07/30/04

Hello.

Just a brief comment this morning. I live vicariously through my friends. When they're super-psyched about something, I'm psyched for them. And when they're hurting or suffering, I hurt for them. When we become real friends with real people, some of their thread gets weaved into the fabric of our lives. We can't help but experience some residual effect of what they're going through. I'll be honest in saying that it sucks when I see a friend suffering for whatever reason. I almost can't stand it. But if you're my friend, I will stand it so you don't have to stand alone.

sm

I had pizza for lunch.

Buenos Dias!

First of all, mad congratulations to my boy mike and his wife raechel, who welcomed Christopher George (I think that's his middle name) into the world yesterday afternoon. Here's his mug:


There was an interesting article in today's USA Today regarding cosmetic/plastic surgery for folks under 18. Here's a link to the article. If you don't have time to read the article, just chew on this:
TOP THREE PROCEDURES AMONG PATIENTS 18 AND UNDER IN 2003
1. Chemical Peels (what the heck is that?)
2. Microderm-abrasion (again, what the heck is that?)
3. Nose Reshaping

Our young people have got some serious issues going on. And society's not helping them out any...

Yesterday, I promised that little article on Ben Affleck. Here ya go:

BOSTON -- If the Democratic National Convention's opening day is known as "game day," then Day 2 should be called "entertainment day" as the Hollywood glitterati fanned out across the city hyping the soon-to-be-official nominee, Sen. John Kerry, and explaining why Hollywood matters.

Whether it was hometown heartthrob Ben Affleck extolling the horrors of runaway production or the Creative Coalition pushing the need for arts education in American schools, the entertainment industry's loyal Democratic legions were out in force Tuesday. Affleck told a group of reporters that runaway production is the "probably the most important issue facing the state of California today."

The issue plays into the Democratic campaign to stop industrial outsourcing, where companies move jobs overseas simply to lower wages.

"It's criminal," Affleck said of the studios' decisions to make more and more movies and TV shows in Canada and other countries. "It makes me sick. I can't stand it."

Affleck said he took a pay cut to make three of his films in the United States and called the studio decisions to avoid filming in Los Angeles a "slap in the face" to the skilled motion picture production work force that has grown up in California.

"It's still a trade where, as a crew member, you can make a living wage," he said. "That's the kind of high-paying job Sen. Kerry wants to keep in the United States."

Like soon-to-retire MPAA president and CEO Jack Valenti, who emceed the "Salute to Veterans" event, and Dan Glickman, former congressman and agriculture secretary who will succeed Valenti at the MPAA, Affleck spoke of the trade benefit the entertainment industry brings.

"It's our single-biggest export and our last great industry that's still here," Affleck said. "Runaway production is a huge deal."

Our last great industry, eh??? I wonder what our nation's farmers would say about that?

I think I may try to catch I, Robot this weekend. We'll have to see how the weekend goes.

Bis spater!

This week in Boston:

So I've been trying to brush up on my politics this week. Checking out the John Kerry website, and reading up on his plan for America. I've also been watching some of the convention on PBS. That right there, is some interesting television. You can count on two things when a speaker comes on the stage: 1. That they're going to be a democrat, and 2. That the crowd of delegates is going to love them like rock stars.

A few observations:
a) Cate Edwards is easy on the eyes, even if she is a Princeton girl,
b) The candidate for Senator of Illinois is going to go places. I dont remember his name, but it was rather unique,
c) John Kerrys wife is actually from Mozambique.
d) John Edwards and his wife celebrate their anniversary the same way every year: They commemorate their first date by eating dinner at Wendy's.

I have some quotes from Ben Affleck who was crying to convention-goers about movie production being taken out of the country. I'll try to get that up tomorrow.

In un-political news, I'm halfway through VBS week. It's going well. It's so exciting to see the kids excited. And I'm playing in the band with a great bunch of people.

Brian Dubois got a blog. Check it outhere.

That's all I got. Oh wait, this one quote from John Edwards speech tonight: "And we will have one clear unmistakable message for al Qaida and the rest of these terrorists. You cannot run. You cannot hide. And we will destroy you." Rawrr!!

Shaolin Blogging

Hi y'all.
 
Saw Shaolin Soccer on Saturday night.  I've been wanting to see it for a while.  It actually came out in the states last year, but I feared it would never come to the Harrisburg area, because of it's independent film status.  However, it showed up this week at the Carlisle Theatre in Carlisle.  Very fun movie.  It's an Asian movie with english subtitles about brothers who are unhappy in their current jobs and come together to learn to play soccer and fight Team Evil (that was actually the name of the team).  Some very funny scenes and cgi stuff in this movie.   I would recommend it, especially if you like soccer.
 
And a note on the Carlisle theatre.  That was the first time I had been there.  It's an awesome theatre.  I love the old single screen theatres that have the classic art-deco look.  And I like the old-school marquees too.  And they had good popcorn.  I will definitely be keeping an eye on their schedule in the future.
 
They announced the title of Star Wars Episode III....Revenge of the Sith.
 
Had some friends over for dinner last night.  Grilled up some burgers and dogs and had a good ol' time.  If you made it, thank you for your attendance.
 
I've added another dvd to my library.  I picked up a used copy of Ocean's Eleven over the weekend.  Good flick, and it was under ten bucks.

And if anyone is looking for some specifics on the LOTR: ROTK dvd, you can check out some of said specifics here.

Bis spater!

Treadstone

Last night me and my peeps went to go see The Bourne Supremacy. I caught the late show in the big theater (in case you were wondering).  For those of you who have forgotten, Jason Bourn was a government operative who did assasination-type assignments.  He lost his memory and then fought to figure out who he was.  The movie picks up with Jason and Marie living in India.
 
I liked this movie.  It was fun.  If you haven't seen the first one in while, you might want to refresh yourself before you see the second.  There was a new government official introduced and she played the role well enough for me to dislike her.  Julia Stiles was back as Nikki as well as some of the other folks from the first one.  I was definitely suprised at the turns that the movie took (and that was a good thing).  The one thing I didn't like a lot was some of the camera work.  There was a lot of herky-jerky type camera work and I felt like they could have pulled the camera back in some scenes.  Although maybe I was just sitting too close to the screen.  I'm going to give this movie a "9."  If anybody wants go see it and hasn't yet, lemme know cuz I'd like to see it again.
 
And in closing I would just like to thank God.  For everything, but in particular the great night of sleep I got last night.  It was awesome.
 

One day trip to Dayton?

I spent last night in Pittsburgh.  Wasn't planning on it, but due to some staffing issues and some weather issues, I missed my connecting flight to Harrisburg.  I prayed that God would work it out and allow me to get home last night.  That's not what God had in mind.  Apparently, God wanted me to spend the night in a Hyatt hotel for the first month.  $150 for a night......and the company is going to pick it up.  Other than the getting home issues, the trip went well.  We had dinner at this joint called Smokey Bones BBQ.  It was some good eatin'.

Goin to see The Bourne Supremacy this evening.  Review coming tomorrow.  And because my exisiting plans fell through, I think I may go see Shaolin Soccer tomorrow night.  Hmmmm........

Quote of the day:  "Humilty is like underwear......essential, but indecent if it's exposed."  -source unknown

 

Hey y'all.  What's up?
 
I'm off to beautiful Dayton, Ohio tomorrow.  Duty calls.  And ya know what?  I'm going out for an hour-and-a-half meeting.  Another one of those quick trips...
 
I'll be seeing The Bourne Supremacy this weekend.  You can look for that review on Saturday.
 
The Kerry train is coming to town.  Harrisburg that is.  Next Friday night.  I think I might sneak out there to check out the senators from Massachusetts and North Carolina.  Find out why they think I should vote for them.
 
They want to ban smoking in all public places in Pennsylania.  Somebody from Montgomery County is sponsoring a bill to ban the smoking.  According to the American Lung Association, 75% of Pennsylvanians do not smoke.  I suppose that's a good enough reason to ban smoking.  That and the fact that it gives you yellow teeth and carcinogens galore.
 
Ciao!

Music News

Hiya kids.  Music news to report today.  The following rock and roll shows are coming to town.  Mark your calendars.
 
10/09/04    Building 429, Todd Agnew, Barlow Girl, David Nasser, Starfield     Lancaster Mennonite High School
10/19/04   Toby Mac, Third Day                                                                               Giant Center
10/30/04   Pillar, Project 86, Falling Up, Subseven                                                 Lancaster Mennonite High School
11/07/04   Jeremy Camp, Building 429, Bethany Dillon                                         Lancaster Bible College
11/19/04   Newsboys, Rebecca St. James, Todd Agnew                                       Giant Center
 
Mad thanks to brother Mike for lunch today.  I enjoyed it.
 
Ta.

Two months till Cedar Point....

What's up kids?  I'm trying out a new feature of blogger.  I now have various font options to choose from when I make my entries.  I'm typing using the Little Mermaid font.
 
Anywho...
 
I have a confession.  I don't like pulp in my orange juice.  Liquids and susbtances with liquid-like properties, should not have bits of "stuff" in them.  I'm just saying.  One of my favorite desert treats used to be a strawberry milkshake from McDonald's.  They were awesome.  Notice I used the past tense.  They were awesome.....until they started putting bits of strawberry in their shake mix.  Eww.  So I haven't had a strawberry milkshake in a while.  But earlier this week, I started to have a hankering for a strawberry milkshake.  Well, I knew I wasn't going to be stopping at McDonald's.  But where could I go and get a strawberry shake without strawberry bits in it?  The answer my friends, is Burger King.  I discovered this wonderful fact on Saturday night.  And now that I've had one, I have the bug in my system.  So I'll probably have to get my fix sometime this week.
 
I went and did some car browsing this evening.  I think I've just about narrowed down my preferences to two cars.  I'm looking at either a Honda Accord, or a Dodge Neon.  The Accord has to have four doors and be an automatic, and the Neon needs to be a 2003 or later and also be an automatic.  Yea, I've never learned how to drive a manual transmission.  But if someone wants to give me a manual, I can learn!
 
Did you know that there was a Baghdad Stock Exchange?  It's true.  Cuz I just saw a picture of it on the television.  And as we all know, if you see it on television, it has to be true.
 
One more thing, pray for my friend Jason Yakelis (please).  He's going to Zimbabwe for two weeks.  And he told me it's like a 20-hour plane ride.  Yowza!
 
Later days..
 

Arturous

Here is your King Arthur review (I know you've been waiting..).

I liked it. It was a little different in that it was set in a time period prior to the traditional medieval King Arthur. But it was still a good story, that was able to stand by itself. I really liked how they portrayed the Knights of the Roundtable (they called them something else in this movie). They were cool. They had fought with Arthur for so long (15 years), that they would have gone to the ends of the earth for him. They were like brothers. There was also some wry humor scattered throughout the movie that definitely lightened the tone. They did some different stuff cinematically, using some unusual camera shots and angles. It was a two hour and change movie, but it didn't feel like it. It could have been better, but not by much. I honestly would have liked to have seen more clothing on Kiera Knightly. That outfit they put her in at the end of the movie was atrocious (even though Jerry Bruckheimer claims he did it to show off her abs...). I'm going to give it an 8.5 on what I'm not calling the stevo scale.

Thank you and good night.

Enhance Your Calm!

An extra cookie for you if you can tell me what movie that phrase came from.

I've made a resolution. I'd like to learn how to sail....a boat. And I'm being fer real. When I was floating around Lake Michigan on Saturday, there was scads of sailboats out on the lake. It was an awesome site. And I thought "that would be neat to be able to operate a sailboat." So I started looking into taking lessons. If anyone's interested let me know. But just so you know, I don't think it's cheap. But how cool would that be??

TTFN

Holy Moses!

This just in.

If anyone is interested, the Toronto Mass Choir is singing at Grantham BIC on Friday night, July 30th. And it's free.

Blog This!

Hey peoples.

As promised, here are some quotes for you to chew on from Dr. Don Rannikar. He wrote the book Choosing God's Best, which I am currently reading. I'm just gonna throw up some of his thoughts and let ya think about them.

On the "potential pitfalls" of dating: "God's standards are an umbrella of protection. When we move out from under that umbrella, we no longer benefit from it's protection. Instead, we become vulnerable to showers of negative consequences."

On singleness: "If God gives you the gift of singleness, He may use that quality in a special way that would not be available to you as a married person - for a season, or a lifetime. God's sovereign will is always meant for your good and His glory."

On Psalm 32:8b: "How can that be? How can God guide a person with His eye? If the eye is silent and makes no noise, the only way we could receive guidance from God's eye is to be looking directly at Him."

One more thought. I see deep thoughts everywhere. I was watching a bit of "Will and Grace" this evening and Will was trying to win tickets to a Joni Mitchell concert that they both wanted to go to. Grace pleaded with God that if she and Will won the contest, she would devote her life completely to Him. Then she said "on second thought, I want a life." Is that really how the world looks at Christians?

See ya.

Da Dum Da Dum, Da Dum, Da Daum Da Dum Da Dum, Da Dum...

Ladies and Frenchman, I would like to introduce you to the new Inspector Clouseau:




Isn't he purty?

I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts....

Hello world,

I haven't gotten word that they fixed my blog yet, so we'll see how this goes.

Sad news to report. I lost a very favorite mickey mouse keychain. You see, I had this bendable mickey mouse keychain that I had on the handle of my carry-on bag. Somewhere in the four flights I took yesterday, I lost mickey mouse. Nuts to that! Which leads me to my next topic.

I took a little trip yesterday. I went to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the day. Left Harrisburg at 7:00 am, arriving in Milwaukee at 9:30 am.
Had fun in Milwaukee. Checked out a local mall, walked around downtown a bit, took a boat ride on the Milwaukee River, visited the campus of Marquette University (for no particular reason...cough, cough). Then I visited the most wonderful sausage shop. Those germans know their sausage. I snagged some pizza from Aiello's Big City Pizza, and then headed back to the airport. Left Milwaukee at 6:40 pm, and arrived back in Harrisburg at 11:00 pm. Yes, it was a quick trip. But I had a fun time and I will probably go back.

And now, you're funny story of the day. I was having a seat in the bathroom at the airport in Milwaukee. The toilets in this restroom were those sensor-type toilets. So I'm sitting there, singing a song, doing my business, and the toilet flushes. And this wasn't just a normal flush. This was like a super-charged flush. There was some serious water velocity in that toilet. Needless to say I was rather startled. Though, not as startled as when it happened a second time, like thirty seconds later. So I ran away (after drying myself off). And that's my funny (or not-s0-funny story) of the day.

Tomorrow, exciting quotes from that book I've been reading.

Spamalot

From the wire...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Next year's Broadway-bound production of Monty Python's "Spamalot" has named its cast.

It tells the tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and their quest for the Holy Grail. A chorus line of dancing divas and knights, flatulent Frenchmen, killer rabbits and one legless knight are featured.

"Spamalot", to be directed by Oscar and Tony Award winner Mike Nichols, is billed as "the musical lovingly ripped off from the motion picture, 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail'", the 1975 comedy directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones.

David Hyde Pierce, Tim Curry and Hank Azaria are the leading trio

Pierce, who was Dr. Niles Crane in the long-running U.S. sitcom "Frasier", will play Sir Robin. Curry, known for his star turn in the cult film, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", will play King Arthur. Azaria, best known as the voice of Moe the bartender on the animated series "The Simpsons", will portray Sir Lancelot.

The corresponding film roles were performed by Eric Idle, Graham Chapman and John Cleese of the British comedy troupe.

Idle wrote the book for the new musical and collaborated on the music and lyrics with John Du Prez, whose film scores include the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" series and the hit, "A Fish Called Wanda".

The show is scheduled to have a world premiere engagement in Chicago from December 21, 2004, to January 16, 2005, before beginning Broadway previews on February 7.

Where I'm Spending my New Year's

HeRe

Feel free to come along. If you're old like me, you can only volunteer, but if you're young, you can actually pay money to go.

Third try

So, I've been having some problems posting the blog as of late. Hopefully today, things will work like their supposed to.

Check out a rock band namedShoreline. They have a Lozano for a drummer.

One of my posts that didnt get posted was pet peeves. What's up with people who buy food in the grocery store, and then start to eat it before they get to the register and pay for it? Are you so hungry that you can't wait until you get outside? C'mon man! And here's another peeve: Why don't people around here use the shoulder to turn off the road? Why do you think it's there? If you have the option to hold up traffic while you turn, or get out of the way and turn, choose option B! And let's not even get started about the lack of merge lanes in Pennsylvania...

I have a couple of peeps who I email from work on a daily basis and it helps pass the time. Well, both of said peeps are out of the office for the entire week this week. So, I'm not getting emails. Don't it always seem to you, that you don't know what you got till it's gone.. Only five more days till there back.

Has anyone seen Kevin Byma?

It's Monday, and I'm not workin!

Hi folks. Lot's shakin' in the central Pa area.

First of all, slots are comin' to the once-great commonwealth of pennsylvania. Good news apparently for property owners who will eventually see a reduction in property tax. But bad news for all those having a weakness for gambling. Not a big fan of gambling. I don't see a problem dropping a few coins in one of them one-armed bandits. My problem is people who camp out in front of a machine for hours. And then come back the following day. And then the following week. So that's how I feel about that.

I've started a new book. Before I give you the title, you better sit down. The title is Choosing God's Best, by Don Raunikar. It's a book that encourages courtship over dating. And seeing as I strike myself more as a courter than a dater, I thought it would be a good read. So far, so good. As I stumble across thoughtful insights, I'll be sure to throw them up here for you to read.

Went down to York last night to watch the fireworks with my fam. I think it was the first fireworks for my nieces. The traditional boom that comes with fireworks isn't kid-friendly, but thankfully the colors are.

Oh, and I got a new phone last week. My ringtone is currently "Meant to Live" by Switchfoot. Good stuff.

Until next time..

Spiderman 2

I watched it last night. It was a long movie. And it was only an okay movie. If I compared the first movie and the second movie, I would say that the first movie was more action, and the second was more talk. #2 dealt much more with the relational side of Peter Parker. Peter and his aunt, Peter and MJ, Peter and his schoolwork...you get the idea. And it dragged. If I want to see the soft side of a superhero, I'll make a movie called "How to love a Superhero." Tobey Maguire was decent, Kirsten Dunst was Kirsten Dunst (spirit fingers anyone?), and Alfred Molina was pretty good, but he should try to keep his shirt on more often. The fight scenes between Spidey and Doc Oc were good, but things really didn't start to heat up until about an 75 minutes into the movie. Then the action became more sustained and frequent. This movie is getting a "6" on the 10-point scale. If you're looking to spend two hours in a movie theater, you may want to think about "The Terminal" instead of Spiderman.

And one more thing

I don't know if anyone has been keeping up with that NASA ship that entered the rings of Saturn, but it has been taking some terrific pictures. Check them out here.

And later on today or tomorrow, I'm going to try my first audio blog entry. We'll see how that goes.

The end of an era...

My friends....today is a sad day. Only a portion of you will find it sad, but that does not diminish the sadness for the rest of us.

Today, the University of Miami and Virginia Tech officially became members of the ACC. Our once pure athletic conference, which was slightly tarnished with addition of Florida State, is now tainted something bad. And the worst part was that I think the ACC did it for the money. Historically, both schools have had average-at-best basketball teams, which is the ACC's bread and butter. However in football, Miami especially, they have excelled, and that in turn creates bowl bids, which brings in additional revenue for the conference and the conference schools.

The worst part of this whole sorry affair, is that basketball gets the shaft. Instead of playing home and home games with each team in the conference, you are only going to home and home with the teams in your division (for Maryland, this includes Duke, FSU, Clemson and Georgia Tech). I think they are planning for each team to play each school in the other division once, alternating home and away each year. Sad. When it comes to tradition versus dollars, dollars seem to win out more and more these days. But we'll always have the memories.