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Just the way I am not the biggest fan of soccer, but get excited about the World Cup and Eurocup, I am also not all that into American Football but try to make an effort to watch the Super Bowl each year. If I had grown up in the US I might have been a tad bit more interested in this version of football, but my guess is that I would still be by far most interested in basketball.

Another exception to my lack of interest in football is the college football rivalries, but predominantly those that involve the home team that doesn't suck big time. (The last qualification disqualifies Stanford for a couple of years that I was there, and UIUC for most of their history.) For the past two years I was able to experience the college football (and other) rivalries from a whole new angle. During these years I've taught at both DePauw and Wabash, and these two schools are very competitive with each other, on and off the field. Last year DePauw won in the very last few seconds of the game, with an amazing 47 yard field goal by Jordan Havercamp. Since Wabash had an impressive undefeated season this year, I was expecting that they may avenge last year's loss. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. The game became heavily lopsided in DePauw's favor from the very beginning, and even though Wabash made a courageous run in the second half, the ultimate DePauw victory was never really in question.

My own office building (Goodrich Hall) overlooks the football field, and ever since I accepted the Wabash job I was looking forward to watching the Monon Bell game from the third floor Physics labs. However, most people told me that watching a football game from a Physics lab is pretty lame, that you really need to be on the bleachers to experience the full excitement, so I balked and started watching the game with all the other students, faculty and alumni from one of the bleachers. However, since the game was going pretty badly for Wabash, and it was a freezing day outside, I reverted to my original plan and watched the second half from the labs. I tuned in to the internet radio, but that turned out to be a distraction since they were covering the game with a several seconds of delay. Despite the final outcome, I still enjoyed the whole experience. And at least Sharmin went home happy that day.

Posted by Bojan Tunguz at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

One of the greatest intellectual and spiritual discoveries of my first year of college was the "Confessions" of St. Augustine. We had to read them in my Freshmen Civ class, and the book instantly resonated with me and it made St. Augustine my favorite saint. Profoundly spiritual and holy while remaining eminently human and accessible, he combined the transcendental and imminent in a unique way. As a professor of rhetoric before becoming a bishop of Hippo, he had a special way with words that made many of his phrases into memorable quotes. If I had to choose a favorite one it would probably be 'You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.'

For several years now my thoughts have been very preoccupied with concepts of citizenship and what it means to belong to a particular state. Being a citizen of right country makes a profound impact on your life, probably more than almost any other biographical factor. And yet, we have very little choice in determining which country we would like to be citizens of. In the midst of all that, we Christians are constantly reminded that we are not to look for a permanent dwelling in any particular land or political order. We are all refugees – pilgrims on this earth headed for our ultimate destinations. However, this age to come has its ramifications in the here and now, and we are called to make a difference and already now work for those virtues and qualities that we expect to poses at our final destination.

St. Augustine was living and writing in the years that led to the end of the Roman Empire. That empire placed a very high premium on being a full Roman citizen, as opposed to being just a member of one of many of its incorporated peoples, lands or tribes. The Empire of St. Augustine's time had embraced Christianity, at least officially, but the battle for the hearts and minds of its citizens was far from over. So in the shadows of the crumbling, nominally Christian empire, St. Augustine set out to write his magnum opus, "The City of God." The book is a monumental work of theology. Its aim is to show, based on historical and scriptural evidence, how God's Kingdom is emerging in this world, despite all of the apparent setbacks and contradictions. Many of its sections deal with refutations of the pagan critics of Christianity. Even though none of those criticisms are relevant today, at least not in their original forms, it is enlightening to see how they formed a backdrop and a foil to the early Christian thinking.

So a little over a year ago I ventured out to read "The City of God." The book is almost 1100 pages long in the Penguin edition so it was a long and protracted journey. Eventually I started approaching it in a new way: as a guide to meditation and as a devotional work. I find that with that attitude I was able to make the most out of the experience. And when I finally finished reading it, I longed for more and wished to continue along the same path. Fortunately, St. Augustine was a prolific writer so I am sure that I will be joining him on another trip in a not too distant future.

Posted by Bojan Tunguz at 07:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The experience has become all too common these days. I would rent a movie, usually a thriller, a fantasy, or a suspenseful horror, one of those I found out about online. The title and the basic premise of the story seemed promising, and I would be looking forward to an hour and a half to two hours of suspending reality and indulging in an alternate world where strange things happen. And then, shortly after the movie would start, it would hit me: this movie, which is supposed to take place in the US or UK was filmed in Czech Republic. The tell-tale signs would be unmistakable: drab, old buildings and cityscapes, apartment furnishings and fixtures that don't quite belong there, extras that look quite out of place for the supposed environment, sad-looking little cars, and many, many other details. I think I am particularly susceptible to these things because it reminds me so much of the environment that I grew up in. Growing up in Bosnia a big part of the charm of American movies was the fact that they were filmed in America – a bright and rich place, where even the sidewalks were not ordinary sidewalks. When I first arrived in America I constantly had to pinch myself to get reassured that I was really here. I felt like I somehow entered a movie set. So now, living in America and watching American movies that are filmed in Eastern Europe has the opposite effect on me. I feel like a big part of the charm of those movies has been taken away. I find myself constantly straining to suspend the reality instead of having the movie do it for me in its own right. Needless to say, I don't enjoy watching those movies.

The reason why so many movies have been made over there is quite obvious. The filming and labor costs are so much cheaper. For a while Canada was serving that purpose, but now that Canadian dollar has surpassed the US one, a new filming location needed to be found. The problem is, Czech Republic is now a member nation of the EU, and the prices there are inevitably rising too. Soon enough, it will become most affordable and convenient to shoot American movies back in the US. And that, if you ask me, is a good thing.

Posted by Bojan Tunguz at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

On October 11, 2008, Barack Obama was walking and talking through a quiet Ohio neighborhood, answering questions from the passersby and trying to sway their vote. One of the people who happened to be there that day was Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, who later on became known as Joe the Plumber. He expressed his worry that under Obama's proposed tax regime he would not be able to afford his own plumbing business. To this Obama replied with by now four notorious words, that Joe should "spread the wealth around." These words were quickly picked up by conservative commentators, and Joe McCain had made Joe the Plumber one of the central topic of this year's last presidential debate. Consequently, poor Joe has not been able to avoid the spotlight for the past couple of weeks, and unwittingly became a fixation of all talk shows and pundits of one stripe or another.

Unfortunately, this sort of instant celebrity has its dark side. People willing to undermine the questions and ideals that Joe highlighted have rummaged through his past in attempts to dig up dirt on him and thus "discredit" him. Since when raising a simple, straightforward question has become a cause for discrediting? Furthermore, any expression of sympathy and affection for Joe has become a source of ridicule. Here is a no-nonsense all-American guy who is just trying to live the American dream, and people are getting all hung up on him. The sorts of responses that I've seen would make you think that he is serial killer or worse. And then there are those people who think that anyone who looks, lives and thinks like Joe is probably a racist. Some people really need to grow up.

Posted by Bojan Tunguz at 04:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I wish I could claim the following poem for my own, but it was passed to me by a friend. I don't know the original author, otherwise I would be more than willing to give the credit.

*************************************************************************************

Twas the night before the election
And all through the town
Tempers were flaring
Emotions all up and down!

I, in my bathrobe
With a dog in my lap
Had cut off the TV
Tired of political crap.

When all of a sudden
There arose such a noise
I peered out of my window
And saw Obama and his boys

They had come for my wallet
They wanted my pay
To give it to the others
Who had not worked a day!

He snatched up my money
And quick as a flash
Jumped back on his bandwagon
With all of my stash

He then rallied his henchmen
Who were pulling his cart
I could tell they were out
To tear my country apart!

'On Fannie, on Freddie,
On Biden and Ayers!
On Acorn, On Pelosi'
He screamed at the pairs!

They took off for his cause
And as he flew out of sight
I heard him laugh at the nation
That wouldn't stand up and fight!

So I leave you to think
On this one final note-

IF YOU DON'T WANT SOCIALISM
GET OUT AND VOTE!!!!

Posted by Bojan Tunguz at 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)