Flo, gin is a sin. I golf.

I went to my buddy Bill's blog today. He posted a video thank you that was inspired by a Bob Dylan Song. When I went on youtube to watch the Dylan song, I found a parady by none other than the great "Weird Al" Yankovic. I started watching it, and it took me awhile, but when I finally figured out what he was doing, it made me laugh a lot! Enjoy:

A Couple Of Random Thoughts...

Quote from "Why The Christian Right is Wrong"...

"If the church is to be saved, it will be(sic) have to be recovered. By this I don't mean to say that we can turn back the clock to some nostalgic, nonexistent moment when everyone agreed on the nature of God, sin, and salvation but rather to a time when membership in The Way required no creeds and only one simple confession: Jesus Christ is Lord.

Impossible as it seems today, when so many defenders of the faith stake out theological positions and then defend them like a gunfighter, the essence of the Christian faith did not begin as a set of beliefs about Jesus but as response to Jesus. The first followers were not part of a school of thought but a beloved community, formed in response to a beloved teacher who opened the heavens and revealed a God whose unconditional love astonished them. It was a God they had never met, revealed by a man they could never forget.

I think it's more often then not that the shaping of my faith is done by what others will think if I'm not that way instead of my simple reaction to what Christ has done for me.

From a Mars Hill Bible Church Podcast...

"A character is defined in a story by what he does, not by what he thinks of himself."

This is just a good reminder to take a step back from my life and evaluate it by the life I am leading, not simply by the life I think I'm leading.

301 Anybody?

When I was setting up my office in Colorado, I found an old dartboard case lying around backstage. You know the kind that usually has a beer slogan on the front of it's two doors and then opens up to chalkboards on either door and a place to store the darts. Well, this was a just a little generic wooden dartboard case (is that even the proper term?). Bill and I played many a mean series on that board. We even made up games with names such as: "Blackjack" (where the goal was to get to 21), "Round the World" (Hitting 1-20 then the bullseyes in order), and my personal favorite, "Vegas" (where we put the dartboard on one end of the room and threw the darts from the other end to see who could get the closest to the center. Why 'Vegas' you ask? Cause it was a long shot...get it?). We played so much we didn't play to the best of five. We didn't play to the best of seven. We didn't even play to the best of 15. We played to the best of 99. First one to win fifty games was the winner. And I'll save Bill the trouble of gloating. He won our series three sets to none. (That's three best of 99 game sets).

I found the clip below on youtube. It really isn't all that incredible. But it made me remember the good times in my office throwing darts and dreaming of the kingdom.

I'm sorry...

Dear God,

I'm sorry for calling them your team. It was all just a joke. Can you please let Vinatieri hit some field goals again? I mean, at first it was a little funny, but now...well to be honest, it's starting to cause some problems with the ol' ticker. I was just responding to some unfound aligations by some retards...I mean, some of your loving children, and was truly just joking around. So, please take your curse off of Jesus Mann...I mean, Peyton Manning and the boys and I would greatly appreciate it. (But thank you for keeping Bob Sander healthy.)

Your Obediant Loving Son,

Jake

The Wisdom of an Eight Year College Grad...

I was having a bad week. Last wednesday morning (my day off) I woke to my wife frantically telling me that her car wouldn't start. So I go down, give it a jump and she's off. Figured she probably just left a light on or something.

Then, the next morning, it won't start again. Now I know something is up, so when I get home from work that day, I spend three hours trying to find the darn battery (which ended up being underneath the spare tire. Crummy Germans...). I finally find the thing and after pulling it out I head to my local Autozone. Except when I went to get into my car, I dropped my brand new Iphone and smashed the screen to peices. Frustrated beyond comprehension, I spend an hour waiting at Autozone while they charge then test my battery. After an hour (which makes this now about four hours of dealing with something that shouldn't have taken one) I find out my battery is fine.

Well, now I'm really feeling crappy cause I don't know how to change the altinator in my BMW (it took me three hours to find the battery, remember?) and the only people that can do it and keep the warrenty intact is the dealership. And they charge an arm and a leg.

Meanwhile I call Apple to find out what my options are for my phone. They say they can fix it. For $250. And then the lady on the phone adds this, "You might as well just buy a new phone." REALLY? That's your excellent customer service Apple? I realize it's not your fault I dropped my phone, but $250 and the advice to just buy a new one? Come on! It's at most a $20 repair. It'll take some chinaman fifteen minutes and 5 bucks in parts to fix. Don't give me this $250 crap.

So like I said, I was having a bad week. Then my best friend from home calls me up and asks me how I'm doing. I let him have it with all the drama. He says, "Listen to you!"

(and in a mocking voice adds) "My iphone broke, my beamer is busted...wah wah wah!"

God, you have given me a good life. Sometimes I forget just how fortunate I am to work a good job, make good money, have a wonderful wife with a house and two dogs. There are so many people out there who struggle just to find the next meal. Please forgive me when I put other, less important, things in front of seeking you and your will. Please forgive me when I fail to give to others after you have given me so much.

Thanks Brent for reminding me how fortunate I am.

And thanks for nothing Apple. I mean Crapple.

Now I Remember...

Oh man, what a good episode. Just when you think you're getting at the bottom of it, they pull the ol' switcharoo and take it deeper. The complaint last year with this show is that nothing ever happened. And I agree, nothing ever did until the end of the show. But this year, they really seem to be trying to fix that, and last night was a great start.

The only complaint I have is that they are still trying to incorporate too many characters. Like last night, they didn't even get to Sylar and the mexicans (I know they aren't mexican, but I forget where they came from and they are trying to illegally come into America, so really, what's the difference?). But still, at least they aren't waiting till the end of time to actually have the characters use their abilities.

Okay, back to my batcave...

Update on God's Team...

We are still pure of heart. Read here.

Have You Heard About This?

I came across this video on my favorite sports blog and couldn't/didn't want to believe it.



If this is actually what happened at the game, I certainly think something is up. The comments on the different sports blogs are comparing this to the Patriots filming. I'm not ready to go that far, but I would like to know what's up. There are several reasons why I don't believe the colts would do this and several reasons why I think the video doesn't make sense (like if the colts were going to cheat in this manner, why would they use a cd? Hard drive players, such as an ipod, would make much more sense and be much more discreet and reliable.).

One thing I am tired of is comparing this to Belichick taping his opponents signals. Even a non-colts fan could see this difference between making it hard to communicate and having a record of your opponent's playbook and signals. Plus, I doubt very much this was initiated by Dungy, whereas Belichick seemed to be the sole mastermind behind the videotaping.

Also, the other minor accusation going around about the radio jamming just doesn't make any sense. Get better equipment.

But, if the Colts are guilty of this, they need to be punished. And Colts fans everywhere should be ashamed we can't make enough noise on our own. And the Colts need to score a touchdown when they are on the five yard line.

Thus saith the Lord.

Well...

What can I say?

Losing sucks.

I'm Nervous...

Colts vs. Patriots. Manning vs. Brady. Winners vs. Cheaters.

What a weekend. I can't think of a game all year that will get the kind of hype the Colts/Pats game is getting. And why shouldn't it? These are the best two teams in the NFL bar none. It's no secret the NFC is the ugly step-sister of the princess AFC. The NFC gave it their best shot and it was still boring.

This will be the most exciting game since last years AFC Championship (which was won by the Colts in case your keeping score...and if you're keeping score it was 38-34). And will remain that way until they meet again in this years post-season spectacular.

I make fun of the Patriots a lot (and why shouldn't I? cheaters...) but the truth is, they probably should be favorites this weekend. They've scored more this season than the girls on the backs of those little cards they hand out on the strip (and I hear those girls get around!). Of course, I think I could put up 28 against the mentally challenged waste of humans that call themselves the New York Jets, but I digress...

It should be a good game, and I'm very much looking forward to it. But, just to remind ourselves of how the last one ended....Enjoy!