Saturday, October 31, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Here Comes The Best Movie Of The Year - Invictus
Over the summer ESPN had their annual ESPY awards show and they highlighted the story of the South African Rugby team that won the World Cup. Dave told me about the story, about how he even cried while watching it in his living room by himself, and I so desperately wanted to see it, but could never find the rebroadcast. I looked for a book to no avail. And then I kind of forgot about it, until they started showing commercials for the film during the World Series.
The story goes basically like this: Nelson Mandela became President of South Africa in a huge upset victory after having served almost 30 years in prison for being an anti-apartheid activist. The country still suffered from glaring racial division, and he saw the Rugby World Cup as an opportunity to ease those tensions. South Africa was the host nation, but an enormous underdog to win the title. Nevertheless, he made every effort to ensure that all South Africans, white and black, would be cheering together for their country to win, and against daunting odds, win they did.
This movie, Invictus, is the story of that team and the healing of a nation. It's slated to be released December 11th. Morgan Freeman stars as Nelson Mandela, Matt Damon plays the national team coach Francois Pienaar, and Clint Eastwood directs. Can anyone say Oscar favorite?
Now that you can see through your tears, the movie title comes from the poem by William Ernest Henley:
Real life has the most amazing stories. Oh, and I found the book, go here if you're interested.
The story goes basically like this: Nelson Mandela became President of South Africa in a huge upset victory after having served almost 30 years in prison for being an anti-apartheid activist. The country still suffered from glaring racial division, and he saw the Rugby World Cup as an opportunity to ease those tensions. South Africa was the host nation, but an enormous underdog to win the title. Nevertheless, he made every effort to ensure that all South Africans, white and black, would be cheering together for their country to win, and against daunting odds, win they did.
This movie, Invictus, is the story of that team and the healing of a nation. It's slated to be released December 11th. Morgan Freeman stars as Nelson Mandela, Matt Damon plays the national team coach Francois Pienaar, and Clint Eastwood directs. Can anyone say Oscar favorite?
Now that you can see through your tears, the movie title comes from the poem by William Ernest Henley:
OUT of the night that covers me,Want to know something else cool? Invictus is latin for unconquerable. In 1875, Henley, from his hospital bed, wrote this poem determined to survive the tuberculosis that forced doctors to amputate his foot and that threatened his life. At that time tuberculosis used to be a death sentence, but Henley went on to live another 30 years after being released from the hospital.
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
Real life has the most amazing stories. Oh, and I found the book, go here if you're interested.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
It's A Good Life
Is there anyone else who used to be a huge fan of the Twilight Zone? I LOVED it as a kid. They scared the crap out of me, but I just ate them up. My favorite was when Thanksgiving or 4th of July would come and a certain television station would broadcast Twilight Zone marathons all day long. I would sit and watch for just about all of it. That's no exaggeration. I just loved those shows. That's where I first came into contact with this story, It's A Good Life, by Jerome Bixby.
Yesterday while avoiding school work (like always) I came across a post by one of my political guys who mentioned re-reading it recently. I looked for it online to see if I could just happen upon it and not have to go out and buy another book just for one little short story (you'd be surprised how many times I've done that). I did end up finding it, and you can read it too by clicking here.
It's not gory or horrific, but just creepy as hell in that classic Twilight Zone kind of way. You can watch a poor quality episode by going here. I think it's also featured on Twilight Zone the movie. If you have twenty minutes to spare, read the story. It's only about 15 pages long. Here's the last line from the story, which will make a whole lot more sense after you read it.
Yesterday while avoiding school work (like always) I came across a post by one of my political guys who mentioned re-reading it recently. I looked for it online to see if I could just happen upon it and not have to go out and buy another book just for one little short story (you'd be surprised how many times I've done that). I did end up finding it, and you can read it too by clicking here.
It's not gory or horrific, but just creepy as hell in that classic Twilight Zone kind of way. You can watch a poor quality episode by going here. I think it's also featured on Twilight Zone the movie. If you have twenty minutes to spare, read the story. It's only about 15 pages long. Here's the last line from the story, which will make a whole lot more sense after you read it.
Next day it snowed, and killed off half the crops--but it was a good day.Bonus: While looking for the episode, I came across this video of scary scenes from other movies. I had no idea what I was watching in the first one, but it almost stopped my heart. I think I'm just the right kind of mood. Anyway, watch this, if you dare:
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
U2 Live
I meant to post this before the concert, but better late than never. This past Sunday, U2 finished up their most recent tour in Pasadena, CA at the Rose Bowl. To include more people, they decided to stream live the entire concert on YouTube. You can catch it on their YouTube channel, that you can access by clicking here. It's extremely high quality.
Looking Back - 2009 Angels
When the Angels broke for spring training last season, I was more than apprehensive. I wondered aloud whether they would even make it out of the division. I worried that not signing Texeira would leave us with a gaping hole in the middle of the lineup, and it turned out that we somehow improved on our offense from the previous year without him there. That had everything to do with the signing of Bobby Abreu and the maturation of Morales and Aybar.
The season started, and Nick Adenhart died in a car crash. The team floundered for about a month as they tried to find themselves, and then destroyed MLB pitching from June-July. I loved it. Our starting pitching which had normally been a strength, was flopping with all the injuries that guys were having. Lackey started the season on the DL; Escobar pitched one game before being shut down for the season, again; Saunders lost his 2008 form, until he was able to rest his shoulder when the rest of the staff finally stabilized; and we never had a fifth starter until Kazmir joined the team in September. In spite of losing Rodriguez to free agency, Shields to injury, and Jose Arredondo to wild inconsistency, we still had a decent bullpen. Good, but not great. Sufficient, at least until the postseason.
More than anything I have to applaud Mike Scioscia for his handling of this team. I absolutely could not be more happy that we have him locked up through 2018. His handling of the team through the tragedy, the class with which he always handles the game, and his decision making in games are always top notch.
You can argue that he shouldn't have taken out Lackey in Game 5 when he did, but it was a fair enough choice to make. Of the 38 HR Tex had hit that season, 30 were from the leftside. Scioscia wanted to turn him around with the left-handed Darren Oliver, who was having probably the best season of his career. I mean the guy made 63 appearances and had about a 2.50 ERA. Although he got robbed of a K that turned into a walk, Lackey was getting a little wild, throwing a bunch of first pitch balls. In hindsight, obviously the decision looks bad, but I think it was just bad luck. Darren Oliver happened to have his worst stuff on the night that it would be magnified the most. Otherwise, the guy had been awesome for us in the series. Probably our best reliever.
I don't think anyone really had much faith in Fuentes, but not pitching him in the 9th of that game 5 sends a clear negative message to him and the rest of the team. If you don't use him for what you signed him for in the offseason than how do you ever restore any faith in him at any other point during the playoffs, or even next season? Charlie Manuel had a similar dilemma with Brad Lidge having terrible stuff in the year, but he had to go with his established closer. That's unavoidable.
Don't forget that it was Scioscia who called that pitch-out that knocked down the baserunner who would have been the go-ahead run on that Rodriguez HR in game 3. It was Scioscia who kept in Mathis in extra innings when he could have been lifted for a pinch runner. The thing that I love about him is that he shows confidence in his guys, even when they show signs of struggling.
When was this most evident? With Guerrero looking horrid in that game 2 loss, I was the first one to say that he should be knocked down in the lineup. Instead, Scioscia sticks with Guerrero, who all of a sudden shows some patience and starts taking balls in his at-bats, and ends up having by far the most productive postseason of any of our players. The guy hit almost .400 in the ALCS, and how many clutch at bats did he have? The inning changing walk in Game 3 versus Boston. The series winning hit in the same game. The game tying home run in Game 3. The guy finally woke up when it counted most, which is a lot more than can be said for just about anyone else in that lineup.
The thing about that ALCS was that it never felt like we were in control of any of the games. Last year I was more upset about losing because I really thought we were a better team than the Red Sox, we just caught some bad breaks. But in this series, the games we won, we were scratching to either get back in or hold the lead. Nothing ever felt safe for us, so I feel like the better team won. It's never fun to lose, but I think it's easier to concede when you know that the other guys are legit.
The Yankees team they faced was a good one, but still a far cry from being the force that they were in the late 90s. Those guys were seriously invincible. This team is the beneficiary of one superstar starting pitcher, the best reliever of all time, and a couple of future HOFers who had a good series, but they showed tons of chinks in their armor. Beyond Sabbathia, their starting pitching is very questionable, and that bullpen relief leading up to Rivera did not hold it together against an Angels team that was slumping offensively at the wrong time. The thing is, the Phillies seem to have the same vulnerabilities, but I think I like their lineup more, plus they have the pedigree of winning it all last season. Also, I think Joe Girardi's tendency to over-manage is going to catch up at some point.
In any case, I feel good about this upcoming offseason. Although I've lost my faith completely in Scott Kazmir, Reagins has been able to swing some amazing deals that have brought us great returns. He got Torii Hunter to sign with us in a Del Taco. He replaced Tex with Abreu. He made the deal for Texeira in the first place, and then the deal for Kazmir which was looking good until the guy decided to explode in the playoffs. With Stoneman you never had much hope for anything working out, but Reagins gets it done. We have an awesome owner, an active GM, and one of the best managers in baseball. You can't overestimate the value of a stable and solid front office. Trust me. This is coming from a Raiders fan. I know dysfunction all too well.
With several years of success under our belts, now the Angels are becoming a destination team where players want to come and sign with us because we know how to win. Even with all of the potential departures, I feel confident in the guys we have going for us. I'm sad about them losing, and not fulfilling the movie plot storyline of winning it all for Nick, I think this season exceeded my expectations. 2009 was a good year and lines us up well for great years to come.
The season started, and Nick Adenhart died in a car crash. The team floundered for about a month as they tried to find themselves, and then destroyed MLB pitching from June-July. I loved it. Our starting pitching which had normally been a strength, was flopping with all the injuries that guys were having. Lackey started the season on the DL; Escobar pitched one game before being shut down for the season, again; Saunders lost his 2008 form, until he was able to rest his shoulder when the rest of the staff finally stabilized; and we never had a fifth starter until Kazmir joined the team in September. In spite of losing Rodriguez to free agency, Shields to injury, and Jose Arredondo to wild inconsistency, we still had a decent bullpen. Good, but not great. Sufficient, at least until the postseason.
More than anything I have to applaud Mike Scioscia for his handling of this team. I absolutely could not be more happy that we have him locked up through 2018. His handling of the team through the tragedy, the class with which he always handles the game, and his decision making in games are always top notch.
You can argue that he shouldn't have taken out Lackey in Game 5 when he did, but it was a fair enough choice to make. Of the 38 HR Tex had hit that season, 30 were from the leftside. Scioscia wanted to turn him around with the left-handed Darren Oliver, who was having probably the best season of his career. I mean the guy made 63 appearances and had about a 2.50 ERA. Although he got robbed of a K that turned into a walk, Lackey was getting a little wild, throwing a bunch of first pitch balls. In hindsight, obviously the decision looks bad, but I think it was just bad luck. Darren Oliver happened to have his worst stuff on the night that it would be magnified the most. Otherwise, the guy had been awesome for us in the series. Probably our best reliever.
I don't think anyone really had much faith in Fuentes, but not pitching him in the 9th of that game 5 sends a clear negative message to him and the rest of the team. If you don't use him for what you signed him for in the offseason than how do you ever restore any faith in him at any other point during the playoffs, or even next season? Charlie Manuel had a similar dilemma with Brad Lidge having terrible stuff in the year, but he had to go with his established closer. That's unavoidable.
Don't forget that it was Scioscia who called that pitch-out that knocked down the baserunner who would have been the go-ahead run on that Rodriguez HR in game 3. It was Scioscia who kept in Mathis in extra innings when he could have been lifted for a pinch runner. The thing that I love about him is that he shows confidence in his guys, even when they show signs of struggling.
When was this most evident? With Guerrero looking horrid in that game 2 loss, I was the first one to say that he should be knocked down in the lineup. Instead, Scioscia sticks with Guerrero, who all of a sudden shows some patience and starts taking balls in his at-bats, and ends up having by far the most productive postseason of any of our players. The guy hit almost .400 in the ALCS, and how many clutch at bats did he have? The inning changing walk in Game 3 versus Boston. The series winning hit in the same game. The game tying home run in Game 3. The guy finally woke up when it counted most, which is a lot more than can be said for just about anyone else in that lineup.
The thing about that ALCS was that it never felt like we were in control of any of the games. Last year I was more upset about losing because I really thought we were a better team than the Red Sox, we just caught some bad breaks. But in this series, the games we won, we were scratching to either get back in or hold the lead. Nothing ever felt safe for us, so I feel like the better team won. It's never fun to lose, but I think it's easier to concede when you know that the other guys are legit.
The Yankees team they faced was a good one, but still a far cry from being the force that they were in the late 90s. Those guys were seriously invincible. This team is the beneficiary of one superstar starting pitcher, the best reliever of all time, and a couple of future HOFers who had a good series, but they showed tons of chinks in their armor. Beyond Sabbathia, their starting pitching is very questionable, and that bullpen relief leading up to Rivera did not hold it together against an Angels team that was slumping offensively at the wrong time. The thing is, the Phillies seem to have the same vulnerabilities, but I think I like their lineup more, plus they have the pedigree of winning it all last season. Also, I think Joe Girardi's tendency to over-manage is going to catch up at some point.
In any case, I feel good about this upcoming offseason. Although I've lost my faith completely in Scott Kazmir, Reagins has been able to swing some amazing deals that have brought us great returns. He got Torii Hunter to sign with us in a Del Taco. He replaced Tex with Abreu. He made the deal for Texeira in the first place, and then the deal for Kazmir which was looking good until the guy decided to explode in the playoffs. With Stoneman you never had much hope for anything working out, but Reagins gets it done. We have an awesome owner, an active GM, and one of the best managers in baseball. You can't overestimate the value of a stable and solid front office. Trust me. This is coming from a Raiders fan. I know dysfunction all too well.
With several years of success under our belts, now the Angels are becoming a destination team where players want to come and sign with us because we know how to win. Even with all of the potential departures, I feel confident in the guys we have going for us. I'm sad about them losing, and not fulfilling the movie plot storyline of winning it all for Nick, I think this season exceeded my expectations. 2009 was a good year and lines us up well for great years to come.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Winning Is Everything
A friend of mine invited me to play on this intramural soccer team with a bunch of former BYU players. That should have been my first red-flag right there. Now, I don't know if this is as common with the other team sports at BYU because I haven't had a chance to affiliate with any other guys, but the BYU soccer players (guys) are mostly really pretentious jerks. The only guy who I know wasn't like that was from home, but everyone else...very much so. Dave and I lived with one of the other guys, and we knew a bunch of other ones.
Oh wait...get ready for long parenthetical aside:
(There was one guy that I loved to death. Dave, you remember, Tommy, who did that bird dance after he scored. I had a total man-crush on him. One time when we had a hot cocoa loco at our apartment, he came with Jeff, and he and I talked for an hour and had what I think is a common moment for guys in their mid-20s - you have a ton in common and under different circumstances you'd be great friends, but now you're old enough and far enough along in your college career that you already have your group of friends, and if you were both freshman or just back from your mission, it's still pretty easy to form guy-guy friendships, but after that there is no casual way to ask for another dude's phone number just to hang out without some other excuse and not feel totally weird about it. That was my Tommy moment. You had me at hot cocoa, Tommy, you had me at...)
Anyway, so in our first game together the captain of our team has us huddle up and gives this speech about how everyone is out to get us and how we need to come out and kick everyone's trash, and and...then we lost, handily, 5-2. We were never in that one. But the next one would be different because we really hate these...5-4. Well, this next week will be different because the other team is all former BYU guys too and they...9-3. But I'm sure that everyone we're playing against is writing down the brand of cleats and apparel that you're wearing, and looking at the sidelines at your girlfriends and wishing they were you. Right...
That's how I was feeling the whole season. I even opted out of the 9-3 game because I wanted to see how they'd fare without using me as excuse of why we're losing because I happen to be one of the three or so guys who didn't play BYU soccer. So what if I was secretly happy that they got creamed without me?
Then I came back from California and the next weekend we had a game. I was going to avoid playing, but said I would if we were short on players. We were, so I played. And then a funny thing happened. We won. Not only did we win, but Mike and I both scored some really awesome goals. All of a sudden EVERYTHING changed. Suddenly, these guys weren't total d-bags. And maybe I hadn't really given them a chance (well, except for that guy, I'm pretty sure he's always a jerk). In any case, we won and everything changed. The sun was shining, birds were singing, and soccer was fun again.
Joy of victory
I think it's funny how much of a difference it makes, winning v. losing. When we went to the divisional playoff game against the Red Sox, I was glowing afterward. Couldn't have been happier that evening. It just made me laugh to think how different that night would have felt if the Angels had lost. And now with this soccer team, it's the exact same thing.
It used to be that when I would lose, or my team would lose, I would be really deeply affected. When my brother beat me in Streetfighter II, I threw the controller at our sliding glass door. When the Raiders lost the Super Bowl, I wanted to strangle these two obnoxious girls who were the only ones rooting for the Bucs because no one else was. It was easy for anyone else present to see how visibly upset I was. In some ways, I guess I still get pretty upset. When I play soccer at home at the church, I'll kick or throw the trash can or yell. I like to think that I don't get pissy with the people around me, but I don't know how they respond to my reaction. I used to swear out loud, but now that I'm a church-going boy, I just swear in my head, except for dammits and hells. Those still come out sometimes.
Agony of defeat. Same game as the one pictured above, which was the best college football game I've ever seen. EVER.
Anyway, this was a tough sports weekend. A friend of mine invited me to the BYU v. TCU game, but I was 90% sure they would get creamed, so I opted out of that one. After beating the Eagles last week, I thought the Raiders had a good shot against the Jets at home. I came home with eager anticipation after church to see the score was...38-0, bad guys. Ouch. No matter, my Angels would force a game 7, right? Right? No? Damn.
But I'm proud to say that no one who interacted with me this weekend had any idea that I was constantly aware of each frustrating score. If you were at ward prayer last night, you wouldn't have had any inkling that I realized the Angels had chipped away one run off their deficit against the best closer in baseball history to crawl back in the game, only to give back two more runs in the bottom half of the 8th to seal their fate.
Winning can make a weekend or night out great. Winning turns enemies into friends. The nice thing now is that losing just makes me change the channel, go to the church activity I probably shouldn't have been avoiding anyway, or just look forward to the start of the next sports season where my hopes and dreams have yet to be crushed and I can look forward to a season of promise.
With that, ladies and gentlemen, your 2009-2010 defending champions Los Angeles Lakers!
(Thank heavens for that championship. I can get by for at least another couple years on that one. More on the Angels later, Dave and Kent.)
Oh wait...get ready for long parenthetical aside:
(There was one guy that I loved to death. Dave, you remember, Tommy, who did that bird dance after he scored. I had a total man-crush on him. One time when we had a hot cocoa loco at our apartment, he came with Jeff, and he and I talked for an hour and had what I think is a common moment for guys in their mid-20s - you have a ton in common and under different circumstances you'd be great friends, but now you're old enough and far enough along in your college career that you already have your group of friends, and if you were both freshman or just back from your mission, it's still pretty easy to form guy-guy friendships, but after that there is no casual way to ask for another dude's phone number just to hang out without some other excuse and not feel totally weird about it. That was my Tommy moment. You had me at hot cocoa, Tommy, you had me at...)
Anyway, so in our first game together the captain of our team has us huddle up and gives this speech about how everyone is out to get us and how we need to come out and kick everyone's trash, and and...then we lost, handily, 5-2. We were never in that one. But the next one would be different because we really hate these...5-4. Well, this next week will be different because the other team is all former BYU guys too and they...9-3. But I'm sure that everyone we're playing against is writing down the brand of cleats and apparel that you're wearing, and looking at the sidelines at your girlfriends and wishing they were you. Right...
That's how I was feeling the whole season. I even opted out of the 9-3 game because I wanted to see how they'd fare without using me as excuse of why we're losing because I happen to be one of the three or so guys who didn't play BYU soccer. So what if I was secretly happy that they got creamed without me?
Then I came back from California and the next weekend we had a game. I was going to avoid playing, but said I would if we were short on players. We were, so I played. And then a funny thing happened. We won. Not only did we win, but Mike and I both scored some really awesome goals. All of a sudden EVERYTHING changed. Suddenly, these guys weren't total d-bags. And maybe I hadn't really given them a chance (well, except for that guy, I'm pretty sure he's always a jerk). In any case, we won and everything changed. The sun was shining, birds were singing, and soccer was fun again.
I think it's funny how much of a difference it makes, winning v. losing. When we went to the divisional playoff game against the Red Sox, I was glowing afterward. Couldn't have been happier that evening. It just made me laugh to think how different that night would have felt if the Angels had lost. And now with this soccer team, it's the exact same thing.
It used to be that when I would lose, or my team would lose, I would be really deeply affected. When my brother beat me in Streetfighter II, I threw the controller at our sliding glass door. When the Raiders lost the Super Bowl, I wanted to strangle these two obnoxious girls who were the only ones rooting for the Bucs because no one else was. It was easy for anyone else present to see how visibly upset I was. In some ways, I guess I still get pretty upset. When I play soccer at home at the church, I'll kick or throw the trash can or yell. I like to think that I don't get pissy with the people around me, but I don't know how they respond to my reaction. I used to swear out loud, but now that I'm a church-going boy, I just swear in my head, except for dammits and hells. Those still come out sometimes.
Anyway, this was a tough sports weekend. A friend of mine invited me to the BYU v. TCU game, but I was 90% sure they would get creamed, so I opted out of that one. After beating the Eagles last week, I thought the Raiders had a good shot against the Jets at home. I came home with eager anticipation after church to see the score was...38-0, bad guys. Ouch. No matter, my Angels would force a game 7, right? Right? No? Damn.
But I'm proud to say that no one who interacted with me this weekend had any idea that I was constantly aware of each frustrating score. If you were at ward prayer last night, you wouldn't have had any inkling that I realized the Angels had chipped away one run off their deficit against the best closer in baseball history to crawl back in the game, only to give back two more runs in the bottom half of the 8th to seal their fate.
Winning can make a weekend or night out great. Winning turns enemies into friends. The nice thing now is that losing just makes me change the channel, go to the church activity I probably shouldn't have been avoiding anyway, or just look forward to the start of the next sports season where my hopes and dreams have yet to be crushed and I can look forward to a season of promise.
With that, ladies and gentlemen, your 2009-2010 defending champions Los Angeles Lakers!
(Thank heavens for that championship. I can get by for at least another couple years on that one. More on the Angels later, Dave and Kent.)
Friday, October 23, 2009
Obama: Wholly Lacking In Grace
There have been a lot of things in the past week or two worldwide that have really gotten under my skin. At the forefront of those many different items has been the White House's assault on Fox News and his predecessor, George W. Bush.
While speaking to an audience of clear supporters, Obama made the following comments:
My guy, Jay Nordlinger, made the following comments that you can find in this post in The Corner over at NRO:
Just a few days ago, the administration attempted a boycott of Fox News:
While speaking to an audience of clear supporters, Obama made the following comments:
My guy, Jay Nordlinger, made the following comments that you can find in this post in The Corner over at NRO:
Barack Obama is pretty interesting when he gets in front of his money-givers — his biggest fans, I guess. In New York, he said, “Democrats are an opinionated bunch. You know, the other side, they just kinda sometimes do what they’re told. Democrats, y’all thinkin’ for yourselves.” Last year, in San Francisco, he said of Middle Americans, “It’s not surprising . . . they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them . . .”Rich Lowry had the following to say about Obama's campaign in this article:
O’s New York commentary reminded me of the notorious Washington Post line, that conservative Christians are “largely poor, uneducated, and easy to command.” When you think about it, Obama has a pretty easy time commanding people — millions of them, including important people in media and academia. Including, almost, the Nobel Peace Prize Committee! But some of us, he cannot command — and he seems not to like or respect us all that much.
Long ago, I grew tired of the conceit that Democrats think for themselves, while the rest of us just take orders from some politburo: composed of Rush, Fox, and whoever. All my life, I’ve heard Democrats quote an old Will Rogers line: “I belong to no organized party, I’m a Democrat.” Ha, ha, ha! Oh, aren’t we grand, we Democrats? We beautiful, smart, unorganizable Democrats! Well, Rogers may have had it right at one time; but in my own time, the Democrats have been a pretty disciplined bunch — and pretty ruthless, when it comes to dissent. When it comes to odd-men-out.
I have 30 more things to say, of course, but here’s one more: Do you recall President Bush insulting Democrats, as Obama has insulted us, explicitly? Sometimes our post-partisan president can be a rather nasty piece of work.
In international forums, Obama acts as if Bush were the former president of another country, or a disgraced former leader ousted in a coup. No calumny is too much to heap on him, and no defense is ever offered. Obama might at least avoid implicitly accusing his predecessor of war crimes. He might at least credit his predecessor’s, and his country’s, good intentions in toppling Saddam Hussein and promoting democracy in the Middle East. No, he’s incapable of it.And Lowry highlights at length what I think is so unbecoming of our President - he's a lion feeding at a carcass, but worried about the flies that also smell the rotting flesh. The most powerful man in the free world feels it necessary to not only constantly defend himself against criticism, but demean anyone who opposes him. Recently, it has even come to the extent of belittling a news network that has found fault with him. Fox News is a drop compared to the sea of other media sources that only praise the O, but he's so threatened that his entire White House staff sees fit to attempt to marginalize the network.
Obama should be grateful that Bush ordered the surge in Iraq against Obama’s opposition. If he hadn’t, Obama likely would have — on top of everything else — inherited a strategically central Middle Eastern country in full-scale civil war. Does Obama express any appreciation, or any humility about his own mistaken call? Of course not.
But his aides blame Bush for the state of the Afghan War, which White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel says was adrift “for eight years.” If the war was under-resourced, the complaining about Bush has the whiff of pre-emptive excuse-making should Obama pull up short in his “necessary war.” We would send Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan only if Bush hadn’t already lost the war.
When Obama first burst on the scene, he seemed to respect the other side. That refreshing Obama is long gone. Now, he impugns his immediate predecessor with classless regularity, and attributes the worst of motives — pure partisanship and unrestrained greed — to those who oppose him. Their assigned role is to get the hell out of his way.
The acid test of the White House inevitably exposes a president’s character flaws: Nixon’s corrosive paranoia, Clinton’s self-destructive indiscipline, Bush’s stubborn defensiveness. Obama in the crucible is exhibiting an oddly self-pitying arrogance. It’s unbecoming in anyone, let alone the most powerful man on the planet.
Just a few days ago, the administration attempted a boycott of Fox News:
At first, there was little reaction from other media. Then on Thursday, the administration tried to make them complicit in an actual boycott of Fox. The Treasury Department made available Ken Feinberg, the executive pay czar, for interviews with the White House "pool" news organizations -- except Fox. The other networks admirably refused, saying they would not interview Feinberg unless Fox was permitted to as well. The administration backed down.The author of the above article, Charles Krauthammer goes on to say in this newspaper article:
Representative Eric Cantor (R-Va.) also comments in this post on the subject:This was an important defeat because there's a principle at stake here. While government can and should debate and criticize opposition voices, the current White House goes beyond that. It wants to delegitimize any significant dissent. The objective is no secret. White House aides openly told Politico that they're engaged in a deliberate campaign to marginalize and ostracize recalcitrants, from Fox to health insurers to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
There's nothing illegal about such search-and-destroy tactics. Nor unconstitutional. But our politics are defined not just by limits of legality or constitutionality. We have norms, Madisonian norms.
Madison argued that the safety of a great republic, its defense against tyranny, requires the contest between factions or interests. His insight was to understand "the greater security afforded by a greater variety of parties." They would help guarantee liberty by checking and balancing and restraining each other -- and an otherwise imperious government.
Factions should compete, but also recognize the legitimacy of other factions and, indeed, their necessity for a vigorous self-regulating democracy. Seeking to deliberately undermine, delegitimize and destroy is not Madisonian. It is Nixonian.
This episode is about much more than just Fox News. Today, the administration’s target is Fox; tomorrow, it could be someone else. The administration apparently feels entitled to receive friendly (or what it subjectively deems “balanced”) news coverage at a time when it is making monumental decisions that will have sweeping consequences for years to come. Its heavy-handed treatment of Fox is unseemly in a democracy that depends on the free flow of information. Even commentators and journalists from other rival networks have expressed alarm.Obama should be above all of this behavior, but evidently, he's not.
Friction between the media and the elected officials they cover is inevitable. I know this from experience. But lawmakers and the executive branch should be able to agree that going after individual news organizations for no other reason than to sully their reputations (oddly enough, the administration’s clash with Fox will only increase the latter’s profile) is not good for our nation. President Obama should know better. He is above this.
As the White House bickers with a cable-news network, the challenges facing America grow more formidable by the day. Since January, millions of Americans have lost their jobs. Our military commanders say we risk losing the war in Afghanistan unless we boost troop levels; and our military men and women risk their lives each day waiting for a decision from their commander in chief. And a flood of new government spending threatens to blow a hole in the national debt, devalue the dollar, and place an insurmountable burden upon our children and grandchildren.
Freedom of the press is a celebrated right that has shaped our society for more than 200 years. Accordingly, tough scrutiny by the media is something all administrations should expect and accept. Our nation faces many difficult challenges, and the White House should be focused on the truly pressing issues that require our prompt attention.
Keep On Keepin' On
I don't much care for door-to-door salesmen as I documented in this blog post almost two years ago. (Incidentally, last year after running the marathon a black kid from Detroit was wandering my neighborhood selling magazine subscriptions, and of course I ended up buying one. How much was it? Almost $40 for a one year subscription to Runner's World. How many issues did I actually receive? One. Exactly 1. Then I could never get a hold of anyone who could help me receive the rest of my subscription. How much can you get a year's subscription for online? $12 for a full year. But I was also helping this kid pay his way for college, so I was actually benefiting society by helping him find a better path, right?)Anyhow, what I always welcome are community activists, whether it's something political or religious. And I don't much care if the person is preaching the same religion as my own, or if the petition that they want signed is something that conflicts with my own views, I just always admire when a person believes in something enough to go and talk to complete strangers about it. I may not accept the copy of the Watchtower, or sign the petition, but I always always always try and be as friendly and encouraging as possible to whomever it is that comes to my door. I guess it's because I've been on the receiving end both as a missionary and as a salesman, and even with the Prop 8 stuff, and it's never an easy thing.
This morning I had a nice little Jehovah's Witness come to my door talking about the Holy Ghost and what a wonderful thing it is. He was dressed in a suit and tie, and spoke haltingly, the nervousness evident in his voice and his posture. I just wanted to give him a hug and thank him for caring enough to come and share his message with me, even if I don't necessarily agree. It's something significant that someone would bother to dedicate time out of their day, get dressed in their Sunday best, and want to help steer me onto what they believe in their hearts is a good path.
What bothers me is not when someone has a different view point than my own, but when people are indifferent, ambivalent, or lukewarm. Sometimes people are misguided, but at least they care, and they're trying to do what they think is right, and that definitely counts for something.
It really is a scary thing to knock on someone's door and know that more than likely, whatever it is that you have to offer will not be well received. As a missionary, it goes from being something you dread to something you love because you've become so battle-tested. Knocking on someone's door is so personal because you're wanting to invade their space, and also because what you bring with you is probably so deeply personal.
I didn't end up taking his copies of the Watchtower, but I wished him well, told him he was doing a good thing and that I hoped he had a great day. Not entirely sure why, but it just warms my heart when a person is willing to step out of their comfort zone for something they believe in.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
H8 The Mormons: A New Documentary
I'm sure you all will love this. I love quotes taken out of context. Those comments made by President Monson or Elder Ballard could be talking about church organization helping out flood victims just as easily as it could be talking about our political efforts. And those people making the especially inflammatory comments are not church representatives, and probably aren't even members of the church.
Let's get something straight - religious entities have every right to endorse ballot measures that they see having a moral bearing. Do you not get the logic to that? And do you all understand what a massive difference it is to support a law or ballot measure as opposed to supporting a candidate? The point of separation of church and state doesn't have to do with religion exerting too much influence on laws going into effect as much as it does on the people upholding and enacting those laws, the politicians. It's completely different. A religion has every right to voice its opinion about moral issues, but it's a different matter when churches endorse candidates because of the potential influence that they can have in the actions of those candidates. Make sense? And besides, the idea of church and state is completely befuddled now as compared to what it once was.
This boils my blood. In the words of Cypress Hill, "here is something you can't understand..."
Let's get something straight - religious entities have every right to endorse ballot measures that they see having a moral bearing. Do you not get the logic to that? And do you all understand what a massive difference it is to support a law or ballot measure as opposed to supporting a candidate? The point of separation of church and state doesn't have to do with religion exerting too much influence on laws going into effect as much as it does on the people upholding and enacting those laws, the politicians. It's completely different. A religion has every right to voice its opinion about moral issues, but it's a different matter when churches endorse candidates because of the potential influence that they can have in the actions of those candidates. Make sense? And besides, the idea of church and state is completely befuddled now as compared to what it once was.
This boils my blood. In the words of Cypress Hill, "here is something you can't understand..."
A Free And Independent Press
You know what I think is interesting about all the uproar over Anita Dunn (White House person who said she found both Mother Theresa and Mao Zedong to be inspirational)? Last week she fires back at Fox News saying that they're not a legitimate news organization, but isn't it weird that she is getting upset at them because they're actually doing what she claims they're failing in accomplish, i.e. reporting the news?
Her most recent appeals make all the more sense considering these comments she made in Dominican Republic back in January. The story can be found here:
This all illustrates perfectly the importance of a free and independent press, which seems almost impossible to do these days. I guess the greater problem is that you have all of these media sources that masquerade as being unbiased and independent, but then they clearly have their own agenda in mind as they do so.
They are wolves in sheep's clothing, and that is no exaggeration. It reminds me of a scripture found in D&C 38:30:
Recently, conservative writers Mark Steyn and Ezra Levant were brought before the Canadian Parliament because of remarks they had made regarding militant Islam and the threat that they pose to the West. You can find all the videos here, but I'll just post this one of Mark Steyn's testimony:
The reason they were brought in is because they were asked to comment on the Canadian Human Rights Commission and their censorship powers. They were asked to testify regarding freedom of speech. In his Impromptus column earlier this week, Jay Nordlinger comments how interesting it is that nowadays "the burden of defending basic liberty has fallen to people known as right-wingers."
Interesting, indeed.
Her most recent appeals make all the more sense considering these comments she made in Dominican Republic back in January. The story can be found here:
"Very rarely did we communicate through the press anything that we didn't absolutely control," said Dunn.The video is below, and the specific comments come about a minute into it:
"One of the reasons we did so many of the David Plouffe videos was not just for our supporters, but also because it was a way for us to get our message out without having to actually talk to reporters," said Dunn, referring to Plouffe, who was Obama's chief campaign manager.
"We just put that out there and made them write what Plouffe had said as opposed to Plouffe doing an interview with a reporter. So it was very much we controlled it as opposed to the press controlled it," Dunn said.
Continued Dunn: "Whether it was a David Plouffe video or an Obama speech, a huge part of our press strategy was focused on making the media cover what Obama was actually saying as opposed to why the campaign was saying it, what the tactic was. … Making the press cover what we were saying."
This all illustrates perfectly the importance of a free and independent press, which seems almost impossible to do these days. I guess the greater problem is that you have all of these media sources that masquerade as being unbiased and independent, but then they clearly have their own agenda in mind as they do so.
They are wolves in sheep's clothing, and that is no exaggeration. It reminds me of a scripture found in D&C 38:30:
I tell you these things because of your prayers; wherefore, treasure up wisdom in your bosoms, lest the wickedness of men reveal these things unto you by their wickedness, in a manner which shall speak in your ears with a voice louder than that which shall shake the earth; but if ye are prepared ye shall not fear.The emphasis is my own. I just think the council is sound - people will attempt to deceive you by screaming lies so loud into your ears so that you won't have an ear to hear the truth when it's presented. Treasure up wisdom, and heed His word. It's the only way to protect yourself.
Recently, conservative writers Mark Steyn and Ezra Levant were brought before the Canadian Parliament because of remarks they had made regarding militant Islam and the threat that they pose to the West. You can find all the videos here, but I'll just post this one of Mark Steyn's testimony:
The reason they were brought in is because they were asked to comment on the Canadian Human Rights Commission and their censorship powers. They were asked to testify regarding freedom of speech. In his Impromptus column earlier this week, Jay Nordlinger comments how interesting it is that nowadays "the burden of defending basic liberty has fallen to people known as right-wingers."
Interesting, indeed.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Easy Like Sunday Morning
Do you ever take a shower to clear your head? I think cooking and cleaning are also good for that kind of thing. Anything where it's easy to just be task oriented and focused on completion makes for a good head-cobweb clearing activity.
Have you ever brushed your teeth in the shower? My mission trainer suggested that to me and I thought it was a dumb idea, but then I tried it and it's just a little bit wonderful.
It's a sad day in Mudville.
There is a girl in my ward and she is doing a creative writing program and I secretly envy what she's doing. There are about a thousand things that I want to do/learn. I may or may not have even gotten a drum practice pad, book, and metronome. I get dumb ideas sometimes. I also found a cool website with free drum lessons, and it looks like it's really thorough. They have video tutorials, and you can download sheet music. It's quite amazing. I have learned a simple drum rhythm, how to hold my drumsticks, and that drumming requires a lot of counting.
I had a friend practice the freshly dead zombie makeup on me the other night. I'm kind of excited about it.
Want some pumpkin carving inspiration? Visit this gallery that the Chicago Tribune put together.
Last night we had FHE at my stake president's house. First, I just loved seeing the interaction that he and his wife have, just such an amazing amount of love and closeness between the two of them that was palpable. He shared with us a thought that his youngest son's mission president told him during his exit interview. The mission president asked his son what he had learned, and the missionary responded by saying that church activity is dependent upon all the "little" things like scripture study, prayer, church attendance and service, etc. Then his mission president responded, saying that those weren't "little" things, they're the big ones. Ever since I heard about my friend deciding to move away from church activity, there is a heightened fervor to my scripture study. I keep wondering if that could ever be me. I sure hope not.
This is all totally random. Sometimes to clear my head I start writing. True story.
I love how in this clip JD's initial reaction is disappointed rather than excited. Great delivery.
Have you ever brushed your teeth in the shower? My mission trainer suggested that to me and I thought it was a dumb idea, but then I tried it and it's just a little bit wonderful.
It's a sad day in Mudville.
There is a girl in my ward and she is doing a creative writing program and I secretly envy what she's doing. There are about a thousand things that I want to do/learn. I may or may not have even gotten a drum practice pad, book, and metronome. I get dumb ideas sometimes. I also found a cool website with free drum lessons, and it looks like it's really thorough. They have video tutorials, and you can download sheet music. It's quite amazing. I have learned a simple drum rhythm, how to hold my drumsticks, and that drumming requires a lot of counting.
I had a friend practice the freshly dead zombie makeup on me the other night. I'm kind of excited about it.
Want some pumpkin carving inspiration? Visit this gallery that the Chicago Tribune put together.
Last night we had FHE at my stake president's house. First, I just loved seeing the interaction that he and his wife have, just such an amazing amount of love and closeness between the two of them that was palpable. He shared with us a thought that his youngest son's mission president told him during his exit interview. The mission president asked his son what he had learned, and the missionary responded by saying that church activity is dependent upon all the "little" things like scripture study, prayer, church attendance and service, etc. Then his mission president responded, saying that those weren't "little" things, they're the big ones. Ever since I heard about my friend deciding to move away from church activity, there is a heightened fervor to my scripture study. I keep wondering if that could ever be me. I sure hope not.
This is all totally random. Sometimes to clear my head I start writing. True story.
I love how in this clip JD's initial reaction is disappointed rather than excited. Great delivery.
Odyssey Presents Thriller
Last week I was lucky enough to catch the performance of Thriller by the Odyssey Dance Company. I heard about this last year but never got to go, and another friend of mine insisted that I would love it because I am such a big fan of dance in general and of Halloween, so match made in heaven, right?
Right.
I loved it. As you arrive at the theater, there are probably about two dozen dancers decked out in their zombie attire wandering around the premises, outside the venue, in the lobby, and all around the inside. I went with a friend of mine, and after getting up to go to the bathroom and leaving me to fend for myself, one of the zombie girls actually crawled over the rows through the empty seats to get right in my face and stare at me. The girl was incredibly flexible so it kind of added to her creepy movement, but more than that, I didn't know what to do as she stared at me from about an inch away, so I just laughed. I loved it though.
My favorite pieces from the evening were Dem Bones, Mr. Roboto, and Frankenstein and his bride. A few of the numbers dragged on a little bit longer than I would have liked, but overall, it was incredibly entertaining. The dancers are very talented, there is a lot of humor injected into the sequences, and some of them really are downright creepy.
That dance company apparently boasts several contestants from previous seasons of So You Think You Can Dance including Brandon from last season, Matt Dorame, and Thane. If you saw the last two, you'd probably recognize them.
I think my favorite part of the evening came even before we got to the show. My friend and I had left in a rush to get up to Salt Lake in time, but we also wanted to get something to eat. Nearby we spotted a Red Robin, so we stopped and got some food. Neither of us knew exactly where the theater was, so we asked the couple sitting next to us in case they might have known. They also happened to be going to the same performance. After giving us directions, the girl leans over to me and alerts me that it's a really fun show, and while it is all dancing, it's fun enough that even I would enjoy it. I mumbled something affirming my masculinity and the fact that I clearly had to be dragged to this thing, and thanked her for the directions.
Or maybe going to this was my idea in the first place, but whatever.
For more information, visit this site here.
Joy And Pain In Mudville
Playoff baseball is the best. The. BEST. If you don't believe me, then you have not watched any of the last several nights of October MLB drama.Saturday was a little painful because I thought a few times that the Angels were going to pull that one out. Sunday's Phils v. Doyers game was no contest from the first pitch. But yesterday, oh boy, yesterday was a different story.
Yesterday's Angels v. Yankees game was hard to watch in the beginning. Those idiot announcers, Tim McCarver especially, were so jonesing for a Yankees win, talking about the return of the Yankees mystique and how they were going to roll through the rest of the playoffs, with only Philadelphia being the worthy opponent. That was after Johnny Damon's home run. Then Howie Kendrick hit a cutter to the Angels bullpen. All of a sudden two runs didn't seem like such a big deficit. Still though, my spirits were low. I had the game on, and was pretending like I was going to get some reading done while it was going. I drifted in and out of sleep, until about two pitches into Vladdy's at-bat. Still coming to, Vlad launched one to that same bullpen that had also become recently acquainted with Howie's homer a couple innings earlier, a surge of adrenaline rushed through my veins and immediately I was on my feet coaxing that ball from 650 miles away to clear that leftfield wall. And then it did, and we had a new game, 3-3.
I hate Tim McCarver with a passion. Is it possible to be more in love with the Yankees than any announcer in baseball? My disdain was aroused when he mentioned Izturis missing the squeeze play last year that cost the Angels a run in the Boston series. Moron, it was Aybar. No matter, Izturis couldn't drive in Aybar that inning anyway. Then Abreu overran second base and Derek Jeter made the play at second base. Jeter was the second player backing up the throw from Cabrera in centerfield, and no one even had to tell him to throw to second base, can you believe that??? Well, Jeter is also a member of MENSA in addition to being a future Hall of Famer. I also heard his tears cure cancer. Spare me. Admittedly, it was a great play, but can you guys please get your noses out of there? Your noses are all brown now and it's scaring the children.
The worst, however, came when Mathis hit the leadoff double in the 10th that looked like it was going to close the game. Wait...Scioscia isn't pinch running Willits for Mathis??? I just don't understand! How can he not want that additional foot speed on the base paths??? Uh, maybe because Mathis is an excellent defensive catcher and you don't want to lose the game on a passed ball. Don't forget that Mathis also threw the laserbeam that doubled as a baseball that eliminated the speedy Gardner from the base paths that would have provided the go-ahead run for the Yankees had he been on base when Posada hit the bomb to center-rightfield by the Adenhart poster. And nevermind that Mathis also blocked four balls in the dirt that eventually struck out the Yankee hitter when there were two on base with only one out. Scioscia should have definitely pinch ran Willits for Mathis, and then put in Bobby Wilson to catch the rest of the game. Don't forget that Bobby Wilson is also the guy who...wait...who is he again? Oh yeah, he was the everyday catcher for the Salt Lake Bees, that other Major League team, that...what? What do you mean the Bees are a Triple A team? You mean the only MLB catching experience he has was from this past season? 11 MLB at-bats in his career? Well, yeah, put that guy in! Pin your hopes of getting back into this series on a guy behind the plate with 19 games under his belt. Good idea, Tim.
Well, newly anointed Yankees killer, Howie Kendrick gets a two-out single in the 11th and now Mathis is back up to bat. Girardi makes several questionable pitching changes, Mathis ropes a double to center-leftfield. Game over.
I have to admit, after Game 2, I told my roommate that I thought he should move Guerrero out of that cleanup spot, move up Kendry or Juan, and take our chances with them. The guy couldn't have looked worse, right? Well, I had also forgotten that Vlad was actually 4/10 in the Boston series, and he hadn't been doing any worse than those other two guys I mentioned. Actually, those guys have been all but nonexistent thus far in the postseason. Scioscia, this is why you have a championship ring and why I'm sitting on the couch avoiding my homework watching you inch us closer to the series. You smart, I dumb. You big, I small. I bow to your managerial prowess, especially after you called that pitch-out. I'm sorry. You are the best manager in all of baseball.
Normally I'm the cautiously hopeful type when I watch sports. I have years and years of should-have-beens under my belt, so I try and temper my excitement, but I feel like this Angels team is different. If I were a betting man, I'd call my bookie today and put money on them to escape from this series in seven games. I'm serious. There have been several moments when I've really felt like this is a team of destiny.
I'm also super spiritual, and while I don't want to imply that these impressions are actually revelations coming from a divine source, I do feel it incumbent upon me to inform you that once I had the distinct impression that some salsa had gone bad, and I told my buddy not to eat it, but he did anyway and then he totally got food poisoning, so you be the judge.
Sorry to all the Dodgers fans out there reading this blog, i.e. Laura. I hurt for you. I can't say that I'm rooting for them like you, but I know your investment and was rooting for them in your behalf. I left the game at the top of the ninth inning sure that the series would be tied up when I came back. Ouch. Sorry. It hurts to be in Mudville when Casey can't connect and then Broxton somehow gets lit up in the bottom of the ninth right when it looks like you guys are about to tie the series. I'm speaking from my own playoff ghosts of seasons past. But it's pretty great when Casey hits an extra-base knock in extra innings to inject new life into a series.
History shows that pitchers going on short rest in the playoffs are pretty bad. They have something like a 20-34 record, or something like that. Sabbathia was never a postseason beast anyway, so I'm liking our chances today. But I did forget that the Angels were going to lay down and let the Yankees walk all over them on their way to the World Series so that they wouldn't muddy their cleats. Sorry.
No way, Angels in 7.
You're still an idiot Tim McCarver.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Letting Fear Decide
How often have you let a relationship persist in spite of the signs indicating that it's time to move on? I have a friend that has been going through this recently. I think her head and heart are at odds with each other. In her conscious, rational mind, she probably knows that she and her boyfriend are in an unhealthy pattern of give and take that really only seems to be benefiting him, but in spite of whatever awareness she has of that fact, she can't force herself to move on.
The culprit seems to be fear. It's guiding her decision-making, forcing her to choose a sad relationship where she gets brief glimpses of what she keeps hoping is just waiting in abundance, ready to burst forth, only to be continually disappointed that what's really there is already all out on the table. She's afraid of being alone. She's afraid that this guy is the best of what's left. She's afraid of having to start over. What's worse is that she's been neglecting her friendships outside of her dating relationship, so the aftermath of a breakup is compounded by the fact that she has little support outside of her boyfriend.
I have been there. I think the height of my desperation came through when things didn't work out with Becca when she came from her mission. I experienced the peak of it when I decided to attend an institute activity, arriving at a darkened room where a movie was playing. Taking a seat, I watched until the lights came on when the luminescence revealed the others who were in attendance. I was only 26 at the time (which seems so young to me now), and looked at all of the recent high school graduates attending OCC and IVC, and then a group of other older guys in their early 30s. I felt like I was looking at a window into a very possible dismal future, like a ghost of Christmas future happened upon me that night and had me convinced that if things didn't work out with Becca that this evening was what I was doomed to experience in five or ten years - young girls I couldn't relate with and older guys holding out to pick off a stray from the flock.
Now I'm about three years removed from that time, and somehow I've learned better. I've had different relationship experiences, some good, others not so good, but all giving me experience in helping me to learn what I bring to the table, and what it is that I need, and not just want, in a relationship. The confidence I feel in this regard still has some occasional ebbing, but more often than not, I think it's been flowing. I'm content, and I would rather let my faith inspire me to hope on, than let my fear discourage me into a path of familiarity, but of lowered expectations.
I just wish there was anyway that I could impress that lesson on my friend. Right now she's the age I was when I started learning these lessons, and I think this is the next in store for her.
The culprit seems to be fear. It's guiding her decision-making, forcing her to choose a sad relationship where she gets brief glimpses of what she keeps hoping is just waiting in abundance, ready to burst forth, only to be continually disappointed that what's really there is already all out on the table. She's afraid of being alone. She's afraid that this guy is the best of what's left. She's afraid of having to start over. What's worse is that she's been neglecting her friendships outside of her dating relationship, so the aftermath of a breakup is compounded by the fact that she has little support outside of her boyfriend.
I have been there. I think the height of my desperation came through when things didn't work out with Becca when she came from her mission. I experienced the peak of it when I decided to attend an institute activity, arriving at a darkened room where a movie was playing. Taking a seat, I watched until the lights came on when the luminescence revealed the others who were in attendance. I was only 26 at the time (which seems so young to me now), and looked at all of the recent high school graduates attending OCC and IVC, and then a group of other older guys in their early 30s. I felt like I was looking at a window into a very possible dismal future, like a ghost of Christmas future happened upon me that night and had me convinced that if things didn't work out with Becca that this evening was what I was doomed to experience in five or ten years - young girls I couldn't relate with and older guys holding out to pick off a stray from the flock.
Now I'm about three years removed from that time, and somehow I've learned better. I've had different relationship experiences, some good, others not so good, but all giving me experience in helping me to learn what I bring to the table, and what it is that I need, and not just want, in a relationship. The confidence I feel in this regard still has some occasional ebbing, but more often than not, I think it's been flowing. I'm content, and I would rather let my faith inspire me to hope on, than let my fear discourage me into a path of familiarity, but of lowered expectations.
I just wish there was anyway that I could impress that lesson on my friend. Right now she's the age I was when I started learning these lessons, and I think this is the next in store for her.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Zombie Time!
A week or so ago I may have broken my most recent commitment to not watch rated R movies and saw Zombieland. It was worth it. The movie has elements of both funny and scary. It's a really great mix.
In my reading, there is an author over at NRO that keeps on posting all of these zombie related links. I kind of love him for it. Let me post some of the zombie related things I've come across recently.
This article by actor Simon Pegg discusses the merits of the fast zombie. The second paragraph is my favorite and I also like the he gives the origin of the idea behind zombies:
If you're worried about what to do in case of a zombie attack, you can either read this book - The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks, or you can watch this nice little video below:
If you don't have time for either of those, maybe you should purchase this t-shirt that gives you a quick and dirty idea of what to do in case of zombies.
If you just want a website and place to talk about all things zombie, then this is the place to go. And if you want to just kill some time, try this game. Although I don't really know how you kill more than one zombie. Or if you want to combine your love of zombies with your passion for classic English literature, try reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance - Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem!
I think that about covers it. So good luck. As long as you follow one or more of the guides, practice your zombie killing kills with that game, and carry with you either a blunt object or gun with many rounds, you should be pretty much okay in the event of a zombie attack.
In my reading, there is an author over at NRO that keeps on posting all of these zombie related links. I kind of love him for it. Let me post some of the zombie related things I've come across recently.
This article by actor Simon Pegg discusses the merits of the fast zombie. The second paragraph is my favorite and I also like the he gives the origin of the idea behind zombies:
Still, I had to acknowledge Dead Set's impressive credentials. The concept was clever in its simplicity: a full-scale zombie outbreak coincides with a Big Brother eviction night, leaving the Big Brother house as the last refuge for the survivors. Scripted by Charlie Brooker, a writer whose scalpel-sharp incisiveness I have long been a fan of, and featuring talented actors such as Jaime Winstone and the outstanding Kevin Eldon, the show heralded the arrival of genuine homegrown horror, scratching at the fringes of network television. My expectations were high, and I sat down to watch a show that proved smart, inventive and enjoyable, but for one key detail: ZOMBIES DON'T RUN!If you have any question about the different types of zombies that have been thought up, there is a very helpful Wikipedia page that you can access by going here.I know it is absurd to debate the rules of a reality that does not exist, but this genuinely irks me. You cannot kill a vampire with an MDF stake; werewolves can't fly; zombies do not run. It's a misconception, a bastardisation that diminishes a classic movie monster. The best phantasmagoria uses reality to render the inconceivable conceivable. The speedy zombie seems implausible to me, even within the fantastic realm it inhabits. A biological agent, I'll buy. Some sort of super-virus? Sure, why not. But death? Death is a disability, not a superpower. It's hard to run with a cold, let alone the most debilitating malady of them all.
More significantly, the fast zombie is bereft of poetic subtlety. As monsters from the id, zombies win out over vampires and werewolves when it comes to the title of Most Potent Metaphorical Monster. Where their pointy-toothed cousins are all about sex and bestial savagery, the zombie trumps all by personifying our deepest fear: death. Zombies are our destiny writ large. Slow and steady in their approach, weak, clumsy, often absurd, the zombie relentlessly closes in, unstoppable, intractable.
However (and herein lies the sublime artfulness of the slow zombie), their ineptitude actually makes them avoidable, at least for a while. If you're careful, if you keep your wits about you, you can stave them off, even outstrip them - much as we strive to outstrip death. Drink less, cut out red meat, exercise, practice safe sex; these are our shotguns, our cricket bats, our farmhouses, our shopping malls. However, none of these things fully insulates us from the creeping dread that something so witless, so elemental may yet catch us unawares - the drunk driver, the cancer sleeping in the double helix, the legless ghoul dragging itself through the darkness towards our ankles.
Another thing: speed simplifies the zombie, clarifying the threat and reducing any response to an emotional reflex. It's the difference between someone shouting "Boo!" and hearing the sound of the floorboards creaking in an upstairs room: a quick thrill at the expense of a more profound sense of dread. The absence of rage or aggression in slow zombies makes them oddly sympathetic, a detail that enabled Romero to project depth on to their blankness, to create tragic anti-heroes; his were figures to be pitied, empathised with, even rooted for. The moment they appear angry or petulant, the second they emit furious velociraptor screeches (as opposed to the correct mournful moans of longing), they cease to possess any ambiguity. They are simply mean.
So how did this break with convention come about? The process has unfolded with all the infuriating dramatic irony of an episode of Fawlty Towers. To begin at the beginning, Haitian folklore tells of voodoo shamans, or bokors, who would use digitalis, derived from the foxglove plant, to induce somnambulant trances in individuals who would subsequently appear dead. Weeks later, relatives of the supposedly deceased would witness their lost loved ones in a soporific malaise, working in the fields of wealthy landowners, and assume them to be nzambi (a west African word for "spirit of the dead"). From the combination of nzambi and somnambulist ("sleepwalker") we get the word zombie.
If you're worried about what to do in case of a zombie attack, you can either read this book - The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks, or you can watch this nice little video below:
If you don't have time for either of those, maybe you should purchase this t-shirt that gives you a quick and dirty idea of what to do in case of zombies.
If you just want a website and place to talk about all things zombie, then this is the place to go. And if you want to just kill some time, try this game. Although I don't really know how you kill more than one zombie. Or if you want to combine your love of zombies with your passion for classic English literature, try reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance - Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem!
I think that about covers it. So good luck. As long as you follow one or more of the guides, practice your zombie killing kills with that game, and carry with you either a blunt object or gun with many rounds, you should be pretty much okay in the event of a zombie attack.
The Halos
Nothing is better than having your team in the postseason. Luckily for me two of my top three teams are perennial contenders (Angels and Lakers) and the Raiders are so bad that it's almost comical now to watch them. It used to hurt me a lot more, but when you consistently lose every year, it's pretty much expected.This is pretty much only going to be read by Kent, so here goes:
What I loved about this entire series was that it was so Angels' baseball. They won with pitching, defense, manufacturing runs and then they came back in dramatic fashion to close out the series on Sunday. Some of my favorite things about the series:
- Vlad used to be so feared in baseball, but this past season especially he has shown a lot of vulnerability. You watch the guy run and it's almost painful. He doesn't have quite the bat speed that he used to, and that becomes a crucial point because he doesn't have an eye for the strike zone at all, he just tries to hit everything. Our lineup is probably even deeper this season than it was last season, so the nice thing now is that we don't have to rely exclusively on him. The best part, however, is that he had a lot of redemption moments in the ALDS. His was the walk that eventually became the go-ahead run in Game 2 of the series. He worked another walk to become one of the two runners who scored in the bottom of the 8th when it was still doubtful that they would come back in Game 3. And they walked Torii Hunter to face him with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th when he (of course) swung at the first pitch and drove in the go-ahead runs. Beautiful.
- I loved loved loved that bottom of the 7th in game 2. I was happy that Weaver was keeping up with Beckett, but I was worried because Beckett's pitch count was so low coming into that inning (75) because it looked like he was going to go the distance. And then, with 2 outs of course, Vlad gets a walk. Howie pinch runs for him, steals second, and then Maicer Izturis drives him in with a single. Maicer may be the most clutch guy we have with RISP, boasting a batting average well over .300 with runners on. Now Beckett is still feeling the heat, forced to stop pitching out of the stretch, hold on Izturis, but Maicer ends up stealing anyway. Now facing Napoli, he gets ahead with 2 strikes, but Nap works the count and then gets hit by a pitch. 1st and 2nd, 2 outs, Aybar drills a triple over the head of Jacoby Ellsbury, one of the fastest guys in the MLB with 70 stolen bases this season and clears the bases. Game over.
- I came back from the marathon on Sunday morning to see the Angels down 5-2 in the 7th inning. I thought to myself, oh well, we still have two games to close them out, I just hope that the Yankees series gets dragged out as well. And then magic started to happen. All of the luck that we haven't had the last few seasons all suddenly turned in our favor. Not only are we getting guys on base, we're getting unbelievable clutch hitting. All five runs that put us ahead in that game were scored with two outs. Unreal. What's even better is that we do it all against the Red Sox star closer, Jonathan Papelbon, who until that point had yet to allow a run in the postseason. You know the rest. Game over. Series over. And it all happened in front of a stunned Red Sox Nation. Choke on that losers. Yeah, I can officially say crap like that now since we finally overcame them.
I also love Scioscia going with Saunders to pitch Game 2 in NY. The guy has been nearly unhittable since he has come back from the DL, and I love the lefty on lefty matchups that he provides against the Yankees and that short porch in right field. Then we go into game 3 with Weaver who is finally beginning to emerge as a #1 starter, and Kazmir in Game 4 who I'm mostly comfortable with.
Although our bullpen had given up a couple of runs in that last game of the series, they only gave up a couple of runs in about 8 innings of work, which is awesome considering that all those innings came in crunch time. I'm not brimful of confidence in this regard, yet, but I'm feeling better now with those guys than I have at any other point in the season.
And our hitting has really come on. We averaged better than 5 runs a game against a Red Sox pitching staff that is better than what the Yankees have to offer, and you gotta feel good about that. Abreu's patience was key for us in that last series, and he's only going to be more motivated against his former employer who wouldn't pony up the cash that he thought he deserved. Figgins was unusually quiet that last series, but I'm confident he'll snap out of it. Aybar is an on-base machine. Torii came up big, and Kendry has been consistent. Vlad is reemerging. I think this series is when we'll start to see some more home runs. And this is kind of surprising, but Howie Kendrick is batting .426 in his career against the Yankees, with a respectable .310 against them this season alone. More importantly, the guy is hitting .351 since being recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake July 4th. Nice.
Oh...and I can't say enough about how awesome it is to actually be at a playoff game. The atmosphere is just electric. High fives with strangers are a welcome and frequent occurrence, nobody gets up during the game. When Aybar hit that triple on Friday night, that whole stadium just exploded. It was magical.
It's going to be a tough series, but I really like our chances. We are just two steps away from having the very first Freeway World Series. Let's do our part Angels. Bring on those Yankees!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Long Beach Pics
About ten feet from the finish line.
And look at how happy I am to finish the marathon. I'm so ecstatic! Doesn't this image make you want to start training right now?
I was able to eek out a smile for this pic, however.
Just happy that the cramping has subsided. Yes, that is a cupcake in my hand. I had a bagel, banana, cupcake, 2 protein drinks, and a bottle of water immediately after the race.
Love this little guy. Thanks, Mase, for dragging your deadbeat dad out of bed to come out and support.
I'm 3 days removed from the race and I'm blown away at how good I'm already feeling. After finishing the race I already began plotting my next marathon. I had said previously New York, but I know a guy who is putting together a team to run St. George and I think I'm about ready to commit. I can't believe the difference I'm already feeling between this year and last year. Last year I didn't feel normal for about three weeks. If I had time today, I would have totally went running and I'm sure I would have felt fine. I think that is in part due to the full body massage that I got yesterday from a friend of mine who just finished up a massage therapy program. Can you believe that I actually don't feel any soreness whatsoever right now? I'm so unbelievably grateful for a healthy body. And not even just that, but that I ran the marathon and not only didn't suffer any injuries, but that I have no joint soreness at all. So many people run these things and they have to ice their knees or ankles, or they have back or hip problems. I have nothing. I haven't even thought about icing anything. I took a few ibuprofen after finishing the marathon, but didn't even bother taking another dose that day. You better believe I'm counting my many blessings that I have a body that will sustain my running habit. Anyway, thanks for humoring me.
And look at how happy I am to finish the marathon. I'm so ecstatic! Doesn't this image make you want to start training right now?
I was able to eek out a smile for this pic, however.
Just happy that the cramping has subsided. Yes, that is a cupcake in my hand. I had a bagel, banana, cupcake, 2 protein drinks, and a bottle of water immediately after the race.
Love this little guy. Thanks, Mase, for dragging your deadbeat dad out of bed to come out and support.
I'm 3 days removed from the race and I'm blown away at how good I'm already feeling. After finishing the race I already began plotting my next marathon. I had said previously New York, but I know a guy who is putting together a team to run St. George and I think I'm about ready to commit. I can't believe the difference I'm already feeling between this year and last year. Last year I didn't feel normal for about three weeks. If I had time today, I would have totally went running and I'm sure I would have felt fine. I think that is in part due to the full body massage that I got yesterday from a friend of mine who just finished up a massage therapy program. Can you believe that I actually don't feel any soreness whatsoever right now? I'm so unbelievably grateful for a healthy body. And not even just that, but that I ran the marathon and not only didn't suffer any injuries, but that I have no joint soreness at all. So many people run these things and they have to ice their knees or ankles, or they have back or hip problems. I have nothing. I haven't even thought about icing anything. I took a few ibuprofen after finishing the marathon, but didn't even bother taking another dose that day. You better believe I'm counting my many blessings that I have a body that will sustain my running habit. Anyway, thanks for humoring me.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Post-Race: Long Beach Marathon
Because I know all of you have been checking daily to see if I have put up my race report, I figured it had to be the first post back from my weekend at home. Let me just start with the good stuff first so that you don't feel like you have to read through this whole thing to figure out how I did:- Final time: 3:37:12 (6 minutes faster than Chicago)
- Pace: 8:18 minutes per mile
- Placed 351 out of 3348 runners
- Placed 291 out of 2053 among males
- Placed 39 out of 245 in my division
- In my last 8.2 miles, I was passed by 27 people but passed 70
When I first saw that I had done that, I was a little annoyed with myself that my time had dropped so much. But now, I'm actually kind of impressed that I managed to keep up that pace for what is by far and away the hardest part of the marathon. I managed to not hurt myself at all. I have no real joint soreness. I had some knee pain during the race, but I think that is something that will go away if given some time to heal. My ankles are fine. It's really weird to me that all the pain that I had been feeling in my ankles over the summer just magically went away in the last several weeks.
So in the end, I improved on my first marathon time by 6 minutes while weighing a few pounds more and running less. Figure that one out.
Here is where you can stop if you're not interested in all of the marathon details, but read on if you want to hear my take on the Long Beach Marathon experience, and the thoughts that I have throughout the marathon and what the experience is like.
My first mistake was picking a world-renowned marathon like Chicago as my first marathon. If I had been planning on only running one marathon in my lifetime, then it's the right thing to do. But now that I'm officially a marathon runner (now that I have two under my belt), just about anything else that isn't on the same large-scale that Chicago is will always pale in comparison.
The race organizers boasted more than 20,000 participants, which is true, but only because they actually have a concurrent half-marathon and 5k going on as well. As you may have noticed, there were only a little over 3,000 marathoners out there.
The best part about Chicago was probably the worst part about Long Beach - local race support. Chicago has almost 2 million people line the streets in support of all the runners, and you definitely feel it too. I'd say at least 20 miles of the 26.2 are lined with people on both sides of the street cheering on not just the people they came to support, but anyone else who they happened to notice. Dave made the comment to Mike that it didn't feel the same way with Long Beach, and he was definitely right. With only a few exceptions, unless the person standing to the side actually knew you, they were quiet. I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that no matter what, when you see both thousands and thousands of runners and supporters, it's impossible to not capture the excitement. For future reference, if you ever do decide to run a marathon, make sure to take time to see if the marathon you choose does have good crowd support. I've heard of a few that aren't the major ones that actually are known specifically for having such good community participation. When you're running for that long, you'll grab onto ANYTHING as motivation to keep on moving.
This also happened to make the few supporters I did have all the more valuable because of how little cheering there was otherwise. A friend of mine from home ran the marathon with me, and his dad drove us down at 5 AM to Long Beach, which was so unbelievably nice, but he also stayed the entire time too. When I rounded a corner at 7 miles, I heard him call my name and I turned my head, and really did feel a surge of energy. When I approached the finish line and saw my
The first 10-12 miles of the course are beautiful - running right in front of the bow of the Queen Mary, on the boardwalk along the beach, right along the port of Long Beach, but miles 12-17 blew. They were in normal neighborhoods and very few people were out to support. You wouldn't think it'd be such a big deal, but I guess having the experience I had last year compared to this one yesterday makes me realize just how important a component that is to running the marathon. Whether the person knows you or not, it's like each shout, however ambiguous it is in referring to you, somehow charges your batteries just enough to make it another 100 feet, and while you're running on fumes the last few miles, you're making it on sheer willpower and good vibes from the race supporters. This is what made running through the campus at Cal State Long Beach so important - lots of different frats and sororities came out in support, including the cheer and flag squads, and they came out during some really tough parts of the run. Although I will say I didn't like that a good portion of the course had you backtracking on the opposite side of the street that you had been on just an hour before.
It made a world of difference for me to have the experience of last year in my back pocket for running this year's race. I was much better at listening to my body and pulled over to stretch and rest for a second when I did feel the pulling/straining sensations in my calves or quads. I think I fueled really well given that I never felt too thirsty or too heavy from fluids. The one problem I did have was that I would have killed for some bathroom relief from mile 15 or so and on. I should have been on a more regular eating/exercising schedule in the weeks leading up to the race, but I think a lot of it can be blamed on the drive from Utah to California. I ended up using the bathroom at different times than I normally would because of that. That wasn't very much fun to run with that feeling...
Anyway, like I was saying, knowing I had done this before made a world of difference. Although I had run a couple of 22 mile runs in training, there is just nothing that feels like those last 4-5 miles in the marathon, unless covering the full marathon distance is in your training regimen. I could finish a 22 mile run and not even be sore the next day, and be back to running within two days. Miles 21-25 are so incredibly lonely and hard, but I was well aware of that coming into this race. I knew that I would be stopping somewhat frequently to stretch out and would ease myself into faster and slower paces. And you can't credit enough just how much having the confidence of having experienced this before gives to you when you're trying to do it again. I was really amazed at how much I was able to straighten up and leg out the last 1.2 miles of the race.
I've been reading this book lately, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, and it's the memoirs of this Japanese author talking about his running experience. There is one part that I really love:
One runner told of a mantra his older brother, also a runner, had taught him which he's pondered ever since he began running. Here it is: Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. Say you're running and you start to think, Man this hurts, I can't take it anymore. The hurt part is an unavoidable reality, but whether or not you can stand any more is up to the runner himself. This pretty much sums up the most important aspect of marathon running.It seriously does. For the first 16 or so miles, I really felt fine, but then I started to reach a point where I'm seeing signs for the 21, 22, and 23 mile markers, areas that I know I won't traverse for another hour or so, and then I start to feel a little discouraged thinking about how achey my body is starting to feel. For the last 1/3 of the marathon all I'm doing the entire time is talking myself into finishing the race - I can run at least to the streetlight; I can run for another mile; I can't let this person beat me; I've done this before, I know I can do it. For the last 3 or 4 miles, I said some of my most fervent prayers that I've said in weeks: Please strengthen my calves so that I can finish this race; Please bless my right achilles that it won't tear until I cross the finish line; Please let this Powerade give me enough electrolytes to keep my legs moving for another ten minutes. I can't quite remember what went through my head last year. I think I was mostly just concentrated on finishing it, but I was surprised at how much self-talk and prayer there was in the last 45 minutes of running. It's funny what things will come out when you're feeling so desperate.
This is the last thing I'll say about marathon running. I ran 22 miles twice in my training, and was for the most part pretty consistent, but there is something about the last several miles that really takes it out of you. When I would finish the 22 mile runs, I would be tired, but I would recover enough that within a day or two I could go back to running. I'm finding that with the full marathon, I have aches and pains in places that I didn't know could hurt so much from running. Biceps? Between my shoulders? Really? What that author wrote is so true - the amount of pain you can tolerate really is up to you. Hurt is going to happen no matter what, but not running a marathon or not finishing one is only because you've told yourself that you can't do it. I feel like that's a metaphor for life.
Another thing, I'm amazed at how finishing the marathon frees up new energy to get on top of other areas of my life. Sometimes I feel like I have a finite amount of energy/attention to devote to certain things, and training just takes up so much of that, but I feel refreshed now to resume those other things. Refreshed mentally. My body still kinda hurts like hell. But at least I'm getting a massage tomorrow.
Thanks for coming this far. I'm thinking that my next marathon might be New York, and I might try and do it for charity. I think it's time for me to run that kind of race. But since that's a year away, it's about time I tried out some other athletic endeavors for a bit.
I'll post pics as soon as I get them.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
California Here I Come
Gonna be leaving early in the AM to be there in time for lunch. Then off to Game 2 of the Angels v. Red Sox series. Kent, just so you're aware of how awesome I am for selling those tickets to you at face value, they're going for $85 each now. Dear Angels, please go five games so I can pay for my trip back home with the money I'd make off my new career as a ticket broker. Please. I'm excited to see my best friends and their little baby. I'm excited to see my mama. I'm excited for a nice family Sunday dinner. I'm excited to have this marathon behind me so I can start on my new swimming/yoga career. I'm excited for some warmth. It'll be a nice contrast from the cool fall weather we're having here, although I've rather enjoyed the brisk weather. It's been really pretty. Utah is reeling me in. I even registered my car here the other day. I know. It's crazy. Anyway, hit me up if you wanna party.
In Jay Nordlinger's Impromptus column this week he mentioned the following:
Speaking of funny, this pic made me laugh.
Be blessed y'all and see you soon!
In Jay Nordlinger's Impromptus column this week he mentioned the following:
I’ll tell you what was really cool: America’s Taco Shop, on N. 7th St. America is not a nation, in this case: It’s a woman, America Corrales. You get a bean-and-cheese burrito for like nothing. And it looks like nothing: like an item from a junior-high cafeteria. But you bite into it: and angels start to sing in your mouth. Try the carne asada, too. Fabulous food for pennies. If this place were in New York, you would have to wait in line for an hour and a half -- and the bean burrito would be $14.95. And the cashiers would be surly.The emphasis is my own, but I just loved the way he put that. Made me laugh. Don't you just love language? And people sometimes too. I marvel at how funny some people are and I sometimes want to shout hallelujah for the creation of humor.
Speaking of funny, this pic made me laugh.
Be blessed y'all and see you soon!
Roller Derby Time
For the record, I'd like you all to know that it's been about two years since I've been wanting to officially see a roller derby bout. I just don't want y'all to think that it's strictly because of the new movie that just came out featuring it. The thing is that every time there has been a local derby bout (that's what they call their games/matches) I have been unable to make it, that is, until a couple weeks ago.
The Salt City Derby Girls is the local roller derby league. They have been going for the last couple months, but I was at home during that time, and a couple weeks back they had their championship bout - Sisters of No Mercy v. Leave It To Cleavers. The bouts are pretty much what you expect - a lot of rough and tumble people getting together to push each around and fight on a roller derby track. The crowd is what you'd expect too: there are a ton of visible tatoos, a lot of trashy dress, funky hairstyles, and the like. What you may have not expected (or maybe you knew this) are a lot of lesbians. Yup. Real life lesbians=not very attractive. That's the reality of it, at least from the roller derby sample that I saw.
I read a review recently from one of the writers I follow and he caught a bout down in Arizona. His roller derby experience seemed quite a departure from my own, as the league seemed to feature a lot more sexuality than the violence that the Utah one features. All the skaters assume nicknames and the AZ were much more sexual, whereas the ones up here were more violent. A friend of mine knew one of the girls at the event and her name is Smack and Deck Her, that kind of thing.
The rules are much more complicated than I'd care to explain, but really you just go to see the girls push each other around and get angry at one another. The teams had silly mascots, and even all the people in attendance provide their own kind of entertainment also. People watchers, this is definitely the place for you.
In case you were wondering, there is an OC derby team that you can learn more about here, and here is the Utah one. And if you haven't heard about the movie, here's the trailer:
The Salt City Derby Girls is the local roller derby league. They have been going for the last couple months, but I was at home during that time, and a couple weeks back they had their championship bout - Sisters of No Mercy v. Leave It To Cleavers. The bouts are pretty much what you expect - a lot of rough and tumble people getting together to push each around and fight on a roller derby track. The crowd is what you'd expect too: there are a ton of visible tatoos, a lot of trashy dress, funky hairstyles, and the like. What you may have not expected (or maybe you knew this) are a lot of lesbians. Yup. Real life lesbians=not very attractive. That's the reality of it, at least from the roller derby sample that I saw.
I read a review recently from one of the writers I follow and he caught a bout down in Arizona. His roller derby experience seemed quite a departure from my own, as the league seemed to feature a lot more sexuality than the violence that the Utah one features. All the skaters assume nicknames and the AZ were much more sexual, whereas the ones up here were more violent. A friend of mine knew one of the girls at the event and her name is Smack and Deck Her, that kind of thing.
The rules are much more complicated than I'd care to explain, but really you just go to see the girls push each other around and get angry at one another. The teams had silly mascots, and even all the people in attendance provide their own kind of entertainment also. People watchers, this is definitely the place for you.
In case you were wondering, there is an OC derby team that you can learn more about here, and here is the Utah one. And if you haven't heard about the movie, here's the trailer:
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
General Conference Leftovers
I don't know that I've ever really blogged at length about General Conference. I think I usually just mention it in passing, but this most recent one felt really significant to me for whatever reason. The following are just a few of the things that I took away from the weekend's messages:
Until next time, friends.
- I don't think there could have been a better way to start off conference than by having Elder Scott talking about revelation and how to receive communication from God. It just seemed to setup everything that would come thereafter. This is a subject that has been at the forefront of my mind for the last year or two - receiving and interpreting revelation. I just realized something funny about this talk, too. One of the points that he makes is to write everything down, pray and ponder, and keep present the impressions that you receive, and of course, I was writing all of this down. However, I seemed to have lost momentum over the course of the weekend because while reviewing my notes, I don't really have anything from the Sunday sessions written down. I know that there were several things that stuck out to me from those sessions, but for the life of me I can't remember them. Dang it.
- I don't know what made me think of this memory, it might have been something from Elder Bednar's talk. I never learned so much about and had a greater appreciation for prayer than I did in the mission, but some of my most favorite prayers were while I was companions with Elder Lincoln Purcell. Incidentally, if anyone has any idea who he is, I would love to get in contact with him. He was my favorite by far. Anyway, in the mission we'd have companionship prayer at least twice a day, or three times a day, something like that. It was probably more, actually, but I never laughed during prayers as much as I did with him. It was a common occurrence for one of us to start giggling at something the other had said during a prayer, and have to get up from kneeling and leave the room in order to control the laughter. That might seem irreverent, and I'm sure that to a certain extent it is, but there are few people that I ever felt closer to than I did with Elder Purcell. I would step in front of a bus for him, I love him that much.
- I loved how much emphasis there seemed to be (at least to me) on doing the right thing because it's the right thing, and not out of some fear of punishment or looking for reward. Along these lines, I thought Elder Christofferson's talk about moral discipline was one of my favorites from the weekend. I loved his emphasis on the fact that we need internal motivators, not external restraints, to maintain character on us as individuals and collectively as a society. Loved that talk.
- I love President Uchtdorf's optimism, and is there anyone in the church who would be better qualified to speak about hope and being resolute than someone who personally experienced Nazi Germany, and grew up in a rebuilding Europe? I loved his talk about not allowing ourselves to become discouraged.
- Recently a friend of mine had a post on taking offense. At first glance I agreed with one of the sentiments that he was expressing - that you can't tell people what is or isn't offensive to them. But President Monson's talk from priesthood session about anger made me rethink that position. Last year in one of my classes I had a professor talking about anger and agency. So often you hear the expression, "you make me so angry," and in that expression of anger people label themselves a passive object rather than a moral agent. Although you can't choose your initial reaction, you choose what feelings you allow to dwell in your heart. I feel like too often I have been hearing people say things like "well I can't help the way that I feel." BS. While it might take time to get ourselves to a point where we feel or don't feel certain things, we ultimately choose the feelings we allow to persist - happy/sad, love/hate, etc. My mission president had a quote up in the mission office from Brigham Young that said, "he who takes offense when none is intended is a fool; he who takes offense none offense is intended, is also usually a fool."
- It shouldn't surprise me, but it does every time - I'm always amazed at how elevated my thoughts become when I watch conference. It's the same thing when I'm in church or I'm studying the scriptures, and no doubt that it's just the operation of the spirit. Anyway, I just think it's cool that my thoughts can crystallize more easily and with greater depth when I engage in these kinds of things than when I'm doing anything else. And I take that as evidence of the spirit fulfilling its mission and testifying to me of truth, and bringing things to my remembrance. I love it.
Until next time, friends.
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