donmilleris has recently learned the popular reality television show Hannah Montana is staged. It is not a reality show. Like many Americans, I have been captivated by this program since it debuted in March of 2006, having experienced a long, boring wait for anything worth watching since the cancelation of the Osbornes, another reality show (we think) depicting an average American family. Many who read this blog will continue believing Hannah Montana is a reality show and the characters are not acting and the extreme tension on the program is not scripted. Please consider the following: 1.     The actress who plays Hannah Montana may also be popular singer Miley Cyrus. Note the following resemblance. Image One: Left, Singer Miley Cyrus, Right, Hannah Montana (Obviously the same person. In both pictures they are wearing the same string bracelet.) 2.     The character who plays the father on the supposed reality show Hannah Montana is not her father. Her real father is actually once-popular country and western sensation Billy Ray Cyrus best known for his hit single Achey Breaky Heart. Do you need more proof? How about the fact Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus have the same last name. And [...]

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22Sep, 2008

Barak Hardley Isn’t Sure

Posted by Don
66

Barak Hardley (left) after another plane crash. This one was during a flight over Antarctica where Barak was looking for “Zoo Animals.” My friend Barak Hardley contacts me about every three months. I met Barak in a pub in New Mexico, where he had crashed his plane in a field, stayed with firefighters while they put out the flames, then walked over to the pub (we were about one-hundred miles outside Santa Fe, in the high desert) and ordered a beer at the hotel bar. His pant-leg was burned from the crash and flames, but he didn’t want to talk about the crash. (It was the fifth time he’d crashed a plane. He just said he wasn’t a very good pilot and that “these things don’t work like cars.”) Within seconds, he asked what I did and I told him I was a writer and from that point on he wanted to talk about Steinbeck’s Travels with Charlie and whether or not the dog represented Marxist Lenninism, of which I am still uncertain, but Barak had some theories I found interesting. Regardless, since then Barak sends me cartoons he draws and asks what I think the social commentary might be. [...]

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19Sep, 2008

How You Can Help a Church Help Others in Houston and Galveston

Posted by Don
9

Friends here at the blog, I’ve been away, teaching a class in Central Oregon this week. I had a great time and it was good to teach again. I’d forgotten how much I like to teach and how much I enjoy interacting with students. Good stuff. But tonight, I came home and watched some recorded episodes of Nightline to see the City of Galveston, and much of Houston is still without power, and many people are as yet unable to return to their homes. Because my family weathered the storm well, my concerns for the area were lessened and I got lost in planning for my class. But the news revealed the city needs a great deal of help. The Red Cross is, as always, doing amazing work, and there are many more organizations doing great work down there. But I wanted to pass along a letter written by my good friend Chris Seay. Whenever people are in need, Chris and his church Ecclesia are quick to help. Literally, these are some of the hardest working people I’ve met. I spent a summer down there at Ecclesia and lived with Chris and his family for a month of that summer [...]

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15Sep, 2008

A Culture at War?

Posted by Don
76

As talking heads create tension in order to sell advertising in a twenty-four hour news cycle, we are beginning to hear the old phrase “culture war” once again. It had been a while since I’d heard the phrase, to be honest. But I grew up hearing about this supposed war and it brought to mind a paradigm that has become slightly foreign to me. It reminded me of a time I believed there was a large group of liberals attempting to do in my Christian way of life. As I got older, and met many of the supposed enemy, I found, essentially, the same personalities I’d experienced in my church upbringing, that is I found objective, rational people who were kind-hearted and other centered, even if they disagreed with the religious right. They were frustrated, sure, but most people maintained a balanced view. Were there fundamentalist liberals that could be categorized as extreme? Certainly. But there weren’t that many. But it was that kind of rare personality singled out by the media (including the Christian media) to paint a false picture of our culture and further increase the tension.  This dynamic applies to more than just political or cultural tension. Watching [...]

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10Sep, 2008

An Open Letter to Vince Young

Posted by Don
39

Dear Vince, You are one hell of a football player. I won’t forget anytime soon your years at Texas. I was holed up on an island in the San Juan’s trying to wrap up a book when you beat USC in the last few minutes of the game. A friend from USC was texting during the game and rubbing it in USC was going to win. I texted her back and said she shouldn’t be so sure. I watched you beat Oklahoma State earlier in the year and knew you stayed poised under pressure. You did it in Stillwater and you did it in the national championship. And I think you’ve got what it takes to do it again. Quarterbacks who succeed in college rarely succeed in the NFL. I could name a few who have failed, but why? You know who they are. I can’t imagine what kind of pressure an NFL quarterback endures, but it’s not any kind of pressure I have to deal with or, for that matter, any of your critics have to deal with. And who knows what else is going on in your life? It’s none of my business. I only know none of [...]

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