What In Tarnation?!?!?

Saturday I had an interesting dining experience.

This story, however, starts way back in December of 2000 when I graduated from college. Way back then my Dad promised me a visit to a unique restaurant in Missouri called The Caveman Steakhouse and BBQ. In the six years since, I have made several jokes about the promise that was made so long ago. He made good on the promise Saturday.

The Caveman Steakhouse and BBQ is located a couple of miles outside of Richland, Missouri. What makes The Caveman so different? The restaurant is located inside a cave. To read the history of the place a to see a few pictures visit this article at Ozarks Monthly Magazine.

To get to The Caveman you have to drive out into the middle no nowhere. Then when you get nowhere you have keep going on a gravel road. You keep going like this until you start to question your sanity. Finally you arrive at the parking lot which is really more of a field. A mini-van pulls up to transport you to the restaurant. We hopped in and the driver who had probably driven the skinny road a bazillion times and he spared no time or shocks to get us there. We passed some deserted cabins and pulled into a little tunnel. He let us off there and called the elevator for us. We rode the elevator up to the actual restaurant and were greeted by the owner. We were quickly (there were very few people there for lunch but we were told that it would be full that evening) seated and shown menus. Of course it was difficult to focus on the menu when you were sitting in a cave with all kinds of crazy decorations.

I chose the sampler plate with ribs, brisket, and sausage. The meal came with bread, salad, and green beans. Over all the food was average except for the ribs which were good. They were tender and had a nice smoky flavor. After signing the guestbook, chatting with the owner, and taking a look at the view of the Gasconade River, the owner called the mini-van to pick us up and we headed down the elevator. They dropped us off at our car and we drove back to civilization.

Overall it was worth just the experience of the place because I am pretty sure there is nothing like it.

If you live in the area you might try it out. And from experience, the directions at the bottom of the article are the best: (While we where there they got a call from someone using MapQuest directions and they were lost. The owner told the caller to throw that junk away)

Take Exit 150 off I-44, go north on Hwy. 7 and turn right immediately on Hwy. W. Travel about 5 miles to the T in the road, turn left and follow the signs.

Later taters!

First it was Pixar and now it is the M. Night Shyamalan movies. Here, I will only be listing the movies that I have seen. I haven’t seen Stuart Little, it won’t appear on the list. Neither will Wide Awake and Praying with Anger.

1. Signs (A)
2. The Sixth Sense (A)
3. Lady in the Water (B)
4. The Village (C-)
5. Unbreakable (F)

Leave your list in the comments. Fight!

I enjoyed Lady in the Water. It didn’t seem as tightly directed than his other movies. One things bugs me about all of his movies. He seems to request that all of his actors whisper. Drives me nuts. Enjoy the overly complicated bedtime story.

In Other News:

My favorite movie production company, Walden Media, really came through for me. As some of you might recall I had e-mailed them requesting movie posters. They really came through for me. They Fed Ex’ed me two packages, one full of movie posters including a poster for Hoot, Holes, How to Eat Fried Worms (Aug. 25, 2006), Bridge To Terabithia (to be released Feb. 2007!), Charlotte’s Web (to be released Holiday 2006!), Chronicles of Narnia, Because of Winn-Dixie, Aliens of the Deep (an IMAX film), and I Am David. They also threw in educators guides for all of those movies and an ink pen as well. In visiting their website, I got excited about some projects in development, specifically two children’s books that I really enjoy, The Giver and Dark is Rising. Then I read today on SciFi Wire that Walden Media is teaming with the director of the recent animated movie Monster House to bring to the silver screen another children’s book that I haven’t read yet but I have heard good things about, City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau. Now if someone would hand these good people a copy of Chronicles of Prydain and Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus…

And Now For Something Completely Different…

A funny litte Quicktime video of Star Trek TOS cast “singing” The Knights of the Round Table from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Believe me, it is a silly place.

WordPress Users:

A new version is out. 2.0.4. Fixes bugs and such. I upgraded, maybe you should to.

Yet Another Heading:

I will be taking off Monday to go to Centri-Kid with the children of my church. Our theme is For Here or to Go? My kind of theme. We will be attending at my alma mater Southwest Baptist University. I will probably have to stay in the girl’s dorm again. We are going to have a good time. Again my time to blog will be limited so again I have enlisted the multi-talented Anna to make a few posts for me. Hopefully the posts will be as entertianing as a van full of nuns?

See ya later taters.

Warning! E-mail forward headed your way! At least this one won’t clog up your in box.

Why Computers Sometimes Crash! by Dr. Seuss

If a packet hits a pocket on a socket on a port,
and the bus is interrupted at a very last resort,
and the access of the memory makes your floppy disk abort,
then the socket packet pocket has an error to report.

If your cursor finds a menu item followed by a dash,
and the double-clicking icon puts your window in the trash,
and your data is corrupted cause the index doesn’t hash,
then your situation’s hopeless and your system’s gonna crash!

If the label on the cable on the table at your house,
says the network is connected to the button on your mouse,
but your packets want to tunnel to another protocol,
that’s repeatedly rejected by the printer down the hall……

And your screen is all distorted by the side effects of gauss,
so your icons in the window are as wavy as a souse;
then you may as well reboot and go out with a bang,
‘cuz sure as I’m a poet, the sucker’s gonna hang.

When the copy on your floppy’s getting sloppy in the disk,
and the macro code instructions cause unwanted risk,
then you’ll have to flash the BIOS and you’ll want to RAM your ROM,
just quickly turn the darn thing off and run to tell your Mom!

Well, that certainly clears things up for me. How about you?

Thank you, Bill Gates, for bringing all this into our lives.

Later taters!

Day Two at ministry sites.

Previously on WIT?!?!?:
Special Mission

Our second day at ministry sites was in stark contrast to our relatively easy first day. Our first stop was a nursing home called Seabreeze. This nursing home didn’t have all the nice extras that the home we visited on the first day had and its residents were typically in much worse condition. Thankfully there were quite a few more residents here. I started talking to a resident who was unable to repsond though he did give me a few guteral sounds and grunts. The students sang quite a few songs. We had two students who were quite gifted with the fiddle and guitar which the residents really enjoyed. I was impressed with how the students jumped into talking with the residents. When our track leader was describing Seabreeze, he painted a very bleak picture. Most of the students commented that it wasn’t as bad as the picture that J-Little (our track leader’s nickname) had given. When we enter the facility we all entered through the front door. It can take a little while for a group of our size to get in. I was one of the last people to enter and just as I grabbed the door this horrific alarm. I immediately began to take inventory of metal items that I had on my person, maybe I had set off a metal detector. No it was an alarm on the door inicating it had been opened too long.

For lunch our team stopped in a nice little park in downtown Mobile and we ate with the pigeons and the wide variety of people who took lunch in the park. (Pictures of the park below.) While we were there, students shared extra lunch food with the homeless in the park. A few of our adults had a lengthy discussion with one homeless gentleman who shared his story of how he got to where he is.

Click for larger images.

After lunch we headed off to the site that I was most looking forward to: L’Arche. L’Arche is a faith based community for people with mental handicaps. The L’Arche in Mobile is located in four different houses in a two block area. In each house there were four residents and staff. Unfortunately because of the size of our group, only about ten people got to go visit with the residents. The rest of the group, including myself were asked to stay outside and do some work in the yard (our PCY experience). We weeded, trimmed bushes, raked leaves, and cleaned out a shed. I won’t lie, I was quite disappointed, that was the one site that I was really looking forward to but those of us outside were able to make the house to look much nicer.That was day two.

Later taters!

This one is from Jared who took the questions from a book meme. Maybe I will do the book one later.

1. A movie that made you cry
There are a few types of movies that get to me. Teacher movies, I will only watch Mr. Holland’s Opus by myself. Movies about people with mental disabilities movies, The Two Tower’s falls in this subsections of movies and Serenity when Wash is impaled. Oh, and The Passion of the Christ.
2. A movie that scared you
I can remember the first time that I watched Psycho. I was alone and it was on TV and it really unnerved me. Not much sleeping that night. I think the death of what appeared to be a main character before the movie is halfway over is just unsettling. Oh and ET. I am still scared from ET.
3. A movie that made you laugh
To numerous to list. however the kind of comedy that is kinda low-brow always gets me. I’m thinking movies with Steve Carrell, Will Farrell, JIm Carey, Zucker movies, Brooks Movies, but my all time make me laugh movie would probably be Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Like Psycho, that was movie that changed the way that I think about movies after I saw it. I also LOVE the Christopher Guest Mockumenteries like Waiting for Guffman, This is Spinal Tap,  A Mighty Wind, and Best of Show
4. A movie that disgusted you
I can’t watch a full Final Destination movie. Movies that are disgusting but I like would be Saw and Saw 2.
5. A movie you loved in elementary school
It sounds cliche but Star Wars was the end all. I don’t think I saw any of the original three in theaters but it was a red letter day when it was on TV. I also liked any movies that were based on cartoons that I watched on TV, Transformers, GI Joe, etc.
6. A movie you loved in middle school
None are coming to mind.

7. A movie you loved in high school
Autin Powers

8. A movie you loved in college
The Matrix

9. A movie that challenged your identity or your faith
Haven’t seen a movie that good.

10. A series that you love
Indiana Jones, The Lord of the Rings, the original Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter, super hero movies

11. Your favorite horror
Most recently the Saw movies, though the mother of all modern horror movies would still be my favorite.

12. Your favorite science-fiction
The first Matrix movie

13. Your favorite fantasy
LOTR and Harry Potter and Narnia

14. Your favorite mystery
The Game

15. Your favorite biography
Without a doubt Amedeus.

16. Your favorite coming-of-age
I don’t have a good answer for this. Potter again? Maybe Holes but I don’t think that is technically a coming-of-age story. No, I think I will say a newer movie: Millions.

17. Your favorite not on this list
Fargo, O Brother Where Art Thour, Casablanca, Citizen Kane… just take a look at this list that hasn’t been updated in awhile.

I want to hear about your answers. Answer in the comments or let me know when you answer on your blog in the comments.

Later taters!

I am going to finish up the mission trip posts but there have been some issues about getting those posts out.

Tuesday, the site wasn’t accessible. Why? There was a power outage where our server is located. The company was slowly moving servers to another building because the building my server was in didn’t have a functioning back-up generator. They hadn’t got to my box so out went the power and there was no back-up.

Right now there is a severe thunder and lightening storm going on and I don’t like being on computers during such things so I am going to finish this up and unplug the computer. Maybe tomorrow.

Later taters!

Riverside, CA; Nashville, TN; Charleston, SC; Denver, CO; Nashville again; and Mobile, AL. Those are all the m-Fuge camps that I have been to in the past six years. I have enjoyed each and every single one of them. I have grown from each and every single one of them. At each camp I have been ushered to the foot of Christ’s throne through teaching, preaching, reading, serving, and building relationships. A week at m-Fuge is exciting, exhilarating, and exhausting. You hit the ground running on Saturday (if you are a driver it is after a long day of driving, this year 13 hours, across two days). Sunday is training and Monday you are thrust into the mission field. For those m-Fuge newbies, this can be an eye opening and sometimes overwhelming experience. When students and adults aren’t at mission sites, they are in worship, bible study, or fellowships. There is a block of freetime right after ministries sites that lasts about two hours, however my track seemed to always be one of the last tracks back to campus so that time was more like an hour and a half. It was tough this year keeping up with all the activities and the online class that I am currently taking. Thankfully the rooms that we had on the campus of the University or Mobile had Internet access. There were two late nights as I quietly worked on assignments while trying to let my two roommates sleep. Despite that, it was all worth it.

I had an interesting experience on my track sites this year that I haven’t had before. When I got my assignment I was in a creative track, this would be a first if you didn’t count the year I was in the swing track which is a combo of all the tracks. When I got to my track room I and we got our itinerary it sounded like a combination of Creative and Social. During our morning celebrations we sat in social section. It seemed that our track had a bit of an identity crisis. Later in the week things became more complicated. The later in the week, the more and more my track looked like a swing track. To make things even more interesting our track was to visit two sites a day and we wouldn’t repeat any site. That would be eight different sites over four days. I think that is some kind of record.

Our first day on site was a nice easy step in to the activities of the week. The first site was Our Southern Home which was a pretty upscale retirement home. One problem here, however, our team of 20 or so students and adults walked in to see six residents sitting there. Made for a difficult ratio. We sang songs, painted finger nails and just talked with the six residents that where there. They didn’t seem too overwhelmed. The site was a good entry level service site. We had lunch at a local park and headed of to The First Baptist Church of North Mobile to play with their summer school kids. We had a fun yet disorganized time with the kids. Again this was not a difficult site but I really enjoyed talking with some of the kids.

Over the next couple of days I will talk about the other six sites that I got to visit. In the meantime you can take a look as some pictures from the trip.

Not everything was sunny and rosy but Pressed has already written about it at Avoiding Evil so I won’t rehash it here.

One thing that was different this year than in past was the last track time together. Normally students swap e-mail addresses and/or cell phone numbers but I didn’t hear a single student ask for either of those peices of information. Instead, those questions had been replaced with “Do you have a MySpace?” I do have a MySpace but I didn’t know the address of it so instead I gave a few folks the address to this site. So in the off chance that someone in my track drops by here, first of all, welcome, thanks for stopping in and yes, I do have a MySpace. It is here.

FYI today was the first day of VBS. This year’s theme: Arctic Edge. I am leading the missions time. I am tired but it is going to be good as well.

Later taters!

PS Thanks to Anna for posting some great posts. Hopefully she will make an appearance every now and then.

My coworker is constipated. I blame my near-fatal culinary adventure all on her.
That’s the setup for this post. She has gastrointestinal problems anyway, but apparently she’s really clogged this time. For some reason, I seemed to be either the only person in which she confided, or the only person brave enough to offer suggestions.

I told her to get some pancakes with lots of syrup…partially hinting that she would go to the Pancake Pantry for lunch and then invite me along. Well, she didn’t catch the hint, but after discussing pancakes for about half an hour, I was hungry. And though I wanted pancakes, I decided to get my second choice: a coney and slush from Sonic.

After checking around work to see if anyone else wanted anything, I headed down West End Avenue for Sonic. After driving for about 20 minutes, I realized something–there is no Sonic on West End Avenue. This is troubling because I’m pretty sure I ate at one on West End last month…but alas, apparently not. So by now, my tummy was really rumbling. I thought I’d get a chili and salad from Wendy’s. Sat at the drive-thru for another 10 minutes; didn’t move an inch. By now, my lunch hour had dwindled down to about 20 minutes, so I got out of line, back on West End, and continued my search for sustenance.

Schlotsky’s. Can’t go wrong with Schlotsky’s deli. Nope, can’t go there; oncoming traffic is monstrous and it’ll take another 5 minutes for the light to change so I can get a break. OK, Arby’s. It’s on the right side of the road, and I even have coupons–a rare occurence for Arby’s. On my way to Arby’s, I spy the purple letters of Taco Bell–and oncoming traffic has cleared! I zip into the center turn lane sans blinker (I know, I hate when others do that, but it is a special circumstance when tacos are involved). While preparing to whip my Impala into the Taco Bell lot, I see a sight that I’ve never seen before and hope to never see again: a minivan full of nuns not seeing my car in the turn lane.

The nun driving, seeing a break in the traffic, decides to gun it into the turn lane, still not seeing my car parked right there. I look over in time to see the reaction as the nuns realize my presence. The nun driving takes her hands off the wheel (yes, she’s the one driving!) and covers her eyes. The nun in the passenger seat’s mouth opens wide in a look of horror. Though I would’ve enjoyed observing the reflexes of the other nuns, I knew that my Impala was about to be broadsided by a minivan of nuns. And though it would’ve been their fault entirely, I wasn’t sure my story would hold up when the cops interviewed me. Somehow, it would be my fault. I don’t think nuns can get in trouble for traffic violations.

Seeing the impending accident, I accelerate my car just in time to get 8 feet past the Taco Bell exit before the Nunmobile has a chance to hit me. By this time, my pulse was racing AND my stomach was growling. I decided to just stop at the restaurant where my car had stopped: Mrs. Winner’s Chicken and Biscuits. Gross.

So I started out for pancakes. I hallucinated that there was a Sonic, then waited forever for nothing at Wendy’s. I passed on a turkey sammich at Schlotsky’s so I could get a roast beef sammich at Arby’s. I changed my mind and wanted Taco Bell. Then the nuns ruined my attempts and made me get chicken strips and cole slaw instead.

*sigh* And the guy at Mrs. Winner’s gave me the wrong soda, too.
Thanks a lot, coworker, for being constipated. That’s all I can say.