I heard it on the teevee!

I'm watching a tape on PCN right now of the Bush rally in State College earlier today. The leaders of the Penn State college Republicans spoke. Their parting words were "on November 2nd, get out of bed, get your coffee, pull on your sweats, and put on that hoodie and get down to the Hub and pull that lever for George W. Bush!" Ha. Put on that hoodie. It really does sound funny, until you realize that Republicans wear hoodies too!!

Fun fact of the day: Abraham Lincoln was a Republican

I forgot to mention I saw Rudy Giuliani in Harrisburg yesterday. It was fun. Lots of Republican "zealots" there, wavin' the signs and chanting the chants. It was fun. Rudy even mentioned Curt Schilling and how he plays for the wrong team. Poor New York. And I read in the paper today that the team the Red Sox are playing for World Series Ring ceremony (which is held during the first home-stand) is the Yankees. How sweet is that??

It's Endorsin' Time!

Mechanicsburg, October 29, 2004

The Mind the Gap (MTG) blog is pleased to announce it's endorsements for the 2004 general election.

For President of the United States, MTG endorses incumbent George W. Bush. MTG feels that while the President has made mistakes during his four years, he's still human. MTG also feels that if he has another four years in office, he will be able to resolve some of the outstanding issues from his first term.

For United States Senator, MTG endorses Jim Clymer. Jim is a third-party candidate representing the Constitutional Party. Jim firmly opposes Roe v. Wade and gay marriage. He has also worked with several organizations on the legal side, including the Rutherford Institute and the American Center for Law and Justice. In the past, MTG has endorsed Arlen Specter. However, Senator Specter has become much more liberal in his old age and shouldn't really classify himself as a Republican.

For United States Representative, 19th District, MTG endorses Todd Platts. Todd is just a good guy and he's done a lot of good for Cumberland and Adams counties.

For Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 88th District, MTG endorses incumbent Jerry Nailor. Jerry was a 12 year member of the Messiah College Board of Trustees and is an active member of the Mechanicsburg community. He also played an active role in the Route 15/Lisburn Road Bypass.

The MTG will not be endorsing the positions of Attorney General, State Treasurer, or Auditor General. Thank you and please vote on Tuesday, 11/02/04.

We're through!

Link

Thank you France!

I know what you're thinking...probably something along the lines of "Thanks for what? Nothing??" No. Thank you for the gift of the Statue of Liberty. It was on this day in 1886 that Lady Liberty was dedicated and opened in New York. She's a lady....whoa, whoa, whoa...she's a lady....

I'm looking for suggestions in the following area: I would like to accessorize my car with a "touch of Stephen." I need some flair. But I don't know what. I'm not currently leaning towards the college name decal, mostly because the current Messiah decals are approx. two feet long. What can I do to personalize my car so that when people see that Accord Ex, they know it's me? Let me know.

Oh, and congratulation Boston. You're finally winners again. Kudos to you and to Curt Schilling.

Teenage Politics.....Too confusing..

So I took a little trip this morning out to Lancaster Airport. My main man dubbya was coming to town to say a few words. I missed him last week, but was determined to catch him this week. He was initially supposed to speak at 9:20 which would have been awesome cuz I only would have had to miss maybe three hours of work. However, they slid his arrival time back to 11:15. Because of the change, I had until 9:30 to be at the airport. I got off of 283 at about 7:55 and with only about six miles to go, I was feelin' pretty good. Then I hit the wall. Not literally of course, but figuratively. With about five miles, to go, I hit the traffic. It was now 8:00 am. It would take me 90 minutes to make it the next five miles. That's an eighteen minute mile. Traffic was abominable. Hershey was probably easy because you have two lanes going each way on Hersheypark Drive and 322 is the same. Not so around the airport. It was one lane each way after I got off of 283. People were actually parking their cars along the road and getting out and walking to the airport (over a mile in some cases).

I actually arrived at the airport right around 9:30. I promptly got parked in by Manheim's finest, who were directing traffic and parking. I walked to security, only to realize I had forgotten my ticket and photo ID (which it turns out I didn't even need). So I walked back to the car to get that stuff. By the time I got back to security it was just before 10:00 am. They did not actually close things down until around 10:30. I got through security with the hand-wanding and made my way to the viewing area. Compared to Hershey, it was a lot more informal. There were probably only about 300 or so seats (if that) down in front, and everything else was SRO (standing room only). I walked around to sample the flavor of the crowd. Youngsters, oldsters, Amish folks, entire classes of children, guys wearing suits, guys wearing trucker hats and a bunch of other people. As I stop and think about it (and I shouldn't be suprised), but I didn't see any people of color (black, hispanic, asian, etc..). But these folks were eclectic none the less.

I snapped a few photos here in there and looked around for a good placard. I was looking for just a plain GWB placard, but all I could find were "Seniors for Bush" and "Veterans for Bush." So I decided to get myself near the barrier nearest the runway. Had to get a picture of "da plane, da plane!" When the plane started it's descent, all eyes turned to the left and hands pointed up (just like in the Superman movies). I was able to get a few pics of Air Force One, but it was difficult because everyone, their mother, and their children were holding up placards. While the folks in my area waited for the stairs to be parked next to the plane and for the Prez to exit and wave to the crowd, I headed to another part of the viewing area to see if I could get a view of the stage.

I found a very narrow sight line to the stage and hung out there for the introduction (by Rick Santorum). George and Laura hit the stage, and who should be with them but good ol' Zell Miller. I was so hoping that he would say a few words, but no such luck. I tried to get a couple of photos of Dubbya through the waiving placards, but I'm not sure if I was successful. I left my spot shortly thereafter, to wander through the crowd. I listened to the speech for maybe another ten minutes before I started heading towards the exit. I continued to listen by the exit when I noticed a bunch of people leaving. I was suprised because I didn't think you were allowed to leave until the Prez had left the premises. But then I was excited because I wanted to get back to work as soon as possible and I certainly did not want to sit in any more traffic. So I bailed. I could hear the President as I walked out to the car. This time, it only took me ten minutes to get to 283.

So it was good. The traffic was bad, but seeing the Prez and all the people was good. I'm hoping that Mr. Kerry will stop by the burg this weekend so I can check out that crowd too.

Link

Political poll/quiz/test thing here.

Let's talk politics.....

First of all, The Ketchup Lady is going to be in Harrisburg on Wednesday. So if you can't find anything better to do, check her out. Info here.

I was checking on the John Kerry website today and I noticed that he attended church on Sunday. He attended an AME church....again. Can anyone tell me if Kerry has attended services at an episcopal church or another predominantly white church? I totally understand that he is counting on black voters to help carry him next Tuesday, but why must he insist on attending their services to toot his own horn?

And guess what I heard? Ya know how the Pennsylvania Primary is one of the last primaries in the Spring? Well, the scuttlebutt is that if Ed Rendell delivers Pennsylvania for Kerry next Tuesday, Kerry is going to go out of his way to make Pennsylvania the home of the first primary. That honor currently belongs to New Hampshire.

And I've mentioned this before, but if George Bush wins on Tuesday, how are the Democrats going to spin it? And if Kerry wins, what are Republicans going to say? It's not right, but I would like to see Bush win, just to see all those ActUP and MoveOn people cry. That would be fun.

One more thing. We as Christians have been blessed the past four years with George Bush. But have we appreciated it for what it really is? And with that in mind, has it been a boon for the Church, or a detriment? Or maybe a combination of both?
If Kerry wins, it may be a long four years. However, the Church will have to go on. There may be an increase in religious persecution, but the Church will have to go on. Regardless of what happens in this election, the Church will have to go on. And we might be pleasantly suprised at what happens when the going gets tough.

I have made a decision...

I'm going to buy a Boston Red Sox hat. Not so much because I'm a fan (although, once I get to see a game at Fenway, I suspect I will become a fan, just like I did with the Cubs and Wrigley). But, I think it will be a fun torture for all the Yankee fans to remind them of the Red Sox pennant. The best will be the people who I don't even know are Yankee fans and I know that when they see the hat, it will make them sign and shudder. Ha.

I like educational television. I'm currently watching "Inside the Secret Service" on the National Geographic Channel. It's cool. I also like the History Channel and the Discovery Channel.

I had pizza for dinner tonight. Yum.

Link of the Day

This is funny.

I wanna be a rockstar, but I ain't got what it takes.

Last night I went to a rock show. The first part was probably more rap than rock, but the second half was definitely rock. I went to go see TobyMac and Third Day over in Hershey.

TobyMac was alright. He had a full band with him, along with a DJ (DJ Maj), two dancers/singers and a lady singer (who didn't dance). Of interest, was the fact that the drumkit was a very basic four piece. No 14-piece kits like Chill Will used to play on. Anywho, Toby ran through his stuff pretty well. I was wondering to myself why he didn't just go straight rap, instead of incorporating a lot of the rock stuff. And Toby pulled out a special guest on stage towards the end of his set. Fellow DC Talker Michael Tait was in the house last night and did some BGV's. The crowd was all excited.

After the break and the Compassion plug (courtesy of Mr. Tai Anderson), Third Day came out on stage (rather of matter-of-factly) and ripped into Rockstar. They did a bunch of stuff off of their new album WIRE, but they also did some old stuff like To Be With You. They also did a mighty strong worship set with God of Wonders, You Are So Good to Me, and Show Me Your Glory. Very strong and powerful stuff. These guys are good at what they do. With the exception of one song, the show was flawless. They came out to do a two-song encore and that was that.

The one disappointing aspect of the evening was the ever-rising merch prices. Twenty-five smackers for a t-shirt that cost maybe two bucks to make. What's up with that? Toby did have a cool new shirt that was pattered after the old Houston Astros rainbow jerseys. But it wasn't worth $25.

Tonight I'm playing at the Harbour Coffeehouse in Hershey with Matt K. Our stage name is "Bobbleheads." We're on at 9:00 pm.

No big plans for the weekend. Maybe clean the bathroom. We'll see.

An Ode to All That Is Right

Please sing to the tune of "Good Christian Men Rejoice"

Good Christian men rejoice,
With heart and soul and voice,
The Red Sox won and that's a fact
The Yankees lost because they're crap
Johnny Damon rang the bell
Jeter was so bad he smelled
The Red Sox won today-ay
The Red Sox won today.

Knock a little louder sugar!

Random thoughts....

When a movie star wakes up in the morning, do you ever stop to think what their morning routine is? Do they have maids and such who lay out clothes for the day and cook their breakfast and fetch the newspaper? Or do they do it all themselves? Do they cook their own breakfast? Do they drive themselves to a doctor's appt., or does the doctor make house calls?

Baseball. Do you think that a Major League Baseball pitcher would be man enough to admit to his manager that he had lost his stuff BEFORE he got pulled? Or do you think they all just stick it out until they give up a few runs?

These are things I wonder about when I don't wonder about other stuff.

Give it up for the Red Sox who pulled out another one last night in just under six hours. They do like the drama up in Boston.

The Servant Song

Brother, Sister, let me serve you
Let me be as Christ to you
Pray that I may have the grace to
Let you be my servant too.

We are pilgrims on a journey;
We're together on this road
We are here to help each other
Walk the mile and bear the load.

I will hold the Christ-light for you
In the night-time of your fear
I will hold my hand out to you,
Speak the peace you long to hear.

I will weep when you are weeping;
When you laugh, I'll laugh with you
I will share your joy and sorrow
Till we've seen this journey through.

When we sing to God in heaven,
We shall find such harmony
Born of all we've known together
Of Christ's love and agony.

Brother, Sister, let me serve you
Let me be as Christ to you
Pray that I may have the grace to
Let you be my servant too.

-Richard Gillard (1977)

Relaxing

I just want to state for the record that one of the most relaxing things is getting your hair washed by somebody else.

Freitag

It was back to work for me today. There's something that is comfortably familiar about being back in the office. Sitting in the same chair, using the same stapler, talking on the same phone. I'm not quite sure, but that may qualify as disturbing. Hmmmm...

This weekend is homecoming at my alma mater. I don't think I'll be participating. For those who have been keeping track, that's no real suprise. Seeing as how I'm usually on campus three times a week, I get over there a lot. And the people that I would really want to see, I already see outside of homecoming. I think of homecoming as more of a time to visit people that you vaguely new. And also to see who's married, and who's not. But I have no interest in that.

I have a new Narnia website to report. The One Lion.Net website premiered just about a week ago. Yay for C.S. Lewis.

Did you know that today was National White Cane Day? It's designated to draw attention to blind folks and the struggles they face just performing normal daily functions.

The Meunchen Times

Vol. IV

Well, we've come to the last volume of the infamous Meunchen Times. As I write this entry, I write it from the safe confines of my apartment back here in the States.

My last day in Munich was busy. My flight left at 12:30 pm, but I had a bit of shopping that I wanted to do (three stops to be exact). So I had a 7:30 wake up call. Unfortunately, my plans were a bit sidetracked because the first store I wanted to stop at didn't open until 9:30 am. This actually ended up backing me up for the rest of the morning. I sprinted through the rest of the morning and managed to get through customs at noon, just fifteen minutes before they closed the gate for my flight. This meant that I was unable to do some last minute shopping in the airport itself, and I ended up being stuck with some unspent euros.

The flight lasted nine hours from Munich to Philly. In those nine hours, we watched three movies. We watched 13 going on 30, Spiderman 2, and The Terminal (which coincidentally is showing at Messiah this weekend). Also got to see an episode of Frasier. And wonder of wonders, the seat next to me was empty for the entire flight. So I had a little extra breathing room. And a little extra breathing room goes along way on a long trip.

I was blessed to have my Mom, Dad and Abigail waiting for me at the airport when I returned. They had a sign and everything. Cool.

So the trip is over. I had a great time. Would I do it again? You betcha. It was cool and I really enjoyed myself.

So there ya go.

The Meunchen Times

Vol III

Today is the last full day in germany. the time certainly goes fast. Todaz got off to a late start because i still havent adjusted to the time change. i went to bed at midnight but i would guess i didnt get anz sleep until maybe 3:00 am or so. however, once i got to sleep, i slept until 11:00 am. Woo hoo! That was some good sleep. However, that late wake-up made me late for my plans. So i got dressed and got out the door. First stop was Wal´mart, and it did not disappoint. They sell kappa and adidas merchandise at this wal´mart. How cool is that? I think I killed about 90 minutes there in the store. AFter that i headed back to the room to drop off my purchases. So then I went back out and headed out to the Marienplatz to take some photos and stuff. I made some purchases and then went over to have my one american meal at the Hard Rock Cafe. And ironically enough, I sat next to some ladies from philly. Went out to to do some more shopping before heading back to the hotel to rest a bit and type this note. Tonight I watched `Hor Man wer de Hammert´ That would be Home Improvement in German. It was funny to watch. Tonight I´m going to try and go out and see a movie. We´ll see how that goes. Then it´s back across the ocean tomorrow.

Auf Wiedersein!

The Meunchen Dispatch

Vol. II

Tag! I´m sick, which made for some mediocre sleeping last night. That, plus the bed´s a little on the soft side and my room is on the street side. But i´m not complaining. I´m blessed to be here.
Had some butter and toast for breakfast before bolting for todaz´s adventures.

The entire day was overcast. That´s important later. I met the folks from AutobusBayern who were running todays tour. We went to a couple of King Ludwig#s castles. The first castle was LINDERHOF. It´s verz small as castles go, but that doesn´t mean its not ornate. Oh, its ornate alright. Lots of paintings and carvings and gold and such.

Intermission I´m still reading Love Beyond REason, by John Ortberg. He was talking in the most recent chapter about envy, and specifically Paul´s situation when Jesus arrived on the scene. Once Jesus arrived, the majority of Paul´s ministy was done. His job was preparing the way and he did that. Ortberg compared John to a jewish "shoshbin" or best man. The shoshbin is responsible for making sure the wedding goes well and he makes necessary arrangements to make sure that it does. But he doesnt get the bride. So he´s done all this work, and now he has to set it all aside. He could have easilz been envious.....but he wasnt. Intermission over.

Next stop was going to be castle Neucshwenstein. But first, we stopped for a rather short shopping trip in Oberammagau. This town is known for the passion play it puts on every ten years as well as it´s talented woodcarvers who carve all sorts of fun stuff out of wood. We were only there for forty minutes, but it was a quaint little town to check out.

Next stop was the Neucshwenstein castle. Remember the bad weather, well, here´s when it comes into play. This is a beautiful castle that has been photographed often. I was hoping to shoot almost a roll at this stop. However, the weather prevented any view of the castle exterior unless you were actually at the base of the castle. However, the inside of the castle was very nice, even though it wasn´t overly decorated. Onlz 16 rooms in the castle were furbished. I forget why.

Let me know talk about cows. In PA, are most of the cows that you see out graying cattle cows or dairy cows? Cuz I saw some dairy cows todaz and they didnt look familiar at all. They looked like the cow on the "Baby Bell" cheese labels.

Did some window shopping tonight around the Marienplatz. That was fun. All sorts of neat stores and lots of cool fashion to look at.

Well, thats all for now. Auf Wiederseein!

The Meunchen Dispatch

Vol. 1

Hello Hello. It is currently 20:10 here at the Hotel Jedermann. What´s weird is that it´s only 2:30 pm at home. What´s even weirder as that the German keyboard is different. For one, the Y and the Z keys are switched, and your characters on the numbers (which you use the shift key for) are different. And the colon and semi-colon are not on the same key. Oi!

Throughout the day, Ive been doing some stream of consciousness journaling. So here we go: The flight over was uneventful, except for the fact that our flight left one hour late. Had some pasta for a late dinner, while watching "Raising Helen." This is what I learned from that movie: There is such thing as a sexy man of God. Please feel free to comment at your leisure. On the flight, I sat next to two German girls who brought an Entemnens cake on the plane. They proceeded to eat the cake directly out of the box. The passenger sitting in front of me was kind enough to recline his seat back for the entire flight, save for dinner.

I didn´t sleep well, although I didn´t expect to. I dozed on and off for roughly three hours. The chattz freuleins talked the whole time. I guess Entenmens will do that to you.

Now I´m on the train, heading into Meunchen. Had a spot of trouble getting my train ticket, but the nice German people helped me out. I´m currently staring at a Burger KING billboard that is advertising a .99 euro sweet chili nugget burger. I´M not lying. So far I have seen two horses and multiple dogs....even on the subway. I´ve noticed that they have nice grafitti on the railway. Real quality stuff. NOT the kind of stuff you would find in the STates.

So that´s what´s up today. OH, and they have "Walker, Texas Ranger" in german here. Wow.

Bis Spater!

My big adventure

starts tomorrow. Tomorrow, I will fly 4200 miles(roughly) to Munich, Germany. Why Munich? Well, there's a few reasons. For one, I've heard nothing but good things about Germany. For two, I'm flying for free. For three, I'm actually doing a little pre-trip planning for a trip back to Germany in 2006 for the World Cup. For four, for some reason I wanted to fly to a country where the predominent language was not English (which ruled out Ireland and England).

So it should be fun. Except for the eight hour plane ride over (nine hours back), and the fact that I don't speak German.

I will be blogging my adventures once I arrive in Munich on Sunday, so check back to see the latest on my big adventure.

Bis Spater!

A Picture

That's me in front of some randomly positioned letters on a sign.

Well that didn't work. That "x" is not my picture, but instead is a representation of my picture. Apparently I cannot link photos from the online storage space I use. Nuts.

Did my ears deceive me....

Or did I just hear John Edwards say that he and John Kerry do not believe in gay marriage?

I watched a movie.

It was called "Envy." It stars Jack Black and Ben Stiller. I thought it was going to be a good movie. Instead, it was just go. I like Ben stiller a bunch. I think he's a funny guy. Can't say the same for Jack Black. There was not enough Ben Stiller in this movie. Either that or there was too much Jack Black. It was a good story in that it was about a friend's unconditional love for his best friend. But, they beat a dead horse. Seriously. And that made a good story not as good. I gave it a "4" out of "10."

Now, here's a quote from C.S. Lewis

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket - safe, dark, motionless, airless - it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and pertubations of love is Hell.

And we are commanded to love.

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My nose is less sore today, thanks to the fact that I'm putting lotion on my nose to keep it happy.