so the chiefs ended 4-12.
i remember back in october they were 4-3 and going into a home game against the green bay packers. chiefs led in the 4th quarter and i really thought we had a shot at being a great team. our offense was clicking. our defense looked unbelievable. players were smiling.
but it turned out that we really shouldn't've believed in their defense. and the offense was a disaster from that point out. and there have only been two real moments of joy since that game: both of jared allen's td receptions. we proceded to lose 9 straight and end the season as proably the nfl's worst team. yeah miami went 1-15, but at least they've won a game since october. and at least they had no hope to begin with - there was no disappointment. just shame. at the halfway point the chiefs thought they had a chance - but then disappointed the world (sans oakland and bronco fans).
and anyone who thought to put hope in damon huard and brodie croyle is out of their minds.
three years ago my friend dan and i went to the chiefs pre-season meet-the-team scrimmage at arrowhead. we watched players take snaps for the first time and we got to follow along on a nifty little sheet that had all the prospects names and info on it.
then some guy 3 rows behind us said the following:
"yeah damon huard!"
and dan and i started laughing hysterically. WHO? damon huard? third string damon? mr. back up sensation damon huard? mr. might lose his spot on the team to casey printers?
and yes. this is the same damon huard who has been taking snaps for the chiefs this year. what he is missing in his arm strength he clearly makes up for with his lack of mobility. just get a pinky on his ankle and he'll tuck the ball and timber right into the ground. what a dope.
and i'm sorry, the guy might have a good arm, but trying to develop brodie croyle as a franchise quarterback is like trying to usurp john buck from behind the plate: it just isn't going to happen. ESPECIALLY behind that o-line.
jason whitlock said it nicely in the kc star today: "tony gonzalez and jared allen are two of the best players at their position. everything else is a mystery."
i'll agree - but i'll also add that dwayne bowe is and will be a stud reciever for a long time in the nfl. and larry johnson is still the centaur.
the only hope i see: a couple years down the road we've picked up a few dece linemen out of the draft that we can run LJ behind. we can't expect much more out of carl peterson and herm edwards (who we found out after the jets game on sunday are both going to be back next year - celebration will ensue i'm sure of it).
it is sad to reach january and not have any excitement about the chiefs. kansas city kinda feels like it had the wind knocked out of it. any excitement left belongs to ku and mu fans who are likely to be silenced in the upcoming days - i'll take arkansas by 10 and virginia tech by 17 - and then from there our excitement turns to the always promising kansas city royals.
espn.com had a poll on its home page a few days back:
who will win the AL Central?
- Minnesota Twins
- Chicago White Sox
- Detroit Tigers
- Cleveland Indians
.........yeah. those were the four options. seems like not only kc has no hope in the royals. not even in the running as far as espn is concerned. not shocking news. but still disappointing.
maybe we'll inherit a terrific expansion basketball or hockey team to fill the sprint center. cause right now i'm not seeing much hope in kc sports. and not much in the near future either. we'll see where we're at in 5 years - otherwise i might be moving on to another city's sports teams.
as far as the playoffs go: i pretty much dont care. jsut give me a bunch of great games and maybe a cinderella into the champ games.
whatever. i'm over sports. i'm sticking to board games. who cares if you're better than me at scrabble? at least i control my own fate instead of watching herm edwards run it for me.
-ap.
December 31, 2007
December 26, 2007
xmas eve service.
every year, just like relatively every other church in the world, my church does a christmas eve service. each year the sermon is essentially the same, albeit they may go around it a little differently each year.
this year Luke 2 came in skit form. i think it was an attempt at a 21st century take on the days leading up to Jesus' birth, but the word "righteous" was used to mean "awesome" and that usage is clearly a part of a late 20th century lexicon. apart from a few moments where laughter was expected but not recieved - it was well done and i was comfortable with it.
typically at my church we light the Christ Candle on the advent wreath on christmas eve, and that was indeed the case this year as well. we also typically all hold candles and my pastor lights his candle from the Christ Candle and then passes it to the congregation and Jesus spreads like wildfire to everyone. i really like to play with the wax on the candles as it drips down the side too. however, the candle was not spread to everyone this year. instead, all the new christians from the year 2007 were encouraged to come forward and light their candle as a symbol of their candle having been reached. i really liked the idea, and i was excited to see the individuals come forward - face beaming - celebrating their first christmas as a christian.
however, in my service, there were 5 individuals that came forward. one was 12; he went alone. the rest were accompanied by an adult.
this is exciting, yes, but i'm extremely wary of the idea that a 4 year old can dedicate his/her life to Christ. instead of seeing a kid on a mission for Jesus, i typically see a kid whose parents have decided that they'd like to raise their kid as a Christian. i see a child with a moldable heart hearing about jesus and santa and believing that both are equally true. yeah, it is probably a good thing for parents to decide that they are going to raise their child in a christian home, but is this really the right thing to do?
sometimes i wish i hadn't 'grown up in the church'. i only know my life as a Christian. i dont recall a converstion experience entirely - yes, many many many meaningful moments - but none that i believe truly converted me to my current faith. is it okay for parents to choose their child's faith for them? cause what i sometimes feel like i've done is take the beliefs that i've been given, and look at the world around me through those eyes. i've got a set of Christian goggles on my face that have never been taken off. i can't compare my life now to a life without Christ. i can't compare and i believe that somewhat limits me in my faith.
another point i'd like to make regarding this little candle exercise - there was no one over the age of 12 "converted". that worries me for two reasons:
1) how serious is the commitment of someone 12 or younger?
2) in a congregation of about 1,000 people - i think it is sad - regardless of age - that there were such a small number of individuals. what does that say for an extremely large and vastly growing church population?
i dunno. it concerns me somewhat that a church has so very little to show for itself in terms of evangelism. i know it isn't all about the numbers, but there weren't ANY people even high school aged who had their candles lit at the end of the service. perhaps there were other individuals in the other two services tat i did not attend - i sure hope so the 7 pm service was sparse.
-ap.
ps: hi kate.
EDIT: i've been notified with some "good news": there were a number of individuals in the OTHER two services that came forward. i guess i either attended the oldies service or just a service that happened to be populated with many children. so thats great.
this year Luke 2 came in skit form. i think it was an attempt at a 21st century take on the days leading up to Jesus' birth, but the word "righteous" was used to mean "awesome" and that usage is clearly a part of a late 20th century lexicon. apart from a few moments where laughter was expected but not recieved - it was well done and i was comfortable with it.
typically at my church we light the Christ Candle on the advent wreath on christmas eve, and that was indeed the case this year as well. we also typically all hold candles and my pastor lights his candle from the Christ Candle and then passes it to the congregation and Jesus spreads like wildfire to everyone. i really like to play with the wax on the candles as it drips down the side too. however, the candle was not spread to everyone this year. instead, all the new christians from the year 2007 were encouraged to come forward and light their candle as a symbol of their candle having been reached. i really liked the idea, and i was excited to see the individuals come forward - face beaming - celebrating their first christmas as a christian.however, in my service, there were 5 individuals that came forward. one was 12; he went alone. the rest were accompanied by an adult.
this is exciting, yes, but i'm extremely wary of the idea that a 4 year old can dedicate his/her life to Christ. instead of seeing a kid on a mission for Jesus, i typically see a kid whose parents have decided that they'd like to raise their kid as a Christian. i see a child with a moldable heart hearing about jesus and santa and believing that both are equally true. yeah, it is probably a good thing for parents to decide that they are going to raise their child in a christian home, but is this really the right thing to do?
sometimes i wish i hadn't 'grown up in the church'. i only know my life as a Christian. i dont recall a converstion experience entirely - yes, many many many meaningful moments - but none that i believe truly converted me to my current faith. is it okay for parents to choose their child's faith for them? cause what i sometimes feel like i've done is take the beliefs that i've been given, and look at the world around me through those eyes. i've got a set of Christian goggles on my face that have never been taken off. i can't compare my life now to a life without Christ. i can't compare and i believe that somewhat limits me in my faith.
another point i'd like to make regarding this little candle exercise - there was no one over the age of 12 "converted". that worries me for two reasons:
1) how serious is the commitment of someone 12 or younger?
2) in a congregation of about 1,000 people - i think it is sad - regardless of age - that there were such a small number of individuals. what does that say for an extremely large and vastly growing church population?
i dunno. it concerns me somewhat that a church has so very little to show for itself in terms of evangelism. i know it isn't all about the numbers, but there weren't ANY people even high school aged who had their candles lit at the end of the service. perhaps there were other individuals in the other two services tat i did not attend - i sure hope so the 7 pm service was sparse.
-ap.
ps: hi kate.
EDIT: i've been notified with some "good news": there were a number of individuals in the OTHER two services that came forward. i guess i either attended the oldies service or just a service that happened to be populated with many children. so thats great.
December 21, 2007
des moines.
there are some families that are just not cohesive entirely. there is bickering, disagreements, uncomfortable moments, etc.
this is not the case with my extended family. hilarious and most comfortable environment anyone could ask for - well maybe not anyone - anyone who is in my family at least.
we have 9 cousins born between the years of 1984 and 1993. chronologically: emily rose, erin rosemary, adam paul, colleen faith, matthew ralph, holly rachele, meredith christine, kathryn margaret, and anna caroline.
i have the shortest name. never knew that before right now.
i love them very much. they're 8 of my best friends and i get to see them on sunday in des moines.
highlight of my life. i cannot wait.
-ap.
this is not the case with my extended family. hilarious and most comfortable environment anyone could ask for - well maybe not anyone - anyone who is in my family at least.
we have 9 cousins born between the years of 1984 and 1993. chronologically: emily rose, erin rosemary, adam paul, colleen faith, matthew ralph, holly rachele, meredith christine, kathryn margaret, and anna caroline.
i have the shortest name. never knew that before right now.
i love them very much. they're 8 of my best friends and i get to see them on sunday in des moines.
highlight of my life. i cannot wait.
-ap.
December 13, 2007
quick thoughts following semester seven.
i just finished my 7th semester of college. that is so many.
it is amazing to me how fast it feels like life is going by when you look back on it, but how slow it feels like it is traveling when you look to the future; when in reality it is moving at the same pace at all times.
that probably means i'm an anxious person who needs to settle down and enjoy the pace around me and take advantage of what is going on in the here and now.
the last couple days i've been without and heat, electricity, and warm water - leaving me with a handful of terrific friends and a great time.
its interesting how great life can be when everything (literally) just quits around you and you just settle down and enjoy the people you love to the fullest.
photo courtesy of luke healy.
-ap.
it is amazing to me how fast it feels like life is going by when you look back on it, but how slow it feels like it is traveling when you look to the future; when in reality it is moving at the same pace at all times.
that probably means i'm an anxious person who needs to settle down and enjoy the pace around me and take advantage of what is going on in the here and now.
the last couple days i've been without and heat, electricity, and warm water - leaving me with a handful of terrific friends and a great time.
its interesting how great life can be when everything (literally) just quits around you and you just settle down and enjoy the people you love to the fullest.
photo courtesy of luke healy.
-ap.
no mere mortal can resist...
i've fallen back in love with michael jackson this week.
that is all.
-ap.
that is all.
-ap.
December 12, 2007
cabin fever.
no power in manhattan on tuesday.
and boy was it a blast.
i have no complaints. i'd lose power all over again if i could. loved it.
except that a couple of my friends had tuesday finals that they now have to make up on saturday. yuck.
plus the trees (what is still standing of them) are absolutely beautiful.
but now i have to go study for my linguistics final tomorrow.
-ap.
and boy was it a blast.
i have no complaints. i'd lose power all over again if i could. loved it.
except that a couple of my friends had tuesday finals that they now have to make up on saturday. yuck.
plus the trees (what is still standing of them) are absolutely beautiful.
but now i have to go study for my linguistics final tomorrow.
-ap.
December 07, 2007
paint by blogger.
blogging is interesting kinda.
i can essentially paint myself however i want in text form.
if i want to come across as caring, intelligent, wise, hilarious, thoughtful, invested, furious, frustrated, whatever - i can to it. and this kind of makes me feel a little bit cautious about what i post on this thing now. i don't know, maybe i'm double checking my motives i suppose.
cause really, what exactly is the point of blogging and letting people know your thoughts on life if they're fabricated so that you can fit whatever persona you care to fit in that blog. that comes across as fake and deceptive to me pretty much.
i've never really thought about this before. i wonder if i've been fake in the past and didnt even realize it. ew. i hope not.
-ap.
i can essentially paint myself however i want in text form.
if i want to come across as caring, intelligent, wise, hilarious, thoughtful, invested, furious, frustrated, whatever - i can to it. and this kind of makes me feel a little bit cautious about what i post on this thing now. i don't know, maybe i'm double checking my motives i suppose.
cause really, what exactly is the point of blogging and letting people know your thoughts on life if they're fabricated so that you can fit whatever persona you care to fit in that blog. that comes across as fake and deceptive to me pretty much.
i've never really thought about this before. i wonder if i've been fake in the past and didnt even realize it. ew. i hope not.
-ap.
freerice.com
go here. super great.
it is fun, educational, and missional.
its a win-win-WIN (the office ref).
-ap.
mr. excuse ridden over-confident kansas football fan
an email i was forwarded from karlie.
originally from one of her professors.
Bud Light Presents: Real Men of Genius
> (real men of genius)
> Today we salute you, Mr. Excuse Ridden Over-Confident Kansas Football
> Fan.
> (Mr. Excuse Ridden Over-Confident Kansas Football Fan) Eleven straight
> wins,
> you wore that classy "Muck Fizzou" shirt like you meant it (Pinch me,
> I'm
> dreamin'!) A season of bloated statistics and over-hyped wins against
> Junior
> Varsity competition (Serve another cupcake!) Losing to a superior team
> with
> better players is no match for your what-if scenarios and
> could-have-been
> dreams (The field goal missed by inches!) So crack open an ice-cold Bud
> Light you emphatic engineer of excuses. After all, you would've won the
> game if it was played somewhere else!
> (Mr Excuse Ridden Over-Confident Kansas Football Fan.)
i might extend it into basketball a little too. bradley, bucknell, you know.
pardon the arrows and sporatic line lengths.
i'm too lazy to fix it.
plus i like the forwarded email look.
-ap.
originally from one of her professors.
Bud Light Presents: Real Men of Genius
> (real men of genius)
> Today we salute you, Mr. Excuse Ridden Over-Confident Kansas Football
> Fan.
> (Mr. Excuse Ridden Over-Confident Kansas Football Fan) Eleven straight
> wins,
> you wore that classy "Muck Fizzou" shirt like you meant it (Pinch me,
> I'm
> dreamin'!) A season of bloated statistics and over-hyped wins against
> Junior
> Varsity competition (Serve another cupcake!) Losing to a superior team
> with
> better players is no match for your what-if scenarios and
> could-have-been
> dreams (The field goal missed by inches!) So crack open an ice-cold Bud
> Light you emphatic engineer of excuses. After all, you would've won the
> game if it was played somewhere else!
> (Mr Excuse Ridden Over-Confident Kansas Football Fan.)
i might extend it into basketball a little too. bradley, bucknell, you know.
pardon the arrows and sporatic line lengths.
i'm too lazy to fix it.
plus i like the forwarded email look.
-ap.
December 05, 2007
let me whine about the bcs. everyone else gets to.
for those of you who have any sports knowledge at all - you already know the ridiculousness of the bcs. its been around for 10 years now - and only three years it has really worked at all.
yeah there's a ton of talk of a playoff system and better ways to do things - which i agree, there should be a playoff system. its more exciting, gives teams from non-bcs conferences and with weaker schedules a shot at the national championship (boise st '06, hawaii '07), and it ceases the ridiculous debates, blogs, articles, and complaints that are unavoidable at the end of each college football season.
but that isn't going to happen any time soon - cause college football is about money and publicity. it stinks that it is true, but it is. it is about better television and higher ratings and ticket sales and popularity. boo.
ultimately the sponsoring companies and the bowl committees get to pick which teams they think would make their company more money. i understand that. that having been said, let me point out my complaints about this years college football post-season.
missouri left out while kansas and illinois are in?
first off, let me say crassly that missouri got screwed big time. number one going into the big xii campionship game fighting for a national championship berth, and you get beat by oklahoma (debatably the best team in the nation) and you get ousted out of bcs bowls completely? thats just unfair. but what makes things worse: the team you clobbered the week before is stealing your spot. and what makes things worse: the second best team from the big ten, illinois, is in a bowl game too - and you beat them too. the only reason illinois made is is because the bcs needed a big ten team because the only truly good team weas ohio state (which tells you a lot about the teams they played this year - but more on that later). missouri has already defeated 2 of the 10 bcs teams this year. this is very "kstate 98": they can win the big xii championship and go to the national championship, but they lost to a&m and got dropped out entirely. but that neither here nor there. point is: ku doesnt deserve a bcs berth. both cause i hate them and because they didnt play a sole/soul (i never know which makes sense in that phrase). best wins: at kstate, at texas a&m - neither of which made a bowl game. ku only played two ranked opponents all year long - #24 kstate (what a joke) and #3 missouri (got destroyed). plus missouri is ranked higher in the bcs! #6 vs #8? it ought to be an obvious selection. but since life in post-season college football is about money and publicity - no wonder ku got picked over missouri. i'll be excited to read all the depressing (to others) headlines after virginia tech steamrolls them in miami. i'll be wearing my VT garb for sure.
lsu over oklahoma and virginia tech for the national championship?
lsu loses two games all season: at kentucky and at home against arkansas. these teams COMBINED for 7 wins in the SEC this year - and only one of them (ark) made a bowl game. oklahoma also loses only two games: at colorado and at texas tech. BOTH of which are bowl teams and BOTH of which were road games. oklahoma beat the number one team in the nation in teh big xii championship game by 21 points. not even close. lsu beats #14 tennessee by only a touchdown to win the SEC. and how about virginia tech?! they lose two games all season long, both to #2 ranked teams. the ACC was extremely underrated this year (BC, Clemson, Virginia). this one is harder to fight for beacuse lsu beat them badly early in the season, but virginia tech and oklahoma both won their conference championship games decisively and both were ranked higher than lsu going into conf champ week - and it appeared that those two performed better against higher ranked teams (win by 21 against #1 mizzou, win by 14 against #11 BC) than lsu (win by 7 against #14 tennessee). yet lsu jumps both of them from #7 to #2 to end up in the national championship while the other move up to #3 and #4. i just dont really get it.
ohio state as the number one overall?
i realize that SOMEBODY had to be number one, and maybe OSU is a possible choice, but what i dont understand is why that makes them a shoe in for the national championship. they haven't played a game against anyone ranked higher than #21 (which is something that every team but ku has done). and their only loss was to UNRANKED Illinois - who landed a bowl berth because of this ohio state tragedy. it has to be obvious that the big ten is overrated when only 3 teams are in the top 25. i guess my argument is based mostly on the fact that the big ten was sour this year up and down the conference. i dont think ohio state deserves it any more than the next 6 ranked teams. ugh.
games i'm truly excited to watch though:
cotton bowl: missouri vs. arkansas - chase daniel vs darren mcfadden - awesome.
fiesta bowl: oklahoma vs. west virginia - two alternate national title contenders - awesome.
sugar bowl: hawaii vs. georgia - get to see colt brennen play before midnight - awesome.
GMAC bowl: bowling green vs. tulsa (jk guys. jk.)
granted, i dont pick these things. and even though i find these flaws or things i'd like to debate - i feel like you can argue a case for any team really. except ku. ever.
really, when it all boils down to it - they probably made MOSTLY the right decisions. the only two changes i would truly and honestly make...
missouri in the orange bowl instead of kansas.
ANYBODY in the rose bowl besides illinois...florida? arizona state? boston college? even kansas!? thats how much illinois doesnt deserve it. i'd take ku/usc before illinois. just bad.
anyway. eventually the bcs committee will all die of old age and then we can have a college football post season the way it should be: playoff style. there are 96 ways to do it. all of which are better than the bcs.
man i love to complain.
-ap.
yeah there's a ton of talk of a playoff system and better ways to do things - which i agree, there should be a playoff system. its more exciting, gives teams from non-bcs conferences and with weaker schedules a shot at the national championship (boise st '06, hawaii '07), and it ceases the ridiculous debates, blogs, articles, and complaints that are unavoidable at the end of each college football season.
but that isn't going to happen any time soon - cause college football is about money and publicity. it stinks that it is true, but it is. it is about better television and higher ratings and ticket sales and popularity. boo.
ultimately the sponsoring companies and the bowl committees get to pick which teams they think would make their company more money. i understand that. that having been said, let me point out my complaints about this years college football post-season.
missouri left out while kansas and illinois are in?
first off, let me say crassly that missouri got screwed big time. number one going into the big xii campionship game fighting for a national championship berth, and you get beat by oklahoma (debatably the best team in the nation) and you get ousted out of bcs bowls completely? thats just unfair. but what makes things worse: the team you clobbered the week before is stealing your spot. and what makes things worse: the second best team from the big ten, illinois, is in a bowl game too - and you beat them too. the only reason illinois made is is because the bcs needed a big ten team because the only truly good team weas ohio state (which tells you a lot about the teams they played this year - but more on that later). missouri has already defeated 2 of the 10 bcs teams this year. this is very "kstate 98": they can win the big xii championship and go to the national championship, but they lost to a&m and got dropped out entirely. but that neither here nor there. point is: ku doesnt deserve a bcs berth. both cause i hate them and because they didnt play a sole/soul (i never know which makes sense in that phrase). best wins: at kstate, at texas a&m - neither of which made a bowl game. ku only played two ranked opponents all year long - #24 kstate (what a joke) and #3 missouri (got destroyed). plus missouri is ranked higher in the bcs! #6 vs #8? it ought to be an obvious selection. but since life in post-season college football is about money and publicity - no wonder ku got picked over missouri. i'll be excited to read all the depressing (to others) headlines after virginia tech steamrolls them in miami. i'll be wearing my VT garb for sure.
lsu over oklahoma and virginia tech for the national championship?
lsu loses two games all season: at kentucky and at home against arkansas. these teams COMBINED for 7 wins in the SEC this year - and only one of them (ark) made a bowl game. oklahoma also loses only two games: at colorado and at texas tech. BOTH of which are bowl teams and BOTH of which were road games. oklahoma beat the number one team in the nation in teh big xii championship game by 21 points. not even close. lsu beats #14 tennessee by only a touchdown to win the SEC. and how about virginia tech?! they lose two games all season long, both to #2 ranked teams. the ACC was extremely underrated this year (BC, Clemson, Virginia). this one is harder to fight for beacuse lsu beat them badly early in the season, but virginia tech and oklahoma both won their conference championship games decisively and both were ranked higher than lsu going into conf champ week - and it appeared that those two performed better against higher ranked teams (win by 21 against #1 mizzou, win by 14 against #11 BC) than lsu (win by 7 against #14 tennessee). yet lsu jumps both of them from #7 to #2 to end up in the national championship while the other move up to #3 and #4. i just dont really get it.
ohio state as the number one overall?
i realize that SOMEBODY had to be number one, and maybe OSU is a possible choice, but what i dont understand is why that makes them a shoe in for the national championship. they haven't played a game against anyone ranked higher than #21 (which is something that every team but ku has done). and their only loss was to UNRANKED Illinois - who landed a bowl berth because of this ohio state tragedy. it has to be obvious that the big ten is overrated when only 3 teams are in the top 25. i guess my argument is based mostly on the fact that the big ten was sour this year up and down the conference. i dont think ohio state deserves it any more than the next 6 ranked teams. ugh.
games i'm truly excited to watch though:
cotton bowl: missouri vs. arkansas - chase daniel vs darren mcfadden - awesome.
fiesta bowl: oklahoma vs. west virginia - two alternate national title contenders - awesome.
sugar bowl: hawaii vs. georgia - get to see colt brennen play before midnight - awesome.
GMAC bowl: bowling green vs. tulsa (jk guys. jk.)
granted, i dont pick these things. and even though i find these flaws or things i'd like to debate - i feel like you can argue a case for any team really. except ku. ever.
really, when it all boils down to it - they probably made MOSTLY the right decisions. the only two changes i would truly and honestly make...
missouri in the orange bowl instead of kansas.
ANYBODY in the rose bowl besides illinois...florida? arizona state? boston college? even kansas!? thats how much illinois doesnt deserve it. i'd take ku/usc before illinois. just bad.
anyway. eventually the bcs committee will all die of old age and then we can have a college football post season the way it should be: playoff style. there are 96 ways to do it. all of which are better than the bcs.
man i love to complain.
-ap.
spring semester.
next semester is probably going to go ahead and kill me.
i'm taking 15 hours - doesn't seem too steep really, but in the eyes of someone who dislikes school and hasn't had 5 courses where i was required to actually go to campus, sit down and take notes every day of the week? thats rough. the last time i didnt have a day off of campus in a week was first semester sophomore year...since then i've been able to finagle my way around to where my schedule looked amazing and i could take a break when i wanted to - granted that usually meant that certain days of the week felt like hell on campus (wednesdays, 1st semester, junior year), but it was worth it knowing i got a day off some other time in the week.
next semester: courses aren't really being user friendly. i have class all morning long on Mon Wed Fri and all afternoon on Tues Thurs...and the likelihood of working from 5:45 am til my afternoon classes on either tuesday or thursday is high. AND i'll have afternoon shifts on the other days. yuck. i'm going to need to learn to get to bed earlier - otherwise i'm a goner. oh and i have a night class on wednesdays.
warning to my roommates: you'll be seeing even less of me at home in the spring.
oh well. keeping busy is probably a good thing. i just wish it wasn't for 5 months straight.
but for now, i'm done thinking about that. i'm going to focus on getting to christmas break. hollerrrrr.
i'm taking 15 hours - doesn't seem too steep really, but in the eyes of someone who dislikes school and hasn't had 5 courses where i was required to actually go to campus, sit down and take notes every day of the week? thats rough. the last time i didnt have a day off of campus in a week was first semester sophomore year...since then i've been able to finagle my way around to where my schedule looked amazing and i could take a break when i wanted to - granted that usually meant that certain days of the week felt like hell on campus (wednesdays, 1st semester, junior year), but it was worth it knowing i got a day off some other time in the week.
next semester: courses aren't really being user friendly. i have class all morning long on Mon Wed Fri and all afternoon on Tues Thurs...and the likelihood of working from 5:45 am til my afternoon classes on either tuesday or thursday is high. AND i'll have afternoon shifts on the other days. yuck. i'm going to need to learn to get to bed earlier - otherwise i'm a goner. oh and i have a night class on wednesdays.
warning to my roommates: you'll be seeing even less of me at home in the spring.
oh well. keeping busy is probably a good thing. i just wish it wasn't for 5 months straight.
but for now, i'm done thinking about that. i'm going to focus on getting to christmas break. hollerrrrr.
video games are dumbo.
so my roommates have been playing this video game called Assassins Creed for the last week or so, and i really question why.
the whole premise of the game is 100% sketch. essentially killing people is this dude's religion...for some reason that doesnt sit right with me. go figure.
plus, what the game seems to have in graphics is lost entirely to me by the horrendous voice audio. the dialogue is simply awful. i think i'd rather just read it in speech bubbles.
sometimes i feel like i'm not caught up with video game culture...however, games like this make it kinda easy to not really care how far behind i am. i'll stick to my nintendo 64 and games that dont focus entirely on plotted mass religious murder.
i hope someone has some knowledge of this game so they can hate me because of my completely ignorant blog. i dont really know anything about it except that it takes many many hours of focus and dedication. it doesnt even look fun.
-ap.
December 03, 2007
November 30, 2007
"hey look everybody! billy peed his pants!"
so kstate lost to oregon at home in a game that they definitely should have won. they lost it at the free throw line and they had a shot at the last second but jacob pullen and andre gilbert teamed up for a pretty dumb maneuver and the game ended.
but anyway. this post isn't about that.
it is about the following picture that i witnessed live.
yes.
billy walker peed himself with 1.8 seconds left in regulation. the teams broke out of a time out and set up for the last play. billy proceeded to grab himself and jump around out at midcourt for 30 seconds before sprinting to the bench, grabbing about 15 towels and shoving them down the front of his pants, and doing his thing.
then he ran back out on the court without washing his hands.
but not until after he wiped off his leg. yuck.
just another reason billy walker is my favorite.
#12 on your roster. #1 in your hearts.
-ap.
ps. gotta love the perfectly executed Billy Madison quote. holler.
but anyway. this post isn't about that.
it is about the following picture that i witnessed live.
yes.billy walker peed himself with 1.8 seconds left in regulation. the teams broke out of a time out and set up for the last play. billy proceeded to grab himself and jump around out at midcourt for 30 seconds before sprinting to the bench, grabbing about 15 towels and shoving them down the front of his pants, and doing his thing.
then he ran back out on the court without washing his hands.
but not until after he wiped off his leg. yuck.
just another reason billy walker is my favorite.
#12 on your roster. #1 in your hearts.
-ap.
ps. gotta love the perfectly executed Billy Madison quote. holler.
its the weather.
i've been learning a lot about expectations this semester.
when you get too excited for something - you're easily let down.
but wen you're not excited for something at all - you're easily pelased.
a way in which i think God has decided to teach this to Kansans: weather.
thanksgiving break comes and we're all excited.
then last tuesday it snowed and was freezing cold, so we get disappointed and hate the weather. and, in turn, life.
then thursday it decides to warm up to the upper 40s and we all get excited about life again.
then monday comes and it is in the 50s and we're loving life; especially when we look at the weather report and find that it is supposed to be beautiful all week.
then we come to find out that all that is supposed to change and it is supposed to freezing rain tonight and through tomorrow with horrendous wind til sunday. just perfect.
however, i've devized a plan to always be pleased with Kansas weather.
1. never expect it to stay beautiful for more than a day at a time, that way you're never disappointed when it's gross the next day.
2. never get discouraged when it is gross because the weather is guaranteed to change within the week.
its fool proof.
unless the weather doesn't change within the week...but that just means you're not in kansas anymore. so thats no problem.
-ap.
when you get too excited for something - you're easily let down.
but wen you're not excited for something at all - you're easily pelased.
a way in which i think God has decided to teach this to Kansans: weather.
thanksgiving break comes and we're all excited.
then last tuesday it snowed and was freezing cold, so we get disappointed and hate the weather. and, in turn, life.
then thursday it decides to warm up to the upper 40s and we all get excited about life again.
then monday comes and it is in the 50s and we're loving life; especially when we look at the weather report and find that it is supposed to be beautiful all week.
then we come to find out that all that is supposed to change and it is supposed to freezing rain tonight and through tomorrow with horrendous wind til sunday. just perfect.
however, i've devized a plan to always be pleased with Kansas weather.
1. never expect it to stay beautiful for more than a day at a time, that way you're never disappointed when it's gross the next day.
2. never get discouraged when it is gross because the weather is guaranteed to change within the week.
its fool proof.
unless the weather doesn't change within the week...but that just means you're not in kansas anymore. so thats no problem.
-ap.
ratatouille in review.
i was disappointed.and i'm not sure if it was because i just expected something different, or if it truly was subpar. probably, as is the case with most situations like this, it was a little bit of both. Ratatouille was pretty much made out to be the most brilliant film of the year. i mean, it got ridiculous online ratings (97% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and 96/100 on Metacritic - 6th highest rated Metacritic movie ever). so i think it HAD to be better than i think it was.
i'd gotten myself excited about it too, so i think there was a possibility of disappointment there. when i see new animated movies, i typically subconsciously begin to compare them to Toy Story - which is completely unfair because Toy Story is one of my favorite animated movies ever to exist...the only recent movies to even compare are Toy Story 2 and Meet the Robinsons. but anyway. i'm always looking for excellence, and when an animated movie doesnt come through like i want it to then i get a little bummed out.
but anyway. enough about expectations and deliverance - my reasons for being somewhat disappointed:
first of all, it lacked a substantial amount of humor. well, thats not entirely true, there was humor, but it typically came in the form of slapstick and situational humor. I typically go more for the one liners, so possibly just not my cup of tea, but the humor that was involved seemed to be even less funny still. from what i've found, in most animated movies there is a second or third tier character who tends to provide the bulk of the humor in the movie. this is why Toy Story is so perfect to me - there are about 35 lower level characters providing tons of one-liners. But i felt that this movie lacked those characters and the humor they provide. overall, it probably wasn't even supposed to be the slightest bit funny...i just wanted it to be.
the movie also hit me as 100% dramatic. a little drama is ok, but when a love story springs out of no where? i just didnt understand the importance of it. the movie revolves around this rat (who's name i'm not sure if i ever even caught in the movie) who wants to be a chef, and this kid, Linguini, who wants to be a chef but pretty much is horrible. so the two find each other and work together. Rat's aren't acceptable - humans are; Linguini can't cook - Emril the Rodent can. it works. it's a simple concept that can work. however, the rat starts talking with the spirit of a famously dead chef, the kid randomly decides to fall for the feminist chick chef in the kitchen, the rat's family doesn't believe he should mess with humans, the kid turns out to be the chef spirit's son and it complicates things - you know, typical film complications - but everything felt extremely over"acted" and kinda rubbed me the wrong way. cheesy and dramatic. thats about it.
one bright side to it: so much talk of great food made me super hungry. even for an animated movie, the food looked pretty tasty. Linguini/the rat makes this soup - and it is just a boring orangy-red color...perhaps salmon? nah, that's too pink. but anyway. it just sounded so perfect and it started to make me wish i wasn't a poor college kid. i want some fine dining for a change.
i should probably re-watch it with different expectations - i've noticed that enjoying a movie depends chiefly on your attitude going into it; if it isn't what you expected then you can't fully enjoy it. my thoughts at least.
right now...i'd give ratatouille 2 stars with the option for a third if it ever manages to hit me while i'm in the right mood...like maybe i can put it on in the kitchen and watch it while i make sweet potatoes (which i mastered over thanksgiving - add it to the list: guacamole, cereal, peppermint bark, peanut butter and honey sandwiches, and sweet potatoes).
-ap.
November 29, 2007
smiley integration.
i passed this sign sitting out in front of a mcdonalds in manhattan this afternoon.
i was fortunate enough to get stuck at the red light long enough to pull out my cell phone and nab this picture.
what struck me as odd were the 4 smiley faces.
now this may be a 100% ignorant statement - but i wasn't aware that smiley faces came in a color other than yellow. perhaps i am uncultured and haven't realized it, but from what i've seen...smiley faces have always been yellow. i mean just look at everything walmart - check your emoticons online - check any balloon stand that sells smiley faces. heck i even had a yellow stress ball smiley once. (but i dont think that should necessarily count as a part of this list - i'm about 90% sure i got it from walmart.)
i will concede that angry faces or pouty faces or vomity faces can be colors other than yellow (red, blue, and green respectively), but smiley faces are yellow.
which leads me to assume that there is a reason for the non-yellow smileys - and i've decided it is because mcdonalds needs to address the fact that they will hire people of different races. browns and yellows both can get a job at mcdonalds. they're not colorists. they judge a smiley by their emotion, not the color of its face.
however, i did think it was a stroke of genius for them to avoid blue, red, and green faces. those colors are really not likely to get hired. they only hire smileys...which probably doesnt help the non-yellow emotional colors in the least. if i'm red or blue (angry, pouty) - i'm going to be redder and bluer the moment i see that they dont hire my kind.
but you can't blame mcdonalds for not wanting those colors. they really do have flaws that are deeper than the color of their face and mcdonalds is correct in their colorism.
call me a colorist, but thats the way it is.
-ap.
welcome to the good life.
you know its going to be a great day when you discover a dryer sheet in your tshirt in the morning.
what a treasure.
-ap.
what a treasure.
-ap.
November 26, 2007
david sides - kanye west medley.
i was on youtube messing around just now and discovered david sides.
the guy plays everything by ear. he takes popular radio songs (of artists that ar conveniently some of my favorites - chris brown, kanye west, coldplay, justin timberlake, timbaland/one republic) and plays them to perfection on the piano.
here's his medley of kanye's last cd, graduation. it is pretty much unreal. all by ear and it sounds like i'm listening to the actual cd. i'm in awe really. i'm getting excited for it and moving around like i've got 'graduation' on right now in my earbuds. just give this a listen. if you dont follow kanye, or only recognize parts of this medley, i encourage you to check out his myspace.
actually. i'm going to throw this down...check out his myspace or ELSE.
yep. i said it.
www.myspace.com/davidsides
-ap.
the guy plays everything by ear. he takes popular radio songs (of artists that ar conveniently some of my favorites - chris brown, kanye west, coldplay, justin timberlake, timbaland/one republic) and plays them to perfection on the piano.
here's his medley of kanye's last cd, graduation. it is pretty much unreal. all by ear and it sounds like i'm listening to the actual cd. i'm in awe really. i'm getting excited for it and moving around like i've got 'graduation' on right now in my earbuds. just give this a listen. if you dont follow kanye, or only recognize parts of this medley, i encourage you to check out his myspace.
actually. i'm going to throw this down...check out his myspace or ELSE.
yep. i said it.
www.myspace.com/davidsides
-ap.
reaching the less-unfortunate?
so christianity is exploding in south america, africa and asia.
this isn't news to me by any means, i've known this for a while and i've been excited about how the gospel is working globally. however, what i didn't realize (or chose to ignore at the time) was the fact that the parts of the world that are not included in this fact are relatively stagnant/floundering.
christianity is expected to decrease by 5% in europe by 2025.
north america is expected to show minimal growth by the same year.
i read these stats and can't help but think that there has to be more we can be doing to change north america and western europe.
now, i understand that the needs of different regions differ, and i this is the primary reason for the growth of these different areas. when you're broken down and hurting - that is where you find Jesus. so it makes perfect sense that missional success is greater in those less affluent areas. the less fortunate turn to Jesus in their time of need. the rich and comfortable don't feel like they have a need. their material needs are met and they're living perfectly comfortable lives - why would they need to think there is more to life?
i've always been encouraged to reach out to the hurting. feed the homeless. care for the sick. find the individuals who need Jesus and be an example to them. sit with the kid who sits by himself at lunch. and i agree with all of this.
but what about the popular kid at school with 300 friends? what if he needs Jesus? yeah, his needs aren't the same as the kid with no friends, but he still has a need that ought to be a concern to all christians - he still needs Jesus. or how about the CEO? what if he's living without Jesus? is that okay with us?
the best Biblical examples i can come up with so far are Zacchaeus and Matthew. Both were wealthy tax collecters and Jesus goes to them and calls them out individually and shows them what they're missing in life. i've gotten the "its easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter Heaven" argument, but here are two examples of it - and nothing is impossible with God. this actually strikes me as a lazy excuse. to act like we should ignore the upper class and focus on the needy based on this argument makes it seem like we need to aim for the easy converts first.
i guess in my mind there's nothing that says one man needs Jesus more than another. It's rather simple really, and if someone needs Jesus, i think it is our responsibility to address that.
but here is my big question: what does upper class ministry look like?
coming up with ways to reach those with needs is simple: fill those needs. they need food, water, shelter, clothing, a friend, and loads of prayer.
i wrote in an earlier post about my trip to the sprint center on tuesday night. during halftime nate and dan and i went to the concessions to purchase some food and the lady working there was just getting off work. She seemed stressed and angry about something, and while she was standing there waiting for my food to show up, i asked her "are you about done for the day?"
this was enough. she told me all about how she'd just gained custody of her grandchild because of some problems with this kid's dad and that she was getting off work at 10:30 and had to ride the bus over to pick the kid up...she went on for about 5 minutes. looking back i realize that she listed every possible thing this woman needed prayer for. i didnt even have to ask her what she needed. just listening was enough to make her feel better.
but ask a wealthy man directly what he would like prayer for, and he's likely to come up with nothing. so how do christians successfully display Jesus to those who aren't looking for Him?
how do we reach the kid with all the friends?*
how do we reach the CEO?
how can christians influence north america and europe like they're influencing elsewhere?
i guess just a lot of questions i wish i had answers to, and maybe it really is hopeless cause a lot of people i've talked to truly think it is. but i don't. if Jesus can take Zacchaeus aside and change his life in the course of one meal then so can we. i just wish i knew how to do it.
-ap.
* - most that read this probably don't think about middle school witnessing opportunities, but i tend to include them in my thoughts so that i can address them with the students in my life. you can ignore them if they're of no consequence to you, but they're of serious consequence to me. middle school minisrty is my passion - maybe you can replace it with a question that relates more directly to your life. but thats my mindset.
this isn't news to me by any means, i've known this for a while and i've been excited about how the gospel is working globally. however, what i didn't realize (or chose to ignore at the time) was the fact that the parts of the world that are not included in this fact are relatively stagnant/floundering.
christianity is expected to decrease by 5% in europe by 2025.
north america is expected to show minimal growth by the same year.
i read these stats and can't help but think that there has to be more we can be doing to change north america and western europe.
now, i understand that the needs of different regions differ, and i this is the primary reason for the growth of these different areas. when you're broken down and hurting - that is where you find Jesus. so it makes perfect sense that missional success is greater in those less affluent areas. the less fortunate turn to Jesus in their time of need. the rich and comfortable don't feel like they have a need. their material needs are met and they're living perfectly comfortable lives - why would they need to think there is more to life?
i've always been encouraged to reach out to the hurting. feed the homeless. care for the sick. find the individuals who need Jesus and be an example to them. sit with the kid who sits by himself at lunch. and i agree with all of this.
but what about the popular kid at school with 300 friends? what if he needs Jesus? yeah, his needs aren't the same as the kid with no friends, but he still has a need that ought to be a concern to all christians - he still needs Jesus. or how about the CEO? what if he's living without Jesus? is that okay with us?
the best Biblical examples i can come up with so far are Zacchaeus and Matthew. Both were wealthy tax collecters and Jesus goes to them and calls them out individually and shows them what they're missing in life. i've gotten the "its easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter Heaven" argument, but here are two examples of it - and nothing is impossible with God. this actually strikes me as a lazy excuse. to act like we should ignore the upper class and focus on the needy based on this argument makes it seem like we need to aim for the easy converts first.
i guess in my mind there's nothing that says one man needs Jesus more than another. It's rather simple really, and if someone needs Jesus, i think it is our responsibility to address that.
but here is my big question: what does upper class ministry look like?
coming up with ways to reach those with needs is simple: fill those needs. they need food, water, shelter, clothing, a friend, and loads of prayer.
i wrote in an earlier post about my trip to the sprint center on tuesday night. during halftime nate and dan and i went to the concessions to purchase some food and the lady working there was just getting off work. She seemed stressed and angry about something, and while she was standing there waiting for my food to show up, i asked her "are you about done for the day?"
this was enough. she told me all about how she'd just gained custody of her grandchild because of some problems with this kid's dad and that she was getting off work at 10:30 and had to ride the bus over to pick the kid up...she went on for about 5 minutes. looking back i realize that she listed every possible thing this woman needed prayer for. i didnt even have to ask her what she needed. just listening was enough to make her feel better.
but ask a wealthy man directly what he would like prayer for, and he's likely to come up with nothing. so how do christians successfully display Jesus to those who aren't looking for Him?
how do we reach the kid with all the friends?*
how do we reach the CEO?
how can christians influence north america and europe like they're influencing elsewhere?
i guess just a lot of questions i wish i had answers to, and maybe it really is hopeless cause a lot of people i've talked to truly think it is. but i don't. if Jesus can take Zacchaeus aside and change his life in the course of one meal then so can we. i just wish i knew how to do it.
-ap.
* - most that read this probably don't think about middle school witnessing opportunities, but i tend to include them in my thoughts so that i can address them with the students in my life. you can ignore them if they're of no consequence to you, but they're of serious consequence to me. middle school minisrty is my passion - maybe you can replace it with a question that relates more directly to your life. but thats my mindset.
November 25, 2007
ku/mu.
first of all i would like to address two facts:
1. there are no z's in missouri.
2. mizzou fans look like bumble bees.
other than that - i'm perfectly happy with mu. anyone who can kick the jayhawks out of both the big xii championship game and the national championship is okay with me. at least for a day or two.
it is most unfortunate that the three good teams in big xii college football right now are my three least favorite. possibly in the entire nation: ku. mu. ou.
so far what i've wanted to have happen has happened. mu beat ku (i was hoping it was going to be more of a rout than it turned out to be, but ku lost, and that's good).
the next thing that needs to happen: ou beats mu. this will ensure that mu does not make the national championship and it will put the team that, i think, most deserves to be in a bcs game into one.
then, ou needs to be the victim in a hilariously terrific game like they were last year: boise state. greatest game ever.
some may scoff at my lack of support for the big xii, and i dont blame them. and i would like to show those critics the following lists:
teams that i...
like: kansas state, iowa state, oklahoma state, texas a&m.
could care less about: baylor, texas tech.
somewhat dislike: colorado, nebraska, texas.
dislike very much: missouri, oklahoma.
loathe entirely: kansas.
this begins to explain my lack of support for the big xii conference this year. missouri and oklahoma just rub me the wrong way, but i have my reasons for disliking ku.
being a fan of something is a conscious decision. it is the answer to a yes or no question: do i support [whatever]? it is simple.
that having been said - i'm a new england patriots fan. they're going to go undefeated this season and they're going to fly through the playoffs and win the superbowl. and when they do, i'm going to purchase one of those classy "super bowl champs" ball caps that the whole team wears immediately after the game. i'll wear it proudly with my new randy moss jersey - hopefully he stays with the pats for a while, cause i spent 40 bucks on it.
this is obviously not true. but i say it to illustrate my point.
i could be a patriots fan all of a sudden - which would be something i would like to do to be honest. they're the greatest team i've seen in a long time, and i really wish i was a fan of that team instead of the maybe-slightly-above-average-on-some-days kansas city chiefs (one of those days being today). but i could easily decide today that i'm going to be a patriots fan - it is a simple decision - yes or no.
i have nothing wrong with this. however frivolous it may seem to me, i don't have any problems with becoming a fan of a team. i do it myself - primarily with individuals: lebron james, vince young, kevin durant...the list is long. if you become a ku fan for some reason - that is not what i have a problem with.
what i do have a problem with is when someone takes that simple decision and begins to think they're better than other people because of that team's success. anyone can choose who they want to support and who they don't - i could decide right now to be a west virginia mountineers fan, or a boston red sox fan, or a boston celtics fan, or a patriots fan (boston. lovin their sports nowadays). however, that doesnt make me any different than the person i am rooting for k-state, the st. louis cardinals, the kansas city chiefs, the kansas city royals.
kansas fans do this. i honestly believe that a vast number of ku fans actually believe that because of their team's athletic performance they are better than other fans. they look down on fans of any other big xii school. and i guess i just dont understand how anyone can truly believe they're a cooler individual based off of which teams they select to support.
anyway. those are some of my thoughts i guess.
-ap.
1. there are no z's in missouri.
2. mizzou fans look like bumble bees.
other than that - i'm perfectly happy with mu. anyone who can kick the jayhawks out of both the big xii championship game and the national championship is okay with me. at least for a day or two.
it is most unfortunate that the three good teams in big xii college football right now are my three least favorite. possibly in the entire nation: ku. mu. ou.
so far what i've wanted to have happen has happened. mu beat ku (i was hoping it was going to be more of a rout than it turned out to be, but ku lost, and that's good).
the next thing that needs to happen: ou beats mu. this will ensure that mu does not make the national championship and it will put the team that, i think, most deserves to be in a bcs game into one.
then, ou needs to be the victim in a hilariously terrific game like they were last year: boise state. greatest game ever.
some may scoff at my lack of support for the big xii, and i dont blame them. and i would like to show those critics the following lists:
teams that i...
like: kansas state, iowa state, oklahoma state, texas a&m.
could care less about: baylor, texas tech.
somewhat dislike: colorado, nebraska, texas.
dislike very much: missouri, oklahoma.
loathe entirely: kansas.
this begins to explain my lack of support for the big xii conference this year. missouri and oklahoma just rub me the wrong way, but i have my reasons for disliking ku.
being a fan of something is a conscious decision. it is the answer to a yes or no question: do i support [whatever]? it is simple.
that having been said - i'm a new england patriots fan. they're going to go undefeated this season and they're going to fly through the playoffs and win the superbowl. and when they do, i'm going to purchase one of those classy "super bowl champs" ball caps that the whole team wears immediately after the game. i'll wear it proudly with my new randy moss jersey - hopefully he stays with the pats for a while, cause i spent 40 bucks on it.
this is obviously not true. but i say it to illustrate my point.
i could be a patriots fan all of a sudden - which would be something i would like to do to be honest. they're the greatest team i've seen in a long time, and i really wish i was a fan of that team instead of the maybe-slightly-above-average-on-some-days kansas city chiefs (one of those days being today). but i could easily decide today that i'm going to be a patriots fan - it is a simple decision - yes or no.
i have nothing wrong with this. however frivolous it may seem to me, i don't have any problems with becoming a fan of a team. i do it myself - primarily with individuals: lebron james, vince young, kevin durant...the list is long. if you become a ku fan for some reason - that is not what i have a problem with.
what i do have a problem with is when someone takes that simple decision and begins to think they're better than other people because of that team's success. anyone can choose who they want to support and who they don't - i could decide right now to be a west virginia mountineers fan, or a boston red sox fan, or a boston celtics fan, or a patriots fan (boston. lovin their sports nowadays). however, that doesnt make me any different than the person i am rooting for k-state, the st. louis cardinals, the kansas city chiefs, the kansas city royals.
kansas fans do this. i honestly believe that a vast number of ku fans actually believe that because of their team's athletic performance they are better than other fans. they look down on fans of any other big xii school. and i guess i just dont understand how anyone can truly believe they're a cooler individual based off of which teams they select to support.
anyway. those are some of my thoughts i guess.
-ap.
November 22, 2007
November 21, 2007
thanksgiving eve in kansas city (we'll call it "wednesday")
interesting thought: thanksgiving eve is called "wednesday" every year.
11:00 am - oklahoma joes bbq. best bbq in the world - no lie, no exaggeration. say what you may about other establishments, i will fight for ok joes all my life. so i ate my z man sandwich (beef brisket, two onion rings) with spicy slaw on texas toast. with three adorable little pickles on the side. and a coca-cola classic to drink.
12:30 pm - Saver's, my favorite thrift store, is closed. i mean talk about heartbreak. how bad does an area have to be (in this case bannister mall) for a thrift store to not stay afloat? what a major bummer. i hadn't been there in a year...and before that another year...actually, come to think of it, i've only gone once each thanksgiving break for the last 4 years. but still, its definitely sad. maybe thats why they went out of business - cause their most beloved customers only came once a year or moved to wisconsin (david lueck).
1:30 pm - ended up at family thrift on johnson drive. which turned out to be okay because dan and i bought John Madden Football '93 for SEGA. and by bought, i mean went up to the register with two $1 bills prepared - and then the friendly gentleman, who i'll call Doug (looked like a Doug), said the following: "ah, you can just take it man." i, of course, said "ok."
2:00 pm - homer's coffee house. its like coming home. its kinda weird coming back and not knowing the baristas though. i expect people to greet me with a hug or something. it was strange. but they are still serving their soon-to-be-world-famous cinnamon rolls. at least they'll be world famous after i post about them on the internet - seeing that everyone reads my entries and everyone simply stives to be like me, they'll catch on soon. anyway, cream cheese frosting, moist bread, creamy cinnamony center, deliciously devoured with a fork because its one big gooey post-microwave mess. ah. i want another.
3:30 pm - Madden '93 in my basement. i was the Houston Oilers. dan was the Buffalo Bills. i dont want to talk much about the game - i was winning, then all of a sudden dan figured everything out. i'm putting all the blame on Thurman Thomas. way too fast.
3:45 pm - NBA JAM TE. best SEGA game ever invented. i like to mix up my team. in most games i have MY team - the one i always play with - but there are so many good choices in this game: Robinson/Rodman, Kemp/Payton, Drexler/Porter, Richmond/Webb. and i think the game is way better too since it came out the year Jordan played baseball - it makes all the teams equal for a change.
4:30 pm - Golden Tee at Buffalo Wild Wings. everyone needs to try out Golden Tee - more importantly, everyone needs to pay for GT with a credit card so that it loads your name for you off your card. and then you can proceed to win prizes by competing live with other players all over the nation - i won zero prizes however, because i ended at +17. rough game.
a few highlights. it seems a little weird that today feels like any other day - when in fact it is nothing like any day i've had in a long time. except it IS exatly like every single night i had BEFORE college. except i dont think i was ever given a video game like that before. except Pilot Wings 64 - which i got from dan for Christmas two years ago - best game ever.
with that, i'm leaving my sister's laptop and going downstairs to join in my parent's conversation. i dont know what they're talking about, but it sounds interesting.
-ap.
11:00 am - oklahoma joes bbq. best bbq in the world - no lie, no exaggeration. say what you may about other establishments, i will fight for ok joes all my life. so i ate my z man sandwich (beef brisket, two onion rings) with spicy slaw on texas toast. with three adorable little pickles on the side. and a coca-cola classic to drink.
12:30 pm - Saver's, my favorite thrift store, is closed. i mean talk about heartbreak. how bad does an area have to be (in this case bannister mall) for a thrift store to not stay afloat? what a major bummer. i hadn't been there in a year...and before that another year...actually, come to think of it, i've only gone once each thanksgiving break for the last 4 years. but still, its definitely sad. maybe thats why they went out of business - cause their most beloved customers only came once a year or moved to wisconsin (david lueck).
1:30 pm - ended up at family thrift on johnson drive. which turned out to be okay because dan and i bought John Madden Football '93 for SEGA. and by bought, i mean went up to the register with two $1 bills prepared - and then the friendly gentleman, who i'll call Doug (looked like a Doug), said the following: "ah, you can just take it man." i, of course, said "ok."
2:00 pm - homer's coffee house. its like coming home. its kinda weird coming back and not knowing the baristas though. i expect people to greet me with a hug or something. it was strange. but they are still serving their soon-to-be-world-famous cinnamon rolls. at least they'll be world famous after i post about them on the internet - seeing that everyone reads my entries and everyone simply stives to be like me, they'll catch on soon. anyway, cream cheese frosting, moist bread, creamy cinnamony center, deliciously devoured with a fork because its one big gooey post-microwave mess. ah. i want another.
3:30 pm - Madden '93 in my basement. i was the Houston Oilers. dan was the Buffalo Bills. i dont want to talk much about the game - i was winning, then all of a sudden dan figured everything out. i'm putting all the blame on Thurman Thomas. way too fast.
3:45 pm - NBA JAM TE. best SEGA game ever invented. i like to mix up my team. in most games i have MY team - the one i always play with - but there are so many good choices in this game: Robinson/Rodman, Kemp/Payton, Drexler/Porter, Richmond/Webb. and i think the game is way better too since it came out the year Jordan played baseball - it makes all the teams equal for a change.
4:30 pm - Golden Tee at Buffalo Wild Wings. everyone needs to try out Golden Tee - more importantly, everyone needs to pay for GT with a credit card so that it loads your name for you off your card. and then you can proceed to win prizes by competing live with other players all over the nation - i won zero prizes however, because i ended at +17. rough game.
a few highlights. it seems a little weird that today feels like any other day - when in fact it is nothing like any day i've had in a long time. except it IS exatly like every single night i had BEFORE college. except i dont think i was ever given a video game like that before. except Pilot Wings 64 - which i got from dan for Christmas two years ago - best game ever.
with that, i'm leaving my sister's laptop and going downstairs to join in my parent's conversation. i dont know what they're talking about, but it sounds interesting.
-ap.
sprint center.
well i'm home for thanksgiving and it is the greatest feeling on earth.
i feel like i could put out about 4 blogs right now i feel so good.
but i wont. i'm only going to write one.
so i ended up at the sprint center tonight watching #1 UCLA play #11 Michigan State.
things like this occur randomly in kc. sometimes in manhattan i sit around and think about all the things i'd like to be doing. in my home town - things just come to me.
like tonight i was driving with my sisters and dad to get some smoothies after dinner around 7:15 and nate calls...
nate: want to go to the sprint center and see the #1 team in the nation play basketball tonight for free?
adam: um. yes.
nate: be at my house at 8.
adam: done. see you soon.
so off i go. the development of the sprint center and the area around it has intrigued me for quite some time now, and i've been beyond excited to actually get to go inside it. i'm going to see kstate play some patsy in mid-december too.
we get there around 8:30, park, and pick up free tickets outside the front doors. gotta know who to ask. (in this case it was easy - missouri fans has just seen their team play right before so they were all leaving with their tickets. piece of cake.)
number one reason for excellence: indoor quiktrip.
they dont have fountain drinks. or toquitos. or hot dogs.
but they do have all the standard freezoni choices (including rooster booster) as well as a krispy kreme donut selection. they also offer boxed and refrigerated deli sandwiches - and it is all at reasonable/normal price. freezonis = 99 cents. so awesome.
another reason this place is great - sprint cell phone service is phenomenal in this building. for those of you from kansas city, you know full well that the sprint campus in overland park is huge...and has crappy cell phone service for sprint phone owners. i've never had a problem losing signal anywhere in kansas city but on the sprint campus. so i had a similar fear tonight...i had FULL bars the entire time. text messages sent in the blink of an eye.
the building is also 360 degrees of glass. so as you walk around it, you get to look directly outside at downtown kansas city. beautiful. i love this city. never want to leave.
-ap.
i feel like i could put out about 4 blogs right now i feel so good.
but i wont. i'm only going to write one.
so i ended up at the sprint center tonight watching #1 UCLA play #11 Michigan State.
things like this occur randomly in kc. sometimes in manhattan i sit around and think about all the things i'd like to be doing. in my home town - things just come to me.
like tonight i was driving with my sisters and dad to get some smoothies after dinner around 7:15 and nate calls...
nate: want to go to the sprint center and see the #1 team in the nation play basketball tonight for free?
adam: um. yes.
nate: be at my house at 8.
adam: done. see you soon.
so off i go. the development of the sprint center and the area around it has intrigued me for quite some time now, and i've been beyond excited to actually get to go inside it. i'm going to see kstate play some patsy in mid-december too.
we get there around 8:30, park, and pick up free tickets outside the front doors. gotta know who to ask. (in this case it was easy - missouri fans has just seen their team play right before so they were all leaving with their tickets. piece of cake.)
number one reason for excellence: indoor quiktrip.
they dont have fountain drinks. or toquitos. or hot dogs.
but they do have all the standard freezoni choices (including rooster booster) as well as a krispy kreme donut selection. they also offer boxed and refrigerated deli sandwiches - and it is all at reasonable/normal price. freezonis = 99 cents. so awesome.
another reason this place is great - sprint cell phone service is phenomenal in this building. for those of you from kansas city, you know full well that the sprint campus in overland park is huge...and has crappy cell phone service for sprint phone owners. i've never had a problem losing signal anywhere in kansas city but on the sprint campus. so i had a similar fear tonight...i had FULL bars the entire time. text messages sent in the blink of an eye.
the building is also 360 degrees of glass. so as you walk around it, you get to look directly outside at downtown kansas city. beautiful. i love this city. never want to leave.
-ap.
November 13, 2007
lesson learned.
this song is too good to leave off of here any longer: listen to it here.
alicia keys feat. john mayer
alicia keys feat. john mayer
October 29, 2007
greetings from 214 hale.
i'm currently sitting on a computer in 214 Hale Library next to the IT Help Desk. I've been here for about an hour and a half now waiting for my computer to be fixed. i have a strong wireless connection all the time, but it is accompanied by a cute little yellow yeild sign with an "!" on it and the following message:
Limited or No Connectivity
this adorable message is linked so that i can go to another screen and read the details about why it isn't working. which, surprisingly, tells me nothing at all that i can understand let alone anything that could point me in the direction of it being fixed. it apparently (and more surprisingly) tells the tech fellas here in 214 Hale Library nothing as well.
this is mildly frustrating. i've been without internet in my room for 9 days now and i've spent somewhere around 4-5 hours on the phone with all sorts of wonderful people. none of which have helped one bit:
brad from d-link told my my router was working properly. (1.5 hour)
kathy from linksys told me my wireless card was working properly. (1.5 hours)
gunther from cox cable told me my cable internet service was workign properly. (1 hour)
douglas from the geek squad told me he'd have to charge me 99 bucks for his services cause i wasnt under warranty. i said no. as if he could fix it anyway. (30 min)
and now the IT guys have confirmed all of that and proceeded to do nothing else.
awesome. good thing i brought a sleeping bag. sigh.
-ap.
Limited or No Connectivity
this adorable message is linked so that i can go to another screen and read the details about why it isn't working. which, surprisingly, tells me nothing at all that i can understand let alone anything that could point me in the direction of it being fixed. it apparently (and more surprisingly) tells the tech fellas here in 214 Hale Library nothing as well.
this is mildly frustrating. i've been without internet in my room for 9 days now and i've spent somewhere around 4-5 hours on the phone with all sorts of wonderful people. none of which have helped one bit:
brad from d-link told my my router was working properly. (1.5 hour)
kathy from linksys told me my wireless card was working properly. (1.5 hours)
gunther from cox cable told me my cable internet service was workign properly. (1 hour)
douglas from the geek squad told me he'd have to charge me 99 bucks for his services cause i wasnt under warranty. i said no. as if he could fix it anyway. (30 min)
and now the IT guys have confirmed all of that and proceeded to do nothing else.
awesome. good thing i brought a sleeping bag. sigh.
-ap.
Remedy/Crowder Live at Mccain
it is moderately annoying that once i have something that i feel like blogging about my internet goes out for a week straight and i don't have enough time to walk to campus for the sole purpose of blogging. that's a little lame maybe. this isn't THAT essential to my life.anyway. david crowder stopped by kstate on thursday night. mccain auditorium.
and he and i have the same shoes.
holler. what a stylin' fellow.
crowder is able to accomplish something within me that most/all other christian artists can't do. perhaps it is because i just like the sound of his music more than others. possible. but i really feel like he has the whole worship/concert balance truly mastered.
first off, his lyrics are so simple yet every simple line is so passionate. i bought his new cd, Remedy, last monday. It would be shocking if i were able to learn the lyrics to the cd by tuesday or wednesady. that would show that i have a terrific ability to memorize things. but it is something completely different for me to pop in the cd and be able to sing along with the praises before the song is even half over. when it comes to worship music, that is what is important. being able to connect is crucial, and crowder's lyrics are perfectly simple yet powerful. He takes repetition and simple lyrics and surrounds them with a mood or style of music that focuses the mind and draws you in. or at least draws me in.
he is also able to put on an incredible concert (and album) while not losing the Christ-centered focus. difficult to do. I get pumped about his music, but not because of the sound or the hype, but because it points me to God. they're not concerts. Crowder's albums/concerts are truly worship experiences.
needless to say it was a legit experience.
like i said, DC*B has a new cd out too, Remedy. It's an all around worship album. Songs about prayer, worship and praise (as expected and executed), but what surprised me and impressed me on this album is his later tracks. The overall focus (and name of the cd) appears to be what we can do as Christians to change the world. crowder understands that the Christian culture is changing and that the questions being asked today differ greatly from those of 30 years ago. Today's Christian youth is about action and movement. What can we DO to further God's kingdom - that is what Crowder has directed this cd toward. even if they are the last two tracks on the album."Remedy" and "Surely We Can Change" are the heart of this cd i think.
"Remedy" = Jesus is the Remedy.
"Surely..." = We can show others Jesus.
be on guard for a handful of new worship songs hitting churches everywhere.
-ap.
and he and i have the same shoes.holler. what a stylin' fellow.
crowder is able to accomplish something within me that most/all other christian artists can't do. perhaps it is because i just like the sound of his music more than others. possible. but i really feel like he has the whole worship/concert balance truly mastered.
first off, his lyrics are so simple yet every simple line is so passionate. i bought his new cd, Remedy, last monday. It would be shocking if i were able to learn the lyrics to the cd by tuesday or wednesady. that would show that i have a terrific ability to memorize things. but it is something completely different for me to pop in the cd and be able to sing along with the praises before the song is even half over. when it comes to worship music, that is what is important. being able to connect is crucial, and crowder's lyrics are perfectly simple yet powerful. He takes repetition and simple lyrics and surrounds them with a mood or style of music that focuses the mind and draws you in. or at least draws me in.
he is also able to put on an incredible concert (and album) while not losing the Christ-centered focus. difficult to do. I get pumped about his music, but not because of the sound or the hype, but because it points me to God. they're not concerts. Crowder's albums/concerts are truly worship experiences.
needless to say it was a legit experience.
like i said, DC*B has a new cd out too, Remedy. It's an all around worship album. Songs about prayer, worship and praise (as expected and executed), but what surprised me and impressed me on this album is his later tracks. The overall focus (and name of the cd) appears to be what we can do as Christians to change the world. crowder understands that the Christian culture is changing and that the questions being asked today differ greatly from those of 30 years ago. Today's Christian youth is about action and movement. What can we DO to further God's kingdom - that is what Crowder has directed this cd toward. even if they are the last two tracks on the album."Remedy" and "Surely We Can Change" are the heart of this cd i think."Remedy" = Jesus is the Remedy.
"Surely..." = We can show others Jesus.
be on guard for a handful of new worship songs hitting churches everywhere.
-ap.
October 18, 2007
moments in education.
being an education major can occasionally place me in slightly interesting situations.
three examples:
1. today i found myself reading a powerpoint for class about how to use powerpoint for class.
2. and last week i had to take a test to find out what i'd learned about summative feedback (summative feedback = things like testing students to find out what knowledge they've retained about a certain subject).
3. and a few months ago i was sitting in class having a discussion with my professor and thirty other students about how to facilitate discussion in the classroom.
good thing i really want to teach someday so i can push myself through these classes. hm.
-ap.
three examples:
1. today i found myself reading a powerpoint for class about how to use powerpoint for class.
2. and last week i had to take a test to find out what i'd learned about summative feedback (summative feedback = things like testing students to find out what knowledge they've retained about a certain subject).
3. and a few months ago i was sitting in class having a discussion with my professor and thirty other students about how to facilitate discussion in the classroom.
good thing i really want to teach someday so i can push myself through these classes. hm.
-ap.
October 17, 2007
graduation.
so kanye's new cd is legit. different than college dropout and late reg, but still great.other than stronger - which i'll basically ignore for this review - its play count on itunes was 63 BEFORE i got the cd...so its not even considered as part of the cd to me - but anyway - there were obviously a few standout tracks for me: flashing lights, homecoming, good life - but - as is the case with most cds i listen to - songs just keep impressing me.
the only songs on the cd that i haven't enjoyed much are big brother and drunk and hot girls. i'm big time disappointed in big brother - it's kanye's thank you to jay-z basically. telling him all about how great he is and how much kanye looks up to him. a solid idea i guess...but it just doesnt impress me at all. which is sad. cause i doubt s carter was all that grateful. eh. debatable.
drunk and hot girls is crappy for obvious reasons.
the rest of the cd (11 other tracks) i'm suuuuuuuper pumped about.
my initial favorite was homecoming. featuring chris martin from coldplay. one of my dearest friends has turned me into a rather large coldplay fan. actually. i'm still my normal size...i just really liek coldplay. but anyway. this track has some seriously fun piano which, when joined by KW and CM, is probably one of the greatest sounds ever. but its almost too catchy - i love it now, but only in moderation. i may have burnt myself out on it. oh well.
i can listen to the first 7 tracks straight through without stopping. thats the sign of a great cd. and if it wasn't for drunk and hot girls - i'd make it all the way from 1-12 without stopping i think.
i guess if i had to rate it....11/13 songs are great....so thats a 4.23/5. but thats if i give every single song a 0/5 or a 5/5. so lets do this right.
good morning 5/5
champion 5/5
stronger 5/5
i wonder 5/5
good life 5/5
can't tell me nothing 5/5
barry bonds 4/5
drunk and hot girls 0/5
flashing lights 5/5
everything i am 3/5
the glory 4/5
homecoming 5/5
big brother 1/5
totaling......52/65
which is 4 out of 5.
love it.
-ap.
ps. down with curtis.
October 05, 2007
not to mention.
i would like to bring everyones attention to the fact that the phrase "not to mention" is completely useless.
not to mention a total lie.
but i just did. i mentioned that it was a total lie even though i said i wasn't going to.
you see?
maybe i just don't understand what it means, but it strikes me as a waste.
not to mention a total lie.
but i just did. i mentioned that it was a total lie even though i said i wasn't going to.
you see?
maybe i just don't understand what it means, but it strikes me as a waste.
October 04, 2007
postseason baseball.
so october is here, which means that post season baseball is here. this time last year i had quit pretty much everything i was involved in, only went to morning classes, and holed up in my room every night of the week. at the time there was a slight pang of guilt, but in retrospect - it was the right thing to do. i watched every cardinals' game in october last year. and, in case you didnt know, the cardinals played more games in october than any other team. oh, cause tehy were in the world series. oh, and they won. holler at cha boi.
unfortunately, this is not the case in 2007. i am forced to live my life in typical fashion - checking espn.com at the end of the day for scores and recaps. probably good news for those who enjoy seeing my on a regular basis; conversely, this is bad news for those who despise my company (you may make yourself known in the "comments" section of this post - haters). the cardinals finished 78-84. sigh. oh well, they had a rough year...i'm over it already for three reasons:
1. kstate football is here. (what up texas?)
2. dwayne bowe is a stud.
3. i don't have time to ignore the world and focus on the playoffs.
anyway. but i would like to post my thoughts on the post season match-ups:
Angels/Red Sox:
Curt Shilling is the number 3 starter on this team? thats disgusting. The Red Sox are so loaded. if they finished anything other than first it would've been shocking. I'd like to see Vlad win a series, but three games against Beckett/Dice-K/Shilling? While the Angels counter with Lackey? pitching wins series. and games period. which is why i can't see LA taking any of the three.
Red Sox in 3.
Yankees/Indians:
I like this Indians team a lot. they ran away with it in a pretty tough division. beating out the Tigers and the Twins is a tough assignment. I watched them close out the regular season in KC on sunday afternoon and they're a legit team. (Cleveland - not KC.) Plus they having home field advantage i think will help them too. they've got solid pitching and a few beasts in the order - plus i hate the yankees - this is probably the toughest series for me to pick, but i think the Indians will take it at home in game 5. they'll throw Sabathia twice for two of the three wins. As long as A-Rod doesnt mess it all up.
Indians in 5.
Cubs/Diamondbacks:
i just hate the cubs so much. freaking zambrano. i dont want them to win a single game. the cubs are so worried about whether Marquis is a decent #4 starter? please. he's not even going to get to pitch.
D-Backs in 3.
Rockies/Phillies:
first of all, i'd like to point out how completely hilarious it is that the Mets aren't in the playoffs and the Phils are. talk about a terrific collapse on the part of New York. Up 7 games with 17 to play. so awesome.
to be honest - i don't care who wins this series. i neither hate nor like either team, and both of them are on a roll. i wouldn't mind seeing the Phillies take it...but i think thats just cause i hate the cubs and just in case the cubs win it means chicago wouldn't have home field advantage in the NLCS. but, since the Cubs wont be winning a single game in the post season - i'll root for Colorado
Rockies in 4.
World Series: Indians over Rockies in 6.
this is what i both want to happen and what i think will happen. i'd like to see the Rockies win it all...but they've won 16 of 17. they cannot keep it up all the way through october. the Indians have been the most consistently good teams in baseball this season and are going to prove that in the playoffs. They won't sweep teams (mostly because they have the hardest trip to the WS - ny and boston) but they'll beat teams.
but, i'm not glued to baseball this year.
and that having been said - kstate is going to destroy ku on saturday. love it.
-ap.
unfortunately, this is not the case in 2007. i am forced to live my life in typical fashion - checking espn.com at the end of the day for scores and recaps. probably good news for those who enjoy seeing my on a regular basis; conversely, this is bad news for those who despise my company (you may make yourself known in the "comments" section of this post - haters). the cardinals finished 78-84. sigh. oh well, they had a rough year...i'm over it already for three reasons:
1. kstate football is here. (what up texas?)
2. dwayne bowe is a stud.
3. i don't have time to ignore the world and focus on the playoffs.
anyway. but i would like to post my thoughts on the post season match-ups:
Angels/Red Sox:
Curt Shilling is the number 3 starter on this team? thats disgusting. The Red Sox are so loaded. if they finished anything other than first it would've been shocking. I'd like to see Vlad win a series, but three games against Beckett/Dice-K/Shilling? While the Angels counter with Lackey? pitching wins series. and games period. which is why i can't see LA taking any of the three.
Red Sox in 3.
Yankees/Indians:
I like this Indians team a lot. they ran away with it in a pretty tough division. beating out the Tigers and the Twins is a tough assignment. I watched them close out the regular season in KC on sunday afternoon and they're a legit team. (Cleveland - not KC.) Plus they having home field advantage i think will help them too. they've got solid pitching and a few beasts in the order - plus i hate the yankees - this is probably the toughest series for me to pick, but i think the Indians will take it at home in game 5. they'll throw Sabathia twice for two of the three wins. As long as A-Rod doesnt mess it all up.
Indians in 5.
Cubs/Diamondbacks:
i just hate the cubs so much. freaking zambrano. i dont want them to win a single game. the cubs are so worried about whether Marquis is a decent #4 starter? please. he's not even going to get to pitch.
D-Backs in 3.
Rockies/Phillies:
first of all, i'd like to point out how completely hilarious it is that the Mets aren't in the playoffs and the Phils are. talk about a terrific collapse on the part of New York. Up 7 games with 17 to play. so awesome.
to be honest - i don't care who wins this series. i neither hate nor like either team, and both of them are on a roll. i wouldn't mind seeing the Phillies take it...but i think thats just cause i hate the cubs and just in case the cubs win it means chicago wouldn't have home field advantage in the NLCS. but, since the Cubs wont be winning a single game in the post season - i'll root for Colorado
Rockies in 4.
World Series: Indians over Rockies in 6.
this is what i both want to happen and what i think will happen. i'd like to see the Rockies win it all...but they've won 16 of 17. they cannot keep it up all the way through october. the Indians have been the most consistently good teams in baseball this season and are going to prove that in the playoffs. They won't sweep teams (mostly because they have the hardest trip to the WS - ny and boston) but they'll beat teams.
but, i'm not glued to baseball this year.
and that having been said - kstate is going to destroy ku on saturday. love it.
-ap.
October 03, 2007
not your optimal halftime show.
i feel so bad cause some of these people may have gotten seriously injured, but oh man i also can't help myself. some of these are way too great.
i think my favorite is when the group of girls completely collapses and one girl throws her arms up as if to say "tada! planned it!" (about 19 seconds in) either that or like three clips after that when BOTH girls totally biff on their back handsprings. awesome.
happy viewing.
-ap.
September 29, 2007
are you kidding me?
http://www.startribune.com/crime/story/1442803.html
here's the text from the article from Minneapolis-St. Paul:
The ducks in the atrium pond at the Embassy Suites Hotel in downtown St. Paul have never been wild and likely can't fly more than a foot or two.
Yet Scott D. Clark allegedly stalked and cornered one of the ducks against a brick wall early Saturday, then wrenched off its head. He told astonished onlookers that he was hungry, police said.
Scott, 26, of Denver, was charged Monday with felony animal cruelty. He made his first court appearance, posted bail and was released. The charge is not ranked by state sentencing guidelines. It is up to a judge to decide on suitable punishment if Clark is convicted.
According to the complaint filed in Ramsey County District Court, Clark became belligerent with officers when they arrested him at the hotel on E. 10th Street about 2:30 a.m. Saturday.
"Mr. Clark stated to police that he worked for the federal government and when this was over he would have the officers' jobs," the complaint said. Records show that Clark is an auditor in the Office of Inspector General in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Denver. He could not be reached to comment Monday.
The complaint said Clark asked officers if he was in trouble.
"Yes," they told him.
"Why, because I killed it out of season?" the complaint quotes Clark as saying. "Big deal, it's just a [expletive] duck."
Police Sgt. John Wuorinen said, "It sounds like there was quite a bit of alcohol involved."
Rosco Larson, general manager of the Embassy Suites, said Monday, "These animals have been a part of our hotel's family for many years and we are deeply saddened by this incident."
The hotel has about seven ducks that swim in the pond and wander the plant-filled walkways. Each is valued at about $400.
Scott Ramsey, a naturalist at Wood Lake Nature Center in Richfield, said ducks can live in any setting.
"That's just bizarre," he said of the incident at the Embassy Suites. "Obviously they're not wild. Obviously they're there for the patrons to enjoy."
here's the text from the article from Minneapolis-St. Paul:
The ducks in the atrium pond at the Embassy Suites Hotel in downtown St. Paul have never been wild and likely can't fly more than a foot or two.
Yet Scott D. Clark allegedly stalked and cornered one of the ducks against a brick wall early Saturday, then wrenched off its head. He told astonished onlookers that he was hungry, police said.
Scott, 26, of Denver, was charged Monday with felony animal cruelty. He made his first court appearance, posted bail and was released. The charge is not ranked by state sentencing guidelines. It is up to a judge to decide on suitable punishment if Clark is convicted.
According to the complaint filed in Ramsey County District Court, Clark became belligerent with officers when they arrested him at the hotel on E. 10th Street about 2:30 a.m. Saturday.
"Mr. Clark stated to police that he worked for the federal government and when this was over he would have the officers' jobs," the complaint said. Records show that Clark is an auditor in the Office of Inspector General in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Denver. He could not be reached to comment Monday.
The complaint said Clark asked officers if he was in trouble.
"Yes," they told him.
"Why, because I killed it out of season?" the complaint quotes Clark as saying. "Big deal, it's just a [expletive] duck."
Police Sgt. John Wuorinen said, "It sounds like there was quite a bit of alcohol involved."
Rosco Larson, general manager of the Embassy Suites, said Monday, "These animals have been a part of our hotel's family for many years and we are deeply saddened by this incident."
The hotel has about seven ducks that swim in the pond and wander the plant-filled walkways. Each is valued at about $400.
Scott Ramsey, a naturalist at Wood Lake Nature Center in Richfield, said ducks can live in any setting.
"That's just bizarre," he said of the incident at the Embassy Suites. "Obviously they're not wild. Obviously they're there for the patrons to enjoy."
September 17, 2007
slacker.
apparently i'm on unintentional hiatus. which is strange.
i'm actually developing some decent thoughts - very suitable for this mug, and a few big deals have happened in my life recently too. however, for some reason my ability to transfer that information into text form has been lost. it'll return soon. i'm just not going to force anything on here in the meantime.
-ap.
i'm actually developing some decent thoughts - very suitable for this mug, and a few big deals have happened in my life recently too. however, for some reason my ability to transfer that information into text form has been lost. it'll return soon. i'm just not going to force anything on here in the meantime.
-ap.
September 04, 2007
August 28, 2007
jb tshirt night at the k.
today is the day.
i've been itchin for tonight's game for quite some time now: john buck tshirt night at the k. my father is coming, as is my buddy dan and a plethora of folks from kstate too. its amazing how contagious j buck fever is. i caught it. it'll take you over.
there are certain days in life that you'll always remember. like the night i rode in a cinderella carriage on the plaza with 5 other guys throwing pennies to random spectators. or the night i saw earth wind and fire perform at sandstone amph. or the day when kstate beat texas in football and i rushed the field with thousands of others. or the day i played 40+ holes of disc golf with dave. or my birthday this year.
this will be one of those days.
even if the royals get absolutely blown out - 30-3 let's say - it will still be one of the greatest nights ever for two major reasons:
1) john buck will compete.
2) relish will compete.
besides the fact that i love baseball, those are the two major reasons i attend games at the K.
they could both lose, but just being in their presence is worth the trip.
and a third reason just for good measure: hello? john buck tshirt? no brainer.
i'll be honest though; i do have high expectations for this game as well. Bannister is pitching for the Royals against Robinson for the Tigers - the Tigers have given the Royals serious trouble in the past, but they're waning and KC is playing some decent baseball right now. i'll keep my fingers crossed. cmon FOURTH PLACE royals.
my prediction: john buck goes 4-5 and hits for the cycle while relish takes the hot dog race easily.
-ap.
i've been itchin for tonight's game for quite some time now: john buck tshirt night at the k. my father is coming, as is my buddy dan and a plethora of folks from kstate too. its amazing how contagious j buck fever is. i caught it. it'll take you over.
there are certain days in life that you'll always remember. like the night i rode in a cinderella carriage on the plaza with 5 other guys throwing pennies to random spectators. or the night i saw earth wind and fire perform at sandstone amph. or the day when kstate beat texas in football and i rushed the field with thousands of others. or the day i played 40+ holes of disc golf with dave. or my birthday this year.
this will be one of those days.
even if the royals get absolutely blown out - 30-3 let's say - it will still be one of the greatest nights ever for two major reasons:
1) john buck will compete.
2) relish will compete.
besides the fact that i love baseball, those are the two major reasons i attend games at the K.
they could both lose, but just being in their presence is worth the trip.
and a third reason just for good measure: hello? john buck tshirt? no brainer.
i'll be honest though; i do have high expectations for this game as well. Bannister is pitching for the Royals against Robinson for the Tigers - the Tigers have given the Royals serious trouble in the past, but they're waning and KC is playing some decent baseball right now. i'll keep my fingers crossed. cmon FOURTH PLACE royals.
my prediction: john buck goes 4-5 and hits for the cycle while relish takes the hot dog race easily.-ap.
August 27, 2007
cognative dissonance.
recently (and by that i mean today) i have taken a liking to going to not only my own classes but the classes of some of my good friends as well.
i went to a social psychology class today that was possibly one of the coolest class periods i've ever experienced. this is frustrating for two reasons: 1) i'm not a psych major nor do i ever plan to be and 2) i'm not in the class.
i was sitting there listening to the professor (and the rest of the class...it was a rather dynamic group) talk about cognative dissonance, and perhaps it was simply the excessive psychological vibe i was getting at the time, but i got really confused by my interest level. i'm not changing my major or anything, but i was so surprised at how attractive the topics were.
situation:
a guy is told to do remove four pegs from a peg board in order from right to left, and then are told to replace the four pegs in the same order they removed them in...and then repeat for half an hour. yes. seriously mindless activity. then, as if it isn't horrible enough already, after a half hour the examiner switches it up a bit: take the same four pegs and turn them each a quarter turn clockwise...then repeat for another 30 minutes. by now this guy is likely pondering a way to kill himself with these pegs. what a horribly terribly awfully wasted hour.
at the end of the hour the guy gets up to leave the room. before he goes, the man running the study tells the guy to tell the next test subject (an absolutely gorgeous female) that the test was really fun and enjoyable even though everyone in the world knows the thing sucks big time. so the guy does. he tells this chick that the deal is fun and that he liked it and everything. THEN, in the next room, another dude asks the guy if he liked the survey...and the guy says "yeah, it wasnt bad."
they ran this test a number of times, always with a guy first and an attractive female next in the waiting room, and an overwhelming percentage of guys say "yeah, sure, it was okay."
WHAT. this is horrible mindless torture! no one would be okay with spending an hour removing, inserting, removing, inserting, removing, inserting, twisting, twisting, twisting - even now i'm already growing tired of typing those words. but what idiot would lie about that!? if i'm in that room and some guy says "how's it coming?" i'd probably tell him i'd rather be at the dentist.
but here's what happens: there is an inconsistancy between the guy's thoughts and actions. he thinks it was lame. he says it was great. these don't coincide. because the guy tells the hottie in the lobby that its fun he starts to feel guilty because of this inconsistency, so what does he do? he decides that if he makes himself actually think that it was kinda fun then he wont feel guilty anymore. he obviously can't change his actions, so he has to change his feelings to cope with the situation.
i learned that today for fun.
nerd.
-ap.
i went to a social psychology class today that was possibly one of the coolest class periods i've ever experienced. this is frustrating for two reasons: 1) i'm not a psych major nor do i ever plan to be and 2) i'm not in the class.
i was sitting there listening to the professor (and the rest of the class...it was a rather dynamic group) talk about cognative dissonance, and perhaps it was simply the excessive psychological vibe i was getting at the time, but i got really confused by my interest level. i'm not changing my major or anything, but i was so surprised at how attractive the topics were.
situation:
a guy is told to do remove four pegs from a peg board in order from right to left, and then are told to replace the four pegs in the same order they removed them in...and then repeat for half an hour. yes. seriously mindless activity. then, as if it isn't horrible enough already, after a half hour the examiner switches it up a bit: take the same four pegs and turn them each a quarter turn clockwise...then repeat for another 30 minutes. by now this guy is likely pondering a way to kill himself with these pegs. what a horribly terribly awfully wasted hour.
at the end of the hour the guy gets up to leave the room. before he goes, the man running the study tells the guy to tell the next test subject (an absolutely gorgeous female) that the test was really fun and enjoyable even though everyone in the world knows the thing sucks big time. so the guy does. he tells this chick that the deal is fun and that he liked it and everything. THEN, in the next room, another dude asks the guy if he liked the survey...and the guy says "yeah, it wasnt bad."
they ran this test a number of times, always with a guy first and an attractive female next in the waiting room, and an overwhelming percentage of guys say "yeah, sure, it was okay."
WHAT. this is horrible mindless torture! no one would be okay with spending an hour removing, inserting, removing, inserting, removing, inserting, twisting, twisting, twisting - even now i'm already growing tired of typing those words. but what idiot would lie about that!? if i'm in that room and some guy says "how's it coming?" i'd probably tell him i'd rather be at the dentist.
but here's what happens: there is an inconsistancy between the guy's thoughts and actions. he thinks it was lame. he says it was great. these don't coincide. because the guy tells the hottie in the lobby that its fun he starts to feel guilty because of this inconsistency, so what does he do? he decides that if he makes himself actually think that it was kinda fun then he wont feel guilty anymore. he obviously can't change his actions, so he has to change his feelings to cope with the situation.
i learned that today for fun.
nerd.
-ap.
August 20, 2007
most recent church sign.
many folks will give God credit.
but very few will give him cash.
(read: you need to tithe.)
but very few will give him cash.
(read: you need to tithe.)
August 14, 2007
monsoon of music.
music i'm simultaneously digesting:
- timbaland
- beck
- rhymefest
- amy winehouse
- n*e*r*d
i'm not sure if i like throwing down so much flav at the same time. it is so nice, but when i grab at them one at a time i can pace myself. for example, timbaland is terrific, but he'll take me a while to come to terms with entirely. however, miss winehouse i feel is one who i can understand and enjoy in minutes. she doesnt take much scrutiny.
however, the bigger downside is that i dont have time for MY music anymore (justin timberlake, gnarls barkley, john mayer, guster, ben folds, david crowder, etc.) but i still feel super motivated to find out if any of these artists will find their way into my tops - i mean look at john mayer and how he has developed in my eyes over the last year. last august = not a fan cause i never looked past "wonderland" and "no such thing". now = can't get enough.
i feel like the monsoon of music isn't going to stop soon either. i'm living with two gentlemen who are very much into music, and i feel like i might even have the opportunity to make some with them sometime this semester. anyway. i need to start pacing myself and allowing for some jt time. and some jm. and some bf and gnarls and crowder time.
but anyway. i guess thats about all i have to cover today.
late.
-ap.
- timbaland
- beck
- rhymefest
- amy winehouse
- n*e*r*d
i'm not sure if i like throwing down so much flav at the same time. it is so nice, but when i grab at them one at a time i can pace myself. for example, timbaland is terrific, but he'll take me a while to come to terms with entirely. however, miss winehouse i feel is one who i can understand and enjoy in minutes. she doesnt take much scrutiny.
however, the bigger downside is that i dont have time for MY music anymore (justin timberlake, gnarls barkley, john mayer, guster, ben folds, david crowder, etc.) but i still feel super motivated to find out if any of these artists will find their way into my tops - i mean look at john mayer and how he has developed in my eyes over the last year. last august = not a fan cause i never looked past "wonderland" and "no such thing". now = can't get enough.
i feel like the monsoon of music isn't going to stop soon either. i'm living with two gentlemen who are very much into music, and i feel like i might even have the opportunity to make some with them sometime this semester. anyway. i need to start pacing myself and allowing for some jt time. and some jm. and some bf and gnarls and crowder time.
but anyway. i guess thats about all i have to cover today.
late.
-ap.
August 09, 2007
science rules.
apparently they pumped this case with hydrogen, which is less dense than the rest of the air. but that whole pouring the hydrogen into the boat thing is way awesome. science rules.
-ap.
August 03, 2007
85/97 and sunny/strong tunderstorms
i love it when i go to weather.com and it says it is 85 degrees with strong thunderstorms and then i look outside my window and the sun is shining.
at least the 85 degrees part is about right. the bank down the street said it was 97. i'd believe voldemort was real before i'd trust that bank marquee.
-ap.
at least the 85 degrees part is about right. the bank down the street said it was 97. i'd believe voldemort was real before i'd trust that bank marquee.
-ap.
August 02, 2007
Apologize - Timbaland feat. One Republic
i'm planning on picking up Timbaland's cd "Shock Value" tomorrow sometime. it looks pretty tight - there are some guests on it that you'd expect (Nelly Furtado, Justin Timberlake, Missy Elliot) but there are some interesting pairings as well - One Republic (this video), Fall Out Boy, Elton John, The Hives. It looks way too interesting to pass up. The Way I Are is the single that some of you may have heard. It features Keri Hilson, (imagine Beyonce lacking a little soul and badonk). Its a pretty dece track.
i think this video is tight - and i love the song too. i wish there was a bit more Timbaland in it - i feel like its just a good One Republic track - but that doesnt mean its bad. i'm looking forward to the rest of the cd.
so far the only song i've heard a sample of that kinda bugs me is the Fall Out Boy song. and not because i'm not a huge FOB fan, but because Timbaland's opening lyrics have the EXACT same sound as a section of "Dance Dance". but thats a very fall out boy thing to do...maybe Timba is making fun of FOB in the track without them even knowing. that'd be silly.
but dont hold me to that - its just the sample and tracks have a way of growing/fading on me. take futuresex/lovesounds for example - used to love "my love" and think "summer love" was so average. now i like SL more than ML (still a big ML fan though).
anyway. i think i'll go pick it up tomorrow after i pick up my paycheck. hawt.
a review can be anticipated in a few weeks.
-ap.
ps. everyone should hop on itunes and purchase "Make Me Better" by Fabolous & Ne-Yo. big fan of the strings combined with Ne-Yo's voice.
July 31, 2007
a kc/'hattan juxtaposition?
so i'm currently updating this mug on my sister's macbook in kc. she's apparently moved into my old room (slash using it as storage for all her pre-leaving-for-college stuff). sometimes it feels strange coming home to kc; it hardly even feels like home anymore. my "room" is basically a closet now and my "bed" is a pull out couch. anything i own that is remotely important to me isn't here - it's in my room in manhattan. basically all this house provides me that i dont have in 'hattan is my family.
well. and copious amounts of food. jackpot.
one of my best friends gets back in town today and i'm about to burst with excitement. she has a macbook too. man i need one of these.
things are changing rapidly now. the first few years of college it was all subtle change - well, i guess i changed a lot as a person early in school - but my surroundings are changing so much faster now i feel like. friends are leaving/coming/disappearing from my life/becoming more important to me by the day.
i think maybe its that th friends i've made in college are nearly as meaningful as the ones i've had my whole life. i used to give them no stock and only consider my TRUE friends the ones i've had forever. kinda neat how things change and such. odd. but neat.
anyway. i'm going to go run some errands now. thats what i do in kc. just get crap done. in manhattan i have to work so hard to fill my free time - here i feel like my days never stop and i dont have any time to spare. (harry potter would NOT have been conquered as quick as it did had i been living in kc...so i guess 'hattan has its perks). weird that i'm favoring manhattan somewhat.
obviously if i had to pick a place to live i'd choose here (kc)...i used to own this city and i never see myself in a city any smaller than this for my life - but for now, while things are changing and people are coming and going so quickly (wizard of oz reference) it's nice to be in a place as stagnant and constant as 'hattan. i dunno. its comforting regardless what else changes.
okay. lunch with my dad and then running errands with anna and then karlie flies into the town.
see? busy busy busy. yes, they're all great things that i have no problem doing - but where on earth would i have time for hp here? i dunno. i love it here. but i'm starting to appreciate being able to sit around and do nothing/play my piano/read about minerva mcgonagall all day.
-ap.
edit: turns out her flight was delayed and life isnt odd or neat. it just sucks.
well. and copious amounts of food. jackpot.
one of my best friends gets back in town today and i'm about to burst with excitement. she has a macbook too. man i need one of these.
things are changing rapidly now. the first few years of college it was all subtle change - well, i guess i changed a lot as a person early in school - but my surroundings are changing so much faster now i feel like. friends are leaving/coming/disappearing from my life/becoming more important to me by the day.
i think maybe its that th friends i've made in college are nearly as meaningful as the ones i've had my whole life. i used to give them no stock and only consider my TRUE friends the ones i've had forever. kinda neat how things change and such. odd. but neat.
anyway. i'm going to go run some errands now. thats what i do in kc. just get crap done. in manhattan i have to work so hard to fill my free time - here i feel like my days never stop and i dont have any time to spare. (harry potter would NOT have been conquered as quick as it did had i been living in kc...so i guess 'hattan has its perks). weird that i'm favoring manhattan somewhat.
obviously if i had to pick a place to live i'd choose here (kc)...i used to own this city and i never see myself in a city any smaller than this for my life - but for now, while things are changing and people are coming and going so quickly (wizard of oz reference) it's nice to be in a place as stagnant and constant as 'hattan. i dunno. its comforting regardless what else changes.
okay. lunch with my dad and then running errands with anna and then karlie flies into the town.
see? busy busy busy. yes, they're all great things that i have no problem doing - but where on earth would i have time for hp here? i dunno. i love it here. but i'm starting to appreciate being able to sit around and do nothing/play my piano/read about minerva mcgonagall all day.
-ap.
edit: turns out her flight was delayed and life isnt odd or neat. it just sucks.
July 30, 2007
chris brown on sesame steet.
apparently this is supposed to air on August 17.
i am becoming more and more impressed with chris brown every day. i used to just be a "gimme that" and "run it" fan. you know, the type of guy who knows the popular radio songs and has no idea of the true talent behind the studio editing and all. well, i'm not hating on those songs - big fan - but i didnt really realize the stud chris brown is until recently.
not only did he appear for about 4 episodes in one of my favorite tv shows ever (the oc), but i've also discovered that he's got one of the best voices ever. he's like usher and omarion combined...only better. plus he can dance like its no body's business. oh, and he's 18.
anyway. he's dropped his single on itunes already - which i was actually surprised he did after the recent trend in withholding tracks until actual cd releases. but anyway. the single is "wall to wall". if you liked run it and gimme that then you'll like this too, but i encourage you to dive deeper than the radio tracks - cb has style that i think everyone ought to be aware of.
-ap.
July 29, 2007
July 23, 2007
sexually questionable writing at its finest.
please allow yourself to float into a slightly immature state of mind for this post. thank you.
i came home from campus a few days ago and sat down at my computer screen. i had left my gmail window open and my friend dan had sent me a quote from an mlb.com article on billy butler and the royals. this is the quote:
BOSTON -- Royals manager Buddy Bell was leaning on the batting cage. The sun bathed the greenery of Fenway Park and a breeze stirred through the 70-degree afternoon. A delightful day at the tradition-rich ballpark.
i came home from campus a few days ago and sat down at my computer screen. i had left my gmail window open and my friend dan had sent me a quote from an mlb.com article on billy butler and the royals. this is the quote:
BOSTON -- Royals manager Buddy Bell was leaning on the batting cage. The sun bathed the greenery of Fenway Park and a breeze stirred through the 70-degree afternoon. A delightful day at the tradition-rich ballpark.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Bell mused.
Bell liked what he was seeing inside the cage, too. Billy Butler, his muscular forearms bulging, was putting wood to maximum use...
that is all. laugh amongst yourselves.
-ap.
laundry.
laundry frustrates me.
the way i figure it - typically the right way - it takes about 2 hours to run a load of laundry through in its entirety: 2 minutes loading, 30-45 minutes washing, 2 minute wash/dryer transfer, 70-90 minutes drying, 5-10 minutes folding (usually the increase in time is directly proportional to the number of hanging items).
and if my totals are correct - which they are - there is a maximum of 14 minutes of the individual's actual involvement in the process (this is assuming they have a plethora of hanging articles also - i usually only have one or two hanging items, so my total is more like 9 minutes).
this means that of the entire laundry procedure = anywhere from 5.6% to 12.8%. my methods for arriving at these percentages is as follows:
Pmin = Thands-on min/Ttotal max = 9/159 = 0.056
Pmax = Thands-on max/Ttotal min = 14/109 = 0.128
adam. seriously? who really cares? and i would answer that question but i'm not going to because i think it is both rhetorical and the answer to such a question is already rather obvious at this poing*.
the reason i care is that the other 94.4% of the time you are forced to continue to check your watch and frame your schedule around your dirty clothing. to clarify here: that is 150 minutes of potentially plaguing paranoia (yeah alliteration). laundry ruins my day; i hate having to do it. it wouldn't be so bad if i could just put it in the machine and it would be all done in 150 minutes - but no, i have to come check on it and wait for one cycle to be done so i can move it over into the dryer. i can't just put it in the wash and then go watch Transformers (144 minutes) - i have to sit around the house and worry about it. blah. obnoxious.
(another thing you could do is create multiple blogs throughout the evening to kill the time between cycles. that is what i have elected to do.)
-ap.
* - this is my most common typo. my fingers have been trained to always hit "g" after "in". the "t" totally throws everything off - silly reflexes.
the way i figure it - typically the right way - it takes about 2 hours to run a load of laundry through in its entirety: 2 minutes loading, 30-45 minutes washing, 2 minute wash/dryer transfer, 70-90 minutes drying, 5-10 minutes folding (usually the increase in time is directly proportional to the number of hanging items).
and if my totals are correct - which they are - there is a maximum of 14 minutes of the individual's actual involvement in the process (this is assuming they have a plethora of hanging articles also - i usually only have one or two hanging items, so my total is more like 9 minutes).
this means that of the entire laundry procedure = anywhere from 5.6% to 12.8%. my methods for arriving at these percentages is as follows:
Pmin = Thands-on min/Ttotal max = 9/159 = 0.056
Pmax = Thands-on max/Ttotal min = 14/109 = 0.128
adam. seriously? who really cares? and i would answer that question but i'm not going to because i think it is both rhetorical and the answer to such a question is already rather obvious at this poing*.
the reason i care is that the other 94.4% of the time you are forced to continue to check your watch and frame your schedule around your dirty clothing. to clarify here: that is 150 minutes of potentially plaguing paranoia (yeah alliteration). laundry ruins my day; i hate having to do it. it wouldn't be so bad if i could just put it in the machine and it would be all done in 150 minutes - but no, i have to come check on it and wait for one cycle to be done so i can move it over into the dryer. i can't just put it in the wash and then go watch Transformers (144 minutes) - i have to sit around the house and worry about it. blah. obnoxious.
(another thing you could do is create multiple blogs throughout the evening to kill the time between cycles. that is what i have elected to do.)
-ap.
* - this is my most common typo. my fingers have been trained to always hit "g" after "in". the "t" totally throws everything off - silly reflexes.
July 22, 2007
July 20, 2007
HP and the DH: Pre-Game
my plan for harry potter and the deathly hallows:
work until 6:30.
sleep from 7 until 10.
go join the commotion at hasting's until midnight.
recieve my reserved copy of hp7.
read until i work at noon tomorrow.
it did not occur to me, however, that at 9:00 pm my heart would be threatening to burst through my 1980 Hillcrest softball jersey and my head running laps around the JK Rowling hints i read about on wikipedia 7 hours earlier. this is, as you will notice, a severe hindrance to my plan. i ought to be sleeping right now - it seems harry potter mania has consumed me. oh well. the plan will still continue the same henceforth.
love the word henceforth.
things i need to have happen in this book:
a harry versus draco cage match must occur. i dont care what the scenario is and i dont care what happens to malfoy in the end - just as long as harry takes care of that little puke. ron or hermoine could maybe throw a spell or two his way, but i desperately need draco to get what he has coming. and while we're at it - lucius needs to die. draco can end up in Azkaban, thats fine, but lucius cannot survive as far as i'm concerned.
snape HAS to be good. i dont care what he did in book 6 and i dont care what harry thinks of him - he is too big of a character and Rowling has put too much time and effort into his development for him to be bad. I think he is troubled and holds about 9 million grudges, but he is a good person. my theory is still that snape was acting under the imperius curse in book 6. if he is truly evil i'll be shocked - but then again, Rowling is capable of anything...and those of you that have read book 6 know EXACTLY what i'm talking about. talk about paralysis. i thought i'd misread something. GOSH.
ron and hermoine kiss. i dont even need a make out session or even the slightest bit of a relationship to evolve from it - this is both because i might start getting jealous of our red-haired champion AND because i don't really think ron will survive. thats right. i think ron will die. i dont WANT it to happen, of course, but the more i play the scenario over in my head...i think Rowling will have him die. Voldemort has nothing holding him back now, i'm expecting a lot of deaths. ANYWAY. regardless of Ron's finale, if he and Hermoine don't get together i'll hate this book. period. k not hate, but i'll be extremely disappointed.
a Hogwarts finale. Voldemort and the Death Eaters vs the DA and the Aurors. Harry can come too.
the following people cannot die in my eyes: hermoine, ginny, neville, snape.....tonks.
neville and snape are both characters that i feel have gained too much attention as of late not to survive. if snape turns out to be the most evil character ever in literature - then he can die, no probs, but i do NOT think that is possible. gosh i hope he's good, i'm banking on it. i also think that neville HAS to survive. one of two scenarios for neville: he pulls out some wicked spell and destroys something great and saves the eve. not the day, thats still harry's. but the eve will do for neville. scenario number two = harry potter and the deathly hallows: the rise of neville longbottom. there's a baller in there somewhere. oh. and neville WILL kill bellatrix. period.
anyway, i'll include tonks in this category as well, albeit reluctantly, because while she's only been around since book 5, i feel like there is too much emotional development in her as of late for her not to survive. i wouldn't be surprised if she's the only living descendant of the black family tree around after this thing is said and done, the rest will end up dead or in azkaban. nyphadora survives. unless lupin dies too maybe. if lupin dies i can see her dying. but assuming the status quo - i think she lives too. just too much of her character has developed for these three to die. ESPECIALLY the first two; a tonks and lupin combo death is negotiable.
ginny would be too much for harry to lose. yes yes, i realize i've already mentioned that i think ron will die, but i think ginny can sub for ron and console harry enough that he can get through it. plus she's basically a baller. i dont think any of the death eaters stand a chance. ginny and harry could take over the world as long as they still have hermoine to talk to.
hermoine is too important. i'm not sure if i only think that cuase i'm in love with her or because i actually believe it in terms of the book. the potential she possess for the future of the wizarding world is too large. she's the next Minerva McGonagall - only WAY hotter.
the rest are questionable in my eyes - in retrospect i'd probably include tonks in the "questionable" category, but i've already written it so i'll leave it as is. i'm not confident about her finish. i guess snape is still slightly questionable, but i'm like 99% sure he's freaking gooooood. dangit. i'm gonna start crying again. not again. just the first time. embarassing.
harry's finish? man. i wish i knew. voldemort is toast. there's no way he's not. Rowling can NOT be that heartless, but Harry's end is questionable. i'm not going to speculate. i'm just going to read and find out.
predictions: ron dies valiantly. voldemort dies. bellatrix dies via neville. lucius malfoy dies while narcissa go to azkaban. draco goes to azakaban too, but only because harry isn't a killer - he's got him cornered but is merciful. hagrid dies unfairly - he would've died earlier had grawp not saved his rather large posterior. viktor krum is injured and would have died if ron hadn't been courageous and done something great to save his rear. hermoine lives - ron steps in front of an avada kedavra directed at her - however, this potentially sets up a lily potter/harry potter situation for ron/hermoine...love conquers all. holla back. peter pettigrew dies - grawp will smash him. fawkes is inherited by harry. moaning myrtle won't die. a couple weasleys die too, but not ginny. hermoine slaps krum at some point. and mcgonagall turns out to have some chops...definitely some chops indeed.
oh and a cameo appearance by either beyonce or chris brown.
linkin park will probably play the end credits song when the movie comes out in 2010 too.
if i'm right about any of those things - awesome. but if i'm wrong about everything - not surprising in the least. gosh. this thing turned out rather lengthy.
and hermoine - no matter what happens - i'm glad i opened the sorcerer's stone so this relationship could blossom.
-ap.
work until 6:30.
sleep from 7 until 10.
go join the commotion at hasting's until midnight.
recieve my reserved copy of hp7.
read until i work at noon tomorrow.
it did not occur to me, however, that at 9:00 pm my heart would be threatening to burst through my 1980 Hillcrest softball jersey and my head running laps around the JK Rowling hints i read about on wikipedia 7 hours earlier. this is, as you will notice, a severe hindrance to my plan. i ought to be sleeping right now - it seems harry potter mania has consumed me. oh well. the plan will still continue the same henceforth.
love the word henceforth.
things i need to have happen in this book:
a harry versus draco cage match must occur. i dont care what the scenario is and i dont care what happens to malfoy in the end - just as long as harry takes care of that little puke. ron or hermoine could maybe throw a spell or two his way, but i desperately need draco to get what he has coming. and while we're at it - lucius needs to die. draco can end up in Azkaban, thats fine, but lucius cannot survive as far as i'm concerned.
snape HAS to be good. i dont care what he did in book 6 and i dont care what harry thinks of him - he is too big of a character and Rowling has put too much time and effort into his development for him to be bad. I think he is troubled and holds about 9 million grudges, but he is a good person. my theory is still that snape was acting under the imperius curse in book 6. if he is truly evil i'll be shocked - but then again, Rowling is capable of anything...and those of you that have read book 6 know EXACTLY what i'm talking about. talk about paralysis. i thought i'd misread something. GOSH.
ron and hermoine kiss. i dont even need a make out session or even the slightest bit of a relationship to evolve from it - this is both because i might start getting jealous of our red-haired champion AND because i don't really think ron will survive. thats right. i think ron will die. i dont WANT it to happen, of course, but the more i play the scenario over in my head...i think Rowling will have him die. Voldemort has nothing holding him back now, i'm expecting a lot of deaths. ANYWAY. regardless of Ron's finale, if he and Hermoine don't get together i'll hate this book. period. k not hate, but i'll be extremely disappointed.
a Hogwarts finale. Voldemort and the Death Eaters vs the DA and the Aurors. Harry can come too.
the following people cannot die in my eyes: hermoine, ginny, neville, snape.....tonks.
neville and snape are both characters that i feel have gained too much attention as of late not to survive. if snape turns out to be the most evil character ever in literature - then he can die, no probs, but i do NOT think that is possible. gosh i hope he's good, i'm banking on it. i also think that neville HAS to survive. one of two scenarios for neville: he pulls out some wicked spell and destroys something great and saves the eve. not the day, thats still harry's. but the eve will do for neville. scenario number two = harry potter and the deathly hallows: the rise of neville longbottom. there's a baller in there somewhere. oh. and neville WILL kill bellatrix. period.
anyway, i'll include tonks in this category as well, albeit reluctantly, because while she's only been around since book 5, i feel like there is too much emotional development in her as of late for her not to survive. i wouldn't be surprised if she's the only living descendant of the black family tree around after this thing is said and done, the rest will end up dead or in azkaban. nyphadora survives. unless lupin dies too maybe. if lupin dies i can see her dying. but assuming the status quo - i think she lives too. just too much of her character has developed for these three to die. ESPECIALLY the first two; a tonks and lupin combo death is negotiable.
ginny would be too much for harry to lose. yes yes, i realize i've already mentioned that i think ron will die, but i think ginny can sub for ron and console harry enough that he can get through it. plus she's basically a baller. i dont think any of the death eaters stand a chance. ginny and harry could take over the world as long as they still have hermoine to talk to.
hermoine is too important. i'm not sure if i only think that cuase i'm in love with her or because i actually believe it in terms of the book. the potential she possess for the future of the wizarding world is too large. she's the next Minerva McGonagall - only WAY hotter.
the rest are questionable in my eyes - in retrospect i'd probably include tonks in the "questionable" category, but i've already written it so i'll leave it as is. i'm not confident about her finish. i guess snape is still slightly questionable, but i'm like 99% sure he's freaking gooooood. dangit. i'm gonna start crying again. not again. just the first time. embarassing.
harry's finish? man. i wish i knew. voldemort is toast. there's no way he's not. Rowling can NOT be that heartless, but Harry's end is questionable. i'm not going to speculate. i'm just going to read and find out.
predictions: ron dies valiantly. voldemort dies. bellatrix dies via neville. lucius malfoy dies while narcissa go to azkaban. draco goes to azakaban too, but only because harry isn't a killer - he's got him cornered but is merciful. hagrid dies unfairly - he would've died earlier had grawp not saved his rather large posterior. viktor krum is injured and would have died if ron hadn't been courageous and done something great to save his rear. hermoine lives - ron steps in front of an avada kedavra directed at her - however, this potentially sets up a lily potter/harry potter situation for ron/hermoine...love conquers all. holla back. peter pettigrew dies - grawp will smash him. fawkes is inherited by harry. moaning myrtle won't die. a couple weasleys die too, but not ginny. hermoine slaps krum at some point. and mcgonagall turns out to have some chops...definitely some chops indeed.
oh and a cameo appearance by either beyonce or chris brown.
linkin park will probably play the end credits song when the movie comes out in 2010 too.
if i'm right about any of those things - awesome. but if i'm wrong about everything - not surprising in the least. gosh. this thing turned out rather lengthy.
and hermoine - no matter what happens - i'm glad i opened the sorcerer's stone so this relationship could blossom.
-ap.
July 16, 2007
ESPYs - Arthur Ashe Award
so the ESPYs are something i find somewhat interesting and unfair at the same time. kind of like the Grammys - it jsut seems unfair to compare athletes of different sports to one another and say that one is better than the other. typically i watch it so that i can 1) find out what remarkable athletes i missed out on in the past year 2) discover new hilarious athletes that i can become a fan of and 3) check out serena williams's and fine fashion sense.
however. this year i watched for only one reason: lebron james was cohosting.
turns out - he's not very funny when his lines are rehearsed.
plus he's a horrible vocalist.
but wise lebron still knows whats up.
however, i was blown away with this years ESPYs thanks to probably the coolest story/challenge combo i've ever witnessed on tv...perhaps next to invisible children...but really incredible to hear just the same.
The Arthur Ashe Award for Courage was awarded this year to individuals who displayed courage in the name of sports. Trevor Ringland and Dave Cullen are from Northern Ireland. For years their community has been divided - literally - by a street in the middle of the city where riots occur much too frequently. They've grown up in a world of hate and turmoil between Protestants and Catholics both despising the other their beliefs. (i'm going to ignore the obvious religious issue i have with this situation and move on to what i'd actually like to address***).
These two studs have created an organization called "Peace Players". It is a program where kids from BOTH sides of the street can come and play together away from the segregation and hatred. This, they (along with me) believe, may have the potential of slowly but effectively bringing a sense of peace to Northern Ireland in the coming years. The men come from opposite sides of the street and have met with schools, parents, government officials and more time and time again in order to persuade them to allow this organization to stand. They have brought hundreds of kids together and taught them not only about basketball, but also life lessons about love and kindness and equality.
anyway. the 10 minute documentary it showed on it during the ESPYs nearly brought tears to my eyes - but it was not nearly as cool as the challenge issued by Trevor during his acceptance speech. He said thank you and then looked down at all the athletes in the auditorium - the best athletes there are - and told them essentially that they "were role models for all the kids in the world, and as such, they have a responsibility for their actions."
i've been waiting for someone to say that to the athletes of this country for years. granted this is not all athletes - heck, even Ron Artest surprised me this week with his efforts in kenya - but there was a man in the audience at the ESPYs named Terrell Owens who, if he saw and heard the same thing i did, might have felt some slight pangs of guilt. And i'm not only pointing fingers at TO - i'm pointing fingers at Tank Johnson, Dominic Jones, Michael Vick, even my man out of Iowa State Jamaal Tinsley.
and that is just in the last couple of weeks. these things happen on a near-daily basis. and frankly, it pisses me off.
how many kids ever played with a football outside as Jerry Rice and Joe Montana. or played baseball as Nolan Ryan or Ken Griffey Jr. or played basketball as MJ...and then the other kid had to be Pippen or Rodman. I want to be like Mike. it was a freaking advert! granted, no one really wanted to be like Rodman - which is why the dorky kid you were friends with always got stuck with him...unless there was a bully or a kid with a nose ring/pink hair. but even Mike isn't a great role model - but thats besides the point.
the poing is: kids are no different today. they're still kids. they have people they want to be like and the first place most of them turn when they realize their parents are boring is to sports. players have an obligation as role models to lead by example. i feel like many are failing and i'm thrilled that Dave and Trevor addressed it.
anyone can make a difference - even two religiously diverse middle-aged men from a terror-stricken Northern Ireland - and it's an absolute crime that such obvious difference makers can't do the same.
so to the Peace Players in Europe -
praise-alluia to ya.
-ap.
*** turns out - my brother doubledizz actually has addressed thoughts on this subject on his page - here are his (and many of my) thoughts.
however. this year i watched for only one reason: lebron james was cohosting.
turns out - he's not very funny when his lines are rehearsed.
plus he's a horrible vocalist.
but wise lebron still knows whats up.
however, i was blown away with this years ESPYs thanks to probably the coolest story/challenge combo i've ever witnessed on tv...perhaps next to invisible children...but really incredible to hear just the same.
The Arthur Ashe Award for Courage was awarded this year to individuals who displayed courage in the name of sports. Trevor Ringland and Dave Cullen are from Northern Ireland. For years their community has been divided - literally - by a street in the middle of the city where riots occur much too frequently. They've grown up in a world of hate and turmoil between Protestants and Catholics both despising the other their beliefs. (i'm going to ignore the obvious religious issue i have with this situation and move on to what i'd actually like to address***).
These two studs have created an organization called "Peace Players". It is a program where kids from BOTH sides of the street can come and play together away from the segregation and hatred. This, they (along with me) believe, may have the potential of slowly but effectively bringing a sense of peace to Northern Ireland in the coming years. The men come from opposite sides of the street and have met with schools, parents, government officials and more time and time again in order to persuade them to allow this organization to stand. They have brought hundreds of kids together and taught them not only about basketball, but also life lessons about love and kindness and equality.
anyway. the 10 minute documentary it showed on it during the ESPYs nearly brought tears to my eyes - but it was not nearly as cool as the challenge issued by Trevor during his acceptance speech. He said thank you and then looked down at all the athletes in the auditorium - the best athletes there are - and told them essentially that they "were role models for all the kids in the world, and as such, they have a responsibility for their actions."
i've been waiting for someone to say that to the athletes of this country for years. granted this is not all athletes - heck, even Ron Artest surprised me this week with his efforts in kenya - but there was a man in the audience at the ESPYs named Terrell Owens who, if he saw and heard the same thing i did, might have felt some slight pangs of guilt. And i'm not only pointing fingers at TO - i'm pointing fingers at Tank Johnson, Dominic Jones, Michael Vick, even my man out of Iowa State Jamaal Tinsley.
and that is just in the last couple of weeks. these things happen on a near-daily basis. and frankly, it pisses me off.
how many kids ever played with a football outside as Jerry Rice and Joe Montana. or played baseball as Nolan Ryan or Ken Griffey Jr. or played basketball as MJ...and then the other kid had to be Pippen or Rodman. I want to be like Mike. it was a freaking advert! granted, no one really wanted to be like Rodman - which is why the dorky kid you were friends with always got stuck with him...unless there was a bully or a kid with a nose ring/pink hair. but even Mike isn't a great role model - but thats besides the point.
the poing is: kids are no different today. they're still kids. they have people they want to be like and the first place most of them turn when they realize their parents are boring is to sports. players have an obligation as role models to lead by example. i feel like many are failing and i'm thrilled that Dave and Trevor addressed it.
anyone can make a difference - even two religiously diverse middle-aged men from a terror-stricken Northern Ireland - and it's an absolute crime that such obvious difference makers can't do the same.
so to the Peace Players in Europe -
praise-alluia to ya.
-ap.
*** turns out - my brother doubledizz actually has addressed thoughts on this subject on his page - here are his (and many of my) thoughts.
a trio of facebook posts to jon jeffrey.
since facebook only allows you to post 1,000 characters at a time i had to split the following posts to Jon Jeffrey into three parts. it is regarding a number of things, primarily my usage of party shuffle in itunes. feel free to read. there are a few of you out there that might care....if you dont read any of it at all - read the very last bulleted section. i figured the whole thing was postworthy (i just decided that word should be a compound word - like "seaworthy" or "trustworthy" or "airworthy"). anyway. thank you. have a nice day.
1. by the looks of things you got a job. congrats.
2. what exactly IS a bridal shower and what is andrew doing for his bach? i'm hoping he can incorporate skee-ball somehow.
3. i'm not sure whether grawpy was necessary or not at this point - i'll know by sunday what his role is - i'm betting he chews on crabb and goyle's heads for an elongated period of time. we'll see - she wouldn't've included him if he wasn't importante.
4. rarely do i play out of my entire "music" - i have a handful of playlists i select from depending on my mood...
4a. >10, >20, >30. i have all three of these smart playlists made... they are based on the play count of my entire library. i usually play the >10 and >20, but sometimes i'm looking for some classic apc hits that i know will make me smile...thats when >30 comes in.
..............
4b. Neglected Winners/Midmajors. This is the playlist i utilize when i'm growing tired of my typical favs. they're ones that have been in my itunes for more than 6 months and have a play count between 5 and 20. its a rather hodge podge selection, but i like it when i'm searching for something great that i've forgotten about recently.
4c. john mayer favs. this one is self explanitory.
4d. these kinds of songs. this was the first playlist i ever made and it is still one of my favorites...it is primarily like mid-90's alternative rock kinda stuff...but only sorta. it is its own type of songs that ought to have its own genre. songs like "all for you" by sister hazel, "breakfast at tiffany's" by deep blue something, "slide" by goo goo dolls, "only wanna be with you" by hootie, "beautiful oblivion" by eve 6, "every morning" by sugar ray....i seriously think it ought to have its own genre, but i have no clue what it is. anyway. i like that one a lot.
4e. "oh girl." - dance party sizzler.
....
5. and lastly, regarding the selection of the songs...the more specific the playlist the less i select. the >'s i typically choose through, as with the neglected ones...but lists c, d, and e are usually just whatever comes is whats played...eh. "oh girl." may have the occasional sift.
anyway. i should've just made that like a blog post or something...cause it was entirely too long.
oh well.
maybe i'll post this as a blog anyway. that'd be neat.
oh. and you guys are still coming to 'hattan si? this isn't just a "talk about it and act like it'll happen but it probs wont" thing. this is as serious as JM/BF/ALAND....and that is mega serious.
oh. last thing: start using the word "champion" as follows:
- dude, what a champion maneuver.
- that album is so freakin champion.
- whoa, how champion was that move?
try it on. i thought of it today.
alright. p out. late.
-ap.
1. by the looks of things you got a job. congrats.
2. what exactly IS a bridal shower and what is andrew doing for his bach? i'm hoping he can incorporate skee-ball somehow.
3. i'm not sure whether grawpy was necessary or not at this point - i'll know by sunday what his role is - i'm betting he chews on crabb and goyle's heads for an elongated period of time. we'll see - she wouldn't've included him if he wasn't importante.
4. rarely do i play out of my entire "music" - i have a handful of playlists i select from depending on my mood...
4a. >10, >20, >30. i have all three of these smart playlists made... they are based on the play count of my entire library. i usually play the >10 and >20, but sometimes i'm looking for some classic apc hits that i know will make me smile...thats when >30 comes in.
..............
4b. Neglected Winners/Midmajors. This is the playlist i utilize when i'm growing tired of my typical favs. they're ones that have been in my itunes for more than 6 months and have a play count between 5 and 20. its a rather hodge podge selection, but i like it when i'm searching for something great that i've forgotten about recently.
4c. john mayer favs. this one is self explanitory.
4d. these kinds of songs. this was the first playlist i ever made and it is still one of my favorites...it is primarily like mid-90's alternative rock kinda stuff...but only sorta. it is its own type of songs that ought to have its own genre. songs like "all for you" by sister hazel, "breakfast at tiffany's" by deep blue something, "slide" by goo goo dolls, "only wanna be with you" by hootie, "beautiful oblivion" by eve 6, "every morning" by sugar ray....i seriously think it ought to have its own genre, but i have no clue what it is. anyway. i like that one a lot.
4e. "oh girl." - dance party sizzler.
....
5. and lastly, regarding the selection of the songs...the more specific the playlist the less i select. the >'s i typically choose through, as with the neglected ones...but lists c, d, and e are usually just whatever comes is whats played...eh. "oh girl." may have the occasional sift.
anyway. i should've just made that like a blog post or something...cause it was entirely too long.
oh well.
maybe i'll post this as a blog anyway. that'd be neat.
oh. and you guys are still coming to 'hattan si? this isn't just a "talk about it and act like it'll happen but it probs wont" thing. this is as serious as JM/BF/ALAND....and that is mega serious.
oh. last thing: start using the word "champion" as follows:
- dude, what a champion maneuver.
- that album is so freakin champion.
- whoa, how champion was that move?
try it on. i thought of it today.
alright. p out. late.
-ap.
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