A Smokin’ Hot Game Can Be A “Barn Burner”

by Kevin Burton    The NCAA Final Four is Saturday. Those of us with no favorite teams playing, merely hope for close games.    In honor of March Madness, Merriam-Webster has looked into the origin of the idiom “barn-burner.” I have mostly heard this refer to football, but it could apply to basketball as well. …

Seals and Crofts Music Sticks To Your Ribs

by Kevin Burton    I like barbecue sauce. I love cayenne pepper and other hot spices. But I don’t have to have it on everything, all the time.    And so it is with screaming guitars and scene-stealing guitar solos. They are cool sometimes, but I can live without them.    So it was that …

Let The Saints Praise Jesus, The Rocks Be Quiet

by Kevin Burton    A philosopher once defined “nothing”  as “that which rocks dream about.”   That makes sense, drives home the point.  Rocks don’t dream as far as I know. But talking rocks, now that’s a thing.    Or at least could be, if need be.    The story is told, “the triumphal entry,” …

Twelve Idioms That Came From The Bible

by Dictionary Scoop    Many common phrases we use today are direct quotes from the Bible. They have slipped seamlessly into everyday conversation, often with little thought to their origins. Which of these sayings do you use? 1-Drop in the Bucket    The phrase "a drop in the bucket" refers to something very small or insignificant compared …

Finding Contentment In The Little Dance

by Kevin Burton    Perhaps you noticed that all the teams in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA basketball tournament this year were from the Big Four conferences.    That and Kansas losing in the second round has dialed my enthusiasm down very close to zero.    A pox on all 16 of their houses …

Dual Citizenship Now A Popular Escape Route

by Ellie Cobb BBC    When Emily Hill, a novelist from Everett, Washington, heard about the recent changes to Canada's citizenship-by-descent rules, she immediately wondered whether a family connection might make her eligible.    “I felt like I'd been struck by lightning,” she says, explaining that her grandmother was born in Montreal. “This possibility was …

December 1963, Oh What A Song, For The Guy

by Kevin Burton    Here’s what we know about the female character from “December 1963 (Oh What a Night,” the Four Seasons’ fifth and last number one hit:    She had the ability to walk. She walked into a room. That’s all we get.    No eyes of blue, no golden hair, no perfume in …

Lord, Keep Me Back From Presumptuous Sins

by Kevin Burtoon    Believer, take note of a humble prayer this morning and take note of who prayed it.:   “Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression” (Psalm 19:13 KJV).    “Such …

How Sports Underdogs Became ‘Cinderellas’

by Merriam-Webster Dictionary    Cinderella is arguably the most iconic of fairy tales, an archetype of what is known as the rags-to-riches story.    You know how it goes: living under the oppression of her evil stepmother, she finds her chance at happiness and fortune only after a fairy godmother makes her over for the …

Miami Of Ohio Strikes A Blow For Underdogs

by Kevin Burton    My underdog heart beat just a little bit faster Wednesday, thanks to Miami of Ohio winning a play-in game.    I would love the RedHawks to have a nice long run in March Madness, beginning with their 3:25 p.m. matchup with Tennessee today, but I’m happy with what they have done …