Normal Rockstar

Fat Pastors: Do As I Say, Not As I Do

I randomly came across this stat the other day and it forced to the surface some thoughts and feelings I've had for a number of years. Here's the stat:

- 73% of pastors are overweight with 50% more than 30 lbs overweight

This is a classic example of "do as I say, not as I do". From pulpits all across North America every Sunday congregates are warned of the dangers of alcohol, smoking, promiscuous sex, money, and - depending on the convictions or biblical interpretations of the one doing the majority of the talking - other sinful behavior (gossip, maybe?).

I will never forget my experience with one charismatic teacher who, being a good 80-100lbs overweight, justified his girth by saying, "Being from the south, I love food" while patting his round belly. The congregation gave him what he wanted - a loving, "he's a good ol' boy" chuckle - and he carried right along. The ironic thing was that in the following weeks he was absent from the pulpit because of various health issues, including a knee surgery that undoubtedly was required due to the excess amount of weight he was asking his knees to support.

I'll be honest: I have a hard time respecting a pastor who  vehemently speaks out against sin and ignores his sin of gluttony and overindulgence. It seems to me that the same biblical text quoted in support of not smoking or drinking - 1 Cor. 6:19, 20: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." - while dealing contextually with sexual sin, would apply here. I mean, if our bodies truly are a temple of the Holy Spirit, wouldn't it be appropriate that we take care of them and do everything we can to "honor God" with our bodies?!?

"But he doesn't have time to exercise or work out - he's too busy preparing for the sermon, visiting the sick, praying for the lost, going on missions trips..." Give me a break and stop making excuses for your fat pastor. If he's practicing what he's preaching, he'll MAKE the time, because he reads his Bible and understands that the way he treats his body - how he fuels it (food) and how he maintains it (exercise and rest) are acts of worship.

Do yourself and your church a favor and start holding your pastors accountable in the area of food and gluttony. It will pay off in the long run and add literal years to their lives.

Asparagus Makes My Pee Smell Funny!

Have you ever had this experience: you go out for dinner and eat a nice meal that includes asparagus. Upon arriving home you have to go to the bathroom, and you immediately notice that your urine has an extremely distinct, pungent smell - some have described it as musty, or like rotten eggs. Well, have no fear - you're in good company. And nothing is wrong with you. It appears scientists have been trying to answer this question for centuries: why does asparagus make my pee smell funny?

"The website WebMD blames this smell on the break-up of a chemical called mercaptan. That said, asparagus contains a half-dozen sulfur-based chemicals identical ones found in other such lovely smells as rotten eggs, garlic breath and skunk spray. There is some controversy in the scientific community over exactly which by-product, or combination of by-products, causes the asparagus urine smell. The first published study on the phenomenon, written in 1891 by a man going by the name of Nencki, found that the smell was caused by a metabolite called methanethiol. So far, this conclusion seems about as sound as any." (Click here to read the whole article.)

Another interesting fact is that scientists have discovered not everyone notices or even experiences the smelly pee phenomenon. It seems to be somewhat of a genetic trait - those of us who CAN spell it must be special, right?

Regardless, asparagus is a vegetable chock full of nutrients like vitamins A, B and C, as well as fiber; it is very good for you. If you are like me and your urine smells after eating it, have no fear: it is not harming you in any way, and there's nothing wrong with you. So eat on!

Coffee Drinkers Rate McDonald's over Starbucks

I have never been a fan of coffee (for many of the same reasons I don't like beer or alcohol - just doesn't taste good!) and the thought of paying exorbitant amounts of money for a daily fix of some "personalized" concoction from Starbucks always seemed silly. Well, it seems that Consumer Reports has backed me up - sort of. In a March 2007 study comparing  Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, Burger King, and McDonald's coffees, all  in basic black - no flavors, milk, or sugar - they found that McDonald's coffee was not only the favorite, but also the cheapest. My recommendations as a result of this study:

1. Kick the habit - drink water instead! It's much better for you.
2. If you MUST drink coffee, go cheap - it tastes better too!
3. Boycott Starbucks until they make their Wi-Fi free.

Of course, you and I both know that none of this is going to happen in the foreseeable future (especially #3)... but it's always fun to dream.

In the meantime, who can come up with the longest Starbucks order for a single drink? You have to drink it quite frequently for it to count. And once you've written your order, you'll need to translate it for the Starbucks illiterate.

Fondue for Two?

Thanks to the generosity of a friend, I was able to take my wife out for dinner the other night to a restaurant that neither of us had ever been to - The Melting Pot. It's one of those restaurants that you walk past and think dreamily, "Oh, I would like to eat there one day..." Well, our day came this week - and what a meal it was.

Their whole shtick is the fondue thing - so if you're not in the mood for a  leisurely paced meal, don't bother. It took us nearly two and a half hours by the time we left... but it was well worth it. We ordered the "Big Night Out", which meant we were served a 4 course meal: cheese fondue, salad, the main course, and a chocolate fondue of our choosing. On the right you see what all came with our main course... it was quite the meal. And dessert was definitely worth waiting for (in fact, we asked our server if next time we could have the meal backwards, starting with dessert! She laughed but didn't say no...) - we had a white and dark chocolate combo with crunchy peanut butter added in... wow. You can be sure that on our way home we were talking about finding our own fondue pot that has been buried in a closet somewhere...

So if you're looking for a night out to spoil that special someone, this would be a great option. They have been voted the #1 Romantic Spot for a number of years in a row and do it right - low lights, optional flowers at your table, tables for two that seat you side by side...

Can someone let The Melting Pot know I'm talking about them like this? Maybe they'll give me a discount next time we come in...

Bottled Water: Healthy or Simply Irresponsible?

The bottled water industry seems to have come under some serious fire recently, and - after finally pulling my head out of the sand and educating myself on some of the issues - for good reason. My bandmate Glenn was way ahead of me on this issue - he posted this back in May after having read this article in a Maclean's magazine.

Well, last night I read this article in the current issue of Fast Company and really had my bell rung. I was amazed to discover that in America last year we spent $15 billion on bottled water - more than iPods and movies combined. Senior writer Charles Fishman examines how complex the mix of social, environmental, and economic issues surrounding the water business can be. He points out the obvious - we don't really need bottled water! - but doesn't just go ahead and brand it as evil.

This was one of my favorite quotes:

"In San Francisco, the municipal water comes from inside Yosemite National Park. It’s so good the EPA doesn’t require San Francisco to filter it. If you bought and drank a bottle of Evian [for $1.35], you could refill that bottle once a day for 10 years, 5 months, and 21 days with San Francisco tap water before that water would cost $1.35."

Yes, I want to be a good steward of my environment - throwing away all those empty plastic bottles seems rather silly (not to mention the millions of dollars we spend importing water from other countries when we have more than enough here in America). But the thing that really gets me is how much we're spending - I'm spending! - on a product that, where I live, is both free and safe.

So - next time you see me with a bottle of water in hand, ask me if it's been refilled. It's such a small thing but can have such a great impact. Will you join me?

My First Swedish Chef Experience

If this guy is unfamiliar to you, you're missing out on some classic entertainment (ever heard of The Muppet Show?!?). Well, we had a fantastic Swedish Chef experience yesterday at the festival. We were served a three course meal - and boy, was it amazing! So good, in fact, that I had to take pictures:

1st Course
A piece of salmon, red caviar, Monkfish liver, stuffed calamari, and salad.

2nd Course
Potatoes grown by a local farmer, fresh aspaaragus, Shittake mushrooms, chicken stuffed with duck foie and figs.

3rd Course
A chocolate mousse dome with raspberry filling on a crunchy nougat base. (I was obviously so excited about dessert that I forgot to take a "Before" picture!)

Oh yeah - and the show went great too (after a meal like that how could it not be?!?)! The room was absolutely packed (people were standing outside the doors with the umbrellas up because it was still raining) and it was SO hot in there that the bottoms of my feet were sweating making it hard to keep my feet on the pedals (I drum barefoot - too much information?).

Needless to say, our second Swedish experience was just as memorable as the first and we look forward to returning at some point. On to Norway tomorrow!

One Last Martha Stewart Moment

Erin and I are on our way back home to Nashville today after having spent nearly a week up in Canada with my family. I've been focusing most of my time on hanging out with my family and on doing my part in consuming all the goodies mom made for our visit. Here is my last Martha Stewart moment as I give you another recipe from my childhood:

Butterscotch Confetti Squares

I could eat these all day. There's no baking involved and only 4 ingredients... what more could you ask for? Believe me - you can't have just one. These show up every time I come home - and I never complain! Click here for the recipe.

That's it - time to get packed up. If you try any of the recipes I've given you over the last couple of days, I'd love to hear how they turned out and what you thought... Happy eating! I guess I'll need to post about running next week so that I'm not responsible for significant weight gain in my readership...

Childhood foods

As I said yesterday, I'm home spending time with my family and not too focused on blogging this week. However, I do want to share a number of recipes with you (am I becoming Martha Stewart or something?!?) of goodies that were staples during my childhood. To this day, anything that involves chocolate and peanut butter is a winner in my books... we traced the following treat back to a recipe book from 1984.

Krispie Roll

My family did a lot of camping when I was growing up. With 4 kids, trips to theme parks or staying in hotels every night were not options... far too expensive. So we spent a lot of time in campgrounds tenting, or floating down rivers in canoes. We enjoyed the outdoors together as a family - I wouldn't give those times up for anything. One of the regular treats on these trips was the Krispie Roll. It was very easy to pack, really didn't need to be refrigerated, and kept for days on end. Try it out - I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed!

Click here for the recipe.

Home is Where the Food Is

I love coming home - I love my family dearly and because we live so far away from everyone else any time we can spend together is special time. My mom realizes this and goes out of her way to make sure that she can cram every childhood favorite food into our menu during the stay. So - seeing as we'll be here at home until Thursday - I thought I would highlight a few of my favorite desserts that we are enjoying this week.

PASKA

This is a family favorite. My mother has been making for as long as I can remember. It is basically a traditional Ukrainian/Mennonite sweet bread made at Easter. I remember taking a loaf in to my school for my class to share every Easter - it was a tradition that my classmates would look forward to every year. Obviously Easter has come and gone this year, but mom always keeps a couple of loaves in the freezer for when we come home. Click here for a recipe if you're really interested in trying it out...

What the World Eats

Japan:  The Ukita family of Kodaira City
Food expenditure for one week:  37,699 Yen or $317.25

Italy:  The Manzo family of Sicily
Food expenditure for one week:  214.36 Euros or $260.11

United States:  The Revis family of North Carolina
Food expenditure for one week:  $341.98

Mexico:  The Casales family of Cuernavaca
Food expenditure for one week:  1,862.78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09

Ecuador:  The Ayme family of Tingo
Food expenditure for one week:  $31.55

Chad:  The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp
Food expenditure for one week:  685 CFA Francs or $1.23

What's wrong with this picture? I think you can figure it out... These pictures and more are from a fantastic photo essay by Time Magazine - click here to see the rest of it.