The best video... EVER!

While I didn't create the video, I must say that it is one of the best things I've seen on the internet lately. Enjoy... and spread the word.

CSP Video

007

I love the James Bond movies. I've seen every single one of them. Most of them I've seen twice. Some even more than that. When I lived in Germantown my roommates and I even watched all the movies in order. All four of us worked at Blockbuster so it was easy enough to get our hands on all the movies. When Goldeneye for the N64 game out, I quickly became a master. I don't say that to boost my own ego, but when you play against people, and you're the one playing upside down, and drunk, and still winning the majority of the time. Well, I think I may have spent too much time playing that game. Anyway...

Up until now I've never read one of the Ian Fleming novels. I've already read most of the books that I own a couple of times, so awhile back I was at Barnes & Noble and decided to pick up one of the books. They happened to have several, and after looking through a couple I found Casino Royale. I found out that this was the first Bond book, and I knew that it was being made into a movie that would come out this summer, so that's the one I bought. Its very different reading through the thoughts of a character that you've seen on screen a hundred times. But that wasn't the most interesting thing. There is a line that I thought still held some truth today. Just remember that this was first published in 1953. Here's the quote:

'Of course,' he added, as Mathis started to expostulate, 'patriotism comes along and makes it seem fairly all right, but this country-right-or-wrong business is getting a little out-of-date. Today we are fighting Communism. Okay. If I'd been alive fifty years ago, the brand of Conservatism we have today would have been damn near called Communisn and we should have been told to go and fight that. History is moving pretty quickly these days and the heroes and villians keep on changing parts.' (p. 135)

Fleming, I. (2002). Casino Royale (Penguin Books). New York: New York. (Original work published 1953)

3rd and 62?

Now that the season is almost to an end I can relax a little more about how parents and fans act and react to any given situation. I needed to vent a bit, so thanks for listening. The girls had a tournament at home this past weekend. The ended up taking 3rd place. It's too bad that the season is now ending, because they are really looking like a real basketball team finally. They started playing together and working the plays they were taught. The final game is tomorrow night at home. Its a team that they've never beaten, but this weekend 2 of the opponents got hurt, so we'll see what happens. This also made for a long weekend. I think we were at school from 9-6 on saturday. I at least had the opportunity to leave and get some food, but Elsa was stuck there the entire time. I did have fun watching the games though. I also got to see Lindsey! That was great catching up with her again.

As we're watching Grey's Anatomy a commercial comes on for the evening news. You know the kind. They tell you some of their top stories in about 15 seconds. Well, one story they talked about was how a 62 year old woman gave birth to a child. Now as we were watching the news commercial, they showed a picture of the mother. I knew that God would strike me dead for the things that came to my mind, but I had to say them out loud. The first thing that entered my mind was, "who was willing to have sex with her?" The picture they showed was not flattering AT ALL! I don't mean to be mean, I really don't, but I couldn't help myself. I'm really hoping that it was just a bad picture, or that I was just too tired when I saw it. I'm afraid to google the story right now because I'm still waking up. If I happen to find the picture that I saw last night I'll let you know.

Parents just don't understand

Before I begin, let me say that all ideas and opinions are my own. They are 100% mine, and mine alone. While some may agree or disagree with them, they are written only for my own benefit, and to release some of the frustration building inside of me. Enjoy :)

So last night's game goes into double overtime. DOUBLE OVERTIME! This isn't something that happens everyday for a girl's grade school basketball game. The girls clearly had a chance to win the game. They were up by a basket and the coaches told them to run a play. This play was designed to keep the ball away from the other team and just eat up the clock. For anyone who has actually seen a basketball game before, you know that this is pretty common. It can be a crappy thing to do, but its part of the game. Well wouldn't you know it, LOPP #1 (Loud, Obnoxious, Proud Parent) decides there's a better way to play than what the coaches have decided. So of course this LOPP's child listens to them and not the coaches. Guess what, the girls lost the game. This wouldn't be so bad if another LOPP hadn't approached a coach at church on Sunday to talk about their child and basketball! I understand that this is a christian school, but when will parents realize that teachers/coaches need a break from work/school/sports. If their child lost the fun of science, would they talk to the teacher about letting them do whatever they wanted in science class? How many parents get bombarded with issues about their job when they're trying to worship? I understand that teachers (especially at a christian school) are held to a higher standard, but how about actually treating them with the honor and respect they deserve.

You're kidding, right?

I was watching the news yesterday and there were 2 stories that I found interesting.

The first one was that Vice President Cheney shot one of the members of his hunting party! My jaw just hit the floor when I first heard the story. Now a hunter getting shot by members of their own party is almost an annual event during the hunting season here in Minnesota. I would have thought that if you were going to go hunting with the VP of the US, you might be a little more aware of all of you surroundings than if you were just out with your buddies. If I'm ever hunting with someone who has their own Secret Service detail, then believe me, I will not be carrying a gun, let alone go near those carrying guns.

The second item was that Michelle Kwan was bowing out of the Olympics! Let me preface this with the fact that I've never been a fan of figure skating. While I think that they are indeed talented and athletic people, I'm just not a fan of the sport. But then this girl has the balls to petition to be in the Olympics, after she's been hurt for awhile, and didn't even make it to the competition that was used to decide who would go. In my mind that shows me how much of an ego that girl must have. I understand she's never won gold at the Olympics, but neither have hundreds of other people. I didn't hear anyone else whining and crying to get back in. And then, AND THEN to just say "oops, now that I'm here... I'll jt bow out". If that were me, I'd be with the trainers 24/7 and fighting through whatever pain I had. I'd only be stopped if I had a broken leg. I guess I've just always held the Olympics a little higher than other sports. Here are people who live and train for 4 years for 1 shot at glory. Somehow, to me it looks like Michelle just doesn't have that same feeling. Don't even get me started on what the US Olympic chairmen said about her, grrrr!

So on that happy note, here's to starting a great week at work! Adios.