2.28.2005

off for the week

I'm leaving tomorrow for a conference for "next generation" church leaders. I'm looking forward to it. I'll be staying with some great friends, and I'll be able to see a lot of people I don't usually get to see. I'm really glad that I get to mix the conference with visiting friends. I will probably have internet access while I'm at the conference - from what I understand Willow Creek has wifi on their campus - so I may be posting some random things up here as the week goes by. Either way, have a great week and all that.

2.26.2005

indian kid has his lies revealed

Check out this link (click on the title of my post). Apparently a kid in India made up a NASA test, claimed he roxxored it, and then got everyone in India to recognize him. He was given all sorts of money from the government and the people in the government, hailed as a hero, and people only figured out he was lying while he was waiting for his meeting with the President of India. Reading the details, it's obvious the kid is full of it. Kids lie like this all the time - just this week I was talking to a student who told me he was flying down to LA to talk to his plastic surgeon, because he had to make sure he looked good for his nights of clubbing, driving around in his '05 Porsche. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that people make stuff up. Anyway, it's pretty amusing.

As an aside - I'm a little put out because my WoW server is down, so I can't play. Today I was planning on getting some time in before I go out of town next week. Oh well.

2.22.2005

snow camp and more

I got back from Snow Camp yesterday, and it was a lot of fun. The weekend wasn't without its stresses or imperfections of course, but overall I'm glad I went. It snowed a lot. I'm not sure exactly how much snow fell while we were up there, but I'd say it was at least three feet of snow. I'm not just talking out of my butt with that either, check out some of the pictures I took and see for yourself.

Perhaps my least favorite thing about the camp was the fact that I hurt my shoulder pretty bad. On Sunday some of the kids were sliding down a hill on those little round plastic things that pass as toboggans these days. I decided I wanted to do that too, and not only that but I decided against my better judgment to race a student, Aaron, down the hill. Once we started down the hill, he unintentionally got directly in front of me as we careened down. I didn't want to land on him and have to explain to his parents that yes, I smashed their kid while racing him down a snowy hill, so I tried to spin or turn or do whatever I thought would help me avoid landing on him when we reached the bottom. I forgot this wasn't the deluxe plastic circle of a sled and so I just spun around, while letting out a very girly "oh crap!". As I hit a bump at the bottom, I was thrown into the air a little bit, off of my sled, and I landed on my shoulderblade. I heard some weird noise come from the shoulder as I hit the ground, and I just laid there for a few seconds.

I didn't go to the hospital or anything but my right shoulder hurts and if I move it certain ways it really hurts. I'm currently without health insurance so I hope it's nothing serious, and it'll just get better. Since I can move it, I hear the injury probably isn't anything real serious, it's just real sore. Kinda sucks, but oh well.

In other news, Stand to Reason has started a blog. I am a fan of Greg Koukl's and the ministry they do there in general, though I don't agree with every little thing I find it to be a pretty good resource. They do a good job of discussing Christianity in an intelligent way. I was a little surprised to read Greg's assessment of Brian McLaren and the Emerging Church movement, however:

Be forewarned. The Emergent Church is the most theologically corrosive view/movement/trend in a long time. The Seeker movement and the “Laughing Revival” of the last decade pale in comparison. And it’s consuming millions, especially young people. We’ll keep you posted.


While I don't agree with everything said by every person within the Emergent movement, I do find Koukl's assessment to be a bit off the mark. It also sounds like he doesn't like the concept of the Seeker-sensitive church, which I am a part of and generally approve of. Of course within every group or movement there are going to be some people who take certain points or ideas too far - but to condemn an entire movement because of that is foolish.

2.17.2005

out of town

For those who care, this weekend I'll be out of town from Friday to Monday at Sierra Pines snow camp with the youth group. I will be on a snowboard for the first time in a while...and I'm sure I'll come back nice and sore and frustrated at the slopes.

2.14.2005

HIV used to combat cancer

This time I'm linking to a real news article. And it's really interesting. You know how HIV goes around attacking cells in the body? Some scientists are testing out reprogramming it to seek and destroy cancer cells. So far the studies are promising. Take a look.

bin laden's take on valentine's day

It's pretty funny.

2.11.2005

detroit riot revisited

Apparently Jermaine O'Neal, one of the Indiana Pacers involved in the big brawl last year on the court, is trying to clean up his image. He's in a magazine asking the question "what would you do" if you were in the situation he was. For those of you who don't know, O'Neal got involved in a big fight on the basketball court that involved him running up into the stands wailing on fans.

So he asks the question "what would you do" in that situation, seriously. Here are some of Jason Whitlock's comments, which you can read on espn.com:


"What Would You Do?" screamed the headline. And writer S.L. Price, with a great assist from O'Neal, went on to rationalize O'Neal's Detroit cowardice and paint the picture that just about every other red-blooded, 6-foot-10, 240-pound American man would've cold-cocked a dumpy fan in that situation.

The article was sickening and proves a couple of points:
1. NBA players are still in denial about the realities that brawl brought to light.
2. We in the media are intent on keeping the players in denial.

"What Would You Do?"

O'Neal thinks this is a legitimate question. From an impoverished background, devoid of a college education, O'Neal has no clue what a rational, mature, sophisticated, God-fearing person might do when Ron Artest sparks a near-riot.

Running for cover, trying to get teammates and coaches out of harm's way never crosses O'Neal's mind. Not even today. He can't fathom the atrocities that men and women of all races suffered so that he could earn millions of dollars playing a game. He was never in school long enough to truly comprehend what Jackie Robinson would do if Ron Artest or a drunken fan set off a riot.


He's pretty hard on O'Neal in the article...but I think there's truth to what he's saying.

2.09.2005

two things

First, Janelle alerted me to the news about a judge in Oklahoma having his career ended by allegations that he was masturbating underneath the bench during trials. Her take on it was more compassionate than my first response, she said that it's a sad sight of sexual addiction really taking over someone's life. Man.

Second, I think I'm going to give something up for lent. I'm not sure what it is I'm going to give up, though. Since lent starts today, I'd better make up my mind quickly. I'm considering chocolate, but when I said that out loud to Janelle this morning I was struck by how un-manly that sounds. Anyway I'm being careful about what I partake in until I decide what it is I'm going to give up. I've never given anything up for lent before. I think next year I am going to try to get together an observance of the whole Easter season, with Lent, Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and the other such traditional celebrations. I think there's a lot to the season that I, and many I know, miss out on.

2.08.2005

2.06.2005

supah sunday

Today is the Superbowl. I'm going to attend a party where my Dad will be bringing various exotic meats, from Snake to Alligator to Buffalo. I am definitely looking forward to it. To me, Superbowl Sunday is right up there with Christmas and Thanksgiving when it comes to eating lots of good food. The party starts at 2pm and I can hardly wait.

My prediction for the game, Pats win 24-14. The ideal situation for me, though, would be an Eagles win with T.O. not playing or making a contribution. Maybe even dropping a couple passes, but them still winning. That'd be nice.

2.02.2005

Dela Top of the World


Dela Top of the World
Originally uploaded by actionjax.

Here's a pic from Santa Cruz today. The weather was beautiful, and I wasn't too terrible at disc golfing despite the fact that I haven't been in months. This is looking down towards Monterey, I believe, from the "Top of the World" hole on the course.

To see the rest of my pictures from the day you should be able to click on the picture above and it'll take you there.

death to homeschooling

I'm about to head out for some disc golf in Santa Cruz, something I haven't done in a while. I hope to have some pictures to put up on flickr, and then put up on here.

Also, here's an article on homeschooling I found interesting, and I think I agree with it.