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Blog
Jerry Jones knows all about Bill Parcells' history of walking away from deals. So the Dallas Cowboys' owner wants to announce an agreement as soon as he can. As of Tuesday, he was still waiting. And he probably will be until at least Thursday, despite reports that Parcells already has agreed to a four-year contract to coach the team. Maybe nothing more than logistics and the New Year's holiday are in the way. Still, Parcells' track record raises some doubt about whether the coach known for turning around woeful teams will try doing so with the Cowboys. Parcells jilted Tampa Bay twice and Atlanta once. Last year, he got so close with the Buccaneers that he signed a contract, and now Tampa Bay wants compensation from any team that hires him. The Bucs will present their case to the commissioner's office Thursday. This should be a great working relationship, two total control freaks working together. I don't see any problems.
Un-named demo but it sounds good.
The New York Times doesn't like the idea of faith-based initiatives,
The faith-based initiative is also unconstitutional, and fundamentally unfair, because it allows tax dollars to be used in programs that discriminate in hiring. Churches will be able to hire only Christians for jobs paid for with federal funds, and synagogues and mosques could similarly refuse to hire nonbelievers. And taxpayer-financed religious programs can, by citing their religious beliefs, refuse to hire gay men and lesbians. We are already starting to see the troubling ways in which faith-based initiatives allow tax dollars to be used. In Georgia, a Jewish man is suing the United Methodist Children's Home, which receives significant federal financing, for refusing to hire him as a therapist because of his religion. In Wisconsin, a federal judge earlier this year ordered a prison program to stop using direct government funds for a drug and alcohol addiction program that used Christian spirituality as part of its treatment.
Any comments from those who know this issue better than I do?
The Vatican is to open up its archives documenting relations with Nazi Germany, potentially lifting the lid on a controversial and secretive era in the Church's history. Announcing plans to declassify the archives, officials said they hoped the move would end speculation that the Roman Catholic Church failed to speak out against the Holocaust. Pope Pius XII's role in the Holocaust has proved controversial The archive contains documents relating to the years leading up to World War II. During that period, the Vatican's ambassador to Berlin was the man who later went on to be pope during the war. Pope Pius XII, who led the Church from 1939 to 1958, has long been accused by Jewish groups of turning a blind eye as many Jews were marched off to concentration camps.
This boggles the mind... I am not a huge fan of InterVarsity by any means but to say that you are discriminating against people because you have to be a Christian to lead a Christian organization is absurd. Mark Stern, attorney for the American Jewish Congress, says Rutgers' actions are clearly illegal. "The notion, for example, that I [as a Jew] would have a right to be the head of a Christian group is absurd," he said. "After the Boy Scout decision, this is a total no-brainer."
We came, we saw, we had some great soup...
Hmm, sweet wonderful spicy soup. It wasn't your usual pilgrimage to the hot soup. First of all, fellow blogger, Tim Gonyou was back from Toronto for a couple of days. Tim is not without his prejudices. He doesn't like people from Indiana. Apparently people from Indiana are hicks. Even people living in Indianapolis. Of course, Tim is from Illinois. Tim is the only person I know of that has been dunked on by Kendall Gill. CORRECTION Tim Gonyou has posted a clarification statement in my comments. " I don't hate people from Indiana. I've met some fine people from Indiana. Sure many of them were quite hick like, but what's so wrong with that anyway. Some would describe it as "country charm"." Sorry for any confusion.
Kelly and Brooke Graham are back from the Dominican Republic. Kelly is the chaplain for a private school there. For some reason the entire grade one class calls Kelly, "Anna Kournakova". He doesn't know why either.
 It was a big day for Brooke, she had the soup today and was inducted into the Spicy Soup Hall of Fame. Congratulations! Brooke and Kelly are up for another week and then it is back to the Dominican Republic for another five months and then back to Saskatoon for a while (we hope). Brooke is tutoring kids down there while Kelly does some teaching and handles the chapels for the kids. I guess that means that she is Mrs. Anna Kournakova. If I had some blogging advice to give to Kelly, never post on your blog that your nickname is Anna Kounikova. Either way, it was good to see Kelly and Brooke. They looked a lot better than the rest of us who haven't had the opportunity to lay on a beach all winter. Whatever people say to you Brooke, they can't take away your place in the Soup Hall of Fame.
For those of you who don't know, I worked with both Kelly and Brooke at Lakeview. Kelly is the one that introduced us to the soup. He is kind of a mix between the patron saint of the soup and the soup Godfather. Labels: Blogger, blogging, Saskatoon
The Soup Calleth
Am off for coffee with my good friend Kelly Graham (El Pastoro) who is back from the Dominican Republic and then we go and attack the soup. Will post some pics of the soup and Kelly later. I have some great Kelly stories I'll post later as well.
My grandmother would be proud
I just gave Wendy a Christmas gift (actually a stocking stuffer) I had hidden yet forgotten to give out. My mom said it used to happen every year. She (my grandmother) would say to my mom, "Marion, how did you like that [gift]" which mom would have no idea of what she was talking about so my grandmother would run to a closet or something and go and find some hidden and generally unwrapped gift. Yeah. I am a loser. Labels: Wendy Cooper
The End of Globalization?
2 Canadians discover the Americas in 13 different documentry episodes all available online.
"When the light is red, I don't let my kids go out to play at all," Liliana Navarro Torres said, referring to Kimberley, 6, and Jonathan, 4. "They don't like it much, and sometimes it drives me crazy to have them running around the house, but that's the way it has to be when you live here."
"It's a new way of living," said Lidia Amarales Osorno, the regional director of Chile's Health Ministry in Punta Arenas. "You'll see the solar stoplight posted in supermarkets, offices and schools, and we even have an ozone brigade to raise consciousness about this problem."
Young, educated New Yorkers are pouring into mainline churches and synagogues in such numbers that some ministers believe they are witnessing an awakening. "It is an awakening, it's a revitalization," exclaimed the Rev. Amandus J. Derr, senior pastor of St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Manhattan. His congregation has grown from 220 to 560 members in the past five years; 100 have joined in the year since September 11, 2001.
On 11 December 2002, the Senate and House Intelligence Committees released portions of their joint report on intelligence failures regarding the September 11 terrorist attacks. The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, on PBS, reported on the release that day. This is from the transcripts and is an interview with guest host Gwen Ifill and head of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator Bob Graham
GWEN IFILL: Senator Graham, are there elements in this report, which are classified that Americans should know about but can't?
SEN. BOB GRAHAM: Yes, going back to your question about what was the greatest surprise. I agree with what Senator Shelby said the degree to which agencies were not communicating was certainly a surprise but also I was surprised at the evidence that there were foreign governments involved in facilitating the activities of at least some of the terrorists in the United States.
I am stunned that we have not done a better job of pursuing that to determine if other terrorists received similar support and, even more important, if the infrastructure of a foreign government assisting terrorists still exists for the current generation of terrorists who are here planning the next plots.
To me that is an extremely significant issue and most of that information is classified, I think overly-classified. I believe the American people should know the extent of the challenge that we face in terms of foreign government involvement. That would motivate the government to take action.
GWEN IFILL: Are you suggesting that you are convinced that there was a state sponsor behind 9/11?
SEN. BOB GRAHAM: I think there is very compelling evidence that at least some of the terrorists were assisted not just in financing -- although that was part of it -- by a sovereign foreign government and that we have been derelict in our duty to track that down, make the further case, or find the evidence that would indicate that that is not true and we can look for other reasons why the terrorists were able to function so effectively in the United States.
GWEN IFILL: Do you think that will ever become public, which countries you're talking about?
SEN. BOB GRAHAM: It will become public at some point when it's turned over to the archives, but that's 20 or 30 years from now. And, we need to have this information now because it's relevant to the threat that the people of the United States are facing today. That is a lot different spin on things than I have been hearing.
Only George Steinbrenner comes down on his coaching staff after they got an aging Yankee team to the playoffs after battling injuries to a pitching staff all season long. My favorite comments came after the Yanks lost to the Angels and he could not comprehend how baseball would survive without the Yankees in the World Series. Labels: baseball, sports
I was watching a rather boring edition of Crossfire the other night when Ann Coulter came on to be interviewed by James Carville and Tucker Carlson. It was some of the stupidest television that I have seen for months. My IQ was lower after watching that segment then it was before. All Coulter did was insult Carville and Carlson as everytime they asked her a question, she would go, "oh, that is another strategy of the left". It begs the question, "is mocking the interviewer an accepted strategy of the right". She took herself and the interview far too seriously. Is this what passes for political dialogue in the United States right now? I don't think so as Al Gore and W's election platforms were similar enough last election to be considered syncronized swimming. As the parties covet the centre, it makes the partisan ideologues on the right and left look more out of step with the American people more than ever. Maybe it was just Crossfire. Paul Begala comes across as moronic once in a while too.
This is why I am not rich. A couple of months ago I was listening to this guy on the radio because he said that gold was heading way higher and everyone scoffed at him and I remember telling someone that I thought he was making it up as he went along. Here it is a couple of months later and this analyst is probably laughing his way to the BMW dealership.
Jason Evans has some wise words about gift giving vs. consumerism... I don't think Brooke and I have it all figured out. We agree that the consumption in this country is out of control but we highly believe in gift-giving. If we imply that giving is equal to consuming than we've missed the point, and I wouldn't have much left to base my faith on, for sure. Think about it, the Story of our gift of life comes through a God using his own breath to breath life into a man made from dirt and woman with parts borrowed from the man. Our story of salvation comes through a God using his own Son's death to replace ours. What amazing gifts!? So, give gifts, give them creatively, re-use, recycle and give them selflessly. That doesn't equate to consumerism... I think he is right on. I don't have Brooke's creative abilities either but this year all of our gifts were reflection of Wendy and I. We gave out some of my favorite books this year. Some Emergence, some Ingenuity Gap (although my Dad openly hated his copy), some Kicking Ass in Canadian Politics. The comments that get angry at people for consuming don't make any sense to me at all. We all consume. Even as I post this I am consuming electricity and bandwidth from hundreds of computers, routers and servers along the net. The challenge is to be a responsible consumer. That I think we can do a better job at.that.
I don't think the issue is consumption as it is mindless consumption because I can consume. A bunch of boomers I know are at the point of their life when they are making far more money than they know what to do with so they are spending this insane amount of money I think because they are bored so they look for the next project. A new house, a cabin at the lake, newer and more expensive cars, great trips and I wonder when it stops. A couple of months ago I posted on my site that I had no idea what I was going to get my Dad, he has no known hobbies or passions other than work. A couple of years ago it was a new PT Cruiser, last Christmas his wife got him a Dodge Viper, for his birthday it was a trip to ride in the pace car at the Molson Indy in Vancouver. The odd thing is that while he likes it, none seem to evoke that much passion out of him. The "stuff" doesn't seem to appeal to him any more. I wonder if on a smaller scale we are all like this. We live through this period of wonderful excess yet we are like the Emperor walking through the streets with his "invisible" robe. No one has the guts to say that this isn't working so we look for the next big gift and the next big milestone. Labels: Advent/Christmas, Wendy Cooper
Gloria was talking about this article over Christmas. It sounds like Dennis' and my true calling. Conversation Cafes are now percolating worldwide, from California, Kentucky and Florida to Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. The salons have become a forum for small groups of people to meet on a weekly or monthly basis and discuss issues. "Whenever two people engage in conversation, it not only impacts the individuals ... the people change society," said Vicki Robin, who came up with the idea for the chatter-house cafes. umm, Wendy, I'm not going out for coffee, I am going out to change the world. Be back at 9:00. Here is the official website. Labels: Wendy Cooper
The good news is that it may get some much needed money out of this report. The bad news is that it had to come to this. This seems to sum up Saskatchewan. In a province critically short of doctors, we ignore our medical college to the point where it could lose its accreditation before we do anything but then get all upset when the Saskatoon city council won't throw money at the historically money losing World University Games. Bizarre. Labels: Saskatoon
Josh Claybourn has posted on the Alan Gregg comments and Maclean's poll. He summarizes with this, Perhaps the problem is that Canada has looked to the U.S. for its identity for much too long, and since Sept. 11 Americans have been talking more and more about the values that define us - freedom, diversity, and hard working capitalism. Perhaps, in all this talk, Canadians felt left out and confused. What, exactly, defines a Canadian? Sadly, rather than carve their own niche, they're turning more into Europeans - not exactly a unique path. Despite the fact that Canada has never embraces the vocal and extroverted patriotism that the United States has, it has developed a strong and unique identity of its own that is unique of both the United States and of Europe. We have managed to combine strong economic growth (out performing the US economy while maintaining a high level of social services and balanced budgets), free markets, and a social safety net that allows people left behind to catch back up again. Of course a country with the same population of California would be influenced by its neighbor to the south. At the same time as Americans define their values, Canada is also seeing their values more clearly as well... and they are different then American values.
I have never liked the labels like "naive socialism" as they assume a common context and foundation. I was watching Crossfire tonight as Ann Coulter retreated to a position of labelling Tucker Carlson and James Carville again and again. It makes for funny television but really doesn't advance any debate. As hard as it is for some to understand, Canadian can be socialist and capitalist at the same time. The government and the markets can co-exist and help each other and its residents. A government can be left and right at the same time and be branded as both or neither and take a path that is different than the United States and still be doing the right thing. Labels: economics
Glenn Reynolds thinks so... Meanwhile, I was at Target this morning and the aisles were clogged (literally!) with deeply discounted clearance merchandise, but not with shoppers. I was in and out in a trice, but this suggest to me that (1) they didn't sell all that stuff before Christmas; and (2) they still aren't selling it now. This -- plus the fact that everyone we know seems to have a lot of stuff, and complain more about lack of closet spacee than about lack of possessions -- suggests to me that consumers are bought-out. There just isn't new stuff to buy that people want enough to spend the money. Makes a lot of sense. You have no idea how many people my age just don't want anything. There is always something but as our society becomes more affluent, we just have less needs and even we are realizing that we have a lot of stuff. That an 1.5% about the best year ever is not a bad year, just not as good as year as you have hoped.
Yes, that Paul Martin. The future Prime Minister of Canada. He has a blog and even explains why. Don't worry, Liberal power broker Warren Kinsella (author of " Kicking Ass in Canadian Politics") has a blog as well. Paul Martin may become the next Prime Minister of Canada but Warren Kinsella's got the better blog. I guess it will only be a matter of time until Karl Rove and Tony Blair start blogging.
Macleans year end poll find this... What a difference a year can make. Our 2002 year-end poll indicates that, far from drawing closer together, Canadians are expressing a growing desire to chart a distinct path, independent of our neighbours to the south. Over the past year, we have seen the number of Canadians who describe the United States as "family" or "best friends" shrink by a third -- to only one in five -- as the vast majority have come to characterize our relationship as either "friends, but not especially close" or "cordial but distant." Similarly, since we last asked this question in 1999, the percentage who believe we are "mainly" or "essentially" different from Americans has grown to a significant majority of 57 per cent.
We also see a solid sentiment that the United States is acting like a bully and a majority who fear that "we are losing our independence to the United States." In policy terms, these underlying beliefs have created a population that is unconvinced that Iraq warrants attack; that has serious misgivings about supporting our allies in any assault on Saddam Hussein done outside the sanction of the United Nations; and that is unprepared to follow the U.S. lead in rejecting the Kyoto accord. I am not sure I see an anti-American sentiment appearing right now across Canada but as the United States swings more to the right politically and ideologically, it distances us even more. Even Canada's right is probably more liberal than most Democrats. It just makes us uncomfortable.
Alan Gregg goes on to summarize with this, Sept. 11 did not change Canadians' basic character. On the contrary, it seems to have reminded us of our unique heritage, while at the same time opening our eyes to a world we barely knew. Most importantly, it has reconnected us with the true sense of who we are. We are North Americans, in taste and temperament. But our values are uniquely our own. Our readiness to embrace diversity, at home and around the globe, makes us distinct from other inhabitants of our continent. In fact, part of the expression of this new nationalism is the epiphany that the movies we watch and the hamburgers we eat are not what define us as a nation. Our values do. And as our horizons have broadened, we have gained a renewed confidence and courage to face our responsibilities to a changing world, on our own terms. Labels: Iraq, politics, war
The shortage of priests in Canada has become so acute that some churches are cutting the number of Christmas masses being celebrated this year and retired priests are being pressed into service. There are fewer than 10,000 priests in Canada today, down from 15,000 in 1970. The number of seminarians has dropped from 2,645 to 550. The situation is so dire that priests are postponing retirement and the death of a priest can sound the death knell of a parish.
I love the solution... Well, there's one way -- admittedly Utopian -- to end the bowl epidemic and stop the post-season commercial sleaze: Tie bowl invitations to the graduation rates of a college's football players. You know, those so-called student-athletes.
The Grad Barometer would play hob with big bowls if you accept numbers released by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida. Would you believe Tulane (80%) vs. Notre Dame (74%) for the national title? Major bowls might welcome scholars from Penn State, Virginia, Boston College, Wake Forest, Ole Miss and USC, all in top ten of graduating gridders.
Alas, the Fiesta Bowl would have to ban Ohio State (36%), and the Rose Bowl say goodbye to Oklahoma (26%). I have always wondered why the NCAA doesn't punish teams with terrible graduation percentages. They punish them for all of these stupid things but forget the most important thing and that is getting these players quality educations. Until they get it right, I'll stuck with the Vanier Cup. Labels: sports
Let me check, no, not a tear to be found
Lakers in critical condition. With the eighth-place Minnesota Timberwolves (news) on course to win 44 games, the Lakers would have to go 34-18 the rest of the way to get 45 wins. That's a winning percentage of .654, and only the Dallas Mavericks (news) and Sacramento are winning that regularly in the West. That's also assuming that none of the teams ahead of the Lakers play better than they do the rest of the way.
Evangelical Christians are the branch of the church most concerned with spreading the faith. You might say they are the salesmen of Christianity. And if that's so, we're in a heap of trouble. If this were business, the sales manager would be out the door right now. Of course it's not hard to understand why people take such a dim view of evangelicals. And as a Southern Baptist, I guess I'm lumped in among them. From the Dallas Morning News.
Jason Evans has an excellent interview with Mark Palmer over at TheOOZE.
�We�re not doing the hip Gen X church thing, or the �seeker-sensitive� thing or the house church thing,� Mark explains. �I guess all those things are fine, but it�s just not who we are. I suppose we�re just doing the Landing Place thing.� And what is The Landing Place thing? �We started out as a few friends hanging out in a living room, and now we�re more friends hanging out in more living rooms (and coffee houses and pubs and art studios). We always share a meal together and we always talk about Jesus and the teachings of the Apostles,� says Mark. �The arts also usually manifest themselves somehow in worship.� As a community, The Landing Place is very decentralized. The goal is to grow gatherings until they are uncomfortably large (about 10 people) and then send people out to reproduce them. It�s about starting a movement of churches more than building any particular church. �Sometimes we gather together as one big group in one place, but not too often,� says Mark. �Maybe once a month on average. When we do get together, it�s almost always really eclectic and really creative. Most of us live in or near the Arts District in Columbus, so most of the folks in our spiritual community are artists. It makes for some pretty amazing worship experiences because everyone is turned loose and given the freedom to help create something beautiful to offer to God.�
Jason also gives us a look at what is happening at The Landing Place as well. Labels: TheOoze
Spencer Burke has written an amazing article on the church over at TheOOZE.
The present incarnation of Christ is the church. We are not alone in our struggles, nor are we the only ones walking the "labyrinth." Whether we are part of a house church or a mega church, we are ultimately part of THE church. Budgets, formulas, programs�they're incidental. If the focus of the emerging church is just three things: the inward journey, the outward journey and journeying together, we have a common, unifying bond. Labels: Emergent, TheOoze
What's clear is that the professionalization of journalism�a trend underway for most of the 20th Century�is now in full reverse gear, and the term "correspondent" may go back to its original meaning of "one who corresponds" rather than "high-paid face with good hair." Democratization instead of professionalization? Sounds good to me.
If it does nothing else, the weblog and the whole area of personal publishing will remind big media that the conversation will go both ways and they will have to listen (they will but it will take a little more time) to what a larger audience is saying.
 From CNN...
The Jesus plastered on the cover of this month's Popular Mechanics has a broad peasant's face, dark olive skin, short curly hair and a prominent nose. He would have been 5-foot-1-inch tall and weighed 110 pounds, if the magazine is to be believed. This representation is quite different from the typical lithe, long-haired, light-skinned and delicate-featured depiction of the man Christians consider the son of God. Israeli and British forensic anthropologists and computer programmers got together to create the face depicted in the 1.2-million circulation magazine, which occasionally diverts from its usual coverage of motors and tools to cover the merger of science and religion. "What did Jesus look like?" the article says. "An answer has emerged from an exciting new field of science: forensic anthropology." "There is no way that we are saying this is the skull of Jesus," Popular Mechanic's Mike Fillon told CNN. "Christians believe ... that Jesus' entire body was resurrected, so there would never be any bones or skull or DNA evidence of Jesus. Plus, his ministry was very, very short. So it would be hard to find a lot of evidence." Despite the concerns over accuracy, Alison Galloway, a professor of anthropology at the University of California in Santa Cruz, told Popular Mechanics that: "This is probably a lot closer to the truth than the work of many great masters."
She is the one that will bring balance to the force, err, I mean blog
 Gloria Reimer is now online. It is kind of like introducing the Jedi Arts to Anakin Skywalker... Jeb and I designed it for her last week and got a bunch of her friends to leave greetings. I printed a screen capture and put it in a box with a bunch of candy for her to open today. A little over a year ago, Gloria, Dennis, Darren, and I all worked in the same hallway of offices where the arguments flew fast and furious. Now we all have blogs and can talk discuss argue online.
Speaking of Gloria, Wendy and I spent a great day over at the Reimer's place. Wendy said it was her best Christmas ever. We went over around one in the afternoon and then Darren, Sheryl and there kids came by for a most excellent supper, dessert, and some of the strongest and best coffee I have had in a while. If you see blog posts at 4 a.m. from Darren, Gloria, and I, you will know what to blame.
If you want, pray for my brother Lee who had a horrible Christmas. We missed him a lot today. Labels: Wendy Cooper
 I think Wendy mentioned this on her blog but we got one of these from Lloyd and Cathy for Christmas. Actually they gave us cash to get something for ourselves and this was it. I wasn't going to get it (I always waffle on things like this) but Wendy really wanted it so we got it. We really like it. It has around 400 tracks on it now and we haven't made a dent in the space. I used to use MyPlay.com to store my tracks until it folded. Copying tracks to this is a lot easier than uploading a CD track by track manually to MyPlay.
It's funny because Wendy and I don't have a lot (we have some) hobbies we both care passionately about except for music so it has been a lot of fun for both of us. Along with the player came a coupon to use E-music for 100 free tracks. What a brutal online music service. We could only find 92 must have tracks and most of those were jazz and a small selection of 80's pop. Most of the music outside of jazz and classical were a bunch of "c" bands. No wonder it was free. Labels: Wendy Cooper
Merry Christmas
Well, we made it home from Spiritwood in one piece last night. No deer but we came close to hitting a moose on the way up there. Nice Christmas morning with Wendy and Mark. Mark is over-stimulated by chocolate right now. Brings back the fond Christmas morning expression around the Cooper household by my Mom, "eat one more chocolate before breakfast and you are going back to bed!" She always got us books and I think it was for the simple reason that a) we were all readers and b) we were all overtired from being awake all night and anything to make us be quiet and still was a good thing in her mind.
This afternoon, we are off to the Reimers. I may blog later tonight. I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays as much as we are! Labels: Advent/Christmas, Lakeland Church, Wendy Cooper
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Wired has an article about how the blogosphere brought down Trent Lott. It is the same blah, blah, blah of some of the earlier articles but it had these interesting quote in it.
"Bloggers are navel-gazers," said Elizabeth Osder, a visiting professor at The University of Southern California's School of Journalism. "And they're about as interesting as friends who make you look at their scrap books." heh, funny. This part kind of ticked me off. "There's an overfascination here with self-expression, with opinion. This is opinion without expertise, without resources, without reporting." It makes me wonder if she has actually read some of the blogs out there. Do you know Larry Lessig's credentials? Dan Gilmour's?
This phone interview must have been done over the phone because I imagine the net is a strange place to her. Has she never heard of news section of Google or that other news sources print online? Or does she mean that without resources means we don't get paid for it and therefore we don't have value if we aren't professionals? She doesn't understand that blogs are not replacements for traditional papers. They do supplement regular media sources and act as a sort of filter. When the mainstream media gave up on Trent Lott, the blogs did not and kept the story alive long enough until the mainline media picked up on it again. We did not break the story, we just never gave up on something that struck a chord with many people. Labels: Blogger, blogging
Christmas Eve
We are all ready for Christmas. I need some overheads for Spiritwood tonight but the media is done so all is looking good. Wendy seems to be a little bit calmer today. She ordered a couple of books for me from Amazon.ca and they aren't here yet. According to Amazon they should have been here last week but it is a busy Christmas season so you never know. Plus, Wendy is the world's most efficient procrastinator so that had a little something to do with it. Mark and I are spending the day packing Wendy's Christmas stocking and if it warms up later, we are going tobaggoning. We should get home from Spiritwood around midnight tonight barring any unforseen encounters with a deer or Yeti on the road. Tomorrow Wendy, Mark, and I are heading over to Jerry and Gloria's for food and fun.
I did something that I have never done before, I made a gift this year. Kinda weird. Labels: Lakeland Church, Wendy Cooper
The Phoenix 1000 is the top model from U.S. Submarines. It's 213 feet long, has a 5,000-square-foot interior, four levels, an exercise room, kitchen, dining area and lounge from which to view the undersea world. It can handle up to 40 guests for day trips and accommodate 16 overnight guests. The vessel dives to 1,000 feet and includes an onboard docking station for an eight-person minisub that can dive to 2,000 feet.
Why wasn't this on my Christmas list?
Heh
Our friend Ryan Ukrainetz sent this out to his friends for Christmas this year.
I don't know what happened today but a couple of errands and lunch with Wendy turned into a five hour marathon. Managed to drop off some gifts, including a great one for Darren. I also managed to chat with my good friend, Kelly who is back from the Dominican Republic over Christmas time. I think it is Kelly's blog is one that shows the power of blogging. Here he is in the Domincan Republic yet it feels like he hasn't really left. (although we still miss him). Blogs shrink the world. Will get a spycam shot of Kelly over the holidays. Next Tuesday Kelly is joining us for the soup.
One of the books I have been giving out over the holidays has been the Ingenuity Gap by Thomas Homer-Dixon. I gave one to Gloria for her birthday, Lee Barbour (don't worry, he already opened it -- I didn't wrap it), Darren (when I was leaving Lakeview), and to my dad. It is not a book for the feint of brain. I spent one evening reading it when I got it and I think it gave me a concussion. If you are one of the people I gave it to and are finding yourself with a mild concussion, put the book down, lie down, and blame my friend Karen Neudorf who mentioned the book to me earlier this year. Labels: Wendy Cooper
umm, sorry about that.
Okay, I admit it. I did something today that was so bad, I think it was the unpardonable sin. Not that unpardonable sin, the blogging one. More details to come over the holidays.
Christmas Reading
Generally over the Christmas break I like to tackle a reading project. This years is Winston Churchill's, History of the English Speaking People. It is out of print and I was lucky enough to find a first edition in good condition at a local used bookstore. So far I find it biased, egotistical, but quite enjoyable. A couple more thousand pages to go but it has been fun so far. Labels: Advent/Christmas
This has probably been the most enjoyable Christmas season we have ever had in Spiritwood. Usually the Christmas Eve service is the climatic end to the season and a great success. This year almost 60% of our church is going away, including all of our worship leaders and musicians. It kind of reminds me of the first Christmas Eve service. There was like 5 of us and we gathered for cider, some singing (without music then if I remember correctly), and some food. This year may be much of the same but who cares. For some reason I have been looking forward to it and praying for it for months. I am not sure what to expect but it will be great. The drive home afterwards is always eiry and a little stressful. Most years we go home and don't pass a single car for the entire two hour trip. We know if anything happens (hit a deer, car problems, hit a moose, car problems, hit a Yeti, car problems) no one is coming till the next morning. We will have packed a lot of survival stuff. A couple of years ago, Lee and Wendy were with us and they promised to stay awake and talk to me on the way home so I wouldn't fall asleep. Spiritwood is a town of a 1000 people. Before we left the town limits, they were fast asleep. So much for help staying awake. Labels: Lakeland Church, Wendy Cooper
Went with Darren Friesen, Jerry and Gloria Reimer to see Bowling For Columbine last night. The night started off right as on my way there I walked by the comforting sight and sound a heated game of shinny on a Broadway area rink, it got better when Darren gave me a free ticket and Jerry bought me a Pepsi. I could have been watching MI:2 and still had a good time.
I am biased as I have been a huge Michael Moore fan since TV Nation and really enjoyed his book Stupid White Men. I found a couple of scenes truly disturbing. Charleton Heston's allusion to America's ethnic diversity causing the gun violence problem, the media protrayal of black males, and the story of the six year old boy killing the six year old girl in Flint all really got to me. Heston's response at the end will stick with me for a long time.
At the same time, I was moved my K-Mart's positive response to Moore. It proved the common sense and a lot of nerve does prevail. Even amidst the darkness of the story, there were those who (clumsily) did the right thing.
Doug Cummings at Beyond Magazine has written an excellent review. It is one of those movies that I plan on seeing a couple more time if that means anything to you.
Don't mess with Hammy
 Over the years I was mocked mercilessly for by insistence that I used to watch the Hammy Hamster show. As the link proves, I was right all along. Until Cathy Johnson came along, everyone thought I was nuts. Then they thought both of us were nuts. At least the net vindicated us. Feel free to eat your crow now. For those of you (and there are many) who don't know what I am talking about. I used to watch Hammy Hamster and the Mighty Hercules (leave the stupid ring on Herc!) every morning over  breakfast (the ADD is starting to make sense now) before the school bus came (we lived in an afluent part of Calgary and were bussed into the inner city -- brilliant planning. A bunch of spoiled rich soft kids in the inner city -- we were beaten regularly). Then at lunch time, we were forced to watch the world famous Buck Shot Show. Actually I think it was only aired in Calgary. My favorites were the weekly segments where they told heroic pet stories using puppets made out of rolled up paper tubes.
For some reason I find this hard to believe...
I know things have changed but do you think the British and American generals are so stupid to alert the press as to how they are going to invade. This story may make sense but the idea of senior British planner leaking information to the press that would endanger his own troups is something that even a madman wouldn't do. The story from a "high ranking" defence department official serves one purpose. To leak stuff to the enemy to see how they redeploy their defences. It is as old as Normandy. Glad to see that the impartial press are willing to be played as pawns.
And so it begins. The yearly dance with Bill Parcells. Don't get me wrong, I would love for Tuna to coach my team but we all know how this is going to end. The same way it ended for Tony Dungy. Dave Campo will get fired (because he has been given a bad team) in favor of Bill Parcels. There will be a report of his hiring and a press conference scheduled. A couple of high profile assistant coaches will say, "I have had some preliminary discussions with Bill". In the end, Parcells won't join the Cowboys and Jerry Jones will get up and say, "I consider Bill Parcells a good friend but he told me that his heart wasn't in coaching anymore and he is really enjoying retirement." Like the Bucs a year ago, Cowboy fans will be crushed and Dave Campo will be unemployed. Tuna wants to coach but only for the perfect scenerio. We all know if Tampa isn't the perfect scenerio, Dallas sure won't be.
Bowling for Columbine
Am off to Broadway Theatre tonight to watch Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine with some friends. Am looking forward to seeing the whole thing. If you haven't seen it yet, here is Beyond Magazine's review. I am probably the only one that feels this way but I am more excited to see this film than Lord of the RIngs. Whoa, that makes me a pretty big Michael Moore fan.
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CBC's indepth profile on former