Eye Opener

I recently had to quit the praise team at church for a few months because I am actively serving in too many areas. This was a difficult decision since I get so much enjoyment from leading worship, and being around my fellow band members. The eye opener was two weeks ago my 6 year old was worshipping next to me during the praise service, and in the middle of the second song she stopped cold and said "Why aren't you up there?" I realized my children have never seen their father not leading worship. I knelt down and explained to her that "Daddy is too busy right now." My beautiful sensitive little girl stuck her hands on her hips, looked me up and down then asked "Doing what?!?" As far as she is concerned I should be up there since I can be out in the congregation at that moment, unfortunately the 3-6 hours a week that ministry involves just aren't there for me right now. I am very hopeful that I will be able to rejoin the band soon, I miss it.

Islam doesn't suck

No, it isn't ok to bash Muslims it does appear to be perfectly acceptable for a Muslim to kill a Christian however they see fit though. The top picture speaks for itself. You would think the story of that poor man who converted to Christianity would spark a little more debate than it has. I hope he gets to live in peace somewhere without some jackass hunting him down and killing him for no good reason.

In another rant I have noticed that several Latino groups are protesting in the streets about some new immigration law. I have to say that taking to the streets in this manner may cause people to enact the very legislation they are trying to fight.

R.I.P. 02/05/97 - 03/24/06 (Brooklyn)

My first baby is gone. After nine years Brooklyn had begun to injure herself terribly whenever she was left alone. Attempts to find her a new home were unsuccessful, and even the Weimaraner rescue advised that she be put down. The girls took her to the rescue's veterinarian Friday. I don't think they understand yet that she is really gone, and both of them want to know when we can get another dog.

In more exciting news I got rear-ended right after they dropped the dog off at the vet, and had to leave the band at church for awhile. Last week sucked.

Harry Reid on CNN

How can you be so liberal and so narrow-minded:
This is from Dr. Bill Frist, reading the interview I would have to agree.

"During the course of the interview, Harry Reid said:

1. The wiretapping of Al Qaeda terrorists by the NSA was illegal.
2. That he, as leader of Senate Democrats, would not rule out impeaching President Bush over the wiretapping program.
3. He would seek to filibuster the border security legislation, Secure America’s Borders Act, that I introduced in the Senate last Thursday because it focused only on border security and interior enforcement.
4. He is in favor of “fair track” amnesty for the estimated 11 million illegal aliens.
5. He does not believe in improving the physical security of our borders, because with better interior enforcement of employers, illegal immigration would stop (Harry forgot about the very real possibility of drug runners and terrorists crossing our porous borders…I imagine they wouldn’t be looking for jobs).

Comments like this make very clear what is at stake in November.

Republicans need to rally around the President. We need to support our Senate and House candidates. We need to volunteer on their behalf. We need to walk door to door. We need to write letters to the editor. We need to post messages on popular online bulletin boards. And we need to wake up to the reality of what a Democrat controlled Senate led by Harry Reid would mean for our country.

To read the full text of the Reid interview please click here."

Weird news stories

Check these out:
http://www.cnn.com/US/ too weird.

In other news, I have had to give up a hobby/ministry I really enjoy for a little while. I am just too dang busy these days.

George Clooney (loser)

Sometimes, however rare, actors today tend to think they understand politics or that we care what their opinion is concerning global matters. While I appreciate the talent these people have and enjoy some of the work they do I can't help but marvel at the abject stupidity which plagues certain members of Hollywood's elite. During the introductory monologue by Jon Stewart when hosting the Oscars he joked that "The Oscars is really I guess the one night of the year when you can see all your favorite stars without having to donate any money to the Democratic Party. And it's exciting for the stars as well because it's the first time many of you have ever voted for a winner." Let me point out the truth and humor here.

Truth: "The Oscars is really I guess the one night of the year when you can see all your favorite stars without having to donate any money to the Democratic Party."

Humor:"And it's exciting for the stars as well because it's the first time many of you have ever voted for a winner."

That's good stuff that we can all giggle and laugh about. Something not as funny is what someone like George Clooney actually believes. He believes that entertainers, himself included, are some sort of hero or someone to be admired for more than their stagecraft. His acceptance speech was truly ridiculous and quite indicative of several Hollywood attitudes. While it would be admirable if what he said was true, it simply isn't. Some facts about the media and AIDS are readily available for anyone to read. I would have to say that the heroes with regard to AIDS or civil rights or anything else he attempted to take credit for are the people who actually paid the price and fought the fight. Hollywood may later shed some light on the subject from their point of view, and certainly cash in on the ideas or actions of someone else but they never lead the way. Guys like Clooney and Cruise are really starting to polarize Hollywood against what the perceived majority of America tends to believe. The other thing I don't understand is why all of these people (entertainers) are part of the Church of Scientology, is it trendy and cool? Perhaps they get more information than others, it would be worth researching.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
Teddy Roosevelt

Ford (Choosing Sides)

So, Ford Motors has decided to actively support and fund some homosexual groups. I think it was probably not very smart to choose sides in this debate, I would take the Disney "gay day" approach. Disney does not support or discourage this event and it isn't sanctioned or funded by them, a bunch of gay people just happen to show up that day and probably shock some unsuspecting kids and families. Choosing sides in this type of situation will most certainly hurt your bottom line, no pun intended. The AFA is already circulating this link in the hopes of getting Ford back on neutral ground. The odd part of this campaign is that no one ever asked Ford to denounce the gay lifestyle, just don't fund it.

Newest NFL shakeup (Edgerrin James)

The Arizona Cardinals signed Mr. James to a four year $30 million contract. The good news for him is he can earn almost half, 14.75, the first year in salary, signing bonus and roster bonus. This is also bad news for Arizona one of the weakest teams I have ever seen and this move will help them very little if they don't grab some more talent. Edgerrin a few years ago probably could have shouldered the team but those days are probably behind him.

Tim McGraw

In typical Hollywood/Entertainer style Tim McGraw and Faith Hill toured the gulf coast area devastated by Katrina and began to harshly criticize the federal government and specifically President Bush. Ironically this comes five days AFTER President Bush made his fifth visit to the area and chastised congress for their slow response. He also asked for 38 billion dollars to be appropriated as quickly as possible to speed up the process. Of course this act doesn't make the news since it wasn't something seemingly evil. Someone needs to get a handle on how much high profile people are allowed to shoot off at the mouth before they apprise themselves fully of a situation. I also think Tim McGraw plans to pursue politics when he quits the music business, nice start buddy.

Fish News

I caught my Jack Dempseys doing their mating dance, check it out. First he flares all of his fins out, he then shakes his entire body back and forth very powerfully. He also seems to start twitching between those other displays.

Dead Fish

I came in this morning to find my fish tank missing one of its residents. I initially thought one of the Jack Dempsey's ate it, but he was on the floor under the tank. The girls had just named him tiger. The Dempseys actually seem happier now and appear to be trying to kill each other. I hear this means they are really fond of their mate.

American Idol (front runner already?)

So, I admit I like watching this show. The first three weeks are hilarious, and the last three are usually pretty stellar. While there have been some funny moments thus far, no one has really been "great". There have been some good singers, all better then me, and some decent performances yet nothing that made people or the judges say wow. Last night that all changed when this happened. Check it out, dude brings it.

Free Agency

There isn't a lot of good that can be said about free agency, eventually it will tear apart your favorite team. The merry-o-round has started and already there appear to be some good free agents available. Mike Anderson, Stephen Davis, and Trevor Pryce are some of the big names that were cut loose yesterday. It does always make for an interesting off-season.

Hockey Fans (Knoxville IceBears)

I took my kids to "family night" last week so they could get enjoy an evening out and see a medium-sized sporting event. I was a little worried since I have always thought hockey fans are pretty rude and really only go to see the fights. I was completely wrong about the fighting, in fact, the family in front of me was so engrossed with the game they completely ignored their two 6 year old girls. The girls tapped me on the knees and legs all night asking questions about this and that, and when they tried to ask their parents to go to the bathroom they had to wait for an intermission. I was right about the rudeness, even on family night when an opposing player was introduced everyone would yell "SUCKS!" after his name was announced; classy. After every goal a rousing rendition of Gary Glitter's rock n' roll part II would kick up only to have a chant kick up at the end that went " We're gonna beat the hell outta you...." That's stuff I guess I just need to expect around something like that but the worst thing was the complete lack of fair play and respect for an opponent. At one point the opposing team clearly scored a goal that was not awarded to them. When the officials reviewed the play and gave them the point the place erupted in profanity and shrieking. That's the worst display of sportsmanship I have ever seen. Yes, you should want to win and compete very hard. No, you should not want to win at the expense of fair play.

Mac OSX (got jacked!)

Hmmm, looks like some hackers are starting to take advantage of the, sometimes, overconfident Mac users out there. I had been wondering how long it would take for people with ill-intent to start going after Apple. FYI every operating system is exactly as secure as the person poking the keys.

Word of the century (so far)

I heard this from a young person the other day and almost died laughing. See also "Foop".
Shart.

Winter Olympics Coverage (sucks)

NBC is really trying hard to cover the Olympics, but can't seem to understand why their ratings are poor. Let me sum up television viewing for all of the networks, as if they give a crap about what I think. When the time difference for the host country is six hours ahead, you face significant challenges because of the Internet. The best way to cmbat this is to have a more flexible schedule. Do not try to save the "high-profile" events too long. For example they are trying to broadcast in our area from 8-12 at night, I can assurethem that only about three people in this country have any desire to watch Ice Dancing during prime time. The events that interest me are sanwiched between the most boring events in the world. I would rather just read the results than try to suffer through curling or some gay ice skater. If they want people to watch they need to get the American athletes to win, and if not win then at least stop acting like some sort of primadonna. They should also show the "more exciting" events as soon as possible to prevent people from dying of boredom during "the crucial third rock" on sheet b of whatever the crap that means.
The other thing to understand is that you can hype an unpopular sport or program all you want, you can show it in everyone's favorite tv watching time, you cannot make it not boring or stupid though. If you show a crappy show/sport thurday at 8 p.m. on thursday, it won't make people watch it. I can't figure out why this is so difficult to understand, T.V. executives are firmly convinced that showing crapola in a hot time slot will boost the ratings. It will, but only because they are hunting for their favorite show which you just stuck at 10 pm on Sunday.
Moving a good show to a crappy time slot can significantly reduce its lifespan. This is because no matter how much you like a sport/show it isn't worth dragging yourself into work late or dead tired just to catch some show. Of course none of this will work if we keep trying to push unpopular ideas, Commander-in-Chief or The Book of Daniel, on people who don't want to watch it. Sure there is a small minority that want to see this stuff, but T.V. just can't be in the business of pleasing the smaller crowd or they will lose all their money.
I will now wait by the phone for the job offers from all the T.V. networks.

Movie Review (Sahara)

This movie also had enormous potential that seemed to be unrealized. The premise was great, and I never really wanted to turn the thing off, but I was also never really engaged in the story. In their defense, moviemakers in the Indiana Jones-style really have a lot to live up to and probably won't ever be able to reach that level. The sidekick charachter in this movie is hilarious, and everyone does a credible job, the story just isn't great.

Movie review (40 yr old Virgin)

Done in the National Lampoon style this movie had enormous potential. This potential was unrealized as the writers seemed to rely on excessive foul language for laughs when it just wasn't needed. Several very funny scenes are interrupted by the F word when it just doesn't work with the situation. There are several hilarious moments, but unfortunately they don't overcome the ridiculous abuse of cuss words. In the end, the guy actually waits until he is married to have sex.

Bryant Gumbel

So I heard a rumor that Bryant Gumbel said he isn't interested in the Winter Olympics because there aren't enough black athletes competing. Interesting that Mr. Gumbel can say that and not be called a racist. Let's try that same statement a different way. "I don't really watch the NBA because there aren't enough white athletes playing." I think my statement would be received differently for some reason. I am pretty sure that Bryant Gumbel rarely says things of this nature, and this type of statement seems out of charachter for him. By the way that's a picture of him with his wife Hilary.