Occasionally, I feel twinges of regret that I didn't pursue a career as a kicker in the NFL. I used to play soccer, and I probably could have transitioned pretty well. And, on some days, I think I would have been really good at it. (I don't admit this often but I actually love football.)

I think I just lost those last bits of regret over this. Even though kickers wouldn't often encounter that situation I'm sure it would've happened to me at some point. No thank you.


posted at 10:42 PM

The other night I happened to catch part of "I Love the 90s, part deux -- 1991" on VH1. Nelson were on, poking fun at the band Extreme. Now, you can say what you want about the song, "More Than Words" but I am pretty sure there is a pop culture law stating that the these-chicks-look-like-guys* band Nelson are in no position to be mocking anyone.


*I wish I could take credit for the line, but I am shamelessly borrowing from this.


posted at 8:48 PM

Apparently, Spongebob Squarepants is TEH GAY!!!!11

I just want to say a thing or two to Mr. Squarepants:

I am a Christian. I am proud to be a Christian. And I got your back.

It needs to be said that groups like the American Family Association and Focus on the Family do not represent all of Christianity (despite the headline "Christians Issue..."). They are fringe groups. To paraphrase Eddie Izzard, "they're f@*$ing weirdo Christians. I'm more of an executive Christian." (Yeah, I shouldn't be making comments like that when I am declaring myself a Christian, but, I am going somewhere with this.)

The problem with these groups is that they are using the title 'Christian' while promoting their drive toward intolerance and exclusivity. This is antithetical to what Jesus taught, namely tolerance and welcoming/including everyone. To label yourself a Christian you must believe in Jesus Christ and what he taught. "Christians" promoting intolerance and exclusion are dishonest. And they make the rest of us look bad.

Sorry to be so preachy, and I know I'm late to the party commenting on this, I just feel it's necessary to present the spectrum of Christianity when this sort of crap sprouts up. So guys, seriously, knock it off. Unless you are actually against healing and community. But that wouldn't be very Christian of you, would it?


posted at 8:35 PM

So serious lately. Sheesh. Oh well. Sometimes things happen which stir up other things. Since I don't know when I'll post again and I don't want to leave that at the top of the page, here's a coming soon list:

1) Favorite music of 2004. This is almost done, I just need to tweak it a little. Still, I'm not sure when it will actually make its way up here.

2) This domain is going away. The email addresses associated with it are deluged with spam and aren't usable anymore. So, everything is going to move somewhere. The new domain hasn't been decided upon yet.

3) With the new domain will come a redesign of the blog. This is also mostly finished. The design is, anyway. I just have to convert it to blogger-ese. And then, of course, there'll be a period of working the kinks out.

4) The archive links on the main page will get updated. (This may not happen until #3 is complete.) For whatever reason, the archive links don't get updated automatically like they are supposed to and I just haven't taken the time to go in and do it by hand.

That's about it for now.


posted at 12:51 PM

A couple of other comments relating to last night's post.

If Iran really does have a stated policy directing them toward the destruction of Israel, and you consider that they already have nuclear weapons**, then one could come to the conclusion that Israel might be justified to take some action. The situation between the U.S. and Iraq is quite different. Seeing how Iraq is not so much with the having of weapons of mass destruction.

**I don't know if this is true or not. Based on some recent articles it seems that Iran is already there, rather than just working toward it.


Also, in the by-the-numbers look there is a stat for 10,252 injured Americans in the Iraq war. It should be pointed out that "wounded" is not just minor wounds and injuries. Warning: the rest of this is a bit gruesome. I'd suggest you stop reading if you want to keep pretending it's all hunky-dory over there. We're talking about people surviving explosions, not just being shot at. Limbs/hands/feet are blown off. These soldiers lives and the lives of their families are forever changed in drastic and unimaginable ways. See more here. It is not pretty.

This is why the war is wrong. We have made our own citizens suffer in these terrible ways because Iraq does not have any weapons of mass destruction. It is wrong because the government did not plan for this fully and the cost is not being paid by the people screwed it up. It is being paid by everyone else. And, yes, you can argue that if you sign up for military service you have to understand that you risk this sort of injury in the line of combat. Normally, I would accept that as valid. But, there is also an understanding, dare I say contract, that the President will not lead our troops into battle unless it is truly necessary. Pretending we are defending ourselves from weapons that don't exist doesn't qualify as 'truly necessary.' Further, if the President is going to take us to war, he really needs to make sure that the plan is the very best one possible. This did not happen, either.

They have failed to show restraint until war is really needed. They have failed to properly prepare for the war. They have failed us. They have failed our soldiers.

And this doesn't even get in to the matter where we have decided for the Iraqi people that they will also die in our crusade. If we're so keen on them having real democracy, shouldn't they, you know, have had some say in this?


posted at 12:35 PM

Since the inauguration was today I think it would be a good time to review some recent headlines.

U.S. Ends Fruitless Iraq Weapons Hunt

Nation Split on Bush as Uniter or Divider (telling that we can't even make up our minds about this, isn't it?)

Iran prepared to defend interests if U.S. attacks (apologies if the link doesn't work, it's been up and down while I've been writing this)

This article contains a nice quite from VP Dick Cheney. "We don't want a war in the Middle East if we can avoid it," he says. I want to know where this attitude was when they were inventing reasons (see 'Fruitless Search' above) to go to war with Iraq.

There's also this nice little bit, also from Cheney, "Given the fact that Iran has a stated policy that their objective is the destruction of Israel, the Israelis might well decide to act first and let the rest of the world worry about cleaning up the diplomatic mess afterwards." Yeah, wonder where they might get the idea to do a pre-emptive strike and then let the world clean it up. It's not like that has happened recently or anything. Oh, wait.

Finally, here's a by-the-numbers look at how the first 4 years of Bush went.


posted at 8:46 PM

This is the president who promised during his first campaign to, "restore honor and dignity" to the White House. Perhaps that will happen sometime in the next 4 years.

To top it off, he didn't even get the nickname right. Clearly it ought to be "Pootie-tang." (Oh come on, you know you were thinking it too. You have been since you got to the word, "Pootie.")

posted at 10:10 PM

I certainly didn't exepct to jump back in here talking about something like this. But that just goes to show that you never can tell what people are going to do. In some ways it's easier to get the ball rolling with something random. That, and I just can't let this one go.

This guy is suing NBC due to a recent episode of Fear Factor. The complaint states that one particular segment caused his blood pressure to rise, resulting in dizziness and nausea. Because of that, when he was hurrying away from the TV, he ran into a doorway. When asked about shutting the TV off he answered that he couldn't do it fast enough.

The question they should have asked him is why he was watching Fear Factor in the first place. It's not a big secret what they do on that show. If you don't want to be exposed to it, don't watch.

The suit is for 2.5 million dollars but he says he just made that amount up because he doesn't expect to win it. Apparently this is all about making NBC take responsibility for a show sending the message that cash will make people do just about anything. Then he says he can't talk about the complaint unless it is in a paid interview.

Sounds more like he was too stupid to know better than to watch Fear Factor and now wants to be paid for it.

Dear sir, do get out of the way of society. It's not that I think Fear Factor is an honorable show or anything. Quite the opposite, I eagerly await its cancellation. But until that time, I'm not going to sue NBC about it. I'm just not going to watch. The reason for my "get out of the way" comment is because this lawsuit is a waste of time. Our legal system is already flooded with lawsuits, we don't need any like this one. I can only hope this gets thrown right out. Even then, it will still have wasted the time it took to get tossed.

And for the record, the promise of cash does make people do stupid things. For many men in the world so does the promise of naked women (witness countless abysmal 80's metal bands). But I don't see this guy suing the porn industry about the degredation of women. Or for helping to foster sex/pornography addiction. I daresay that lawsuits like that, while probably fruitless, would have actual good intentions.

Hmm, got a little off-topic there. Funny how you don't always end up where you think you will.

posted at 7:54 PM

And now, as an attempt to break the silence, I present my very bad joke inspired by Monty Python's Dead Parrot Sketch.

Q: What have you been for the past 2+ months instead of writing in your blog?

A: Dunno. Probably pining for the k'boards.

Ba-dap-boom-crash.

Thanks folks, I'll be here all week.

posted at 7:32 PM