For the birds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Over the weekend, I took the plunge and upgraded my mobile phone.\u00a0 (I got an EVO, if anyone is wondering.) This thing is a marvel that would not be out of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/01\/for-the-birds\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"For the birds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Over the weekend, I took the plunge and upgraded my mobile phone.\u00a0 (I got an EVO, if anyone is wondering.) 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{"id":1334,"date":"2011-01-25T22:29:30","date_gmt":"2011-01-26T03:29:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/deaconsbench\/?p=1334"},"modified":"2016-09-30T17:47:53","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T21:47:53","slug":"for-the-birds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/01\/for-the-birds\/","title":{"rendered":"For the birds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Over the weekend, I took the plunge and upgraded my mobile phone.\u00a0 (I got an EVO<\/a><\/strong>, if anyone is wondering.)<\/p>\n

This thing is a marvel that would not be out of place at Spacely Sprockets<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 It keeps my calendar, takes my pictures, shoots my video, finds my destination, locates a restaurant, and even provides me with the Liturgy of the Hours \u2014 along with a gazillion other applications that can allow me to read the New York Times, catch a video on YouTube and keep track of that ugly winter storm that\u2019s going to slap us silly Thursday night.<\/p>\n

I have the world at my fingertips, literally.\u00a0 Yet what do I spend most of my time doing?\u00a0 How do I burn off most of my battery life?<\/p>\n

Playing Angry Birds<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Seriously.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

I could be reading a novel I\u2019ve downloaded from the Kindle app, or checking the latest breaking news from the BBC.\u00a0 I could be learning a new language or finding a new Thai restaurant in Queens.<\/p>\n

Instead, I\u2019m hurling birds into bricks. I\u2019m catapulting them through shattering glass and splintering beams of wood.<\/p>\n

And I\u2019m enjoying it.\u00a0 Really. \u00a0 I\u2019m letting out little whoops when the pigs get flattened.\u00a0 Life is good when you\u2019re an Angry Bird.<\/p>\n

There is something weirdly, morbidly, insanely addictive about this game.\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s the funny little \u201coinks\u201d that the pigs make, or the \u201cayeeee!\u201d screams of the birds as they embark on their bonzai dives to death.\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s the frustrating challenge of it all, trying desperately to unlock the next step and test your skills.<\/p>\n

Or maybe it is the deeper underlying message of the Angry Birds ethos: they are out for justice \u2014 or, perhaps, revenge \u2014 and are willing to die for what they believe in.\u00a0 They are martyrs for a cause \u2014 give us back the eggs, you filthy pigs! \u2014 and are fearlessly surrendering their lives for a greater good.\u00a0 (Do I detect a sacrificial Christian theme in there?\u00a0 Okay.\u00a0 Maybe not.)<\/p>\n

Then again, maybe it\u2019s much simpler.\u00a0\u00a0 Maybe my Angry Birds fetish is about something\u00a0 more mundane.<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s\u2026therapeutic.<\/p>\n

In the end, after all, it all comes down to this: in a world consumed by chaos and confusion, when it all seems to be too much, I can always whip out my phone and just flip the bird.<\/p>\n

Ah.\u00a0 Yes<\/em>.\u00a0 Life is good.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"