Peter Jackson is a genius....
that is all
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Some notes from last night
Bearcats posted a 75-72 win last night over a very good, very large LSU team, the top rebounding team in the country.
Despite LSU out-rebounding the Bearcats and scoring twice as many points in the paint as Cincinnati, UC was able to capitilize on LSU's mistakes, scoring 25 points off turnovers.
Solid play from James White, scoring the last 8 points of the game. The 3-pointer to pull us within two, the go-ahead trey to put us up by 1 with a minute forty left on the clock, and then the two free throws with 17 seconds left to put us up by 3.
Eric Hicks scores 21 and holds his own against a much bigger LSU team
Devan Downey, not quite his usual self, but still made some heads up plays.
One of the things that made this game so awesome was the fact that the Bearcats were without Cedric McGowen for most of the game (left the game after only 8 minutes because his shoulder popped out) and were still able to pull out the win against a much larger, stronger, LSU team.
Jay Wright what? Skip Prosser who? Andy Kennedy is the man and deserves a chance.
Despite LSU out-rebounding the Bearcats and scoring twice as many points in the paint as Cincinnati, UC was able to capitilize on LSU's mistakes, scoring 25 points off turnovers.
Solid play from James White, scoring the last 8 points of the game. The 3-pointer to pull us within two, the go-ahead trey to put us up by 1 with a minute forty left on the clock, and then the two free throws with 17 seconds left to put us up by 3.
Eric Hicks scores 21 and holds his own against a much bigger LSU team
Devan Downey, not quite his usual self, but still made some heads up plays.
One of the things that made this game so awesome was the fact that the Bearcats were without Cedric McGowen for most of the game (left the game after only 8 minutes because his shoulder popped out) and were still able to pull out the win against a much larger, stronger, LSU team.
Jay Wright what? Skip Prosser who? Andy Kennedy is the man and deserves a chance.
Check this out
My friend Zach posted this cartoon on his blog on Friday December 23. I would post it on mine, but then I would feel like a copy cat.
Monday, December 19, 2005
And Discuss...
Well, this was originally written as a response to Tommy's blog, but I was 500 characters over the limit, so I decided to post it here and let people discuss it.
I respectively submit my perspective on the events of last Wednesday, and I hope that you will take the time to read and thoughtfully consider what I have to say.
The purpose of the press conference and prayer at the steps of the Canon House Office Building in Washington DC was (as I understand it) to speak about the proposed budget cuts, specifically:
1) Budgets are moral documents that reflect the values and priorities of a family, church, organization, city, state, or nation. They tell us what is most important and valued to those making the budget. President Bush says that his 2006 budget “is a budget that sets priorities.” Examining those priorities - who will benefit and who will suffer in President Bush’s budget - is a moral and religious concern.
Religious communities spoke clearly in the past years about the perils of a domestic policy based primarily on tax cuts for the rich, program cuts for low-income people, and an expectation of faith-based charity. When 14.4 million families have critical housing needs and 12.1 million households are food insecure, it is no time to reduce key supports that can meet these needs. Using deficit reduction as rationale for reducing supports when 47% of our deficit is due to tax cuts -- but only 15% is due to domestic spending -- is not legitimate. This situation calls for moral vision and political will in setting priorities
2) The cost of the deficit is increasingly borne by the poor. The budget projects a record $427 billion deficit, and a promise to make tax cuts benefiting the wealthiest permanent. Religious communities spoke clearly in the past years about the perils of a domestic policy based primarily on tax cuts for the rich, program cuts for low-income people, and an expectation of faith-based charity. We must speak clearly now about a budget lacking moral vision. A budget that scapegoats the poor and fattens the rich, that asks for sacrifice mostly from those who can least afford it, is a moral outrage.
3) Low-income people should not be punished for decisions that placed us in financial straits. Rather than moving toward a “living family income,” the budget stifles opportunities for low-income families, which are vital for national economic security. Our future is in serious jeopardy if one in three proposed program cuts are to education initiatives (after a highly touted “No Child Left Behind” effort), there will be less flexibility to include working poor families with children on Medicaid, and reductions in community and rural development, job training, food stamps, and housing are accepted as solutions for reducing the deficit. Cutting pro-work and pro-family supports for the less fortunate jeopardizes the common good. And this while defense spending rises again to $419 billion (not including any additional spending for war in Iraq).
My point is that these people did not have a political vendetta against the right, or the left, or whatever, but more simply, they were Christians trying to follow Jesus’ teachings, teachings such as Matthew 25 or any of the thousands of versus in the Bible that call us to take care of the poor.
Of course people of faith across the country will keep doing the work of feeding, clothing and housing our less fortunate neighbors, but there will always be systemic problems in any form of government. Therefore, caring for the poor without addressing the issues of the budget would be like treating symptoms but not the illness that causes them. It may appear to be the correct thing, but eventually, if not properly dealt with, the illness will become much worse and be harder to deal with.
This brings me to your point about Romans 13 and having “a bunch of Christians purposefully sinning in order to do something that will, in all likelihood, have zero effect on how things go.”
I understand where you are coming from when you speak about Romans 13, and I struggle with my own views on this issue. Personally, for me a conflict arises between my duties and obligations to Jesus’ teachings of loving my neighbor and caring for the poor, and Paul’s words on submitting to authority. It is my belief that in the event that the government refuses to listen to its citizens, being arrested for peaceful protest is acceptable. This use of peaceful, direct action, such as sit-ins, marches, and so forth, will bring about negotiation by creating a tension such that a community that has constantly refused to negotiate, is forced to confront the issue. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. talks about this in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”.
I hope that I have been able to communicate my thoughts clearly and if you are interested there is more information available at:
http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=action.display_c&item=051214_arrests
I respectively submit my perspective on the events of last Wednesday, and I hope that you will take the time to read and thoughtfully consider what I have to say.
The purpose of the press conference and prayer at the steps of the Canon House Office Building in Washington DC was (as I understand it) to speak about the proposed budget cuts, specifically:
1) Budgets are moral documents that reflect the values and priorities of a family, church, organization, city, state, or nation. They tell us what is most important and valued to those making the budget. President Bush says that his 2006 budget “is a budget that sets priorities.” Examining those priorities - who will benefit and who will suffer in President Bush’s budget - is a moral and religious concern.
Religious communities spoke clearly in the past years about the perils of a domestic policy based primarily on tax cuts for the rich, program cuts for low-income people, and an expectation of faith-based charity. When 14.4 million families have critical housing needs and 12.1 million households are food insecure, it is no time to reduce key supports that can meet these needs. Using deficit reduction as rationale for reducing supports when 47% of our deficit is due to tax cuts -- but only 15% is due to domestic spending -- is not legitimate. This situation calls for moral vision and political will in setting priorities
2) The cost of the deficit is increasingly borne by the poor. The budget projects a record $427 billion deficit, and a promise to make tax cuts benefiting the wealthiest permanent. Religious communities spoke clearly in the past years about the perils of a domestic policy based primarily on tax cuts for the rich, program cuts for low-income people, and an expectation of faith-based charity. We must speak clearly now about a budget lacking moral vision. A budget that scapegoats the poor and fattens the rich, that asks for sacrifice mostly from those who can least afford it, is a moral outrage.
3) Low-income people should not be punished for decisions that placed us in financial straits. Rather than moving toward a “living family income,” the budget stifles opportunities for low-income families, which are vital for national economic security. Our future is in serious jeopardy if one in three proposed program cuts are to education initiatives (after a highly touted “No Child Left Behind” effort), there will be less flexibility to include working poor families with children on Medicaid, and reductions in community and rural development, job training, food stamps, and housing are accepted as solutions for reducing the deficit. Cutting pro-work and pro-family supports for the less fortunate jeopardizes the common good. And this while defense spending rises again to $419 billion (not including any additional spending for war in Iraq).
My point is that these people did not have a political vendetta against the right, or the left, or whatever, but more simply, they were Christians trying to follow Jesus’ teachings, teachings such as Matthew 25 or any of the thousands of versus in the Bible that call us to take care of the poor.
Of course people of faith across the country will keep doing the work of feeding, clothing and housing our less fortunate neighbors, but there will always be systemic problems in any form of government. Therefore, caring for the poor without addressing the issues of the budget would be like treating symptoms but not the illness that causes them. It may appear to be the correct thing, but eventually, if not properly dealt with, the illness will become much worse and be harder to deal with.
This brings me to your point about Romans 13 and having “a bunch of Christians purposefully sinning in order to do something that will, in all likelihood, have zero effect on how things go.”
I understand where you are coming from when you speak about Romans 13, and I struggle with my own views on this issue. Personally, for me a conflict arises between my duties and obligations to Jesus’ teachings of loving my neighbor and caring for the poor, and Paul’s words on submitting to authority. It is my belief that in the event that the government refuses to listen to its citizens, being arrested for peaceful protest is acceptable. This use of peaceful, direct action, such as sit-ins, marches, and so forth, will bring about negotiation by creating a tension such that a community that has constantly refused to negotiate, is forced to confront the issue. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. talks about this in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”.
I hope that I have been able to communicate my thoughts clearly and if you are interested there is more information available at:
http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=action.display_c&item=051214_arrests
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Civil Disobediance for a Moral Budget*
On Wednesday December 14, 2005, 114 religious leaders were arrested in front of the Cannon House Office Building while kneeling in prayer to protest the immoral budget and tax agenda which slashes spending on the poor to finance tax breaks for the rich. Led by Jim Wallis of Call to Renewal, national faith leaders, clergy and faith-based providers of services to the poor held a press conference.
After the press conference, the leaders knelt and prayed, blocking the entrance to the Cannon House Office Building. The Capitol Police began arresting the participants after giving three warnings to move from the entrance.
There is a small article on Sojourner's website and a link to some other articles as well.
I have posted one of the articel below as well as some pictures (you can see Troy in a couple of them).
After the press conference, the leaders knelt and prayed, blocking the entrance to the Cannon House Office Building. The Capitol Police began arresting the participants after giving three warnings to move from the entrance.
There is a small article on Sojourner's website and a link to some other articles as well.
I have posted one of the articel below as well as some pictures (you can see Troy in a couple of them).
Civil Disobediance for a Moral Budget
'Christmas scandal' outcry
By Frank James
Chicago Tribune 12-15-2005
WASHINGTON -- Christian activist Rev. Jim Wallis told hundreds of religious protesters gathered near the Capitol on Wednesday that there is a scandal this December, but it isn't the conservative-stoked controversy about retailers and others using "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas."
"The Christmas scandal is the budget out of this House of Representatives, a budget which is an assault on low-income people, on poor families," said Wallis, who was arrested by Capitol Hill police along with 113 other protesters--as they knew they would--for blocking the building's entrance.
Budget legislation under consideration by House members and senators has angered many religious people who see caring for the poor as central to their faith, because of nearly $50 billion in spending cuts to programs such as food stamps and child care subsidies.
That anger has been heightened by nearly $60 billion in tax cuts under consideration that critics say would largely benefit the wealthy.
Wallis, leader of Sojourners, a Christian social justice group, invoked the Christmas story of Mary who, upon being told she would give birth to Jesus, thanked God for, among other things, humbling the mighty and exalting the lowly.
`Reversing Mary's priorities'
"They are reversing Mary's priorities," Wallis said. "This budget and the tax cuts fill the rich with good things and sends the poor away hungry. That's why we're here."
For Wallis, an author who has argued that progressives have been passive and allowed conservatives to exploit faith as a potent political issue, the event was another chance to gain momentum in reclaiming the religious high ground in national policy debates.
Wallis is the author of "God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It."
In recent years, the moral ground has seemed to be held mainly by the religious right, whose members have placed issues of personal morality such as abortion and same-sex marriage in the spotlight and helped determine elections as a result.
Wallis and other progressive religious leaders who believe the poor have received short shrift hope that by emphasizing the religious obligation to help the poor they can reframe the debate.
At the same time, that might lift the fortunes of Democrats, who have suffered political defeats because their party is perceived as less hospitable to people of faith. In the last two presidential elections, Democrats lost--by significant margins--voters who considered themselves deeply religious.
"Arousing the nation's conscience is not an easy thing to do, but to the extent it does work I think it will help the Democrats because many of the people who would be influenced by that are likely to vote Democratic," said John Green, senior fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
Laura Olsen, a political science professor at Clemson University in South Carolina, said, "The more you're able to inject your rhetoric, your agenda and your approach with the language of `it's immoral to have people living in poverty in this great country of ours,' the more you're going to be able to fight the slippage that the Democratic Party's been having since the Clinton era in terms of reaching out to middle America. "
The appetite for such appeals seems to be growing. A Gallup poll conducted shortly after Hurricane Katrina indicated that 75 percent of Americans were dissatisfied with the federal government's anti-poverty efforts. And that dissatisfaction has held fairly steady. Four years earlier, 71 percent of those polled felt similarly.
70 such `vigils' across country
Wednesday's "vigil" in Washington was among more than 70 like it held around the country, according to Sojourners.
At times, Capitol Hill had the feel of a revival meeting in the frigid outdoors as the protesters gathered on the steps of the Cannon House Office Building.
"Don't tell us about being faith-based, don't tell us about compassionate conservativism," said Frederick Haynes, pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church, a 10,000-member megachurch in Dallas.
"When our government stands before God Almighty, Jesus will say, I was hungry but you cut food stamps," Haynes said. "I was thirsty but you cut Pell grants. When I needed surgery I was not part of your social class so I was denied access."
Along with the Roman Catholic nuns and mainline Protestant ministers, the protesters arrested Wednesday included evangelicals such as Wallis and Ron Sider, president of Evangelicals for Social Action, and Mary Nelson, a founder and former president of Bethel New Life, a faith-based community group based in Chicago's West Garfield Park neighborhood.
Evangelicals, long considered insular and focused on issues of personal morality rather than social justice, recently have been broadening their list of concerns to include poverty. The National Association of Evangelicals, for instance, earlier this year adopted a document that cited as among God's concerns "justice for the poor."
"I would issue a challenge to the congresspersons in this building and across the way to say come walk with me in my neighborhood," Nelson said outside the House office building.
"Come talk to the folks in my neighborhood and they will tell you that they're working two jobs and falling farther behind. That they have kids who are sick and don't have health insurance. . . . Then see if you can with good conscience vote for this budget and these tax cuts that are going to make it even worse," Nelson said.
By Frank James
Chicago Tribune 12-15-2005
WASHINGTON -- Christian activist Rev. Jim Wallis told hundreds of religious protesters gathered near the Capitol on Wednesday that there is a scandal this December, but it isn't the conservative-stoked controversy about retailers and others using "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas."
"The Christmas scandal is the budget out of this House of Representatives, a budget which is an assault on low-income people, on poor families," said Wallis, who was arrested by Capitol Hill police along with 113 other protesters--as they knew they would--for blocking the building's entrance.
Budget legislation under consideration by House members and senators has angered many religious people who see caring for the poor as central to their faith, because of nearly $50 billion in spending cuts to programs such as food stamps and child care subsidies.
That anger has been heightened by nearly $60 billion in tax cuts under consideration that critics say would largely benefit the wealthy.
Wallis, leader of Sojourners, a Christian social justice group, invoked the Christmas story of Mary who, upon being told she would give birth to Jesus, thanked God for, among other things, humbling the mighty and exalting the lowly.
`Reversing Mary's priorities'
"They are reversing Mary's priorities," Wallis said. "This budget and the tax cuts fill the rich with good things and sends the poor away hungry. That's why we're here."
For Wallis, an author who has argued that progressives have been passive and allowed conservatives to exploit faith as a potent political issue, the event was another chance to gain momentum in reclaiming the religious high ground in national policy debates.
Wallis is the author of "God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It."
In recent years, the moral ground has seemed to be held mainly by the religious right, whose members have placed issues of personal morality such as abortion and same-sex marriage in the spotlight and helped determine elections as a result.
Wallis and other progressive religious leaders who believe the poor have received short shrift hope that by emphasizing the religious obligation to help the poor they can reframe the debate.
At the same time, that might lift the fortunes of Democrats, who have suffered political defeats because their party is perceived as less hospitable to people of faith. In the last two presidential elections, Democrats lost--by significant margins--voters who considered themselves deeply religious.
"Arousing the nation's conscience is not an easy thing to do, but to the extent it does work I think it will help the Democrats because many of the people who would be influenced by that are likely to vote Democratic," said John Green, senior fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
Laura Olsen, a political science professor at Clemson University in South Carolina, said, "The more you're able to inject your rhetoric, your agenda and your approach with the language of `it's immoral to have people living in poverty in this great country of ours,' the more you're going to be able to fight the slippage that the Democratic Party's been having since the Clinton era in terms of reaching out to middle America. "
The appetite for such appeals seems to be growing. A Gallup poll conducted shortly after Hurricane Katrina indicated that 75 percent of Americans were dissatisfied with the federal government's anti-poverty efforts. And that dissatisfaction has held fairly steady. Four years earlier, 71 percent of those polled felt similarly.
70 such `vigils' across country
Wednesday's "vigil" in Washington was among more than 70 like it held around the country, according to Sojourners.
At times, Capitol Hill had the feel of a revival meeting in the frigid outdoors as the protesters gathered on the steps of the Cannon House Office Building.
"Don't tell us about being faith-based, don't tell us about compassionate conservativism," said Frederick Haynes, pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church, a 10,000-member megachurch in Dallas.
"When our government stands before God Almighty, Jesus will say, I was hungry but you cut food stamps," Haynes said. "I was thirsty but you cut Pell grants. When I needed surgery I was not part of your social class so I was denied access."
Along with the Roman Catholic nuns and mainline Protestant ministers, the protesters arrested Wednesday included evangelicals such as Wallis and Ron Sider, president of Evangelicals for Social Action, and Mary Nelson, a founder and former president of Bethel New Life, a faith-based community group based in Chicago's West Garfield Park neighborhood.
Evangelicals, long considered insular and focused on issues of personal morality rather than social justice, recently have been broadening their list of concerns to include poverty. The National Association of Evangelicals, for instance, earlier this year adopted a document that cited as among God's concerns "justice for the poor."
"I would issue a challenge to the congresspersons in this building and across the way to say come walk with me in my neighborhood," Nelson said outside the House office building.
"Come talk to the folks in my neighborhood and they will tell you that they're working two jobs and falling farther behind. That they have kids who are sick and don't have health insurance. . . . Then see if you can with good conscience vote for this budget and these tax cuts that are going to make it even worse," Nelson said.
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Something that is distracting me from studying
Seven Things to Do before I Die
(off the top of my head)
1) Travel the world
2) Run with the bulls in Pamplona
3) Write a book
4) Break 2:30 in a marathon
5) Learn a foreign language
6) Learn to play guitar........ so that I can......
7) Perform the full 14 minute version of Freebird in front of thousands
Seven Things I Cannot Do
1) Legitimately beat my brother at Risk
2) 110 hurdles (believe me I tried, it was ugly)
3) Do well on a test created by Dr. Bowers
4) say the word publicity correctly on the first try ( it turns into plubicity unless I think about it)
5) sit in a cubicle from 9-5
6) keep people from writing crude things on my door with magnetic letters
7) communicate effectively
Seven Things That Attract Me to a Girl
1) loves Jesus
2) loves people
3) intelligence
4) grounded
5) creative/artistic
6) compassionate
7) likes sports, specifically college basketball (shallow I know, but what can I say, it's hot)
Seven Books/Series I like
1) Mexico (or anything by James Michner)
2) Running with the Buffaloes
3) Once a runner
4) The Chronicles of Narnia
5) Lord of the Rings Trilogy and The Hobbit
6) Don Quixote
7) Mere Christianity
Seven Movies I Would Watch Over and Over Again
1) Rudy
2) Breaking Away
3) Hoosiers
4) Chariots of Fire
5) Lawrence of Arabia
6) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
7) Motorcycle Diaries
Seven people who have to do this quiz now:
(I don't know if seven people read this blog)
1) Sabrina
2) Danny
3) Jenny
4) Joe
5) Andrew
6) Steve
7) Jorge
(off the top of my head)
1) Travel the world
2) Run with the bulls in Pamplona
3) Write a book
4) Break 2:30 in a marathon
5) Learn a foreign language
6) Learn to play guitar........ so that I can......
7) Perform the full 14 minute version of Freebird in front of thousands
Seven Things I Cannot Do
1) Legitimately beat my brother at Risk
2) 110 hurdles (believe me I tried, it was ugly)
3) Do well on a test created by Dr. Bowers
4) say the word publicity correctly on the first try ( it turns into plubicity unless I think about it)
5) sit in a cubicle from 9-5
6) keep people from writing crude things on my door with magnetic letters
7) communicate effectively
Seven Things That Attract Me to a Girl
1) loves Jesus
2) loves people
3) intelligence
4) grounded
5) creative/artistic
6) compassionate
7) likes sports, specifically college basketball (shallow I know, but what can I say, it's hot)
Seven Books/Series I like
1) Mexico (or anything by James Michner)
2) Running with the Buffaloes
3) Once a runner
4) The Chronicles of Narnia
5) Lord of the Rings Trilogy and The Hobbit
6) Don Quixote
7) Mere Christianity
Seven Movies I Would Watch Over and Over Again
1) Rudy
2) Breaking Away
3) Hoosiers
4) Chariots of Fire
5) Lawrence of Arabia
6) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
7) Motorcycle Diaries
Seven people who have to do this quiz now:
(I don't know if seven people read this blog)
1) Sabrina
2) Danny
3) Jenny
4) Joe
5) Andrew
6) Steve
7) Jorge
Conversation from the back row
Actual quote from about a week ago:
Me: "Hey Justin how was your weekend"
Justin: "Pretty good, but the oddest thing happened on my way to school this morning"
Me: "What's that?"
Justin: "As I was driving I saw a deer, but then I realized it was a squirrel with a stick in its mouth"
Me: "Hey Justin how was your weekend"
Justin: "Pretty good, but the oddest thing happened on my way to school this morning"
Me: "What's that?"
Justin: "As I was driving I saw a deer, but then I realized it was a squirrel with a stick in its mouth"
Monday, November 21, 2005
Reliability -Based Design of Water Distribution Systems and Other fun stuff
Dr. Buchberger is in Spain this week so half my classes are cancelled, so I figured I should use the time to work on my term paper for Reliability that is due next week. It's pretty interesting, I am studying reliability-based design of water distribution systems (hence the title)of this entry). But I have been sitting in the 8th floor computer lab in Baldwin for the last couple hours and I needed a break and decided to post on random stuff.
Anyway, I added a link to The Simple Way on my blog. Shane Claiborne (one of the guys that founded The Simple Way) was at the CCDA conference this weekend and some people were able to here him speak. I was able to visit the community this summer, it opened my eyes to some issues I had not considered or had preconceived notions about, and it gave me some things to think about.
So check out the site and the sample chapter from Shane's book that is coming out in February.
Well, I should get back to my WDSs (that's water distribution systems for you non-engineer types)
Anyway, I added a link to The Simple Way on my blog. Shane Claiborne (one of the guys that founded The Simple Way) was at the CCDA conference this weekend and some people were able to here him speak. I was able to visit the community this summer, it opened my eyes to some issues I had not considered or had preconceived notions about, and it gave me some things to think about.
So check out the site and the sample chapter from Shane's book that is coming out in February.
Well, I should get back to my WDSs (that's water distribution systems for you non-engineer types)
Monday, November 07, 2005
And the fat lady sang..
Well, it's done. It didn't really end like I wanted it to, but it's done none the less. Now I have to figure out what to do with all my free time.
Anyway, I figured I would just post pictures to reflect this past season. They are from three meets, Flyer 5k, All- Ohio, and Prenationals.
Anyway, I figured I would just post pictures to reflect this past season. They are from three meets, Flyer 5k, All- Ohio, and Prenationals.
Friday, November 04, 2005
Random
I finally posted the pictures from Masquerade on webshots, just click "My OTHER Photos" in the sidebar.
Also, last night I was crashing after my last exam and Nick comes downstairs and asks if I wanted to watch Hotel Rwanda. Evidently if he watched the movie and wrote a one page paper he gets extra credit for a class. Anyway, Nick, Patrick, and I end up watching the movie. I thought it was good and it gave me a lot to think about.
That's pretty much it, I have to be at Recon in 15 minutes.
Also, last night I was crashing after my last exam and Nick comes downstairs and asks if I wanted to watch Hotel Rwanda. Evidently if he watched the movie and wrote a one page paper he gets extra credit for a class. Anyway, Nick, Patrick, and I end up watching the movie. I thought it was good and it gave me a lot to think about.
That's pretty much it, I have to be at Recon in 15 minutes.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Pre Nationals
I just got back from Terra Haute, Indiana. I was at the NCAA Div. 1 Pre National cross country meet. Basically it's a meet held on the same course that will be used for the National Championships, it gives teams a chance to become familiar with the course and run against some good competition.
We did ok, neither the guys or the girls teams did as well as they hoped or are capable of, but that happens. I had a pretty good race, I finished just behind Randy King in 27:23 for an 8k.
I posted a bunch of pictures from the trip on my second webshots site, you can link to them under the second pictures link on the side.
Now I have to get to work on my Reinforced Concrete homework which is due Monday.
We did ok, neither the guys or the girls teams did as well as they hoped or are capable of, but that happens. I had a pretty good race, I finished just behind Randy King in 27:23 for an 8k.
I posted a bunch of pictures from the trip on my second webshots site, you can link to them under the second pictures link on the side.
Now I have to get to work on my Reinforced Concrete homework which is due Monday.
Saturday, October 08, 2005
All-Ohio
Yesterday was the 51st annual All-Ohio cross country meet. We did ok, we got 4th out of 41 teams. It rained all day so the course was really muddy. Taylor wiped out going around a turn, and I almost fell a couple of times. Anyway, it was fun, even though we didn't do as well as hoped. My mom came to watch the meet for the first time, my dad and niece were there also.
After the meet we stopped at a nice restaurant in downtown Delaware called "Buns". the food was good, but we were all tired and it was good to get home.
Peace
After the meet we stopped at a nice restaurant in downtown Delaware called "Buns". the food was good, but we were all tired and it was good to get home.
Peace
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Riverside Concert Tonight
Tonight at 7:00 p.m. at the Catskellar in the basement of TUC, a ridiculously awesome band called Riverside will be playing.
Everyone should come and check them out.
Everyone should come and check them out.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
School starts tomarrow
Well, school starts tomarrow and I am almost ready.
I finally finished my bed, so I have a place to sleep. Now I can finish moving my stuff into my room.
I am looking forward to classes starting, but this quarter is going to be rough.
That is all for now because I am tired.
I finally finished my bed, so I have a place to sleep. Now I can finish moving my stuff into my room.
I am looking forward to classes starting, but this quarter is going to be rough.
That is all for now because I am tired.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Bob Huggins
• UC's winningest coach in victories (399) and percentage (.759)
• Named national coach of the year by at least one organization in
five different seasons (1992, '93, '99, '00 and '02)
• His 567-199 career record (.740) ranks him seventh in winning
percentage and 11th in victories among active Division I coaches
• Third-youngest Division I coach to reach 500 career victories
• Named conference coach of the year seven times ? in the Ohio
Valley (1985, '86) while at Akron; and in the Metro ('90), the Great
Midwest ('92, '93) and Conference USA ('99, 2000) while at UC
• Directed UC teams to 10 league regular-season championships and eight conference tournament titles
• UC’s string of 14 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances is the third-longest active streak
So long Jason Bennett, O.J. Mayo, and Bill Walker
Good Bye 2008 National Championship
Thank you Bob for 16 incredible years
Fire Nancy Zimpher
• Named national coach of the year by at least one organization in
five different seasons (1992, '93, '99, '00 and '02)
• His 567-199 career record (.740) ranks him seventh in winning
percentage and 11th in victories among active Division I coaches
• Third-youngest Division I coach to reach 500 career victories
• Named conference coach of the year seven times ? in the Ohio
Valley (1985, '86) while at Akron; and in the Metro ('90), the Great
Midwest ('92, '93) and Conference USA ('99, 2000) while at UC
• Directed UC teams to 10 league regular-season championships and eight conference tournament titles
• UC’s string of 14 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances is the third-longest active streak
So long Jason Bennett, O.J. Mayo, and Bill Walker
Good Bye 2008 National Championship
Thank you Bob for 16 incredible years
Fire Nancy Zimpher
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Christians and Politics
Conservative Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson has called for the United States to assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, calling him "a terrific danger" bent on exporting Communism and Islamic extremism across the Americas.
"If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it," Robertson told viewers on his "The 700 Club" show Monday. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war." He called Chavez "a dangerous enemy to our south, controlling a huge pool of oil, that could hurt us badly. We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. we don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."
Robertson accused Chavez, a left-wing populist with close ties to Cuban President Fidel Castro, of trying to make Venezuela "a launching pad for Communist infiltration and Muslim extremism all over the continent. This is in our sphere of influence, so we can't let this happen." Chavez has said he believes the United States is trying to assassinate him, vowing that Venezuela, which accounts for more than 10 percent of U.S. oil imports, would shut off the flow of oil if that happens.
See the broadcast here.
When I started to write about this article I became frustrated. I believe that Pat Robertson's statement was off-the-cuff and ignorant and should not have been said on broadcast television.
But at the same time I am conflicted on where a Christian should stand on matters of national security and foreign policy, such as the possible actions of the Venezuelan goverment against the United States and also the conflict in Iraq.
My friend Zach wrote in his blog concerning Robertson's statements, "the Sermon on the Mount has been replaced with the Declaration of Independence - "The American Dream" and "The American Way of Life".... takes precedence over the command that came from the mouth of the Living God "Love your enemies". listen for yourself...the voice of the evangelical christian in America"
What he says makes sense to me, but I have a hard time trying to figure out how to turn love into action in these circumstances. Maybe I just need to think outside of the box.
I don't know if I have made any sense and I don't know if anyone reads this, but I would be interested to here what people think.
"If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it," Robertson told viewers on his "The 700 Club" show Monday. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war." He called Chavez "a dangerous enemy to our south, controlling a huge pool of oil, that could hurt us badly. We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. we don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."
Robertson accused Chavez, a left-wing populist with close ties to Cuban President Fidel Castro, of trying to make Venezuela "a launching pad for Communist infiltration and Muslim extremism all over the continent. This is in our sphere of influence, so we can't let this happen." Chavez has said he believes the United States is trying to assassinate him, vowing that Venezuela, which accounts for more than 10 percent of U.S. oil imports, would shut off the flow of oil if that happens.
See the broadcast here.
When I started to write about this article I became frustrated. I believe that Pat Robertson's statement was off-the-cuff and ignorant and should not have been said on broadcast television.
But at the same time I am conflicted on where a Christian should stand on matters of national security and foreign policy, such as the possible actions of the Venezuelan goverment against the United States and also the conflict in Iraq.
My friend Zach wrote in his blog concerning Robertson's statements, "the Sermon on the Mount has been replaced with the Declaration of Independence - "The American Dream" and "The American Way of Life".... takes precedence over the command that came from the mouth of the Living God "Love your enemies". listen for yourself...the voice of the evangelical christian in America"
What he says makes sense to me, but I have a hard time trying to figure out how to turn love into action in these circumstances. Maybe I just need to think outside of the box.
I don't know if I have made any sense and I don't know if anyone reads this, but I would be interested to here what people think.
Saturday, July 30, 2005
Saturday
Today was fun.
Last night I drove home to my parents house and ate dinner, I went to bed kind of early because I was running a race early the next morning.
This morning I woke up at 6:00 a.m. and drove to Brookeville, OH to run in the annual 5 mile Picnic Run that they have in conjunction with a little festival. The race went alright, I got ninth in 28:10. I was disappointed with the time, but I haven't been doing much speedwork so I guess it was ok for having mostly done milage training.
Anyway, while I was waiting around for the awards ceremony one of my buddies that ran with me came over and handed me two tickets to the US Senior Open that was going on at the NCR course in Kettering. He had to go with work and somehow he ended up with two extra tickets. So that was pretty sweet. I spent the rest of the afternoon with my brother watching some Professional Golf. Now I am just hanging out at my parents house until tomarrow afternoon, air conditioning and free food are nice.
Last night I drove home to my parents house and ate dinner, I went to bed kind of early because I was running a race early the next morning.
This morning I woke up at 6:00 a.m. and drove to Brookeville, OH to run in the annual 5 mile Picnic Run that they have in conjunction with a little festival. The race went alright, I got ninth in 28:10. I was disappointed with the time, but I haven't been doing much speedwork so I guess it was ok for having mostly done milage training.
Anyway, while I was waiting around for the awards ceremony one of my buddies that ran with me came over and handed me two tickets to the US Senior Open that was going on at the NCR course in Kettering. He had to go with work and somehow he ended up with two extra tickets. So that was pretty sweet. I spent the rest of the afternoon with my brother watching some Professional Golf. Now I am just hanging out at my parents house until tomarrow afternoon, air conditioning and free food are nice.
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
I love running
As you might have inferred from the title of this post, I enjoy running. I was reminded of this yesterday as I ran with some guys on the team up in the Kenwood area. We met at French Park at 7:30 pm in the hopes that it would be a little cooler (being as the temperatures had hovered near 100 for the previous two days) and proceeded to run a good 11 or 12 miles. It was very refreshing. Running during the summers has not always been that fun for me. Often times I run by myself and I'll run the same course over and over. But even though it was ridiculously hot, yesterday was just one of those days where I felt like I was "in the zone." Yes, I realize that it's kind of a corny phrase, but I can't think of a better way to describe it. You can feel that slight burning sensation when you take a breath and the lactic acid building in your legs, but it doesn't really matter, you just keep cruising and it feels like you could run forever. But anyway, I love to run and I think that everyone should give it a try.
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Guatemala Pictures
Well, I finally got my pictures from Guatemala posted, you can get to the site from the link on the right that says "My Photos." I didn't have enough space to post all of my pictures, so I tried to pick the best ones or the ones that best represented the people and the experience. Cool. Peace.
Monday, July 04, 2005
Live 8
Let me just say that this weekend was amazing. I had the privilege to be able to attend the Live 8 concert in Philadelphia and spend the weekend with an awesome group of people who live in a community called The Simple Way in inner city Philly. Friday after work I picked up my friend Zach and we drove for 10 hours through a mini monsoon, got lost and ended up in New Jersey, but finally made it to Philly at 3:30 am. Needless to say I crashed and slept pretty well. The next day we got up and worked at a thrift store run by The Simple Way. It was fun to hang out with some of the people that live there and meet some of the neighborhood kids. I cleaned the store a little, sorted some clothes, and delivered some of the clothes they couldn't use to another organization that would sell them to make rags. At about 1:00 pm we went over to the Live 8 concert going on at the art museum on Benjamin Frankin Parkway. The concert going on in Philadelphia was just one of many going on across the world, their purpose was to raise awareness for the G8 Summit that is taking place July 6-8. Basically the 8 richest countries in the world are meeting to discuss poverty and the foreign spending, specifically in Africa. We got there about an hour after it started and it was packed, it was estimated that there between 600 and 800 thousand people in attendence. We made our way through the crowd and got reasonably close to the main stage. The concert was pretty cool, there was an ecclectic mix of performers. Linkin Park, Jay-Z, Keith Urban, Jars of Clay, Maroon 5 and many others were there. It was incredible to be a part of the largest lobbying event in the history of the world. After the concert we went to an exhibit on Iraq and ate dinner near Independence Hall. That night five of us slept on the roof of one of their houses, and as you can imagine, in the inner city on 4th of July weekend there were fire works going off all around us until 4am. It was just cool to lay there and watch them. On Sunday a group of us went to mass at Sacred Heart church in Camden, New Jersey. Afterward we ate lunch at a place called the Camden House, they were some of the nicest and most hospitable people that I have met in my entire life. We got back to The Simple Way around 2:00 pm and I packed up my stuff in my car. However, before I left I was able to juggle with Shane and Joe, two guys that live at the Simple Way. It was a lot of fun. So far this summer has been incredible, both through my trip to Guatemala and this weekend, God has been showing me so much. I am excited to see what God has in store for me as I look toward graduation next year and what lies after that.
Sunday, June 19, 2005
Week One Recap
Well, I have been in Guatemala for almost a week now and so much has happened. Antigua is awesome, the architecture is amazing, the food is good, the people are nice, and the weather is perfect.
Our hotel is basically a colonial hacienda that has been converted into a bed and breakfast.
Most of the first week we spent in cross-cultural training, I have really enjoyed it and have found it to be very interesting. I have begun to realize the applications of cross-cultural experiences to my own life,
We did spend one day in the fields helping two local farmers from Santa Maria de Jesus.
Yesterday Diana took us to lake Atitlan, a huge lake about 3 hours north east. We rode boats across and checked out a little town on the other side.
Today we got up early and climb Paceya, an active volcano. We got to within 500 feet of the summit and saw lava erupting from the top, not in great quanities, but it would sort of splurt out at irregular intervals.
Well, there is a lot more, but my time is running out in the internet cafe.
Adios
Our hotel is basically a colonial hacienda that has been converted into a bed and breakfast.
Most of the first week we spent in cross-cultural training, I have really enjoyed it and have found it to be very interesting. I have begun to realize the applications of cross-cultural experiences to my own life,
We did spend one day in the fields helping two local farmers from Santa Maria de Jesus.
Yesterday Diana took us to lake Atitlan, a huge lake about 3 hours north east. We rode boats across and checked out a little town on the other side.
Today we got up early and climb Paceya, an active volcano. We got to within 500 feet of the summit and saw lava erupting from the top, not in great quanities, but it would sort of splurt out at irregular intervals.
Well, there is a lot more, but my time is running out in the internet cafe.
Adios
Monday, June 06, 2005
Distance Decathlon
The 2nd Annual Distance Decathlon took place this past Saturday, June 4, at the Ben and Dee Gettler Stadium at the University of Cincinnati. Now, it's not called the Distance Decathlon because it consists of 10 distance events, but rather because it is a regular decathlon in which only distance runners compete. As you can imagine this makes some of the events pretty entertaining. I've posted a couple pictures, and the rest will be on my webshots site as soon as I get the time to mess with it.
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