How Did They Do That? (the hot dog)

While Dave is on vacation, here's something to ponder:

Did you ever wonder how they named the hot dog?

A guy named Feuchtwanger of Bavaria brought the sausage to America in the 1880's and began selling the frank in St. Louis. He offered the customers a pair of white cotton gloves to prevent them from burning their hands with each piping hot frank that he sold them. The gloves became too expensive to give out with each frank so he approached his brother-in-law, the baker, to come up with, you guessed it, a bun for that hot frank to fit in.

At the New York polo grounds vendors would sell these franks, luring customers by shouting, "Red hots! Get your red-hot dachshund sausages!"

In 1900, a sports writer in the press box during a game doodled a cartoon of a vendor selling these franks. He sketched a barking dachshund in a roll, and, not knowing how to spell "dachshund", he called it a "hot dog".

The name stuck, and there you have it, "the hot dog".

How Did They Do That? (houdini)

While Dave is on vacation, here's something to ponder:

Did you ever wonder how Houdini really got out of that crate underwater?

Houdini called this trick "My Challenge to Death". In case your not familiar with this: Houdini would sit, handcuffed inside of a crate and lowered down into the water's bottom. Then, after a minute,the crate was hoisted up out of the water with Houdini sitting atop of the crate uncuffed. His secret:

First, the handcuffs were fake, easily opened by a secret spring.

Second, he took with him a carefully concealed pair of nail cutters. As soon as the crate was underwater he would cut enough nails to push aside the lid. Once outside of the crate, he simply pushed the lid back in place.

About his death defying act, Houdini had said:

"It is necessary to preserve absolute serenity of spirit. I have to work with great delicacy and lightening speed. If I grow panicky I am lost."

And that's how the Great Houdini did it!

Irish Eyes Are Smiling

I've heard it said that,"It's not how you enter into this world,
but how you leave it."

Though we don't have any say on how we can physically leave this world or even choose when to leave (without doing harm to our self), we can however dictate how we can leave spiritually, or should I say "peacefully".

This past week our men study group at church lost another Elder Statesmen.One of the last true, down to earth Irishmen that I know; and known by me as Uncle Jack.

Uncle Jack left a lasting impression on me during my last visit with him. He had suffered a stroke and was in the ICU at the hospital. When I walked into the room he had a couple of women from church there, encouraging him with their voices as they sang hymns. Though Uncle Jack was kind of in a comatose state, he recognized me, and was fully aware of his surroundings. And even though he couldn't vocally express himself, he was trying really hard to sing along. In his spirit he was definitely singing.

For the few years of having him in our study group, he would often mention the many battles he had fought and conquered with diabetes. And all the while, you could see his love for God and his love for worshiping Christ.

Uncle Jack fought the good fight in faith, and continued to worship God amidst all of his struggles. What better lasting impression to leave on all of us; going out in a blaze of Glory!

A Feisty, Sarcastic Moses

"Lord,just kill me now and be done with it!"

Have you ever copped an attitude like this when going through a situation? Don't feel bad,Moses did too.

When you think of Moses in the Bible, I am sure this quote of his doesn't even come to mind at first. This is one of my favorite conversational pieces between Moses and God (Numbers chapter 11), after Moses finds out he's leading one massive headache called "The Israelites".

So Moses has been chosen to lead the Israelites to the Promise Land, and all that's been fed to them so far is a plant called coriander seed. The Israelites grumble and complain, and remind Moses that as slaves they were eating some mighty great food: fish,cucumbers,and melons. Amongst all of their complaining, Moses loses his cool with God:

"Why have you afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all these people on me?"

And then, look out, here comes the sarcasm:

"Did I conceive all these people as my own?"

"And where am I to get meat to give all these people? For they weep all over me saying,'Give us meat, so that we may eat!' I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me. If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now, if I have found favor in Your sight, and do not let me see my wretchedness!"

And of course, God had an answer for Moses' requests. He asked Moses to gather up 70 of the Elders of Israel so that He could pour out upon them the same Spirit that was living in Moses, so that these Elders might help Moses with his heavy burden, known as The Israelites.

Then God dishes it back to Moses, telling Moses to say to the Israelites they will have so much meat, it'll be coming out of their noses:

"Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. You shall eat not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have despised the Lord who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying,'Why did we ever come up out of Egypt?'"

And if you know the story, this was just the beginning of a long journey for Moses and the Israelites. A journey in learning to trust in God for their provision.

If you ever find yourself copping an attitude over a situation, remember:

God's grace is sufficient for all of your needs. He will provide what you have need of and will not let you bear the burden alone. No matter what that burden may be.

The Bicycle Thief

In the 1948 film The Bicycle Thief, Ricci and his family are living in Rome during the post-world war II depression. Ricci, in search of work, gets hand picked out of over a hundred men for a job, the only requirement is he needs a bicycle. During this era of depression in Rome, aside from public transportation the bicycle was the most valuable means of transportation, if you could afford one. Ricci, who had already hocked his bicycle once in order to buy food for his family, returns to the pawn shop to retrieve his bicycle. His wife brings with them all of their bedding materials to trade for the bike.

The next day Ricci starts his job, traveling throughout the streets of Rome hanging up posters (before billboards, advertisement was glued on walls of buildings).
During one of his jobs a teenager sneaks behind him and steals his bicycle. Ricci catches a glimpse of what the teen looks like,chases him but can't catch him.

Ricci notifies a policeman and gives a description of the bike and its serial number.
The policeman offers little hope of him finding it amongst the hundreds of bicycles in the city.

Ricci requests the help of some friends and the next morning they begin their search, Ricci's son Bruno assists him. Throughout Ricci's feverish search we see:

1. There are literally hundreds of bicycles in Rome, out numbering cars about 4 to 1,and on every street corner people are selling bicycles and accessories. Some bicycles are stolen and then stripped apart for parts, so it seems like it would be an impossible task to find a stolen bike. Ricci searches through many of the street vendors displays of bikes.

2. While walking with his son down one street after an exhaustive search, Ricci recognizes the thief talking to a homeless man as if they were friends. He confronts them but the teenager gets away from him again. Ricci presses on the old man for the whereabouts of the teen, but gets no answers. Not accepting the old man's unwillingness to help, Ricci follows the old man into a church. After a few squabbles within a church service, the old man gives him the slip.

3. Throughout Ricci's failed attempts at finding his bicycle, you can tell he's losing his cool and is becoming more and more desperate. He has it set in his mind that he must not fail,and does not want to fail in the sight of his son.

Ricci finally catches the thief, but without any evidence of the bicycle in sight, he has trouble proving to a policeman that the teen stole his bicycle.

At the end of a long day's search, Ricci and his son make their journey back home. Ricci is completely dejected at the loss of not only his bike, but now the sure loss of his job, and his failure in front of his son.

Ricci and his son Bruno make their way past hundreds upon hundreds of bicycles parked outside the soccer stadium. He sends his son home on the trolley, and in one last desperate measure decides to steal one of the bicycles. His son misses boarding the trolley and sees his father stealing the bicycle and then watches as his father gets caught. The owner of the bicycle refuses to press charges when he sees the boy, so the policeman lets Ricci go.

Ricci walks away in complete shame, his son Bruno following at his side.

Ricci, a once proud man who only wanted to provide for his family,let his desperation get the best of him. But I like the way this story ended: the son choosing to stick beside his father, even in his father's most desperate, shameful moment.