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the rockies
my beautiful pregnant wife
our seats at the Rockies game (6th row!!)
me above the timberline in the Rockies
liz and I at New Belgium Brewery
This past week I was up in beautiful Prescott, AZ with our 5th and 6th graders for summer camp. Anytime I get out of town for a week with students I am always guaranteed a few things, most good, some not so good, but overall a great time. So Here are a few things that are worth mention
1. Camp Band – I always enjoy a good band. This year the band was amazing! They played to their audience to a T! I underestimated the ability of 5th and 6th graders to worship God. The band makes a huge difference at camp, and this year we got lucky.
2. The imagination of kids! – So the camp was also for 3rd & 4th graders. We had a few activities together as a big group of kids. I am quick to forget the crazy imagination of kids. On one of the mornings I was walking by a group of kids that were playing some game that had to do with saving the world. Here are some quotes that I heard come from these warriors: ” Hurry up, the enemy is trying to take the fort in to thier possession.”, ” Retreat, Retreat, the bad guys are coming, everyone back to the base!!”, ” my gun is broken, someone help me before they capture me”. I am jealous, I want to be in that place again.
3. Silent Football – If you haven’t played this game, then you haven’t lived! We laughed so hard. (pee your pants hard). Some highlights are these phrases: painted butt-hole (pardon the use of the word – it was referring to a baboon), flamboyant bracelet necklace, cube-in-chest, sweet like bear meat, and velma, thelma, and luis. The game was amazing. Spencer had to drink some water out of a didgeridoo (an Australian type of instrument), but the catch is that the didgeridoo had been used by well over 100 people prior to spencer drinking out of it. (when you use it you basically spit in it, so he had to swallow a lot of spit in his water)
4. Dodgeball – we played for 3 hours straight on Wednesday, and my whole right side is still sore. My boys were amazing in this game, they were studs.
5. Snipe Hunting – Unfortunately we did not catch any, but we sure tried. We were out in the woods yelling for those stubborn snipes to come out, but not luck. I had the privilege of taking out 3 adults too, which is always fun making them hunt some snipes. My boys were asking for peanut butter for 3 days, convinced that it would be what we needed to finally catch one of those furry rascals.
6. Water Day - Always a good time.
7. Little Sally Walker – it’s a game that young girls play, but I was recruited to join in. So I did, then… my boys did too, then… the whole camp was obsessed. Funny watching boys play little Sally Walker.
Camp was good. The camp itself was a wreck. They were so understaffed that we were helping serve meals and cleaning our own bathrooms. Their were some other down spots, but despite all of that… God still worked in the lives of students and leaders alike. It was a great week.
My wife and I watched The Freedom Writers tonight. Here are some thoughts: I thought it was a good movie, very similar to Dangerous Minds. But… it was still a good flick.
The story takes place in the mid 90’s in Los Angeles. Mrs. G (Hilary Swank) is a new teacher to “the hood” and seems to be a bit naive and maybe too much an idealist in the raw and rough world of inner city LA. She comes in with an idea of trying to teach these racially diverse students Freshman English. The school is fragile because of the tense environment of the gang life and the very obvious racial divisions. The 3 main ethnic groups are the African Americans, the Asians, and the Hispanics, none of the groups get along with each other.
Mrs. G. is different among the other teachers in this inner city public school because she has the crazy idea that these kids can learn at a high level and learn to develop relationships with each other. Her deep passion for these students end up costing her her marriage.
The movie was a gut wrenching snapshot of the deep divisions among ethnic groups. The other sad truth that was brought up for me is the oppression that different groups (i.e. African-Americans, Asians, and Hispanics) face in our country. Whether we are willing to acknowledge it or not, the unfortunate truth in our society is that being a white-middle class-male gets me ahead of the game and gives me opportunities that some of these students will never see. There is nothing I can do about being a white-middle class-male, but I can be a part of the redeeming work of God by erasing the oppression of minorities in our society.
This film brought to light the need for education…education is one of the answers to injustice…education is one way to bring about equality… education is an avenue to peace…
I recommend you check out the movie if you haven’t seen it. It is a bit cheezy at times (like when she has Starbucks coffee, but in the mid 90’s), and the plot is somewhat predictable, but… the message of the movie is inspiring and insightful.
Do you have a morning routine that you do every morning?
I kind of do. You see I work at Starbucks, so it is hard sometimes when I have to be at work by 4am. But… on those days that I do not have to be anywhere too early, I do have a routine. But… I need to change it. It is a bad morning ritual. Here is what my day looks like in the mornings: I get up…I shower…I brush my teeth and make myself look pretty…I come downstairs and get all my stuff together… I maybe might look on the computer for a new email or something…I get my keys and head out the door…I go to Starbucks … I order a drink and a bagel or a breakfast sandwich… I hang out there until I have to work or go to the church or something…all that = a bad morning routine.
So I have decided that I want to change my morning routine. Instead of going to Starbucks and spending money, I am going to get up early, and enjoy the beauty of my own home and make a cup of coffee here. (I get a free pound of coffee a week!) I will go through some of my favorite blogs, read the news from bbc.com and google news, maybe write a blog, read my Bible, and enjoy some good tunes (like counting crows or matchbox 20).
It is time for a change around here. (and time to save some cash)
What does your routine look like? What do you do in the mornings? Do you need to change it up?
I watched a very good movie yesterday while I was stranded to the couch due to a nasty head cold caught. I watched Good Night, and Good Luck, which is a movie about a newscaster in the early 1950’s who stood up to a bully politician, Joseph McCarthy. This is a true story of how Ed Murrow refused to be silenced due to the fear techniques of a very powerful McCarthy. McCarthy was basically accusing people of being communist, there did not seem to be much rhyme or reason as to who was being accused, but if you were on McCarthy’s radar then you would surely be dealt with. The problem was that McCarthy was going about this business in a unconstitutional way. No news broadcasters would stand up to Sen. McCarthy for fear that they may be accused of themselves being a part of the communist party.
The movie was co-written by George Clooney, who also had a role in the film. The film was nominated for an Oscar in 2005.
In the film, Murrow asked an audience of very well-off folk what the television was for. He had his regular Tuesday night program taken away from him after he stood up to McCarthy, I suppose he was a bit too controversial at the time. While talking to the audience he was questioning if they really wanted news, and the truth about politicians and current affairs, or if they just wanted to waste away with meaningless programming. Huh… interesting thought. I started to think about the television today. You see when Murrow was talking to this crowd the television was still fairly new to the American family. Not everyone had a television in their home, let alone 3 or 4.
Back to the television. What has it become today? What are all the top spots filled with? I know some people who claim to not watch television. I always get angry when people say that. Mostly because I want to not need television in a way that I just never think to turn it on. I don’t watch much t.v., but when I do it is pretty much useless stuff, mindless entertainment. I watch The Office, Friends, American Idol, The Bachelor (yeah so what?!), sports, and a whole bunch of other stuff to take up time.
Tonight I was riding my bike through my neighborhood and I noticed that nobody was outside. The streets were empty, as they almost always are. But… then I started to look inside of the windows of the houses I was riding by ( not in a creepy way, just a curious way), and I could see the glow of television sets at almost every house. We have become slave to the tube. By the way, the weather was absolutely perfect out.
So I guess my question/concern is what have we made the television? What do we get out of it? We watch these programs that really do not better us as humans beings, but we do it with such regularity that we schedule things around our favorite shows. Mr. Murrow wants to know what we plan on doing with the programs we watch? If we do not want honest reporting, then what do we want?
What are your thoughts? Have you seen Good Night, and Good Luck? If not, I suggest you watch it. It is a piece of our history that we may not know much about. Do you ever feel like your slave to the T.V.?
Tonight Liz and I had a wonderful night. We picked up a $5 footlong @ Subway. After that we stopped and got some delicious fat-free peanut butter yogurt ($5), then we stopped and picked up a redbox ($1). When we got home we made some fresh squeezed lemonade and orange juice. It was all delicious and cheap. A full night of activities all for $11.
This guy at Starbucks told me about full-beard February, so I thought I would give it a try. I have to say that the facial hair is starting to itch a lot. What do you think? Should I keep it? Will you join?
I can’t wait for Mustache March.
Here is the premise: these guys are playing a game show in a library, so they can’t make any noise. They must do what is on the card. The guy with the skull and bones is the “winner”!
Enjoy. I hope you laugh as hard as I did.
Tonight I watched Transformers for the first time. I know, I must be the last person this side of the Mississippi to watch it, but at least I watched it. Here is the thing, I am not always a big fan of watching those action packed movies with no plots. But I will say that this one was surprisingly Awesome! I was literally on the edge of my seat.
You see, when I was a little kid I watched Transformers, I even had them as toys. But I was never one of the kids that would remember things about the shows or characters. So Optimus Prime is a stranger to me, wait, was a stranger to me.
Anyways, the movie was rad, and it makes me excited to see the next one coming out this summer. However, I will not be one of those people out at the theaters at midnight to see the movie, and I will not dress up as a transformer. ( no movie is that good for me to wait in line for hours )
Did you enjoy the first Transformers? Are you looking forward to the 2nd one? Will you be waiting at midnight to see the premier? 
