MadMania

Faith, Books, and Stuff

8 Cardinal Virtues of George Washington Carver

The world is a better place thanks to George Washington Carver, and not just for his brilliant invention of peanut butter. The following is excerpted from a thank-you he wrote to the members of his senior class at the Tuskegee Institute: “…it is needless for me to keep saying, I hope, except for emphasis, that […]

Review: Ladyhawke

Heather and I both remember loving this movie, and we rented so we could watch it with the girls. It was not the best around. The movie was directed by Richard Donner (Superman, The Goonies), so I was expecting better. Matthew Broderick is the only great part about the movie: he is totally natural and […]

Vintage photo of MadMania’s founder, c. 2002

Spring 2002, a long time ago. I was out of work–me and everyone else but two people from my old job were laid off right before Christmas. I’m standing in downtown Kansas City. The photo is super-grainy because we are using a 1.2 megapixel Kodak I got from the aforementioned job. The camera was as […]

Review: Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (movie)

I saw this movie before I had read the book. In fact, I had barely even heard of the book. So I had no expectations going into it, either good or bad. It wasn’t very good. The very first conversation in the movie already seems out of place–stating a situation that already seems to defy […]

Review: Alice in Wonderland (movie)

The new Alice in Wonderland movie is not terrible, but it is not that great either. The basic premise is that 13 years after her original adventures, as recorded by Lewis Carroll, Alice falls down a rabbit hole and returns to Wonderland, finding it a much darker place, and must fight to save it from […]

Review: O’Dowd’s Little Dublin at Zona Rosa

Recently Heather and I took a short weekend off together to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. As most of you know, I love Irish Stew. Unfortunately, it’s hard to find a place that serves it that isn’t called ‘Dan’s House.’ For those of you who don’t know, Irish Stew is lamb, potatoes, carrots, and leeks. […]

I’m back

I tried to give B some space to finish posting what happened the rest of his trip, but I guess he didn’t feel like it. He made it back to work OK, but he didn’t wanna talk about it. He looks like he’s aged 10 years. On the flip side, he should be able to […]