amazing race

i love amazing race. it's right there behind survivor for me. frankly, mark burnett knows how to make reality tv. although "the cut" w/hilfiger stunk. anyway, back to the point. tonight was the first episode of this season. the twist is that it's family groups of 4.

so, they started out in n.y.c., had to go to soho. from there they went to where washington crossed the delaware. this cross is from pa. to nj or ny. okay, my geography sucks. i admit, i am from california (my crap gov. says kal-ee-fohr-nya) and basically it's the west coast, and the rest coast. but i digress. so, as many of you know, our good tim is out here, attending seminary w/me, from beautiful pa. so, let the text messaging begin.

me: hey amish, do you live near washington's crossing? amazing race is going there.
tim: nah.
me: what about mt. joy? they're going there now. to (some farm i forgot name)
tim: my joy is fifteen minutes from my house.
me: what about the farm? it's a co-op of some sort
tim: don't think so
(by now, tim has flipped it on, but i dont know and am typing)
tim: yeah, a lot of farms are that way. it's how they sell their milk. can't believe the dumb bitch got ran over
ed:(haven't got message above yet) hey, turn on 47 now and you'll see this lady get run over by a buggy.
(read message from tim again, and respond)
ed: worse yet, her husband got ran over and died. worked at nascar race track and got killed picking up debris and hit by car.
tim: those buggies do have breaks
ed: and they told them how to use them
tim: pathetic
ed: how close to rorher farm in lancaster
tim: i know the rohrer's (he spelled it right, i spelled it wrong despite it being on screen). i work 2 farm's down (although the apostrophe is misplaced so there)
ed: sweet
tim:i lived on bluerock rd. too
tim: he's not amish (that apostrophe is right)
ed: menno?
tim: costume
ed: how can you be sure?
tim: buttons
ed: dang, thats weak sauce
tim: plus he's on camera
ed: menno wouldn't?
tim: they drove right by my old house
ed: fahqin cool man. this is going on my blog.
tim: mennonite men don't wear color
tim: mennonite men also don't wear amish hats.

so there it is folks. the family that i labeled as the favorites (3 brothers + sister) finished second to last today. but it's only the first week so they can come back. the fist team eliminated had the last name of black, and ironically, they were aftrican-american. my wife did a double take when they were introduced and she saw them on screen.

now, five or so minutes after the show over, tim texted me: "that made me miss home"
i got to hand it to the guy, i didn't leave everything and everyone i know to go to school for 3 years. give tim a hug when you see him.

peace out until tomorrow! put some weak sauce on your breakfast for all of us.

a final note/joke

thanks to jay, i have a final little post to put in response to the science/religion conversation that's been inadvertantly happening in the comments of a couple posts ago. please take it as just a joke, a witty bbit of closure. or something.



this comes from here

i broke 1000!

so, i've had a meter on this site for a while now. i had the blog for a few weeks before i got the meter. man, i enjoy knowing how people got to me, where they are, how long they stayed, etc.

today, i broke 1000. it was by someone i know @ fpu (there are more than one that visit). here are some fun details from that visit.

ISP

Time Warner Telecom
Location

Continent
:
North America
Country
:
United States (Facts)
State
:
California
City
:
Fresno
Lat/Long
:
36.7638, -119.719 (Map)
Language

English (United States)
en-us
Operating System

Microsoft WinXP
Browser

Internet Explorer 6.0
Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322)
Javascript

version 1.3
Monitor

Resolution
:
1024 x 768
Color Depth
:
32 bits
Time of Visit

Sep 26 2005 8:57:22 am


yeah!

a post for adam

so, here is a story. i'm pretty much putting it up for adam. it's not spite or anything, i just thought he'd get a kick out of it. maybe he can reference it to the inkblots. it'd be relevant to a current post.

(oh yeah, it's from evangelical outpost. it's worth a look and chuckle no matter who you are)

in other news, our cat is dumb

heather was putting out some snail bait and the stupid cat ate one. of course, this is not good for cats. in fact, it can be fatal. so, the cat is off to the emergency vet service. i imagine we'll be switching to a pet safe variety soon.

also, we're seeing dave chappelle tonight. never been to a comedy show, so this will be different. hopefully the cat thing will resolve itself alright and that won't be hanging over our heads.

rockstar inxs finale

before rockstar inxs, i watched my name is earl & the office. both were funny. i liked the episodes of the office from last year, although i’ve not seen the english version. i hear they’re good. anyway, my name is earl was worth a second watch.

onto the finale of rockstar inxs. the final three are mig, jd and marty. all of the previous contestants were there as well. what will happen on the show? my money is on…tons of recap.

and at about 10:16 the power went out. we’ll see if i get to watch and journal any more.

so, the power came back on at…11:59. roll credits.

who won? jd was on stage @ the end, so i'm guessing him.

baghdad burning

friends and readers, i urge you to go to one of the links on the right. it's not about me this time. click on baghdad burning and read the entry from sept. 11, 2005. i found it very moving.

something new

it's been fun lately. i've met a bunch of new people. i like to think of it as networking. not that i've really gotten to know any of them, just a comfortable level to say hi when i see them around.



and here's another plug for my photos (link on the right). best place to see my art, and i'm starting to add photos of friends and such.

peace out for now

flickr, to the right

just as a note, i'm really trying to get as much of my work on flickr.com, as an easier way to showcase my stuff. so, above the links to other blogs and news is a link that says photos. click it. the one below, labeled myspace is to myspace.com, but that's not that interesting for you. but the my photos, that's good stuff.

evangelical outpost on pledge

a tidbit from a website i just learned about called evangelical outpost. don't know how long i'll read from it, but this caught my eye.

"Count me amongst the good hearted people who have a very low view of civil religion. Many of my fellow Christians appear to have forgotten that it was the influential political theorist Jean-Jacques Rousseau who coined the phrase “civil religion” in his “On the Social Contract” (1762). Rousseau developed the concept not as an “acknowledgement of God and His blessings on this land” but as a way to keep the Christian “rebels” allegiance aligned to the state rather than to their religion."

booyakasha! respect!

simmons on last night's survivor

i admit, i just copied this from bill simmons, who is one of my favorite columnists.

1. Note to the "Survivor" producers: Not nearly enough good-looking women this season. Next time you're choosing between the struggling actress with 36C's and Lydia the Professional Fishmonger, go with the struggling actress. Just trust me.

2. As much as I like having Stephenie back, the person who plucked her eyebrows before the show started was apparently the same person who built Denny Green's two-point conversion chart. What the hell? On the bright side, it did lead to an entire hour of "This tribe has really raised my eyebrows" jokes.

3. You probably know that former NFL QB Gary Hogeboom is one of the tribe members this season, which was initially disappointing for me because, if a former NFL QB ever went on "Survivor," I had always hoped it would be Jeff George (just to see how fast he would get voted off). But here's what you didn't know -- Hogeboom acts and speaks like Carl Spackler in "Caddyshack." It's uncanny -- he even does the crooked jaw thing. And now that I have mentioned it, you will never be able to watch him on this show again without waiting for him to scream, "It's a little harsh ... here, cannonball it. Cannonball it right back. And then one more right on top of it. Cannonball! Cannonball coming!"


in other news, nick cannon is hilarious!

self portrait?

this is a painting i started about 7 years ago. it progressed through some different colors and variations, but pretty much always had the same idea. i like this painting a lot, especially the color of the person.

paul rusebagina is coming to fresno

:: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20TH ::

PAUL RUSESABAGINA
FRESNO CITY COLLEGE GYM

12PM
FREE

As manager of the Belgian-owned Mille Collines, a luxury hotel in Kigali, the
Rwandan capital, Paul Rusesabagina saved hundreds from the Rwandan genocide. His
finesse and courage inspired the film "Hotel Rwanda," and he'll be speaking at
City College about his harrowing experience.

administrative leave?

(my buddy adam put me on to this story)

so, this deputy confessed to having crazy disgusting kid porn on his computer. he was rightfully arrested.

now he's on administrative leave? with pay. what the heck?

is he cutting his own throat?

i haven't formed any real opinions about the guy that is nominated for chief justice. so, this morning as i skimmed the news i read about how roberts was basically telling the senate that roe v. wade was a settled issue. so, i popped over to drudge to get a righty perspective and read this article. there's a lot in there that i think conservatives may find troubling.

yet, the cynic in me keeps thinking, "is this just a little 'wink, wink, i'll vote this way and i'm just saying this to get in' type of situation?"

i know we got problems

but they're rioting in belfast. firebombs, fights, police raids, and much more. and yet i didn't hear a peep about it. i checked all the major news sites, and only cnn had a headline, and it was down in their world section. of course, it was top story on bbc.

my question is, how do we maintain a bigger perspective while we deal with our own issues? this can apply on both the world and personal levels. please comment.

his mom said it

"Almost everyone I've talked to says, 'We're going to move to Houston.' What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality.

And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them."


thank you very much, barbara bush

a prayer for today

Lord, give us the courage to worship your American flag whether it be on a belt buckle, shirt or your royal person.



















that was said by reverand lovejoy. then lisa quoted the first amendment. then the simpsons got arrested under the "government knows best law"

who's next?

"i support brownie. he's doing a good job. he works hard, comes in on saturday, eats lunch at his desk," ed's paraphase of g.w. bush talking about the head of fema, who is apparently being replaced as the head of disater relief.

update: another story on brown.

do you kiss your mother with that mouth?

here's a funny little video. apparently not everyone cowers in fear or respects the devil, errr, cheney.

3000

andre is up to what?

rockstar inxs update 9/6/05

rockstar inxs update 6 september 2005
ah, the ongoing saga to replace michael hutchinson, rest in peace. for various reason, queen has been on my mind a lot lately. can you imagine if they did this sort of thing? i mean there really isn’t any reason why the couldn’t or wouldn’t. but i just don’t think they would.

(did you ask a woman about the jennifer love hewitt thing?)

tonight’s twist: at the end they’ll show voting for all five remaining contestants, and each person is doing 2 songs tonight, and tonight’s song selection is in the voters’ hands.

brooke burke’s outfit is terrible. heather says it looks like pajamas with a belt.

jd – “come as you are” – he’s back to rearranging things. this is terrible. his cadence is like stop then go, stop then go. it’s all very boring. even the band sounds terrible. then they kicked the music up to normal tempo and at least the band sounded good. that pogo jump was friggin lame.
song 2 is his own –“pretty vegas”. i’m impressed with his writing skills, as it seemed like some catchy 80’s rock tune, ala inxs. in that way, it helped him in the competition. and the band liked it. i don’t know the title connection though.

suckie mcmeal, errr, suzie mcneal – "i can’t make you love me” – “I did such an epic job on bohemian rhapsody.” ugh, this chick’s ego bothers me as much as jd’s. flat notes all over. earlier in the comp, they really pointed out these things.
original song is called “soul life” and is dedicated to ty. i’m distracted by yet another huge, and i mean huge ring, like a plate. what’s with all these rings that people are wearing? “tripping down the avenuuuuuu” bleh. dave electra says he’s never heard here sing a note off key. what? then why didn’t he disagree when the band told her that in the past? horsebleep.

mig – “hard to handle” – better hair than last week. felt like a pretty average performance to me. mig was very active, but nothing really stood out good or bad vocally. just sorta there.
original piece is called “home in me” about moving on after loosing a friend. i guarantee there will be a comment by one band person about the song touching them because they too know what it’s like to lose someone. song is overly breathy. not an impressive songwriting display.
(dave electra stole the thunder by bring out the loosing someone comment. the band didn’t feel the song was their style and people need to remember you’re trying out for them. really, is that what the title of the show means?)

jordis – “we are the champions” – will she do it better than jd? heather sticks by her assessment from that night that jd didn’t do it well at all. jordis even says that in her taped interview. she had some real good moments in this, also had some tone problems. the slow parts had a nice, sultry feel to them. good stage presence, too.
original song called “try not” – i wouldn’t think she would write such a bluesy sounding song. done well. she’s working her way back into being a good fit for inxs. dave electra doesn’t feel the energy in her lower register.

marty – “everlong” –i love this song, one of my favorites. i won’t hold this against him no matter how it goes. he did worry about inxs’ comments about him screaming. he must have forgot that the acoustic version is as well received as the original, if not more so. no he didn’t, did it acoustic. a few tone probs. some can be attributed to his different sounding voice, a few he just missed the note. well done.
original piece called “trees” – lyrically there isn’t much to this song. sang it well. sounded good and I liked the musical aspect. this guy must really like the killers though. the band really loved it.

Very first voting results top to bottom: marty suzie jd mig jordis.

What I learned tonight:
1. jd can write songs, or at least write a song
2. jordis can still sing
3. marty can write a catchy tune and he’s probably the leader right now

here’s what I think the order should be, based solely on tonight: marty jordis jd suzie mig

what's a refugee?

i thought at first that people were just wrong. they kept saying that "these people (hurricane survivors) are not refugees. they are americans." and i kept thinking, yes they are. they're seeking refuge. but see, i was wrong.

ref·u·gee n
somebody who is seeking or taking refuge, especially from war or persecution, by going to a foreign country (often used before a noun)

Encarta® World English Dictionary © 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

but, to my credit
ref·uge n
1.a sheltered or protected state safe from something threatening, harmful, or unpleasant
2.a place, or sometimes a person, offering protection or safe shelter from something

Encarta® World English Dictionary © 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

so, "they" weren't wrong. they were just splitting hairs. these survivors are seeking refuge. the are transients. is that any better? hey, cuba offered help. so, maybe some will go there and actually be refugees.

perspective, sweet perspective

i am in a fantasy football league. i consider it a fun little diversion. i'm competitive and want to win. recently, i've been really pissed about it. see, we're using msn/foxsport's version. it's supposed to be great. it's got all sorts of features and it's free! last year, we used yahoo. it was functional, but to get things like live updates you had to pay $10. so, this seemed so much better. that is, until we really started to use it. freakin site is often down, features don't work, etc and the season starts thursday. so i'm complaining to friends, trying to see if maybe we should switch back to yahoo, and so on.


then i remember that i'm at home. hundreds of thousands are currently displaced. i'm slapped in the face that thousands have died due to a catastrophe. i'm informed about a typhoon hitting japan and people dying there. or about a bridge falling down in iraq and around a thousand people dying while trying to visit a religious site. or numerous other things.

and i shut my own mouth and realize that my little problems need to be put in perspective

gots me a flickr account

so, i joined flickr so i could have another space to put up photos, mainly of my art. i'll also put a link on the side

anthropology today

i wonder what the sociological or anthropological explanation for this is?

and i ask that question as i watch judge mathis and two "ladies" complain about each other being drunk in public and some sort of injury one blames on the other.

nobody, i mean nobody

"I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees."

—President Bush on ABC's Good Morning America, Sept. 1, 2005

really? how about this?

oh yeah, and all those studies done by LSU and other academics, agencies and eggheads.

waaah-mart

funny story about walmart complaining about a competitor in england

slaying the dragon

it's been a long time coming...and i think it finally happened.

the u.s. men's national soccer team has become the most dominant in our region. today we defeated mexico 2-0. it was a sloppy game, but both goals were very good. they weren't just lucky little accidents. one was off a set play, a header deflected off the post to another guy who put it home. the other was just a nice shot. and, we could have had one or two more. our defense didn't let mexico get anything going, and their stars looked pretty frustrated.

i'm sure when if we play them again @ azteca stadium in mexico city before the world cup it will be a war. but we're ready.

it was great to hear the spanish announcer (i don't have cable so it's spanish soccer broadcast for me) say after the second goal, "sprechen si deutche?" okay, i don't know if any of that was spelled right but it was a great moment. the u.s. is officially in world cup 06 in germany. i'm sure mexico will be there too, but just not yet.

let me have your opinion

series of questions
should we rebuild new orleans?
if so, why?
if not, why?

please answer in the comment area. this debate is in the papers, on the news, etc. and i'm kicking it around here now.

here's what they think about you

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/09/02/MTFH62797_2005-09-02_14-16-45_BAU248384.html

LONDON (Reuters) - The world has watched amazed as the planet's only superpower struggles with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, with some saying the chaos has exposed flaws and deep divisions in American society.

World leaders and ordinary citizens have expressed sympathy with the people of the southern United States whose lives were devastated by the hurricane and the flooding that followed.

But many have also been shocked by the images of disorder beamed around the world -- looters roaming the debris-strewn streets and thousands of people gathered in New Orleans waiting for the authorities to provide food, water and other aid.

"Anarchy in the USA" declared Britain's best-selling newspaper The Sun.

"Apocalypse Now" headlined Germany's Handelsblatt daily.

and...
"I am absolutely disgusted. After the tsunami our people, even the ones who lost everything, wanted to help the others who were suffering," said Sajeewa Chinthaka, 36, as he watched a cricket match in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

"Not a single tourist caught in the tsunami was mugged. Now with all this happening in the U.S. we can easily see where the civilized part of the world's population is."

okay, that's a cheap shot. we didn't talk crap on you when were in need.

the first story i read today contained...this

so, i got online to read and see what was happening in hurricane areas. last night, before bed i watched some programs on tv. i was moved to tears over the desperation in the south, especially in new orleans. i know a lot of people are jumping on this bandwagon, but what the heck is the federal government doing? and why is it taking so long? anyhow, here are some parts from the article i read, of course, interspersed with my commentary.

NEW ORLEANS - An explosion jolted residents awake early Friday, illuminating the pre-dawn sky with red and orange flames over the city where corpses rotted along sidewalks and thousands remained stranded — crying for food, water and a way to evacuate.
explosions? corpses? thousands stranded? this does not inspire any confidence that our government can do anything or will do anything until it's too late.

Bush, before leaving the White House, told reporters that “the results are not acceptable” — a blunt criticism of federal efforts so far, particularly at the New Orleans Convention Center where thousands are stranded even though the site is easily accessible by vehicles
federal efforts not acceptable? we blame you bush. you're at the top. the buck stops with you. if the federal gov't hasn't done enough, it's on your head. why not step up and accept your rightful blame instead of calling out others? chickenshit.

By Thursday evening, 11 hours after the military began evacuating the Superdome, the arena held 10,000 more people than it did at dawn.
okay, this is a little misleading. of course there are more people there. if i knew that was the spot where i could get out of hell i'm there in an instant. but 10000? this problem is way bigger than i expected. it's going to get much worse before it gets better.

“I don’t treat my dog like that,” 47-year-old Daniel Edwards said as he pointed at the (dead) woman in the wheelchair. “You can do everything for other countries, but you can’t do nothing for your own people.”
The street outside the center, above the floodwaters, smelled of urine and feces and was choked with dirty diapers, old bottles and garbage.
i don't share the other countries sentiment. we help people were help is needed. after the tsunami, it took a few days for us to realize the need and respond properly. i know this takes time, but i don't blame people for being frustrated either. in an interesting turn, the UN has offered help. they've also offered up the trained people who deal with these sort of catastrophies. as of last night, we hadn't taken them up on the offer. why?

In hopes of defusing the situation at the convention center, Mayor Nagin gave the evacuees permission to march across a bridge to the city’s unflooded west bank for whatever relief they could find.
for whatever relief they could find? what does that mean? isn't that a call to loot? i'd like to think people would just go looking for food and water, but how do we tell people to go find whatever you need and expect it to be civil? and why the f isn't the fed doing more to get food and water to these people?

To make matters worse, the chief of the Louisiana State Police said he heard of numerous instances of New Orleans police officers — many of whom were from flooded areas — turning in their badges.

“They indicated that they had lost everything and didn’t feel that it was worth them going back to take fire from looters and losing their lives,” Col. Henry Whitehorn said.
scary. but i don't really blame these cops either.

i hope today is better.

thoughts on a tuesday

i don't know what to make of this katrina thing any more. i was really happy when they didn't have a story. i wish it would have stayed that way. now, as things spiral out of control, i read all the different stories and just hope that lives can be saved. i am starting to feel really helpless. but really, i live across the country. it's not like i can jump in my car and go help out. so, i'm committed to prayer. maybe i'll go give blood.
------------------
rockstar inxs last night: the band said it right, those were three underwhelming performances. ty gets the boot. i thought it should have been jd, but the band is looking for who will fit them best. and apparently they didn't see it in ty. it's been odd seeing the early leaders (ty, jd, and jordis) start to fall off and others getting stronger. i still have no idea what they sea/hear in suzie. she got the encore? her singing was terrible. and when i say terrible i hope you hear bill walton saying it. terrrrrible. and her encore was just as bad. and the band seems to be in love with her. mig, who is good and has been good, was the other person that never was in the bottom three. both of them should have been locks for the bottom three based on their performances. but ty, jordis and jd were bottom. ty is out. and i'm alright with that because it's the bands' decision. they are evaluating what is right for them and don't see it in the person of ty.
and then ty pulled the race card. not on the band, but on all of us. here's the deal, i agree. sort of. it's hard for me to see a reason why he has been in the bottom three on three different occassions and jd has been there once, and suckie, err, suzie now hasn't been there the last 2 weeks when should could have last week and should have without a doubt been there this week. mig gave a bad performance. but ty didn't. wasn't great, and i could see it being bottom three this week. but other weeks? this guy can sing rock. he can sing soul. he can sing r&b. and inxs' music reflects those influences. i realize you're down to 6 and so half will be bottom three, but he shouldn't have been there other weeks. and jd should have. suzie should have. jordis should have last week. mig should have. so why not look at it as race? name for me rock two bands that have either a black lead singer or have several black members in it? i'll give you three: bloc party, fishbone, living colour. now take away living colour because they've been nonexistant for like ten years. can you tell me another? so ask yourself, did america not vote for this guy because they can't imagine a black guy doing rock/fronting inxs? terrence trent d'arby did it. so inxs seems alright with the idea.

how the h does suckie get the encore two weeks in a row on terrible performances? maybe last week wasn't terrible, but it wasn't the best. it didn't deserve the encore. and her cover of bohemian rhapsody was terrible. absolutely terrible.

that's enough of me for now.