The Animal Kingdom

Readers,

A couple weeks ago, my girlfriend Mindy bought a brand new kitten, a half-Siamese, half-Ragdoll. She’s had to take the kitten to the vet three times now for various medical emergencies, but Lily (or, as I call her, Li’l Latin Lily Lil) seems to be stable at this point. I’m not much of a cat person, but upon first seeing Lily, I understood why people become crazy cat ladies.

Lily looks more or less like the picture on the side, only without the freaky backdrop. Lily also joins the ranks of the animals Mindy already owns: an evil orange cat she and her roommate rescued named Rory, the sweetly princess-like catty-wumpus-eyed Noel, and Athena, her plucky, non-human-attacking pit bull.

There’s no reason to tell you this stuff other than a) to say what’s going on; to b) show a picture of a kitten in order to prompt more readers and; c) you’re tired of hearing about the Oregon Ducks, I’m sure.

As we’re all becoming acutely aware, election time is approaching (and, beyond that, the next presidential election will be gearing up here any day now). In that vein, you may have noticed an increase in political themed articles, and this issue keeps with that theme. Tomas Perez offers a wonderful essay on something that should make us all ponder: our role as dual-citizens, and the very aspect of patriotism. Check out the wikipedia entry for that old Christian flag, too. Penny talks about FaithfulDemocrats.com, a new organization hoping to dispell the myth that Republicans have a monopoly on faith. She also came across an article on the role of the Christ follower when it comes to neo-imperialism and responsible purchasing, which is absolutely a must-read. Matthew Moran wonders what happened to mystery in our daily lives.

In the sports section, Jon Adams elicited the opinions of previous Burnside sports contributors to see what we thought of the upcoming MLB playoffs. It also gave me an excuse to post a picture of my favorite baseball player of all time: cannon-armed Cubs shortstop Shawon Dunston. Jon picked a great title: you’re not going to find those predictions anywhere else. If you do, let us know, and we’ll sue their pants off.

In reviews, I talk about an invaluable book, The Wisdom of the Enneagram. We’ve also got reviews of Starflyer 59, dance-rock staples The Rapture, how Band of Horses sound live and the upcoming release from one of my favorite bands, Pernice Brothers.

Welcome to Fall, everyone! If you’re in school, we hope you’re making new friends and eating well (never rely too much on Ramen noodles, or you might die). If you’re working, we hope Burnside is a welcome respite from your days of endless toil, and try not to get too bummed about the coming lack of sun. If you’re a fan of the site, tell your friends, post it on your blog, email everyone you know!

Thanks a lot,
Jordan Green
BWC

P.S. For those looking for further information regarding the first edition of The Ankeny Briefcase, check out ankenybriefcase.com for some recent updates.

P.P.S. Okay, I can’t keep from talking about the Ducks a little…I found this great clip taken from the stands during the game, with the cameraman a few rows away from the Oklahoma fans. The craziest part comes toward the end, when the cameraman shows himself, and I realize it’s a buddy I knew in high school, along with his wife (who I also knew in high school) and their unborn baby, which my mom told me about this week. I swear, I was thinking about them the morning I looked for that clip, and it had to be one of the most surreal moments of my life.