Archives for September 2008

Well, since I will be off playing golf in the NC East Pastor’s tourney tomorrow I figured I would go ahead and post tonight.

A few quotes that I liked this week:

1.  “Well, everyone’s got gas.”-unnamed source on the gas shortage in Charlotte

2.  “The only difference between fantasy football and real football is that fantasy football matters.”-Heath Mullikin

3.  “I rode in Kirk Cameron’s van.  He wasn’t in it, but still.”-Scott Hart

4.  “As soon as knew the computer was the bad guy I left the movie.  I said, ‘I’ve seen this before.  It was called I, Robot.'”-Jam

5.  “Pluto is a dog and acts like a dog.  What’s the deal with Goofy cause ain’t he a dog too?”-Me

6.  If you haven’t heard about this, it’s just another reason not to like PETA or eat Ben and Jerry’s.

7.  If you watched the debate then you saw both candidates compare their bracelets honoring fallen soilders.  Here’s one key difference.

8.  I hope the Minnesota Twins make the playoffs.  How bad do you think Johan Santanna will feel after taking the big money from the Mets and not making the playoffs while his former team gets in?  How can the Twins manager not win manager of the year?  Dude, I hate the Mets almost as much as I hate the Yankees.  Also, how do you think former Brewers manager Ned Yost feels?  All those years to get the Brewers this far and he gets fired 12 games before they clinch the playoffs.

9.  Confession time:  I was watching New Kids on the Block perform live on VH1 before coming to the computer.  No, my wife wasn’t even in the room, but I did get the heads up from a fellow youth pastor.  His name is Philip Martin.  Now if you google New Kids on the Block+Philip Martin it will bring you to my blog, I hope.

10.  Did you know that since 2000, Clemson has lost to an unranked team at home 7 times while in the top 25 themselves?

And finally, I hope this story makes you tear up like it did me.  It puts things in perspective, and you have to admire his courage.

1.  I attended my first PTO and open house last night at Denton Elementary School.  I appreciate the hard work of the teachers and PTO officers, but they missed a golden opportunity last night.  Now, I was out in the hallway chasing Drake for most of the meeting, but the part I did see was very boring.  I heard more than one parent say that they come to the first one for the Open House, but don’t go to any other PTO meetings precisely because they are dull and boring.  Now, I’m only 14 hours removed from this thing, but I am already plotting on how to get elected as a PTO officer and how to make the first and every meeting engaging, entertaining, and informative.  Now, my girls classroom is pretty cool.  All the kids have assigned seats with all their supplies labled.  I don’t remember things being like this when I was young in school.  I don’t remember a pouch on the back of my chair for all my school work.  I don’t remember having to be able to write a 500 word essay on the economic bailout before moving from kindergarten to first grade.  The girls sit at the same table across from each other and were so proud to show us around.  No, I did not tear up in the room.  There were other men around, but I got a little misty when we got home.

2.  Jared Bell, a youth pastor in Kernersville, had a good thought on the election. “There will never be a Savior in the White House.”

3.  Speaking a salvation, Hugo Chavez thoughts on the matter illustrate a huge difference between socialists and conservatives.  Here’s the quote:  “Socialism is the only route to the salvation of the world.”  This is why I worry every time the government expands.  Jared’s right, government never saved anyone, but judging from the stats, the church isn’t doing too good a job of introducing people to Jesus either.

4.  I wish that Tattoo parlors were required to ask everyone wanting a tatoo the following question:  “Do you own and wear a belt?  If you can’t afford to keep your pants around your waist then you can’t afford a tattoo.  Come back when your boxers, thong, or crack are covered and I will be happy to accommodate you.  Also, could they tell women that a butterfly on the small of a 20 something year old back looks like a pterodactyl when you’re 40 and have had a few kids.  I’m just saying.

5.  I wish McDonald’s cashiers could and would refuse me service.  I also wish I had the will power to drive past Cici’s Pizza.

6.  I wish everyone understood all my Seinfeld, Batman, wrestling, sports references.  Don’t worry, I still laugh at them even if it’s just me.

7.  I wish I got paid to pay attention.

8.  I wish that in middle school and high school they would show us pictures of what all the girls in class would look like at age 30 because some women get more beautiful with time and some go in the other direction.  One time my brother was looking at my freshman yearbook and told me to ask a certain girl out.  I told him she wasn’t pretty and he said she would be really hot when she got older.  I did not heed his advice and she became a model our senior year.  Of course, none of this matters, because I married a woman who is beautiful on the inside and out at any age.  

9.  I wish I had not broken my PS2 and Madden 09 the other day.  I had just won the Super Bowl with the Falcons and excitedly yanked them off the shelf.  Insert loser joke here.

10.  Finally, Survivor has been on the air for 8 years.  Everyone who goes on the show has watched the show and knows how stupid the tribes look when they don’t/can’t make a fire.  They see how badly the tribe suffers from lack of clean water and food.  So, explain to me why every year this scenario continues to be played out.  No one can build a fire until Jeff gives them a flint.  You should also know that before going to the location that they actually teach the people how to make a fire WITHOUT flint.  Now, who’s more of a loser:  the person who can’t make a fire or the millions of us watching reality TV?

Well, the girls had a great 5th birthday yesterday.  Drake celebrated by biting the fire out of my left bicep leaving me with a nice purple oval there today.  We put “Blue’s Clues” around the house to help them find things we needed for the party.  Karen made some awesome cupcakes and The Collins brought over silly string.  No, the string is not silly, but that is how people start acting when they start shooting that stuff everywhere.  After attempting to clean off the back porch I just decided that silly string was not meant to be cleaned up.

Here are some stories I’m reading today:

1.  Seems Clay Aiken has confirmed something most of us suspected while Lindsey Lohan surprised many with her statement.

2.  Did you hear the news story about Sarah Palin charging rape victims for their own rape kits?  As usual, the media left out some key details.

3.  Yankee fans, here’s how you got to where you are.

4.  Don’t worry, we Red Sox fans will send you a postseason postcard.  Oh wait, what’s that new address again?

5.  I don’t normally agree with CNN’s Roland Martin, but I did like his column on this surprising situation.  I wonder if Wesleyan Publishing House ever did anything like that.  If they did it now, Deb would walk down the hall and deliver a verbal beat down.

6.  Smitty had a great story of God’s providence at Vintage Church on a recent Sunday.

7.  Can I just say that the Heroes season premiere was amazing!  Now, let’s hope a writer’s strike doesn’t cut this season in half like last year.  Does anyone else wish the Maya and Alejandro characters were never introduced?

8.  Survivor starts this Thursday night!  I keep waiting for a good chance to apply again.

9.  I’ve been recording Fringe but haven’t watched it yet.  Anybody got a review of this new show?

10.  Excited about lunch with Mark Tolan today.  Mark was in my youth group in SC and now is a Youth Pastor in Winston-Salem.

Have a amazingly awesome outstanding day.

I have posted links on this page to both presidential candidates voting records and other information about their political views.  Through Project Vote Smart, you can look up on any candidate.  If you are relying on the media for your information then you can expect to be misinformed.  So, do your homework and make an educated decision.

To the best of my knowledge, I have never, not once, not by mistake or on purpose rooted for the New York Yankees.  They are the team, above all other teams, that I love to hate.  I became a Red Sox fan in 1987(I didn’t realize in 1986 that I was rooting against my hometown’s own Jim Rice in the World Series) and have been cheering for them ever since.  It’s ironic to me that Yankee Stadium and I share the same birthday, April 18.  It would have been nice to see them lose their last game there because it would have clinched a playoff spot for the Red Sox and officially eliminated the Yankees from the postseason.  However, I do need to make a confession. In 1998, Kerry Traynum and I embarked on a week long sports adventure that included baseball games in several cities and trips to the three major sports halls of fame.  One of the games we witnessed was the Yankees versus the Marlins at Yankee Stadium.  We played catch in a park beside the stadium before the game and it seemed as if the Stadium towered above us.  When you enter the stadium you can’t see the field from the concourse area.  When we went throught the tunnel to our section, I became overwhelmed with emotion.  My eyes welled up and I just got a strong sense of the historic events that had taken place in this stadium.  Going to monument park was equally overwhelming.  My dad hadn’t been a Yankees fan either, but these monuments represented some of his heroes that he grew up watching.  I think I had goosebumps for the whole game which the Yankees won handily and was high lighted by a Daryl Strawberry(yes, THAT Darly Strawberry) homerun.  It started raining late but we just had to move back a few rows to get under the over hang.  There was a big crowd that day, the fans were passionate but not crude, and it is a night I will never forget.  Here’s the box score here.  I don’t know what the new Yankee Stadium will look like, but I know it will not feel like the old one.  It will, however, increase the Yankees income and spending which will allow them to remain, as always, The Hated Yankees.