Friday, June 27, 2003

You may not have figured out that I absolutely love, love, love The Amazing Race. It took a while for me to get into this season (last night was the 5th episode), but I’m hooked.

Here are my thoughts: ***POTENTIAL SPOILERAGE, YOU’VE BEEN WARNED***

1. Last night’s Fast Forward is the coolest FF they’ve done yet, imho. Of course, I may need to be reminded of some of the past cool FFs, but riding the sails of a windmill has got to be something else.

2. Last night’s Detour had the potential for hilarity on the pile-o-poo side. To me that task was not nearly as funny as the wooden clogs-cheese carry thing. I was belly laughing at that one.

3. I love Team Clown. We don’t see enough of Team Clown.

4. I like Kelly-Jon, but I don’t like that they’re catty about The Virgins.

5. I also like the NFL Wives, although I didn’t expect to mainly because I thought they’d be these primadonnas who couldn’t do the simplest task. They’re pretty scrappy. Although they win the Idiot Driver Award for trying to turn their car around in an obviously saturated grassy area.

6.  Call me Captain Obvious, but Tian-Jeree are the most dysfunctional team of this season. They really remind me of FloZach, but they’re not as annoying. And based on the FloZach thing from last season, these chicks may end up winning the cash. *shudder*

7.  I’m sad to see Team Air-Traffic Controllers go, but they actually got a lot further than I think anyone expected. I’ll miss them - they were always positive and never bickered. They were a good team, just not fit enough for a physical race like this.

8.  Judging from the previews for next week’s episode, it’s going to be g-o-o-d. If I remember India from season 2, those folks are in for a treat.

Thursday, June 26, 2003

I’m not a photographer. I don’t even own a camera. I think if I did, I’d rarely use it and the pictures wouldn’t be very good.

Timothy Bard is a great photographer. Here’s a sample of his work.

If you want to see more beautiful photos, visit his blog. He posts them daily.

So by now you know that the Windshield Murderer was convicted of murder. She’s been testifying this afternoon in the penalty phase.

OK, she is ridiculous.

When asked why she didn’t call 911, she said, “Because I didn’t know what to do!”

She keeps insisting that she couldn’t think.

I hope she gets life in prison. She should never be given the chance to live in freedom again.

Yes, she’s smart. Yes, she’s hot. No, I’m not jealous. Really.

And, incidentally, she has a new book out. So that’s why you’re seeing her all over the place, including the blogosphere. John Hawkins of Right Wing News managed to snag an interview with Ms. Coulter.

A snippet:

John Hawkins: In your opinion, if someone like Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush had been in the White House instead of Johnson, would we have won in Vietnam?

Ann Coulter: Probably. More importantly, liberals wouldn’t be able to call every military action in defense of the nation since then: “the next Vietnam”.

John Hawkins: What is the most important lesson Americans can learn from our experience in Vietnam?

Ann Coulter: If you can possibly avoid it, do not go to war when the Democrats control either the executive branch or the legislative branch.

Reading further at Future Margins, I found the post about how he would lead a deconstruct. This post was prior to the one I talked about below - it probably led him to post that one.

Anyway, he definitely has what many in the Christian church would consider radical ideas:

Just think of the barriers organized religion has created (not counting the fact that they’re non-biblical).

The distinction between layman (non-biblical) and professional paid staff (non-biblical)

Those two have turned participants into spectators and become a barrier for the Great Commission. The modern church (innocently, unknowingly and would never admit) has substituted “going” for “gathering.” I love worship but it’s not the entree…it’s no more than the by-product of the Christian’s life. The Great Commission is first and primary.

Fred over at Future Margins has a really fascinating article about how he would “recontruct” the church today. Some from more traditional backgrounds may shudder at his ideas, but I think they deserve some thought and consideration. For instance:

A deconstruct would be required before reconstruction would happen. Have a Saturday morning work crew physically remove all the pews and sell them to a church that’s stuck in the modern era’s passive “sit and soak” style of assembling. Plan and redesign your space using small round coffee shop tables and chairs. Be very specific in the way you arrange your tables and chairs. A circle configuration may seem like an open egalitarian idea, but often people clam up when they sit in a circle. Circle arrangements can become very intimidating while sitting in the open with nothing to hide behind. Consider a half circle arrangement of chairs and tables with the facilitator freely roaming the floor in front.

I just created a separate reciprocal blogroll to make my roll a little more manageable. I hated to do it, but with over 100 blogs in the list, it was getting to be a challenge for my reading.

So I moved the “Biggies” (that I rarely read, but want to have linked) to their own mini-list at the top. And then I moved the blogs that I rarely read (I’m sorry about this folks!) that I have linked because they linked me first to their own “Recip-Roll” list below the main blogroll.

Please don’t send me email asking why you were moved - you weren’t deleted altogether - be happy about that.

What’s crazy is that there are still close to 100 blogs in the main list. So I’ll have to pare that down a bit more - and that may involve deletions. *gasp*

Wednesday, June 25, 2003

So I had The Drew Carey Show on, but I wasn’t actively watching. But for some reason I looked up to see Timmy from Road Rules (Season 2?) on, engaging in dialogue with Drew!

Timmy! Our favorite Road Ruler! (At least he’s my all-time favorite.)

*happy sigh*

LW and I went to Wal-Mart today because it was next to the Pizzeria Uno where we were going to pick up lunch. We planned that, smart of us, huh?

She needed to go to WM because she’s defecting leaving for her vacation in San Antonio tomorrow and needed to pick up a few things. Yes, she and her husband are from Texas.

Anyway, I was pushing her cart for her and we were in the pet aisle so she could get dog food, kitty litter, and fish food (along with her two kids, she also has a dog, cat and many fish). While she was pondering the choices of dog food, I was perusing the dog toys. One in particular caught my eye, so I picked it up. That was a bad decision.

LATER: Still squeeking.

Alan K. Henderson has an excellent post called, ”What Defines Christianity.” (Surprisingly, the b*s permalink is working!)

Ralph claims that Christianity should be based only on the words of Christ - that the Old Testament and the writings of Jesus’ apostles have no authority with regard to the philosophy Jesus taught.

This common misunderstanding fails to take into account several points. For those of you who brought your Bibles, turn to Matthew 5:17. During the “Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus states:

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

As I was driving in this morning, I heard this interview about a survey where teens rate adults on various categories. Apparently, we adults aren’t doing too well.

In its fifth year, the National Teen Report Card on Adults asks teenagers across the country to grade adults on everything from “being honest” to “protecting the environment.”

In some areas, the adults just do not seem to be getting the message: Their grade on listening and understanding slipped from a C last year.

“They don’t really listen to us,” said Charles Kuykendoll, a 14-year-old from Chicago who helped present the report card at a news conference Tuesday. “But maybe if they see it on the news, then they might.”

Since 1999, adults have not managed an A yet—the highest grade this year was a solitary B on providing education—and they have only inched up from an overall C to a C plus.

I don’t think so, and I don’t think that’s the problem, although teens may think we’ve forgotten now that we’re old. I think it’s that many adults (parents) don’t act like adults (parents) around teens. We want to be liked by them, so we let them get away with stuff that we wouldn’t have been allowed to get away with.

There’s a generation of parents out there who just won’t parent their kids. They want to be buddies with their kids, unlike the relationship they had with their own parents. And so we have kids who have rarely been disciplined or taught manners or expected to work for what they get.

I think this survey says that that method of parenting isn’t working. But that’s just my two cents.

LATER: Tony has some good points as well.

I didn’t know until this morning that the Atlantic Coast Conference was looking to add to their number - by inviting schools from the Big East to join their ranks.

There are two universities getting the wave from the ACC - Virginia Tech and Miami (FL).

I dont’ know how I feel about this change. In Virginia, it will definitely make the rivalry between The University and Tech a little more interesting. And for those who care (of which I am not one), the Florida State-Miami rivalry (if there is one).

LW is addicted to Dr. Pepper. She just came from the Big Toe™ with a Pepsi in hand.

What are we going to do if she can’t get a Dr. Pepper today?

Looks like we’ll be making a stop at the store when we pick up lunch today.

This time we’re working on the clickable function. Things may not work for a bit.

I know you’re so disappointed that you can’t comment on my pearls of wit and wisdom.

I’ve mentioned the Merge of Madness™ before. It’s Telegraph Road North exit area where folks from the west (in VA) and north (from MD) come together off of I-945 (the Beltway) in Alexandria. From that exit there’s another merge for folks turning onto Pershing Road.

Here’s my hand drawn map of the area. My artwork doesn’t completely convey how dangerous this area is, so I’m going to attempt to draw it in a little more detail and add it later.

UPDATE: Here’s the close up of the merge area. And I reduced the size of the other picture as well.