conquering applebees for the Kingdom!



after a vigilant debate between me, myself and i,* the boston cohort has decided to leave the crammed, loud confines of bukowski’s behind.

thus, beginning this month, the cohort is going to connecting at the applebees at the prudential center (105 huntington ave, boston, ma 02199). we hope that this location will be more conducive to conversation and, by the grace of God, we are hoping to restore a little luster to the once great, applebees name.

so on tuesday august 29th at 7 pm we hope you can join us for awesome blossoms, sub-par service and engaging stream-of-consciousness musings on the Kingdom and mission of God. if you have any questions about our gathering, feel free to contact me at gentry13@gmail.com

* nobody else dared offer an opinion.

mid-afternoon time waster: "that movie is completely underrated!"



a couple of weeks ago kellie and i stumbled in the soon-to-be-closed video smith and started buying used DVDs that probably cost us more than new copies would have cost on amazon. anyway…

after we picked up a couple of new favorites including walk the line, sideways and good night and good luck, i found a copy of wonderboys an under-appreciated jewel from the bright, buoyant days of 2000.

since our purchase, i’ve watched this film twice and i still can’t quite explain why i love it so. sure, the cast, which features the enchanting frances mcdormand along with a couple of other people you’ve probably heard of, is fantastic, the dylan infused soundtrack is inspired, the dialogue is catchy and the natural contextualization of the scenes is absolutely perfect,* but in the end i think i love this movie because it is as quirky as a stream-of-consciousness short story** and it focuses on – an admittedly strange as hell – mentoring relationship between professor tripp and james leer.

i’d love to say more, but I’m out of time and doing the movie a grave injustice. So just see it, will ya? and take a moment to let us know about additional underrated flicks we need to see.



* if you ever check this flick out, and you should, note how snow and rain reflect and amplify the emotional content of particular scenes.
** it was originally written by michael chabon, whose books i keep meaning to read.

i tagged kellie*

1. one book that changed your life: Descent into Hell by Charles Williams. This fantasy by the "unknown" Inkling presents escapism as evil & sacrifice as love. I was on my knees, crying after I read it.

2. one book that you've read more than once: The Book of Sorrows by Walter Wannegrin. This is my go-to book when I am down. The story of the prevailing community and love of the Church always gives me the strength to go the extra mile.

3. one book you'd want on a desert island: Robinson Crusoe for obvious reasons.

4. one book that made you laugh: Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year by Ann Lamott. I think she expresses my anxieties about being an "adjusted" parent quite well.

5. one book that made you cry: Both #1 & 2 above. #2 makes me cry every time.

6. one book you wish you had written: Lilith and Sir Gibbie by George MacDonald. I'm in good company here as Lewis Carrol & C.S. Lewis were also dedicated to MacDonald's work.

7. one book you wish had never been written: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Bad, bad educational experience.

8. one book you're currently reading: Just finished Shoeless Joe by Kinsella over the weekend. Haven't picked up another yet.

9. one book you've been meaning to read: Vegetables Love: A Book for Cooks** by Barbara Kafka & Christopher Styler. When we go to B&N, I always skim a pile of cookbooks. This is the next on my list to buy.


* but not in that way. well, not here anyway...
** whew. i am so glad this book is not about some unspeakable fetish.

mid-morning time waster




early this morning, cnn reported that tom chaplin, the lead singer of keane, was entering drug and alcohol rehab and the band’s current tour is being scrapped.

however, the word on the street is that the story is a little more complicated than keane’s website or cnn is willing to report. i’ve heard that the keane star is really taking a hiatus for one of the following reasons.

a) he is desperately searching for another popular artist that keane can ape.

b) he is flying to houston, texas where he and his buddy bart millard of mercy me will be undergoing gastro-intestinal bypass surgery.

c) he really is undergoing alcohol and drug treatment, but instead of entering the betty ford clinic and undergoing traditional treatment he will be participating in the non-traditional, organic treatment program that is offered at the white whale in beverly, massachusetts.

when you get a free moment, please scour your sources to find out which one of these reasons is true. once we’ve gathered a bit of evidence, i’m planning to pen a provocative muckraking peace that will be published in us weekly.

five minute movie review: little miss sunshine





late Saturday evening, after a ball-breaking day of work, cade and i decided to go to the movies. although we planned to see talladega nights or perhaps catch a second screening of clerks II, when we saw little miss sunshine was playing we couldn’t help ourselves.

as we were sitting down i told cade that my expectations for this film were fairly low. although the cast was intriguing and the buzz was significant, i was afraid that this flick would be an overly sentimental, pseudo indie which would utterly fail to fulfill its potential.

fortunately, i was wrong. little miss sunshine is a brutally funny take on individual dreams, how we cope with the death of such dreams and how, mysteriously and unexpectedly, community holds our fractured individual lives together. i would love to say more, but my time is up.*

okay, i’ll say two more things. this film provides further evidence that beauty pageants, especially for little girls, are the most fucked up form of competition this country has to offer. furthermore, although she is only one member of a superb cast, toni collette smokes everyone off the screen. it’s just a matter of time before she wins an oscar.

* and then some. hopefully i’ll find some time to do some real writing in the near future. until then, thanks for your continuing patronage.