BirkeyBlog

Around 1968-69, two guys in my old neighborhood returned from Viet Nam and purchased two British Triumph Bonneville motorcycles. I have vivid memories of them doing “wheelies” down the street in front of our house! I thought those were the coolest motorcycles I had ever seen and I dreamed of someday owning one. It’s funny how a childhood impression or memory can pop back to the surface later in life. I have no idea why this memory was so ingrained in me or made such an impression. It just did… and captured my imagination.

Last Saturday I went out riding on my Honda cb650, and returned home with a brand new 2008 Triumph Bonneville Black… a virtual copy of the two bikes from my childhood memory. This purchase was not planned - it just happened. Some may say that it was an impulse purchase or that I fulfilled a subconscious dream. I prefer to think that I made a rational decision based upon all the facts! Maybe I delude myself!

The reality was that the Honda was aging (1981 model), needed a growing number of major repairs, and even if they were completed, the bike would never be a very reliable mode of daily transportation. 4 carbs that all need to be in perfect sync is no easy task to maintain. On the other hand, the British Triumph Bonneville (made famous by actor Steve McQueen) was redesigned and retooled in the early 2000’s using modern engineering and manufacturing methods and has made a comeback as one the the most reliable, efficient and sought after motorcycles available today.

Now I can take longer trips with friends without worrying so much about a breakdown or repair. I can have more confidence in the machine responding to my braking and handling commands as I navigate through city streets and highways. I can also enjoy increased performance both with added horsepower and acceleration, as well as with fuel efficiency and economy (around 40 MPG on average). The 2008 model features a larger gas tank (4+ gallons) for an increased range of 160-200 miles.

This bike is an incredible joy to ride. I find that I am now watching the weather reports daily!

“Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values. It requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amenable to reason. I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, but if I seek to pass a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the teachings of my church or evoke God’s will. I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all.” - Barack Obama in a  2006 speech

Wow! Really? Yikes!

Books

• Going to the Root: Nine Proposals for Radical Church Renewal- Christian Smith
• Why We’re Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be - Deyoung & Kluck
• The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism - Timothy Keller

Articles/Papers

• The House Church: Non-Emerging Prototype in a Postmodern World > Addendum: Postmodernism & The Emerging Church - Del Birkey © 2008

Media

• Everything is Spiritual - DVD - Rob Bell
• Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed - Movie - Ben Stein

Podcasts

• Emergent Village
• Breakpoint - Chuck Colson
• Relevent Magazine

Recently Digested

• Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery - Eric Metaxas
• What a Difference a Daddy Makes: The Indelible Imprint a Dad Leaves on His Daughter’s Life - Dr. Kevin Leman
• Pagan Christianity?: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices - Frank Viola & George Barna

Music

Sorry for the recent silence. I took a trip to Spain, and was almost completely off-line and unplugged from most technology and the Internet! I spent 1-hour online between March 20, and 31st. It’s amazing what happens when you do this. Life slows down. You can actually think about things and reflect. I read two and a half books: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien (this must be about my 6th or 7th read of that), The End of Christendom by Malcolm Muggeridge, and Amazing Grace by Eric Metaxas. I have a few more chapters to go in Amazing Grace on the life of William Wilberforce. All are good and highly recommended.

We left Chicago on March 20th and traveled to Barcelona via London. There we met our college age son who is studying in Valencia this semester. We spent about three days in the Barcelona area, visiting many historic sites, staying with our fabulous guides, a missionary couple who are friends of ours and have lived in Spain for 25 years. We then traveled to Valencia and spent about three days in that area with our son as guide. Finally we all traveled by overnight sleeper train to Granada, exploring that ancient town that dates back to the Roman empire.

Finally, we said our “good byes” and split apart, us traveling to Madrid to return home via London, and our son traveling back to Valencia to finish his semester.

We must have walked a hundred miles over that 10 days… my legs are so tired! But it was worth it. Also took hundreds of digital photos, and even had time to do some sketching along the way. Pictured above is one I did in Granada while visiting the historic Alhambra palace site.

I love the Spanish coffee! They make a “café con leche” that is one half espresso, and one half steamed hot milk, and I add sugar. Muy Bueno!

I received a direct mail card advertising “A Comedic Cabaret Experience” at Davenport’s Piano Bar Cabaret in Chicago. The show is called “Hot Beans in Love” and claims to feature Kelly Bailey and Benjamin Nelson. However, on closer inspection… that’s not Benjamin Nelson… that’s David Hoy, leading worship at Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Park!

Seriously, Benjamin will be acting the part of “Benji Nelson,” life-partner to cabaret singer “Frankie Beans” in this hot n’ spicy production. The show starts on April 2nd at 8 PM, and continues through April every Wednesday night. Davenport’s is located at 1383 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago and you can get more info on their website.

You can also get much more information about the show at the Hot Beans show blog site.

I plan to check out the show myself.

My third son Marshall left yesterday for Valencia, Spain, where he will spend his next semester of college studying the Spanish language, history and culture. I am happy to report that he arrived there safe and sound today! Apparently he is staying near the lower right hand corner of this photo of the Valencia soccer stadium! Marshall has started a blog to chronicle his adventures in Spain, which can be accessed here: http://valenciamericano.blogspot.com

His mom, sister and I plan to visit him there during Spring Break in March.

Marshall is a Junior at Grove City College in Pennsylvania, with a double major in Business/Economics and Spanish.

A friend of mine named Steve Tanner heard a radio spot announcing “sweet tea” coming to McDonalds! He asked me to do a review of this new beverage for is website called Beverage Review.

You see, Steve knows that I am a “sweet tea” connoisseur given my birth and early years as a southern boy (South Carolina). My family adopted southern sweet tea as our family beverage and I grew up drinking it and making it. I have a secret sweet tea family recipe that I really like. We’ll have to see how the new McDonalds product stacks up to “Birkey Tea.”
Apparently McDonalds has already launched this product in the southeast states (including South Carolina). It is part of a new trend to offer more cold drink choices. See Article in Crain’s.

I visited the McDonalds on Lake Street in downtown Chicago today looking for the “sweet tea” - only to discover they don’t have it yet! Apparently it requires a new machine that has not been delivered yet… “Check back next week!”

So, as soon as I get my hands on this new product, I plan to consume it and write a review for Steve at Beverage Review.

I’ve redone my former birkeyblog website into a new one powered by WordPress. The old one was hosted under my Apple .MAC account using a software product called BlogStudio. This new WordPress site gives me a lot more control and access to cool new features that I’ll be adding over time.

Many of my old posts do not show up properly yet. I will be going through each one to clean up the code and make them work. Give me some time, and it will all be back, better than ever. I hope you like it!

I am now officially a “biker” (as in motorcycle owner and rider). I had been contemplating and talking about getting a motorcycle earlier this year when gas was at an all time high. A co-worker heard me and said he had a motorcycle sitting in his garage he was thinking about selling. We talked and made an agreement. It wasn’t running at the time, so he brought it over in a trailer. I replaced the dead battery and tried to fix the charging system. It took a couple more months to get it running well with help from the mechanics over at Motoworks Chicago. It is now running very well… thanks Johnny!

It also took me a few weeks to get all the title and license transfers done, taking the written and riding tests for an “M” license at the Secretary of State. I also had to buy all my safety gear: helmet, gloves, jacket, pants, saddle bags, bungie net, and I already had the boots!

So, I am finally a fully legal biker with all the recommended safety items. Last week I rode it to work a couple days. I plan to get in a few more times as the weather permits. It’s a really nice size bike. Not too big, and not too small. Easy to handle, quick, and not overly loud nor vibrating too much.

Over the winter I plan to get a tear in the seat fixed, and potentially to replace head gaskets that leak oil ever so slowly. I may also replace the exhaust system.

Loads of fun!

Back in the years when I was a full-time freelance illustrator, a friend of mine named Dwight Nelson (a product packaging design manager for Quaker) referred me to Connie Koralik, who became my artist rep and a friend.

Some years ago, Connie and her husband, photographer Robert Keeling, moved to the beautiful Galena Territory area of Northwest Illinois, and purchased a piece of property which they have turned it into a fabulous vacation rental property, available to appropriate couples, families, etc. It’s a perfect distance from Chicago, and gets you into an area unlike most of Illinois, with rolling hills, wooded farms, open fields, and wildlife.

I highly recommend that you consider this location and property for a weekend getaway, or an extended vacation. Check out the “Galena Louise” website at http://www.galenalouise.com for info on rates, reservations, amenities, etc. Then give Connie a call and tell her that Randy sent you!