Fantasy Football Draft

It's finally time for our fantasy football draft!

We're meeting tonight at Dave & Busters, where we will hold three simultaneous drafts (one for each conference of ten players). We still need a few "Vanna Whites" to apply the stickers to our draft boards. So if anyone wants to hang out with us for a few hours and get free sodas, please join us!

I'm drafting 5th, which probably puts me in the running for guys like Michael Turner, DeAngelo Williams, Chris Johnson, or Matt Forte. I'd also be happy with stealing the first WR and taking Larry Fitzgerald, but that seems a bit early. Maybe I'll trade down.

2,000 Posts

As I near 100,000 hits (almost entirely family and friends), I've now reached 2,000 posts. That's about 450 posts per year.

Thanks for reading!

Random Mac Thoughts 8/28/09

• I just re-subscribed to an old favorite magazine for $5. MacLife, formerly MacAddict, is a computer magazine I subscribed to for several years. Tanga.com was having a 48-hour sale, offering a coupon code that gave $30 off a $35 annual subscription. Good deal!
• Favorite puzzle/game/time waster on my iPhone: the free "Flood-It!". Easy to learn, hard to master, quick to play. My best scores are 15 moves for the small puzzle, 24 moves on the medium, and 29 moves on the large.
• Most useful app so far: Grocery Gadget ($5), which keeps our Wal-Mart, Target, and Aldi lists updated between both phones, as we shop. Very cool.
• When, oh when, will AT&T finally deliver MMS?!
• I'm ready to upgrade form Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) to 10.6 (Snow Leopard). I've been waiting for about two years to upgrade and decided to skip 10.5. The only question is whether I just upgrade or wipe everything clean and do a clean install. Isn't that better, especially for a three year old laptop?
  

Global Warming Questions

Here's a great article that, in part, asks four logical questions about global warming climate change:

(1) Is the globe getting warmer?

(2) If so, is man doing it?

(3) If so, is that bad?

(4) If so, is the massive-reductions-in-CO2 approach the best way to deal with it?

Great questions! It's hard to agree on (1) exactly since we've been getting cooler for the last 10 years, but (2) is highly questionable, (3) is debatable, and (4) is just anti-capitalism.

Fox News Rocks

I love it when the Drudge Report puts up the numbers for cable news. As a longtime Fox News junkie, I love to see the "Fair & Balanced" network absolutely dominate the left-wing loonies, like Olbermann and Maddow.

Of the Fox shows, I watch Bret Baier and Glenn Beck regularly, even if I have to record them to the DVR. But I appreciate that the supposedly "right-wing" Fox News has some diversity in its winning lineup: I'd call Sean Hannity strongly right-wing. But O'Reilly and Beck are more traditional libertarians, Baier seems moderately conservative (?) and Shepard Smith and Greta Van Susteren seem moderate to liberal on some issues. As a right wing nut myself, I can tell they're at least not as conservative as I am.

(…the heretics… *mumble, mumble*…)

CABLE NEWS RACE
MONDAY, AUG. 24, 2009

FOXNEWS O'REILLY 3,440,000
FOXNEWS HANNITY 2,937,000
FOXNEWS BECK 2,810,000
FOXNEWS GRETA 2,450,000
FOXNEWS BAIER 2,066,000
FOXNEWS SHEP 1,860,000
MSNBC OLBERMANN 1,114,000
CNN KING 1,063,000
MSNBC MADDOW 885,000
CNN COOPER 827,000
MSNBC HARDBALL 640,000

Mind Games

From my wife's blog:


This is a story that begins in a Quick Trip (surprised?)...

My mom and I were out and about with the kids and Elijah needed to use the restroom. Since the 78th St QT was just around the corner I decided unselfishly to go directly there so my son could use the facilities. The pop I purchased was an after thought, I swear.

Anyway, Eli was eager to head into the store with me while leaving his siblings in the car with my mom. He hopped and skipped along side of me. I told him to go ahead into the woman's restroom while I refilled my cup.

I feel the need to interject here. Eli is a strong confident boy but has a timid side. He likes to have me accompany him during basic tasks for back up. I encouraged him he would be fine since the fountain is located right by the restrooms.

He hesitantly went but returned immediately. "There's a loud noise coming from the bathroom, I'm scared," Eli says with a grin. He's unable to hold a straight face as of late regardless of the situation; it's quite adorable. I went to the restroom and heard a noise of a water line that doesn't have enough pressure. It was a mild moan and I encouraged him it was nothing and to go ahead.

Trusting his mother he stepped into the restroom locked the door and within moments began to scream hysterically. Everyone in the store heard his cries for help. It was horrible. I ran to the door, desperately tried to open it but it was still locked. I began to panic due to his desperation and shrieking. I yelled out, "Open the door baby, open the door!!! I'm right here open the door!!!!"

I quickly realized I was standing in inches of water. I saw there was a faucet left on filling a mop bucket and it was quickly flooding the back of the store. I turned the faucet off and the door came flying open to the bathroom. My little boy was white with fear, shaking, and had tears streaming down his face. He immediately grabbed my body and squeezed my legs with all his might.

He was convinced he was about to meet his demise.

After Eli entered the bathroom the moaning from the water line became a loud shrieking noise and the walls began to rattle. Add to that the water from the mop bucket began to fill the floor of the bathroom.

I asked Eli, "Did the sounds scare you?"

Still panicked and crying he shouted,"Tanner said there is a monster that lives in toilets that comes up and eats you butt first!!! It's coming to eat me!" (as funny as that is keep in mind my 5 year old believed this with every fiber of his being).

Trying to calm him I said, "Eli, honey, that's just not true!"

He looked even more panicked and sick, he quickly retorted,"Tanner said you'd say that!!"

I'm going to start putting away money now for the therapy he will surely need later.

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

This email has been passed around quite a bit this last week and, though it probably deserves some qualification, it's close enough to be more than a little disturbing.

"Let me get this straight.

We're going to pass a health care plan written by a committee whose head says he doesn't understand it, passed by a Congress that hasn't read it but exempts themselves from it, signed by a President that also hasn't read it, and who smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes, overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and financed by a country that's nearly broke.

What possibly could go wrong?"

Random Sci-Fi Thoughts

I began working on my wife before we were even married, with subtle hints about the many virtues of Star Trek and Star Wars. My first major victory was getting her to watch the last four or five seasons of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" in the early years of our marriage; it was all down hill from there. Now she regularly geeks out on all kinds of nerdy fare, from "Battlestar Galactica" to "Firefly" to the more mainstream "Chuck." This, among other things, makes her the perfect woman.

In the end, I'm really interested in quality story-telling. When you remove the limits and constraints from the story teller, you often call the result sci-fi or fantasy.

• I saw District 9 this week. It's a bit gruesome, but it's truly sci-fi in the classic sense: like a 90-minute, special effects-laden episode of Twilight Zone. District 9 addresses serious issues with extraordinary story telling. Please, make a sequel!
• You can see some of the genius of Neill Blomkamp in his original short film, Alive in Joburg. And here is his interpretation of what a Halo film would look like.
  
• James Cameron's Avatar is finally coming to the big screen. This is not the Airbender series, this something bigger, bluer, and better…
• I'm training my boys on a diet of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars." Naturally, I have to preview each episode to make sure it's acceptable viewing for the kids. Season 2 begins October 2.
• "V," the remake of the 80's aliens-in-sheep's-clothing mini-series will begin November 3.
• Joss Whedon, perhaps my favorite television writer of all time (sorry, Ronald D. Moore), gets a second season of his sci-fi show "Dollhouse." It starts on September 25.
  

Random Thoughts 8/19/09

• Great interview with Jonathan Leaf about his book, The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Sixties.
• When was the last time you had a class on 1&2 Thessalonians? I'm teaching one tonight at church for Wednesday Family Night.
• If you were on the Minnesota Vikings football team, would you believe anything that Brett Favre says about his future plans? I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him.
• We call our Wednesday night church services, "Wednesday Family Night," not because it is for nuclear families only, i.e. Mom, Dad, and 2.1 kids. We call it "family" night because it's a gathering of the church family; and single people, kids, seniors, divorced, widowed, and every other type of person can be a part of that family.
• I'm officially "over" paying two bucks for the privilege of parking at KU Med Center. It's pretty much the only hospital in KC where I have to pay for parking.
• I wish I could expect more from the Chiefs this year. *sigh* But I'm actually more excited about KU football. How crazy is that?
  

98,000 Hits

We passed 98,000 hits this evening. Thanks for reading!

All Wet at Arrowhead

I'm blogging from a very wet Arrowhead stadium. It's fun and not fun all at the same time!








Thanks for the tickets, John, we appreciate this great opportunity.

Healthcare Backlash

I took a poll on Facebook about the health care plan. To my shock, with 150,000 votes cast, the results were 63% against (Yay!) and only 33% for.

I don't expect to see a lot of conservatism in the facebook crowd, but this may go beyond conservative to common sense.

So Says the Gipper

The Short One's a Little Different

Making Purple

This is hilarious!

How do you stop kids from kissing, i.e. "making purple," at church camp? Here is the comprehensive battle plan for preventing this menace.

If you've ever ministered to teenagers, helped with the youth group, or anything remotely related to youth ministry you'll be rolling on the floor.

[Thank you Alisa Y.]

How Old Are You Now?

I am now 12,000 days old. I've slept almost 100,000 hours, have taken communion about 1250 times, and have had about 235 haircuts.

If you forgot to get me a birthday card, there will be other opportunities:

• I'll turn 15,000 days old on October 29, 2019. I'll be 43.
• I'll be 20,000 days old on July 8, 2031 (age 54).

Random Thoughts 8/11/09

• It may be too late, perhaps way too late, to win me back… but here's a promo for the next season of "Heroes."
• I watched 8 episodes of "Corner Gas" tonight with my wife. Thank you, YouTube, I needed the laughs.
• DirecTV is offering a free Sunday of NFL Sunday Ticket on the first day of the NFL season. 9 games at Noon and 3 at three. Party at my place! Seriously. September 13: party at my place after church (seating limited to about half a dozen).
  
• I'm loving my iPhone, but a lot of people are looking forward to the same thing, on a slightly larger scale.
• I had a friend ask about buying a Mac. No computer is perfect but Mac owners are a significantly more satisfied bunch than any other group of computer owners. Good luck, buddy, enjoy your new computer.
• Great update on man-made global warming climate change here. What a bunch of malarkey! I was telling folks in 2000 (when AlGore was running for President) that this was a bunch of junk. Now it looks like popular opinion is finally swinging the right way. The question is whether AlGore is the deceiver or the deceived.
  

Random Thoughts 8/9/09

• In one month it will be 9/9/09.
• My spellchecker on my phone wants to take "White House" and change it to whore house. Hmmm…
• I'm teaching a new Sunday School class on relationships… this should make for interesting discussions. I'll be using a Les Parrott book and lots of scripture, but still, there's nothing quite as hairy as talking about how people feel about their loved(?) ones.
  
• Fantasy football is getting close, yahoo!!! Actually, Foxsports.com, but you get the idea. Our league used to be CBS Sportsline (I've used CBS for 8 or 9 years), but they kept raising their rates and other websites give the same services for free. So…
  
• We have a live draft party on August 31, I can't wait. We run a league of 30 people (3 conferences of 10, 3 separate drafts) and we've had our draft parties at Dave & Busters the last two years. Very cool!
  
• My boys keep asking me who Michael Jackson was. I'm soooo not ready for that conversation.
• My wife loves pinball. As a geek, I find that really cool.
  

Making Her an Honest Woman

Shannon claimed on Facebook that she was in a relationship, i.e. married to me. But since I wasn't on Facebook to confirm this statement, the status of the whole relationship was apparently in limbo. You see both sides have to confirm the existence of a relationship for it to be "Facebook official," only then is it legit.

Now I'm on Facebook and our relationship has been confirmed for literally dozens of friends to see.

All this time, livin' in sin… and I didn't even know!

Guys Aged 25-35 Totally Get This

You All Seem Fishy To Me

Don't forget our President's snitch hotline at flag@whitehouse.gov.

If someone out there seems "a little fishy" to you, it's your responsibility to report them to the authorities!

We don't want false information out there about our beloved leader and his plans for socialized medicine.

Warning signs to watch out for in your neighbors:

• owns firearms
• displays subversive fish symbol on car
• military training and/or haircut
• drives non-hybrid vehicle
  
• watches FoxNews
• secretive anti-government meetings on Sunday mornings
• listens to talk radio

Remember, your neighbor could be the enemy!!!

Islam is NOT Pro-Women

[Thanks Dustin]

Random Thoughts 8/5/09

• Our Wyandotte Fantasy Football League will be drafting on Monday, August 31. Previous participants need to contact me ASAP if you're good for another season.
• I now officially need to wear a hat when out in the sun. My thinning hair left me with a sunburned spot on my scalp last week in Colorado, a problem I've never encountered before. I guess that's part of getting old!
• The iPhone isn't really a phone. It's a hand-held computer that makes phone calls. PDA, internet device, ebook reader, GPS, camera, game machine, etc. It's an impressive little critter.
  
• I Redboxed from Goodland, Ks to KCK, displacing a DVD movie by 396 miles. I'll bet that one doesn't make it back home anytime soon. I wonder if Redbox movies regularly migrate to or from major cities, or if it all balances out?
• I learned everything I know about giving money to my wife from George Jetson.
• Perhaps the most useful function of my new iPhone is the GPS feature. I used it several times while traveling to Colorado. It's just incredible to pull up a map and see a blue little blinking dot driving down a street and making a turn in real time.
• Here's an upgrade chart for Windows 7 compared to a Mac upgrade chart. You gotta love Microsoft; "…making things overly complicated since 1975." Of course, Apple has the "our way or the highway" approach.
  
• We got in the car yesterday and Graham asked if we could go see the "red rocks." The ones in Colorado? Uh, no.
• Paula Abdul says she's leaving American Idol (if only). If she did leave, we'll all miss out on insightful commentary like this:
  

I Smell a Rat (Snake)

We found a snake in the church foyer this afternoon. Just a baby, it wasn't the usual ringneck or garter snake… in fact, I'm not sure what species it was exactly.





My best guess is a Great Plains Rat Snake. Are there any herpetology experts out there to set me straight?

I threw the little guy in the weeds, told him to eat lots of pests but not to come back inside. I think he understood.

More Pics from Colorado

Tanner takes roping lessons.



Brennan & Kelby on the hiking trip.





The Sangre de Cristo (Blood of Christ) mountains. We have family on both sides of the range.




Brennan with the ugliest horse in Colorado.

97,000 Hits

I'm sitting in a hotel in Colorado Springs and realized we've passed 97,000 hits! Thanks for reading!