VeggieTales creator discusses bankruptcy, start of new venture JellyTelly in interview

Paul O’Donnell, Idol Chatter

Funny post-recession corporate logos

Business Pundit (HT: Kem Meyer)

‘The Microsoft of Altar Bread’

Read a story in the Boston Globe about the Cavanagh family, which produces 80% of the (manufactured) communion wafers sold in the U.S.:

“The company’s manufacturing floor is a humming assembly line of weird, Willie Wonka-like machines. Contraptions custom-built by the Cavanaghs will thud, click sharply, and whoosh at odd intervals, like the percussion section of a highly experimental jazz band.
 
This effort goes to make one of the most revered products in the world, which faithful members of the Catholic Church believe will become the body of Jesus Christ.”

[Insert liturgy-bread pun here.]

(HT: Mollie at GetReligion)

CCM: good, bad, or no longer worth talking about?

Two months ago, Russ Breimeier at Christianity Today suggested that there might be some weight behind the criticism contemporary Christian music (CCM) has received of late:

“People often tell me that they can spot a Christian song even before the lyrics start. It’s not as much an issue of lyrics or even production quality as it is of artistic or stylistic quality.”

Then David Sessions piled on at the Patrol blog, last month:

“It really is a shame that we missed the memo, because dude, this is totally like what we specialize in. Here’s how I would describe it [CCM's signature sound]: utterly and completely soulless.”

Now, Jared Wilson has expressed his disdain for Sessions’s disdain:

“Anyone else think criticizing CCM has jumped the shark? Find something else to whine about, whiners.”

Re-thinking America’s economic habits

At the Center for a Just Society website, Mark T. Mitchell, Associate Professor of Government at Patrick Henry College, offers “Ten Questions and a Modest Proposal,” in response to the recent economic crisis.

An excerpt:

“2. The bailout was ostensibly necessary to protect our ‘American way of life.’ That such a reason was offered without justification indicates that our way of life is an axiom that must be assumed but never questioned. But is it too much to consider, if only for a moment, that perhaps our way of life is precisely the problem? Of course, a way of life is a complex thing, but insofar as the “American way of life” consists in living beyond our means, it is unsustainable. To the extent that consumer credit is at an all-time high and personal savings is at an all-time low, the ‘American way of life’ is irresponsible.”

(HT: Acton PowerBlog)

Eye-opening: “What if Starbucks marketed like a church?”

(HT: Jonathan Ignacio)

Thoughts:

• This makes several good points – but …
• Would it not be equally troubling if the church marketed just like Starbucks? What would that look like?
• It’s Americano, not ‘Americana‘ (FYI, if you want more bang for your buck, the Americano is the way to go: it’s cheaper than the latté but has an extra shot of espresso [100mg caffeine])

- HC

Q: What’s special about this (recently photographed) McDonald’s hamburger?

A: It’s twelve years old.

(HT: Jonathan Ignacio)