In Praise of Mandy Patinkin: Pop Culture As Spiritual Practice I can remember Mandy Patinkin in various movies of the week on broadcast TV when I was small. Let me say that I definitely grew up with his work, and if it could be said that I love him in a real way, I do.

. @kettingerjason: "I can remember #MandyPatinkin in various movies of the week on broadcast TV when I was small. Let me say that I definitely grew up with his work, and if it could be said that I love him in a real way, I do." https://ofb.biz/sa1411

#PrinceessBride #movies

A Perfect Break from the World If the art form known as anime received the attention and credit it deserves, you would already have heard of a series called “The Holy Grail of Eris,” or in romaji Japanese, Erisu no Seihai.

Dennis E. Powell writes, "If the art form known as #anime received the attention and credit it deserves, you would already have heard of a series called 'The Holy Grail of Eris,' or in romaji Japanese, Erisu no Seihai." https://ofb.biz/sa1413

My Internet Is Reliably Unreliable. Is God the Same Way? My internet is reliable. Reliable at going down at 7 p.m. every Monday night for years. That’s unfortunate given that I preach a livestreamed sermon every week at that time.

.@trbutler writes "My internet is reliable. Reliable at going down at 7 p.m. every Monday night for years. That’s unfortunate given that I preach a livestreamed sermon every week at that time." https://ofb.biz/sa1412

A Farewell To Arms: Love In The Shadow Of Death A Farewell To Arms is about as positive as Hemingway is going to get. Frederic Henry is the American protagonist wounded while serving as an ambulance driver. A lieutenant in the Italian army, he lets us see World War I through his eyes.

.@kettingerjason: "A Farewell To Arms is about as positive as Hemingway is going to get. Frederic Henry is the American protagonist wounded while serving as an ambulance driver. A lieutenant in the Italian army, he lets us see World War I through his eyes." https://ofb.biz/sa1409

#Literature

Decimated! The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, it was obvious, wanted to be as far away from this stinker as he could get. He didn’t, it seemed, want to be soiled with whatever the Secretary of Defense (“secretary of war” in his own delusions of grandeur) had been rolling in.

Dennis E. Powell: "The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, it was obvious, wanted to be as far away from this stinker as he could get. He didn't, it seemed, want to be soiled with whatever the Secretary of Defense had been rolling in." https://ofb.biz/sa1410

#Iran #America #POTUS #DonaldTrump

Dennis E. Powell writes, "The mood in the CBS Radio Networks newsroom was grim, depressing, and tense. [...] Many, including longtime employees who didn’t accept the buyouts (or ones who for some reason weren’t offered them), were laid off, never to return." https://ofb.biz/sa1406

#News #Media […]

Dennis E. Powell writes, "The mood in the CBS Radio Networks newsroom was grim, depressing, and tense. [...] Many, including longtime employees who didn’t accept the buyouts (or ones who for some reason weren’t offered them), were laid off, never to return." https://ofb.biz/sa1406

#News #Media […]

Dennis E. Powell: "You might have heard of an article published by Reuters late last week in which after extensive research and what I guess they’d call shoe-leather detective work they identified the famous British stencil-graffiti artist known as ‘#Banksy.'" https://ofb.biz/sa1404

#Art […]

"If you’ve been conscious at all the last 10 years or so, it’s been pretty tough in #politics. Many people think they cannot have a conversation across the political aisle, so to speak, without harming or ending friendships, and even family relationships." https://ofb.biz/sa1403

#USPolitics […]

Beyond the Verizon It was among the most welcome phone calls I’ve ever made. The call was to Frontier or Verizon or whatever it is they currently call themselves. I was calling to tell them that after 21 years, one month, and five days I was done with what in my estimation is the worst phone company ever.

Powell: "It was among the most welcome phone calls I've ever made. I was calling to tell Frontier or Verizon or whatever it is they currently call themselves that after 21 years ... I was done with what in my estimation is the worst phone company ever." https://ofb.biz/sa1402

“Two esoteric programming events bubbled up this past week. If you’re not into #computerScience, they may appear irrelevant to you. They’re not. The arcane managed to bring to life our pressing questions about whether #AI can create or is a regurgitation machine.” https://reviews.ofb.biz/sa1401 […]

Dennis E. Powell writes about an ugly #scam: "Instead of describing how well my cool new Starlink-based phone-internet setup is coming together, I'm obligated to detail how I fell for a swindle so obvious that there's no escaping the fact that my mind must have got disengaged for a while." […]

At Arms Over Anthropic Remember when everyone on the Right was rightly upset at the government censoring opinions it found distasteful? Somehow that seems forgotten in the other war of this weekend.

Remember when everyone on the Right was rightly upset at the government censoring opinions it found distasteful? Somehow that seems forgotten in the other war of this weekend. #AnthropicAI and #DeptofWar's #PeteHegseth. #AI #FreeSpeech https://reviews.ofb.biz/sa1399

@HolosDiscover follow

When You Wish Upon a Starlink It seems that the sycamore has been granted a reprieve. For now. The great and awful tree had been destined to attain horizontality as soon as I could find someone who would do it. That was necessary to give my cool new satellite dish a clear view of the sky. The tree is still under a death sentence, but the latest and most urgent reason for sending the thing to the wood-chip pile seems not to have existed at all.

Dennis E. Powell writes, "After experimentation I've come to the conclusion that #Starlink is actually *underselling* how good its system is. As to its price . . . that seems oddly fluid, and not in a good way." https://ofb.biz/sa1398

This week, @trbutler writes, “A few hours away from me you can visit Silver Dollar City — a scenic, wooded theme park in the Ozark Mountains where craftspeople blow glass and mill flour 19th-century style. It’s charming and memorable. It’s also not the way I buy glassware or food normally.” How […]

The Quintessential American Writer: Ernest Hemingway Ken Burns and Lynn Novick once again give us compelling entry into one of the makers of the American century in the documentary Hemingway. The writer Ernest Hemingway lived alongside the avatar of the same, through some of the most consequential times in history.

The writer Ernest Hemingway lived alongside the avatar of the same, through some of the most consequential times in history. @kettingerjason reflects on this #AshWednesday. https://ofb.biz/sa1395

.@trbutler on #Budweiser's #SuperBowl triumph amid #AI backlash: "I get it: it’s beautifully filmed and feels good when so much is angry, ugly or both. It is also real to a surprising degree ...] filmed with cameras, not constructed with computers." [https://ofb.biz/sa1393

#CGI #JurassicPark […]

Australian Open 2026: Alcaraz and Rybakina Triumph In The Shadow Of Legends The gala which precedes the tournament is not a ball, but exhibition tennis, which featured legends Roger Federer, Andre Agassi, Patrick Rafter, and 2022 women’s champion Ashleigh Barty. Long-time OFB readers will know how much seeing Federer again means to me.

@kettingerjason: "The gala which precedes the tournament is not a ball, but exhibition tennis, which featured legends Roger Federer, Andre Agassi, Patrick Rafter, and 2022 women’s champion Ashleigh Barty..." https://ofb.biz/sa1391

#Tennis #RogerFederer #AndreAgassi #PatrickRafter #AshleighBarty

Fighting Ice As it turns out, if it snows a lot, then rains a little on top of it, it won’t go away until things get warmer.

Dennis E. Powell writes muses amidst the cold, "I won't be able to say for sure until things get warmer, if they ever do. Hope is found in it always having gotten warmer before. But we live in strange and troubling times." https://ofb.biz/sa1392

#Weather #Politics #Winter #2026

My latest @OFBMag: “The political forces tell us we must choose. Either the ‘#ICEstapo’ executed a heroic nurse this weekend …] or #ICE is the most elite law enforcement agency ever assembled and anyone who dies had it coming...” [https://ofb.biz/sa1389

#ICE #DonaldTrump #Uniparty #Politics […]

- Open for Business Are you happy with 2026, now that the first month is almost half over? Me neither.

Dennis E. Powell reflects on the year that already feels long: ”Are you happy with 2026, now that the first month is almost half over? Me neither.” #Venezuela #Greenland #ICE #DonaldTrump #JDVance #MarcoRubio https://ofb.biz/sa1386

Farewell, Mike Tomlin: Faith, Family, And The Pinnacle of Sports Just hours ago as of this writing, Mike Tomlin, head coach of the venerable Pittsburgh Steelers for the last 19 years, resigned. He coached them to a Super Bowl championship after the 2008 season, and represented the AFC in the Super Bowl after the 2010 season.

#MikeTomlin, head coach of the venerable Pittsburgh #Steelers for the last 19 years, has resigned. He coached them to a Super Bowl championship after the 2008 season, and represented the #AFC in the #SuperBowl after the 2010 season. https://ofb.biz/sa1385

#NFL

The Soul of a Cat Simba-sama made it to 2026, but just barely. It matters. His real name was just Simba, but he was wise, so it made sense to add “sama,” an honorific signifying high rank and wisdom, to that name. “Sensei” would have worked, too, because he taught the several other cats in Risa’s house how to be cats.

"Simba-sama made it to 2026, but just barely. It matters. His real name was just Simba, but he was wise, so it made sense to add 'sama,' an honorific signifying high rank and wisdom, to that name." https://ofb.biz/sa1384

#CatsOfMastodon #Cats #Death #NewYear2026

On The Contrary: “Hook” Is A Great Film Hook, the absolutely star-studded film directed by Stephen Spielberg, has received mixed reviews from critics since its release in 1991. I still can’t figure out why. One could have given the Academy Award for Best Actor to Dustin Hoffman, and Best Supporting Actor to Robin Williams.

"Hook, the absolutely star-studded film directed by Stephen Spielberg, has received mixed reviews from critics since its release in 1991. I still can’t figure out why." https://ofb.biz/sa1383

#Movies #MovieReview #PeterPan #Disney

Dennis E. Powell writes, “Just over a year ago I got my #Unicomp #ModelM Mini, a newly manufactured version of what is in my estimation the best computer keyboard ever, the #IBM Model M #SSK. …] I wrote a bit about it at the time. It is the only keyboard I have used since then. It has been a […]

Timothy R. Butler Pastor, @littlehillschurch and @faithtreecf (outreach ministry). Editor, @ofb. Shakespeare lover, Apple/*nix geek in #StLouis #Missouri. #Christian #ChurchHistory #Reformed #Theology #Aquinas #Shakespeare #Photography #Technology #Apple #Linux #Perl Tags for Fediverse tools: #Searchable #fedi22

“Ahead of Christmas, I heard a lot of ads for a company that digitizes old photos and videos to keep them secure],” @trbutler writes. But security is an elusive thing with data and with life. https://ofb.biz/sa1381 #TwelveDaysOfChristmas #NewYear2026 #Christianity [#Jesus

Dennis E. Powell writes, “Has there ever been a less Christmas-y Advent? I sure can't remember one. Even during times of great sadness and crisis, we've always allowed -- I daresay welcomed -- the season to comfort and encourage us.” https://ofb.biz/sa1380

#Christmas #Advent #News #2025 […]

Mystery Ahead of Christmas Every year, OFB’s Tim Butler assembles a Twelve Days of Christmas booklet to help anyone interested in meditating on the miracle of Christmas over that season between December 25 and Epiphany. This year’s booklet is the Kings Before, looking at Old Testament kings and what they do to help us understand who Jesus is. The first day’s reading appears on this page exclusively ahead of the full release on Christmas night.

Christmas Day has passed, but the Twelve Days of Christmas are just beginning and our @trbutler has just the thing for you to help savor the time ahead. https://ofb.biz/sa1379

#TwelveDaysOfChristmas #Christmas #Epiphany #Christianity #Devotional #BibleStudy

Dennis E. Powell reflects re: #POTUS, etc.: “The last week has been like one of those bizarre times in which you notice that nothing makes any sense, so you must be having a dream. With that realization, you awaken. Except that for the last week, it has been no dream.” https://ofb.biz/sa1378 […]