Rush to Judgment

Didn't this used to be the United States?

I'm going to start by admitting that I used to be a Limbaugh fan. It was about 15 years ago (WOW am I getting old), but it's true.

But with the current uproar about his potentially buying the St. Louis Rams my current ambivalence toward him personally is turning toward shame in our once great country. How can your political positions make you ineligible to make a purchase? Seriously! Isn't that the very foundation of a free country? Some people want to restrict another person's marketplace options because of his opinions? Wow, and wow.


Other recent thoughts:

So Obama got an award for doing nothing. So what? I'm diametrically opposed to most of his politics (when I pay enough attention to care, which is . . . pretty much never), but am annoyed with everybody being annoyed that he got an award. Good for him. Who cares?

Did anybody else see that Phillies/Rockies game last night? Wow, wow, and wow. It can't be all coincidence that flu season and baseball post-season happen at the same time, because this can't be good for any fan's health. But WOW what a way to take a series home.

Finally, in some legitimate personal big news, I'm about to up and move to take a job leading a small church in Dover, NH. I know, who goes to New Hampshire? Me, as it turns out. Also, it turns out that it's a pretty cool area and we're excited to see what God might do there. Just wish that we weren't going to pull in just in time for winter. Oh, the sacrifices. . . .

The Old Man of the Mountain and Bubbles

For centuries the mountains of New Hampshire were overlooked by The Old Man of the Mountain. Local culture to some, a God to others, and simply an interesting natural formation to others, the Old Man's influence meant different things to different people, but was universally recognized and appreciated, at least on some level. Until May 3, 2003, at least, when decades of weather and exposure dropped him clean off the mountain. Some saw the event as nothing more than nature taking it's course while others have drawn correlations between the collapse and the deterioration of New Hampshire culture.

Yesterday the Lion who overlooks my office specifically and the eastern-most portion of Bayport Road generally was washed over in white. With only one win in their last 26 games, it will be hard to pin any further deterioration of the franchise on the icon's disappearance. The old logo was updated in the off-season, making his glory outdated even as he watched, but glorious he remained. Until last night, that is, when he went to join the Old Man in the New Hampshire rubble.

Let him who has ears hear. (Or whatever the internet equivalent of hearing would be.)

I TOLD You It Was a Crazy Month

And this might have been the craziest and the most fun. Sorry (again) for the delay in this, but the following really happened. These pictures are real, and there's more where they came from. Even the Courier-Journal's "Wedding Crasher" showed up and snapped a few (I'm sure you can still find them if you search for the Powell-Mudd wedding at courier-journal.com). I officiated a pirate/fairy themed wedding.

I'll be honest, when they first told me what they wanted to do I was a touch unsure. Now they were willing to jump through enough hoops for me to be sure that they were serious about the marriage and I've always thought that the wedding ought to be however the bride and groom chose, but when they said they'd be dressed as pirates and fairies, well, that gave me a chance to see how much I really believed that. But fair enough -- it's their wedding, if they'll show me they're serious, I'll roll with it. And so they did, and so I did.

And it was awesome. Don't get me wrong, I think being able to join two individuals in Christian marriage is one of the greatest privileges around (2nd only to baptism, probably), but it's not necessarily something that I get all jacked up about. It's time and stress and being around people's families at, all too often, their worst. But this one? This was just fun. Check out the pics below, they're not the best but they're the best that I have.

And now, Mudd and Rachel, it's up to you two make your marriage as awesome as your wedding. God be with you, it can be done.






Note on colors -- although the free-agent signing of a bona-fide all-star IS worth keeping Flogging green, we're approaching the "other" all-star break, and the Phillies are in first. Here's to another parade this October, fellas!!!

Crusin'

There are a lot of things that most people love that I just never quite "got."

In high school, for instance, one of the "big" events (if there were any "big" events in small-town South Dakota) was cruising. I never much did it, but I guess the concept was . . . driving around. Maybe stopping and hanging out with other cruisers too, I don't know. Like I said, I never quite "got" the whole deal. Maybe it had something to do with that I just wasn't very popular -- nobody wanted to cruise with me, nor talk to me while cruising -- but whatever the reason, it was really never my thing.

Obviously there's no correlation beyond the word, but fast-forward to 2009, and everybody loves vacationing on cruise ships. What's the hype about? I would wonder. What is there to do on a ship that I can't do at home? I don't like to sit by the pool, and frankly we have pools in Louisville. If I wanted to gamble, that can be accommodated with a modest drive. Really, what's the deal? "Oh, the food is incredible, and it's everywhere!" people would say. Cool, I can get with some good food. "The cabin boys come and fold towels into animal shapes!" others would exclaim. Ummmm, ok.

Nonetheless, Laura's always loved the idea of a cruise, and so with our 10 year anniversary coming up, I thought it might be time to give it a shot. I took her to Iowa for our honeymoon, after all, so I figured I could step my game up. Mobile AL to Cozumel and another port near Playa del Carmen Mexico it would be, then.

I still don't get it. The food was fantastic and in abundance. I dug it. The towel animals were surprisingly fun. The ports were nice, we went snorkling which was exceptional even for an anti-water guy such as myself and saw some Mayan ruins, which was interesting.

But seriously, what there was worth a week of my life? We did a lot of napping and reading on the boat. Which is fine, but I can do those as well from here (already have today, thank you!). Of course it was great to spend some time with my lovely bride, but we do a pretty good job of making that happen in our regular lives, too. And most importantly, she had a good time, but after about three days I think we were both ready to be back at home.

Much like this post, then, I just didn't quite get what the point was.

Figure This?

Alright, this hasn't been updated in a long time, but there are reasons. For one, it's been a pretty crazy month. For another, I'm lazy. So I'm behind, but because I am who I am, I'll start at the beginning and work chronologically. That means we start with:

Do you remember when your college buddies, after about eight beers, would say "Do you know what someone should do? *Fill in the blank with ridiculous -- although potentially hilarious if it ever happened in real life, but there's NO WAY that whatever this is ever takes place in real life -- idea* Dude, that would be incredible! They should really do it, too. You KNOW people would pay to see that. I'd pay to see that, wouldn't you? Someone really should do that!" Well, apparently someone across the river in Southern Indiana took their drunk friend seriously and made one of these things happen. That's right, Laura and I enjoyed some school bus figure-8 races about a month ago. The pics are from my phone so excuse their inadequacy, but here we go:






So, yep! School bus figure-8 racing turns out to be pretty much exactly what it sounds like. School buses crashing into each other and causing general unruliness. What more can you say about that?

Anyway, it's been an extremely eventful month even after that, so stay tuned for more updates, hopefully within the month.

Self-Stung

There isn't much that I hate more than wasps. They're ugly, they're scary (I'll admit it), and when I was about 10 I got absolutely rocked by one right on my lower lip and it hurt worse than about anything I'd ever experienced. I really, really hate (and am scared of) wasps.

It just so happens, however, that our backyard is insanely infested with wasps. When I try to mow in the late morning, I can seriously stand and look at the back of our fence and count five or so within my range of vision at any given moment. If I bump a part of the fence with the mower, six or eight will fly up all disturbed and then disturb me in kind. It makes an unpleasant but not-unreasonable task into an absolute gauntlet of terror.

So how excited was I when my lovely bride tells me that she saw a trap at the store for $15? I went on-line to check them out and I was sold. It looked like there could be a hundred of those little devils inside a trap, and that's exactly what I was after, so we went for it.

After about a week, the trap was still wasp-free. I couldn't believe it. On the company's website, they like swarmed to it. So what do I do about the disappointingly impotent wasp trap? I did the only reasonable thing -- I went and bought another one. Now there are two traps with no wasps, and here's why this is discouraging for me:

The three principles of the situation, in order of intelligence:
1) The Wasps. They send me running scared and stay out of the traps.
2) The Trap Company. They sold me a product that didn't work, and then sold me another one.
3) Me. I'm still deathly afraid of the wasps, whose numbers have not been reduced by one despite my best efforts; and I've given the trap company my money twice for a product that hasn't worked once. The obvious conclusion? I'm a scared, broke moron.

If You Have Nothing Worthwile to Write. . .

Just a thought I had the other day -- what happened to colors? I mean colors used to be colors, right, like red, blue, yellow, purple, whatever. Not that the cardinal colors or whatever were sufficient, but of course we weren't necessarily limited to those, so it was ok. We could modify any color in any number of ways. No, not shackled simply to "blue" we could have light blue or dark blue. When light and dark aren't enough, we could even modify it with adjectives from outside the traditional realm of color. "Sky blue," "electric blue," "sea blue," "midnight blue," the opportunities are almost endless. Even if they're not endless, however, we could combine colors -- "blue-green" or what have you. And now the opportunities really are virtually endless.

And all of this before we even get into the colors that we don't really make use of anyway, like fuchsia, indigo, magenta, crimson, vermilion, mauve, teal, and taupe, to name a few.

Why is it, then, that things have suddenly become colors?

You guys, salmon isn't a color, it's a fish. Charcoal isn't a color, it's a carbon residue (I'll admit, I had to look that one up). Rasberry isn't a color, it's a berry. Our sofa is considered "mocha" (although it cost less). Mocha isn't a color, it's a freaking flavor!

Now I confess, there's no good reason why this should bother me. It's purely a product of my own mild nueroses, and I understand that. But still, where will this end? Will it stop with fish, berries, and flavors? Who's to say that it won't get worse and worse until someday someone describes something that's a sort of pale, unattractive pink (see how I just took a real color and modified it for a more specific purpose?) as simply "Ross." Besides, it had been too long since I'd written anything on here, and I just had nothing better to say.

Foul This

A few thoughts after a weekend of watching more basketball than I've probably seen all year:

1) Despite the relative lack of upsets, it's still been a great first weekend with some great games. Siena/Ohio State was incredible, and Wisconsin/Florida St. going on simultaneous to it was great also. Oklahoma St./Tennessee was excellent, and even though they all escaped, the top seeds had some real tests in the 2nd round. So don't let anybody look at all the high seeds left and say that it's sucked. Maybe it's a little more exciting when the upsets happen, but there were still plenty of great games.

2) On a different note, I hate that all the chalky's brackets are being rewarded. Don't get me wrong, I didn't take ETSU to the Final Four, and my bracket's even doing all right (except for my runner-up Wake Forest -- they DO put the "demon" in "deacons" don't they? Wasn't the ACC supposed to be all powerful and crap? Ridiculous!), but they guy currently leading my bracket pool chose nobody higher than a 5 seed in the round of 16, and the basketball gods have been smiling upon him. *sigh*

3) Does anybody else think that basketball would be a better game if they just made it a foul everytime somebody swatted or grabbed a ball that was clearly in another player's control? Swats and grabs are difficult to officiate and result in a lot of bad calls, plus it's basketball, not wrestling. If one dude has the ball the other team should try to take it away through stolen passes or playing sound positional defense, not swatting or grabbing. I'm not asking for more fouls, of course, as much as less reaching, poking, grabbing, swatting. I just think it would make for a cleaner more entertaining, more skill-oriented game.

4) What is it about some players that they show their parents about 6 times during every game, but never any "other" parents? Are the other 9 dudes on the court at any given time orphans or what? Seriously, how many times have we seen the parents of Blake and Taylor Griffen (I've been watching OU all year, of course, and it happens about 6 times during EVERY home game), the kid from Siena whose father has ALS, and the 7"1' 290 lb mountain of a man from UNI? Answer: a LOT. How about the parents from every other player in the tournament? None. Can anybody explain this to me? I ask a lot of rhetorical questions on here, but I'm really kind of curious if anybody could explain this one to me.

5) Great. The next OU game is simultaneous to the next UofL game. And the on-line feeds haven't worked for me. So what? Do I try to go out and arm wrestle for a table somewhere? I'm 145 and arm wrestling really isn't my thing. This really isn't supposed to be an issue this late in the tournament, is it? Oh, to be in a place where the local team is out and nobody cares anymore.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

A handful of quick thoughts after day 1 of the greatest sporting event in the history of sporting events:

1) By bracket's doing GREAT! Which can only mean one thing -- it all falls apart today. At least OU's through.

2) It's one day, and I'm already sick to death of about 6 specific commercials. I know, they keep it free, and so it's a good trade-off. But still, can we get a *little* variety? How many more times am I going to have to watch the dude jump his bike or the kid dodge-ball himself? Sonic at least has a couple different ones, but they're also recycled from years gone by ("Don't you BRING that weak tot action!" That line always gets me, I admit.). *Sigh*

3) The cheap shots on B Griffen have to stop. Seriously. It was ridiculous when the thug from USC blasted him in the package. Did anybody have any idea that things would actually get WORSE from there?

4) Can anybody else get the on-line video feed to work? I sure couldn't. Again, *Sigh*.

Giving Up Lent?

So it's that time of the year again when good Catholics and thoughtful Protestants give up something (sort of) dear to them for Lent. It's kind of beautiful, I've always thought. Voluntarily giving up something that we (a little bit, anyway) love in thankfulness and dedication to the one who gave up far more for us.

Here's the thought I had today, though. How does this come off from Jesus' perspective? I'm sure that he appreciates the sentiment and all that. I think he's pretty good about motives and stuff like that. But is he really honored by people self-imposing sacrifices on themselves? Really, didn't he come so that our lives would improve and so we would NOT have to make sacrifices OT style? I know Lent isn't an OT thing, and I'm not even necessarily against it here, but I'm thinking it's a little ironic. If you couldn't pay your electric bill and I hit it for you, would I then be honored if you didn't use any from 8-10 each night to remember how I hooked you up? NO!!! I'd say "Hit the flippin' lights and microwave a burrito -- that's why I payed your bill for you!"

Again, I really do appreciate the sentiment and have always respected those (especially Protestants, who didn't "have to") who participated. I'm just thinking thoughts and asking questions, that's all. I know, I hate it when people think thoughts and ask questions about my life, too. Fair enough.

Thoughts On Surviving

So the current series of Survivor just premiered, and offers appropriate (read: meaningless) blog fodder.

The girl who got voted out tossed around a popular catch-phrase at one point by describing herself as "not afraid to speak my mind." This often goes hand-in-hand with it's sisters, "I have the right to voice my opinion," "I'll say what I want to say," and the ever-popular "I gave him/her/them a piece of my mind!"

Sure, you DO have the right to voice your opinion. And being "not afraid" to say what legitimately needs to be said can surely be necessary at times. But before you do, consider that we also have a right dislike you for it, and there's a very good chance that although you might like to think (and tell us) that it makes you "a strong person who others might be intimidated by" or some such, it's more likely that we don't want to hear it and you're just obnoxious to be around. There's also something to be said for tact and restraint, considering the other point of view, and living at peace with everybody as much as depends on you (as Paul would say).

In other words, remember Carolina.

Wade Into Survivor!

I don't watch a lot of tv. I watch even less "reality" tv. And at that, even LESS Survivor. I watched season 2, only because a guy I (sort of) knew from high school was on. (I don't know if I ever actually spoke to him, but my sister and wife knew him, and I knew his older brother. And he was from our small South Dakota town, and so it was kind of cool) And then I watched the next season before we got sick of it. Haven't seen an episode since.

Here comes another one, though! One of the contestants on the new season starting this Thursday is something of an acquaintance from my past. "Friend" is probably too strong a term -- we didn't hang out on the weekends or grab barbeque between classes -- but we were "friendly" and he was one of the few people who didn't mock my band to my face and even came to our shows.

So I say watch Survivor on Thursdays and cheer for "Coach" Ben Wade!!! The early word is that he's probably going to come across as arrogant and you probably won't like him, but all appearances are that he'll go far in the game and provide good tv. Go coach, go!

I hate to laugh at the misfortune of others . . . BUT

I haven't posted in a bit here, mostly because I haven't had much to post about.

Today I came across maybe the greatest page in the history of the web. GOSH I hope I'm never on there, although somehow this post and Murphy's Law make me a good candidate. I'll take my chances, however, to share it with you, loyal reader(s?).

Failblog.org

Enjoy, but enjoy knowing that you very well could be next.

Stereotypes Are No Fun, Now

but sometimes the comedy just writes itself.

A "fan" came onto the court to apparently yell at officials at a college basketball game this week. Click here for the video if you like, although it's not all that remarkable, really. And also not that remarkable, is that they're now going to beef up security. Again largely unremarkable, but click here for the story if you like. From the story, however, here's what IS remarkable:

"The college said uniformed Providence police officers will now be positioned behind team benches during games at the Dunkin' Donuts Center and that more security guards would also be used."

That's right, more police officers at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. Like I said, sometimes the comedy just writes itself.

Equal Opportunity, You Know?

I'll admit it -- in all the championship excitement, I wasn't quite sure what to do with the color scheme on here. And then I forgot about it for a bit. So today is the day to take down the Phillies colors and replace them with the OU Crimson and Cream in celebration of their Big 12 Championship and upcoming National Championship game. It truly has been a great year!

But first, in fairness, I suppose I can't just gloss over the NFL season entirely. So here you go, it's one full month of Lions colors for each of their wins.

That Ain't Celcius, Kids

Tomorrow after church Laura and I are packing up the dog and going "home" for Christmas. We're from the same town and so we can go to one place and both sets of parents are there. There's no "this year we'll go to your family, and next to mine" or anything like that, and so that's nice. What's not so nice, though, is that they're all in South Dakota. There's basically no opportunity, nothing going on, and the high tomorrow is 4. (Yep, the HIGH. As in, if you go outside at just the right time, you can think to yourself, "Wow, I could NOT have picked a better moment all day long to be out in the weather. At least for today, this is truly as good as it gets!" And it will be 4.)

Sometimes I talk to friends or whatever who still live where they grew up, and their family and extended family and all of them are there, and I feel a little bit guilty that I left my hometown literally the day after I graduated from high school. Are my own personal preferences and ambitions more important than family? And it's not like my parents are terrible to be around, they're genuinely wonderful people.

You just don't ever have complete control over if your children will leave. What you DO have some control over, however, is where you give them the chance to stay. And if you want them to stick around, my strong recommendation is to not make it South Dakota.

This Post Is Not Mass-Produced In 800 Identical Locations

I see commercials or what not for restaurants that advertise this or that as "homemade." Am I wrong, or doesn't the very fact that you're getting something from a restaurant by definition mean that it is not homemade? Seriously, can anybody explain this to me and have it make sense?

It's Rhetorical

I'm not really looking for the answer, I'm just venting a little bit. I know the answer, and I just don't like it.

Why is it -- on message boards, in e-mails, text messages, etc. -- it's an unthinkable cardinal sin to use all caps, but completely acceptable to never capitalize anything?

Conventional Wisdom

tells us that there is no such thing as a "stupid question."

I sometimes like to question conventional wisdom. In this case, my question would be "If they carpeted Florida, how long would it take to vacuum?"

Hate Me for a GOOD Reason (There Are Plenty!)

I haven't seen it yet, but I'm sure I will. There's a movie that just came out that seems like it's basic premise is to ridicule, shame, mock, and basically belittle all things Christian. I remember seeing one band in particular (who was touring with a band of Christ-followers, no less) introducing a song with something similar to "This song is for everybody who doesn't believe in stupid a f'n fairy tale. . . ." I remember seeing a roadie once with a shirt that said "Christianity is stupid."

What's the deal on all this? Why do some people hate other people for believing in something? I understand not believing. . . but who cares if somebody else DOES believe?

I have a Lions fan buddy who seems legitimately convinced that there's a league-wide conspiracy to keep the Lions down. I don't believe that, but I don't hate him for believing or write songs or make shirts or make films dedicated to making him look dumb.

I'm not sold on the idea of aliens or ufo's or whatever. In fact, if there really is intelligent life "out there," and they are so intelligent as to come to our planet from theirs, I think that we'd all know about them if they wanted us to and none of us would know if they didn't want us to. They'd have to be really, REALLY smart, you see. So I'm skeptical on ufo reports and what not, but there's no reason to hate those who do believe, right? Why would I care? How is the fact that people believe in grey creatures from another world worth manufacturing negative energy?

So, obviously, I believe Jesus Christ was who he said he was. I hope you agree! But if not, and if you decide to hate me for it, that's on you.