the road

- to the east, to the east, the road beneath my feet. to the west, to the west, well i haven't gone there yet. and to the north, to the north, never to be caught. to the south, to the south, my time is running out -

"the road" by frank turner

Well, I guess I won't be winning any prizes for diligence when it comes to keeping everyone updated on life, eh? 

Portland has been an incredible place to be over the last couple months. From weekend to weekend it's been one thing, one visiting friend or family member, one show, one event, one everythingallatonce after another.

Not complaining. It's been amazing.

Without the time to really go into too much detail right now I'll use the power of photo journalism to illustrate the fun and love of what's been going on.

indy, mike & dean... together again

indy claims that dean loves him more than robindean

mount hood from pittock mansion

mom & dad came to visit!I-5

indy and his brother dakota

holding raindrops in his hands

big brother, little brother

we made caprese pizza... on subway breadmichull

my new fish, trout!

view of mount hood... on the way to walmart

first paycheck from ASP!!!

we don't like each other at all

Girlfriend of the Week

This week's GOTW goes out to the very hot and very smart Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan.  She is not just some pretty face, she also is considered one of the most powerful women in the world.  She is a huge advocate for education and she uses twitter/facebook. 

Obviously there are no pictures of her in lingerie or spreads in Maxim, I doubt that she would ever pose for something like that.  However, she does not need to pose like that, she looks extremely hot in any picture.

I figured this would be a good change of pace from the normal GOTW.  Some fake-breasted floozy or a comic book chick.  This is definitely a woman that people can respect.  Also, I felt bad about not mentioning her when I wrote about Jordan the other day.

1995 NFL Mail Bag: The Seattle Seahawks

Football nerds like myself might have taken large note yesterday with the news that Seahawks left tackle Walter Jones announced his retirement after 13 seasons. The left tackle is one of the more unsung positions on the field, or at least it was until the widespread release of The Blind Side last year, but the Seahawks, upon the announcement that Jones was retiring, were quick to regard him as one of the greatest of all time. And given some obscure but no less valid statistics, they probably have a point.

After all, the man was called for holding nine times. In his entire 13-year career.

That's just plain nutty. Almost as nutty is the fact that, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Seahawks have already retired Jones' No. 71, rather than simply waiting for the season opener or a nationally televised showcase at some point this year. Then again, considering that former Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren called Jones the greatest offensive player he ever coached -- and Holmgren coached Joe Montana, Steve Young, Brett Favre and possibly the greatest player of all time, Jerry Rice -- perhaps this type of thing is warranted.

The Seahawks wasted little time in Jonesing up their website, with direct links to both Washington governor Christine Gregoire's declaration of Walter Jones Day, and, my favorite part, a video of Walter Jones highlights. The highlights are my favorite part for the simple reason that I couldn't fathom how one can edit together a highlight reel for a left tackle that lasts three minutes and 22 seconds. And yet, somehow the Seahawks did it.

Given the retirement of, arguably, the greatest player in the franchise's history, today seems as good a day as any to open up the ol' mail bag and see what the Seattle Seahawks deemed appropriate to send my way back in 1995.

The package itself is a fairly nondescript envelope with a return address from Kirkland, Washington, which I found somewhat peculiar since it wasn't in... "Seattle". But It's hardly unusual for teams to hold main offices outside their actual home cities these days, so I ought not to get too worked up. What I did find somewhat unusual however, is that most teams will include some sort of description of their team's history, an informational magazine, a media guide or a yearbook.

Or at the very least a letter thanking me for my interest.

But the Seahawks, apparently, had no interest in those frills in 1995. Perhaps that's because they didn't have much of a history to boast about at the time. Seattle was seven years removed from its last playoff appearance and wouldn't get its next one for four more years. At the time the Seahawks had yet to appear in a Super Bowl, and their uniforms were still in that somewhat garish, blue, green and silver phase.

So as a result, I received no letters or historic recounts, but I did receive two very nice posters, one of which I was particularly excited about being legitimately autographed until that preconception was dashed this very morning. But more on that later. The first poster was a bold and proud declaration of the Seahawks as "The Defense of the 90's", which featured the always enormous Cortez Kennedy tackling some poor defenseless running back from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

This poster is awesome in kitschy fashion for a few reasons. For one, and most obviously, those uniforms sported by the tangerine bedecked Bucs are fucking great. So bad, they're good in retrospect, which is probably why the Buccaneers chose to break them out again this year for a few games in lieu of their regular tasteful duds. Another thing that catches my eye is the proud title of "The Defense of the 90's", which, for a few reasons, seems like a bit of wishful thinking.

For one thing, this poster was produced during the 1994 season, which you can note from the NFL 75th anniversary patch sported on the jerseys of both teams. It was worn all season by every team in the League. At that point, the Seahawks were in the midst of quite the playoff drought. In fact, they were 23rd in the League in total defense that season according to NFL.com's statistics. The next season the Seahawks would drop to 25th. During the course of the 1990s, Seattle finished in the top ten four times and never higher than eighth. And while Kennedy, an eight-time pro bowler, is certainly one of the great defensive tackles of his era, the only other player of note on that defense, according to the poster itself, is Sam Adams, who was a rookie at the time, and while Adams would have a solid career, his best years came with the dominating defenses of the Baltimore Ravens in the early 2000s, with whom Adams would win Super Bowl XXXV.

So yes, "Defense of the 90's" might have been a bit of a stretch, though that goofy font is fun.

The other poster I received was an autographed shot of running back Chris Warren from Seattle's win over the Houston Oilers on December 11, 1994. Aside from knowing that I could win a free autographed football from Schuck's Auto Supply and KIRO 710 AM, I always thought this poster was awesome because from the day I got it I could have sworn it was actually autographed and not just printed on. I came to this conclusion, because, as best I could tell, the autograph itself appeared to reflect light in a way that was different from the rest of the poster, meaning it must be ink and not gloss.

Of course, this morning, my weekend house guest, Jessica Guerrero took a look at the poster as I was explaining to her my glee as if I were still nine years old, and she came to the conclusion that the autograph was actually printed like the rest of the poster. By her logic, there were no signs the poster had absorbed any ink nor any flawed inconsistencies that one would find in handwriting.

This was a disappointing revelation, as I had lived the last 15 years under the assumption that the Seahawks were one of the few teams to send me something of any real, appreciative value. Sure, Chris Warren is no Hall of Famer, but with three consecutive Pro Bowl appearances in the mid 1990s and 7,696 rushing yards to his credit, he is one of the more underrated backs of his time.

But alas, my possessing his real John Hancock was not meant to be. Somehow I will manage to strive on. It's nice outside, and it is Friday. Perhaps that will help. We can only hope.

In the meantime, I will simply just take solace in knowing that the Seahawks, despite their "Defense of the 90's", managed to go on to bigger and better things.

Happy Friday, everyone.

Welcome to Round 2

Yes, I know many of you would probably expect me to continue talking about the Mets, who, amazingly won their seventh in a row yesterday to stay atop the NL East by completing their first sweep of the Dodgers in 15 years. Exciting time are afoot in Queens, as New York takes its 1/2-game lead into Philadelphia this weekend for the first major challenge of the season. Of course, it would have been 1 1/2 games were it not for a late rally by the Phils in San Francisco yesterday, but I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth.

First place is first place, even if April is still April.

But the more pressing an exciting news comes in the way of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which, after a wild Game 7 that saw the No. 1 team in the League blow a 3-1 series lead in the opening round, hits Round 2 tonight with no break whatsoever -- a rarity for the NHL. Instead Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus gets underway in San Jose tonight, with the rest of the second round following suit tomorrow and Saturday. These aren't exactly the matchups I was expecting, peculiarly the 4, 6, 7 and 8 seeds were the ones to advance in the Eastern Conference, and with no Devils and no Capitals getting in the way I can't possibly imagine a scenario in which Sidney Crosby and the Penguins don't get to the Stanley Cup Finals.

And a rematch with the Wings for the third straight year doesn't seem all that crazy either. But of course, that's why they play the games.

And to that end, here are my certain to be just as wrong as they were in the first round predictions for the second round of your Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Eastern Conference
(4) Pittsburgh over (8) Montreal in five games
(6) Boston over (7) Philadelphia in six games

Western Conference
(1) San Jose over (5) Detroit in seven games
(2) Chicago over (3) Vancouver in six games

Yeah, I'm willing to bet at least on of those doesn't turn out right, probably Boston and Philadelphia, which some of you may recall is a rematch of this year's Winter Classic, and while I make no secret of disdaining Philadelphia, my only real hope for the rest of the playoffs is that the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup.

Of course, knowing my luck in the playoffs so far, they'll probably get swept.

Lastly, I came across this news item on ESPN.com today stating that, according to a report by the Nielsen Company, the most hated team in Major League Baseball is... wait for it .... yep, just who you thought it'd be.

The Cleveland Indians.

Wait, what? A team that continually has its heart broken and hasn't won a World Series in 62 years is the most hated franchise in the sport? I see no way that this is feasibly possible. For one thing, I've had nothing but pleasant experiences seeing the Indians in person. For another, Cleveland isn't exactly a city that overwhelms you with its power and arrogance.

It's Cleveland, for heaven's sake.

And lastly, their mascot, Slider, is adorable. I mean look at him. As I told a friend earlier today, the only thought in my mind when I see him is to pinch his cheek and call him "Shookums".

Even that Roger Dorn, is kind of fun in his own assholish way. Now, I know the Indians lose some cache now that Pedro Cerrano has called it quits, but seriously, someone please explain to me what is eminently hateable about this team in anyway.

I'll buy you a cookie if you can convince me. Let the contest begin.

That's all for today. Enjoy the hockey.

Don't Let Them Step In It. . . . .

Who knows how many hundreds of times I've done it? Whatever the number is, add another one to the total. I did it again the other day while mowing the grass in the back yard. Clean-up had not been comprehensive. I didn't know that until I felt the tell-tale muddy squish under my left heel. Yep, Sully the wonder-dog had visited this place sometime earlier in the day. Now I was left - again - with a messy, smelly shoe. Clean-up time. I've had lots and lots of practice over the years. Our family always had dogs. If I only had a dollar for every time I sat on the front step using a tooth-pick and popsicle stick to clear the foul-smelling canine waste from the little nooks and crannies in my sneaker. For you older dog-loving guys out there, remember how the soles of those Chuck Taylor's were oh-so time consuming and difficult to clean?

Our household is no different than any other I know. Nobody wants the job of systematically searching the grass with a shovel in one hand and a bucket in the other. It stinks. . . .literally and figuratively!

With my son Nate's high school graduation rapidly approaching, I've been wondering why when we hate the piles of stinky stuff so much, do we dispense so much foul-smelling advice cooked up with the stuff as its' only ingredient, then wrap it up in flowery paper or words to pass on to our kids as they move from high school to the next phase of life?

Exhibit A arrived in the mail yesterday in the form of the Things Remembered Graduation 2010 catalog of "engraved gifts to capture this bright moment." You remember Things Remembered don't you? They have kiosks of some kind in most malls where you can have anything at all engraved on anything at all. As I leafed through the 36-page catalog I saw all sorts of things featuring all sorts of sample engraved messages. Some of the messages were good ones, including a host of congratulatory phrases. After all, graduation from high school is an accomplishment to celebrate. But so many of the messages I read were nothing but "skubalon."

Skubalon is the greek word Paul used in Philippians 3:8 when he wrote, "I count everything else rubbish compared to knowing Christ Jesus." Skubalon is a strong word that more literally means "dung." I stepped in a pile of skubalon just the other day.

One message read, "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." Really? Skubalon. How about this one? . . . "Danielle, go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined." Skubalon. . . again. "Believe you are the best, and you will be." Skubalon. "Listen to what you hear. Follow your dreams. Reach for the stars and know you can do ANYTHING." Wow. . . . that's a big pile right there. I love the musical snow globe on the back cover that reads, "To be a star, you must shine your own light and follow your own path." Okay, I'm not even sure what that means. Sadly, there will be hundreds of graduation speeches delivered over the coming weeks that express similar nebulous sentiments that graduates will be encouaged to adopt and pursue in order to experience success and fulfillment in life. I heard those same speeches thirty-some years ago. Life in God's world and reading God's Word have exposed the smelliness of those piles of wisdom that we so readily believe. Could it be that we lament what happens to our Christian kids when they head off to college because we allowed them to supplement their spiritual diet with skubalon?

Perhaps we should more aggressively point out the skubalon in their path. For example, I want my kids to know that in America, you can't become anything you want to be if you put your mind to it. I also want them to know that God has uniquely gifted each one, that He has a plan for their lives, and that all of life is skubalon compared to knowing and living for Him.


I love what my friends Don Optiz and Derek Melleby (Director of our College Transition Initiative here at CPYU) say in the opening chapter of their book for graduating seniors, The Outrageous Idea of Academic Faithfulness:

Every student begins college wide-eyed, full of expectations. Some dream of the paradise of earthly delights, and others of the rewards of high schievement. Both of these dreams are ultimately disappointing, and it doesn't take too much soul-searching for students to discover that they want something more. Of course, the yearning for deep meaning and for lasting purpose will never be discovered in the co-curriculum or even in the curriculum itself. The real answer is relational, personal, and more real than anything that can be imagined. The real answer is Jesus Christ. He is the one who is inviting us to renew our minds and transform our lives.

There's nothing wrong with dreaming. Rather, it's all about having the right dreams. . . dreams that are informed by Biblical realism than by sticky-sweet sentimentality.

Let me encourage you do all you can to keep the graduates you know and love from willingly walking the bottoms of their feet into skubalon, by putting a copy The Outrageous Idea of Academic Faithfulness in their hands.

Nations of the World: Jordan

The country of Jordan is located over there.  You know, in the desert.  Actually, the country to the right is Iraq and to the south is Saudi Arabia.  On the left side is Israel.  Should help those of you lacking in any geographical knowledge.

As some of you know, I went to Jordan back in 2004 for an archaeological excavation.  That's right bitches, I used my degree, if only for six weeks.  It was probably one of the coolest experiences of my life.  I realize that I have never actually written much about it, so I figure this would be a good chance to do so.

That is my passport stamp, April 8th is the day we arrived in Amman, the capital of Jordan.  Just a way of proving I was actually there.  Also it helped me remember when we were there.

We stayed in the town of Madaba, which is the home of a Mosaic map, which is the oldest map with references to the Holy Land discovered.  The map is located at a church and while we were there, it was probably the best place in town to exchange money.  You see at that point, the rate was $20=14 Dinar, but if you went to a bank or any exchange place you only received about 13.75 Dinar.  So if you are ever there, head to the church to exchange your money.

Our house was actually a very old Byzantine home.  I do not have any pictures of the outside, which is disappointing because thinking back on it, I realize now that it was a pretty cool place to stay.  Also, I never took a picture of the shower, which felt like being in a Turkish prison.  Not that I would know anything about that...

The crazy thing about Madaba is that everywhere you go you see history.  Also, the town is majority Christian, but you still have plenty of Muslims.  So needless to say, you wake up everyday to the delightful sounds of Call to Prayer.  One of the highlights of Madaba was the one restaurant where a few of us would go to enjoy some good lamb, beer, and some sheesha.  Do not fear, sheesha is just flavored tobacco smoked out of a hookah. 

That short man with the fez beside me was our favorite waiter, who we called Smiley.  He was always smiling, obviously.  Actually, one night we were there (violating curfew) and enjoying some beers, and we got to hear a pretty good band singing in English. 

The Site

I do not believe I can say too much about the site or anything we really found.  If you want any information on that sort of thing, head to Gannon's website.  I guess I can show some pictures though, no harm in that, right?

Look at that sexy mo'fo'.  Shaving was definitely overrated.  Funny thing about the climate, it's really freakin' hot there.  But not Florida hot, more like Arizona hot.  Actually I have no clue what Arizona is like, but I have been told that it is very dry and very hot. 

Also, since most of you are pretty dumb, I am guessing you picture Jordan to look more like what you see in a desert movie.  All sand dunes and whatnot...well it's not.

This is what an archaeological site looks like.  Pretty cool, huh?  Basically, lots of digging in the dirt.  Who would have guessed?

This is starting to get a little long, so I am going to continue this after the jump...hopefully you will follow along to read about all the cool places we went to in Jordan.







Jerash

Jerash was a Roman city and pretty much completely intact.  It was very cool getting to see Greco-Roman ruins without having to head to Italy and Greece.

In all honesty, I really do not remember a ton of stuff from Jerash.  It was an awesome time.  There were hippodromes, temples, theaters, and just about everything you would expect to see at a site like this.

My favorite thing was probably the amphitheater, which as you can see was pretty damn big.  I cannot remember exactly how many it could hold (6000 seems like something I heard at one point), but the interesting thing to me was that no matter where you sat, the people on stage could be heard even if they spoke in a regular voice.  Yes, we tested the theory.  That is something you hear in an Art History class, but never get a chance to test it out.

Mount Nebo
For those of you with no knowledge of the Bible (that's that book with gods and stuff), Mount Nebo is the place where Moses saw the promised land and then was buried.   The funny thing about the site is that the one guy in our group told a story (he must have told it many times) which was not funny, unless you study this sort of thing.

"Moses asks God to let him see the promised land.  So God agrees and parts the clouds and fog, giving Moses a perfect view of....Switzerland."

The dramatic pause is the important thing.  Oh well, I still find it funny.  If I am not mistaken, this is the view old Moses got, does not look very promising to me.

The other cool thing about Mount Nebo is the cool sculpture.  It is the cross entwined with Moses' serpent.  Oh never mind, just pick up the Old Testament and read a few chapters.

Desert Castles
These were pretty cool.  We went to a bunch of them one day, basically they were castles that the Arabian folks used during Crusader times.

One of them was where they filmed some of the scenes from Lawrence of Arabia.  That is something I heard while I was there.  The majority of the time there, Drew and I discussed how cool it would be to play paintball or laser-tag there.  How you would try to defend certain areas and whatnot.  This was also one of the sites we visited where we did not have any kind of tour.  We were allowed to run free.

I think that dome would make a good place to set up as a sniper.  not that I thought about that kind of thing.

Petra
This is the place you have all been waiting for me to talk about.  It is the place we see in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Transformers:  Revenge of the Fallen.  In fact, you may remember my anger at Transformers for screwing up the geography of the region.  It was also featured in an episode of Destination Truth, although I have yet to watch it.

That is the gorge you have to walk through to get to the cool parts.  It builds up such a great feeling, you know you are in for an awesome sight.

I can tell you one thing though, make sure you are in good shape if you ever go there.  I am not talking marathon shape or anything, but to get to the top of the site, you have to go for a nice long hike.  I doubt I could make it nowadays.

Once you are up there though, this is the view you treated to.  I am not one for relaxing and meditating, but I sat up there by myself for like twenty minutes and it felt really cool.  Apparently this is also a spot where they performed human sacrifice, but I cannot for the life of me remember how they knew that or who told us that.

The above pictures are just some to show you how awesome Petra truly is.  The picture to the right though shows how amazing the Nabataeans were at carving this entire site from the rock.

After hanging out for the day at the site, we back to our hotel and a few of us got cleaned up (the first non-Turkish prison shower in weeks) and headed out to one of the bars.

Ended up having a great time, but no one thought to take pictures of the evening.

The next day before we left, we bought some candy bars from a gift shop.  There was nothing seemingly special about the candy bar, aside from the name:  Uranus bar.  I am guessing Uranus does not seem as funny in Arabic as it does to us.  Hell, maybe Mars bar translates funny in Arabic...

I think I should start wrapping this up before it becomes a book.  Needless to say, I had a great time in Jordan.  I highly recommend going there if you ever get the chance.

And see, you thought NOTW would be all stupid and ridiculous lies about random countries you never heard of, like Canada.

First Person To Pinch Me Gets Punched In The Face

Yes, some of you might have noticed something peculiar as you sat down on the porch with a mug of coffee and your freshly delivered copy of the New York Times this morning that by some peculiar miracle the New York Mets are in first place in the National League East.

Yeah, the Mets that all the doomsayers had losing 90 games. Those Mets. They're somehow atop the NL East this morning after a six-game winning streak, and today may be the only time they're in that place this season, so for the love of God don't shit on my parade.

I'm not sure how long, exactly this can be expected to last, given that the Mets had to win six games in a row to get here, my best guess is "not very", but it does bear reminding that the Mets haven't even played all that well during this streak, which was capped off by New York's first doubleheader sweep of the Dodgers in 39 years yesterday. In fact, last night's 10-5 whupping of L.A. was the first time the bats really broken out during the Mets' current hot streak, with most of the victories built on what has been a surprisingly solid pitching staff so far.

Stunningly, before the Dodgers scored in the fourth inning of the night cap, Mets pitching had racked up 20 consecutive scoreless innings. Sure, some of you might deride that by saying the Mets nearly pulled that off once this year inside of a single game, but the fact that Johan Santana still looks to be winning ball games despite a drop in velocity and Mike Pelfrey may have finally got it bears some notice. John Maine has been shaky and each Oliver Perez outing still feels like a tightrope walk two millimeters wide, but the bullpen, which has an ERA of 2.61 right now, has somehow managed to pull it out each time, to the tune of eight wins in New York's last nine games.

And in typical fashion, the one game the Mets lost in this stretch is the one game I attended.

Regardless, the lineup may finally be coming together. Jason Bay started driving the ball with a home run and a triple last night, David Wright drove in four runs on the day (and didn't strike out for the first time 13 outings in the second game) and Ike Davis continues to wow with three RBIs yesterday to complement his .980 OPS since being called up to the Majors 10 games ago.

Yes, I know, it is early. It's only April. And there is plenty of time for the Mets to collapse brutally once again or fade from the race before it even becomes a race. But for now, the Mets are winning games, and this team is a lot of fun to watch. The only thing that might make them more fun would be a music video to rival the glory of 1986.



Somehow I think the message of Doc Gooden giving something to a group of school children doesn't really resonate the same way today.

In any event, it'd be awfully nice if the Mets could keep winning into the summer because with the impending end of hockey season just six weeks away I may be lacking for distractions. The first round is set to end tonight with a Game 7 between the surprisingly feisty Canadiens and the somewhat less surprisingly lazy Capitals. Of course, the Capitals, being supremely talented and having won the Presidents' Trophy in a walk this year I still expect them to win, but the magic of a Game 7 is that we never really know.

What I'm far more intrigued by, however, is the second-round Western Conference match up between San Jose and Detroit, which won its own Game 7 last night, that gets underway this weekend. These two teams have a bit of a playoff history dating back to the Sharks' stunning first-round upset of the top-seeded Wings in 1994, and the experienced team that is Detroit, coming off two straight Finals appearances is a tall order for a Sharks team that has a habit of disappointing in the playoffs lately.

But what really makes this series interesting is what was pointed out on the outstanding Yahoo! Sports hockey blog Puck Daddy. This series will essentially be ideal fodder for us to make fun of the absolutely ridiculous Lorenzo Lamas and Debbie Gibson smash non-hit of 2009 Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus. The San Jose reference is obvious (They're the Sharks. Duh.), but the allusion to the Red Wings might seem abstract if you aren't familiar with the long-honored tradition of throwing octopi on the ice in Detroit.

The movie may not be an exact parallel for this series, but it does feature a major sequence in the Northern California Bay Area. Also, the trailer is, you know, hilarious.



I'll have some picks on what's going to go down in the second round ready for you tomorrow, though since I did so well in the first round, you may or may not want to believe me, but I'll be ready. Sort of.

In the meantime, settle in and enjoy tonight's Game 7, keep enjoying the Mets and don't send any incriminating facebook messages.

I Blew It. . . .

Okay. . . so I really messed this one up. You would think that because we're in the business of monitoring, knowing, and educating about youth culture that we would have been all over this. But that's not what happened.

Here's how it went down. . . . I started seeing the trailers for the film during the World Series. . . which, as you know, didn't turn out to be a particularly pleasant experience for me as a Phillies fan. Ok - that's an excuse. I'm not Pavlov's dog. But maybe I associated the upcoming film with loss and pain. There was also the computer-animated nature of the thing. It just didn't zing me. Another excuse. Then, there was the fact that James Cameron was also responsible for the film Titanic, which never grabbed me either because, after all, I knew enough history to know the ending. So, I never had the desire nor did I ever go to see Avatar in the theater. I know. . . how can I call myself a youth-culture watcher. If it's any consolation, there's a not a person on our staff here at CPYU that felt any differently than I did. Another lame excuse.

Still, I had this gnawing knowledge of the fact that someday it would have to happen, and when I finally opened up about the fact that I had seen the thing for the first time on DVD . . . well. . . any remnants of a positive reputation I might still have would be shattered.

That changed on Sunday. A quick after-church trip to Costco found me holding a DVD/Blu-Ray bundle of the film in my hand. When Nate spotted me from his vantage point at the sample table for Tyson's Buffalo Chicken tenders (which are quite good, I might add), he shot over and excitedly said, "Come on Dad, let's get it." We did. And then we watched. What I thought would never draw me in, drew me in.

So, in a classic example of "do as I say, not as I do" reasoning, I'm encouraging the two or three of you out there who have not yet seen the film to give it a look. Chances are, your kids have all seen it. The film broke records in the box office. Within four days after it's release last week, the DVD/Blu-Ray was breaking records as well. Not only is the film fascinating from a cinematic production point of view, but it's one of those films you shouldn't think twice about watching and discussing with your kids.

All I'll say is that James Cameron has built us multiple diving boards from which to spring into theological discussions with our kids. Here's a list of things you can talk about with kids after viewing Avatar:
-Incarnation
-Cross-cultural missions and sensitivity
-Contextualization
-Love
-Creation-care
-The greater good
-Greed
-Spirituality
-The Nature of God
-Pantheism
-Salvation
-Identity
-Indigenous Peoples and how to treat them
-and so much more.

I'll be watching again. . . another way of saying, "Yep, I blew it." Now, take me to task. . . .

Blue/White 2010

This was the first Penn State tailgate I was able to attend since 2002.  It was actually September 14th of 2002 against #7 Nebraska.  Anyways, I went over with my brother and we had a pretty good time.  Although, it definitely got me thinking about something kind of funny.

If you remember life back in 2002, cellphones were just becoming more and more common.  This was the first year that I had one and it seemed like a good majority of people at PSU had one as well.  Remember though, I was the only one in my apartment with one.  For you young kids out there, back in '02 there were not nearly as many cellphone towers as there are today, which caused everyone tailgating to have no service all day.

You might think there is nothing spectacular about that, but what amazed me was how quickly chaos ensued.  Girls standing around crying because they could not find anyone.  The simple task of looking for people had become forgotten in a few years.  We did not know where our tailgate was that year, we had a general idea and wandered around until we found someone we knew (actually we just listened for one of the louder members of the group).

As you can see that is me in the middle, my brother on the left and my brother's friend Huff on the right.  When I saw this picture on facebook, I thought to myself:  why does that seem familiar?

What the hell?  Basically the same pose by me.  I guess that is my default stance when I am in the middle of two people.

Anyways, it was a good time this weekend and I hope that I am to do it more this fall...