Oh, jeepers… there are three games tomorrow and they start early… i’m gonna need to take this time to talk about week thirteen… and maybe i’ll get to a little more, but i’m currently distracted by this latest episode of Fringe… and i’m suddenly afraid of butterflies for goodness sake… oh well, on with the show…

SPORTS: UNLUCKY?

to the tune of Thirteen – The Rubyz

oh, i was on fire last week with my picks last week, going 11-5… yeah that’s right, 11 right, 5 wrong, bringing my grand total to 103-72-1… unfortunately, i blew my fortune on that and missed out in fantasy when Brandon Jacobs bowed out of Sunday’s game and left me with a 5 point loss… GAH!… that and the fact that i dumped Ryan Lindell the week that he decided to get 18 points… oh well, i did manage to blow out the league manager in the other league though because he unfortunately benched two running backs that earned about 52 points while starting two running backs who combined for 5 points instead… anyway, i’m behind the eight ball right now, so here’s this week’s winners…

Titans - now, not-so undefeated, but still plenty good to beat the Lions who are still um, defeated…
Cowboys - Romo’s back and his return is way better for the team than Hasselback’s…
Cardinals - the ageless wonderkid has led this team to contention while McNabb has led the Eagles to a QB controversy…
BILLS - though the 49ers may have some schtick going, the Bills will be mining the end zone again and again…
Ravens - NOW who’s stupid for cutting Flacco some slack earlier this year? the kid’s got a golden arm…
Saints - it’s about time they started marching again… this will be a closer game, though, ’cause the Bucs defense is solid…
Giants - yeah, the Skins are struggling and the G-men are just unbelievable… it’s gonna be ugly for us in the DC area…
Dolphins - duh, anyone can beat the Rams and the fins need to bounce back from folding last week like a pair of 2s…
Colts - sure, i still believe that Brady Quinn will be great… in fact, watching Payton dismantle the Browns will certainly help that process along…
Packers - well, the Panthers are a pretty strong bet, but the Pack is coming in angry and looking to get things rolling again…
Chargers - it’s about time for the Chargers to hit their stride and pretend like they’ll make a difference in the post season again… ha… those kidders…
J-E-T-S – dang, these guys are GOOD, yo!
Steelers - it’s not gonna be pretty, but it’s gonna be hard-hitting and won out by those terrible towels…
Raiders - they’re playing the other Rams… please, ANYONE can beat the Chiefs right now…
Bears - this will be a hard-fought game as well, but in the end, the Bears just always seem to end up with the win…
Jaguars - see my comment about the Chargers… but seriously, Maurice is hitting the hot part of his season and he’s an incredible weapon…

okay, so that’s that… hope you enjoyed the comments… GO BILLS!…

peace… love… bdg…

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once again, as promised, my thoughts on this weeks time on the turf…

SPORTS: WEEK THE DIRTY DOZEN

to the tune of Peanut Butter Jelly Time – Chip-Man & The Buckwheat Boyz

wide right… wide…. right…. WIDE…. RIGHT???? those words have been echoing in my head for half my life… and now, it’s back… coincidentally, Lindell’s wide right came from the same 47-yard distance as the infamous Scott Norwood’s fateful Superbowl debacle… and i’m gonna go ahead and say this now, but who on earth is the kicker NEVER considered for MVP honors?… they tend to be among the highest scorers on any given team and last week we saw several times just how important they are to the team… opoposite of Lindell was a fine kicking performance by Phil Dawson who capped off the victory with a 56-yarder with about two minutes left on the clock… (yes, i’ve cut Lindell from my fantasy squad and actually replaced him with Dawson)…

also last week, we had a tie… a TIE… the mighty machinery that is the Philadelphia Eagles, couldn’t even outscore the 1-8 Bengals by 1 point… how crazy is that?.. The Titans rolled on with yet another win and the Giants dominated the Ravens in a Superowl rematch from almost a decade ago… other noteworthy events included the 49ers routing the Rams and marking win number one for one of my heroes, MIke Singletary, as head coach… Romo returned for the Cowboys as the Skins folded under the pressure… as for me, my fantasy teams split for me but i’m securely in third place in both leagues… and i rocked the picks with a 10-5-1 showing, bringing my totals to 92-67-1 overall…

here’s the winners for this week…

Steelers, Eagles, Browns, Bucs…
Bills, Bears, Jets, Dolphins…
Vikings, Cowboys, Broncos, Falcons…
Giants, Redskins, Colts and Packers…

peace… love… bdg…

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well, my time has been short lately and the spare time that i’ve had has been devoted to things that require my immediate attention… i’m mostly through the rough patches and will hopefully be ready to get things rolling again… here and elsewhere, but for now, i’m carving out a few minutes to touch base with a few noteworthy items, observations and, of course, my weekly football picks… let’s get things rolling…

WEB, KIDS, TV: PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME (HOLD THE PB)

to the tune of Peanut Butter Jelly Time – Chip-Man & The Buckwheat Boyz

i’m pretty excited to introduce you to this one… Phil Vischer, who brought us the wonderful, time-tested brand, Veggietales – (Side Note: we took the littles to see the Veggie Tales Live Show, and it was a big hit) – is back with a new venture and it is none other than Jelly Telly… Jelly Telly is basically a web-based TV Station that airs original and age-appropriate media… They promise at least twenty minutes of new programming each day and have reportedly been exceeding that… now, i don’t know exactly what kind of programming it is, but as far a i understand it, it’s in kind of an On Demand format and every Sunday, there’s supposed to be a family movie streaming on the site…

The catch seems to be a $3/month subscription fee, which isn’t really that bad, but my drawback is a lack of portability… you have to watch the programming on the website which, for me, means that i’d have to plunk the littls down in front of the computer and pretty much tell them not to touch anything… i guess i could hook up a laptop to the television and run it from there, but i’m not sure that’s going to work all that well… there are also games and such available on the website for subscribers and it looks like a it’s a good overall project…

i hope that it succeeds, but it doesn’t look like something that would work too well for me right now… check it out and see how it fits your life…

TV: WHAT THE ELLE?

to the tune of My Hero – Paramore

Okay, first, a question… can someone rationally explain to me why they think Heroes is in the crapper this season? Admittedly, i have tended to fall behind on the episodes and find myself having to catch up, but i still find them all rather compelling and, despite a few odd twists and turns, i’m not sure that it isn’t still one of the better shows on the air right now… and yet, i constantly hear the chatter about how it’s gone completely off-course and how it’s just totally ruined… what gives?

Having said that, yesterday, i caught up by watching chapters 8 and 9 on hulu and i thought chapter 8 (“Villains”, the one with all the flashbacks) was pretty spectacular… it offered a wealth of insight to the recent history of the company and, even moreso, cast Sylar, who is clearly the most compelling character right now, as a sympathetic victim, something they hinted at in a previous episode…

Now, i’m not entirely sure where the season is going now, because apparently they’re all going to lose their powers and all… and since you’re never really certain what time period it actually is and whether or not it’s a future or past version of each character or whether or not anyone is actually dead or not… well, it could go pretty much anywhere… but i’m going to hope for the best… i will say that the last scene of chapter nine, where they’re all just kind of sitting around looking at the sketch of the eclipse…. yeah, that was really odd… anyway… somebody please let me know why i am not supposed to still like this show…

CHICKABOOM

okay, in the interest of keeping things short and organized, i’m going to wrap this post up now… next time i talk about TV, i’ll discuss one of the best shows on TV right now, Pushing Daisies, and i may delve into some classics or maybe i’ll have another show to talk about… i’ll guarantee you this, though…. it won’t be the new Knight Rider, ’cause that show is every bit as bad as anyone could’ve ever imagined… and it’s off my list…

keep your eyes peeled for some entries about books, sports, and i think i had something else… anyway, oh, if you’re on the newsletter… well, be ready… okay… i’m out for now… back in a bit…

peace… love… bdg…

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gotta love Saturdays… i got to sleep in a little bit this morning and managed to fix an ailing laptop by replacing the video card… the littles thought it was quite a treat to see daddy breaking the puter… and then putting it back together and marvelously, it works again… i guess my hands are steadier than i thought…

anyway, i got to relax quite a bit as well and i was able to make some good progress on the latest book i’m reading… and tomorrow is church, football, family time and dinner with some good friends… all good things… and now, without firther adieu… it’s time to talk some football…

SPORTS: SMASHMOUTH

to the tune of We Will Rock You – Queen

well, i’ve already started out this week’s picks nicely, as the Jets eked out the Pats in an overtime victory that would’ve been a great game to watch… i must say that i don’t particularly like the whole Thursday Night games on the NFL Network, but i can’t complain too much because what good would it do anyway…

Last week, i won in both of my fantasy leagues again and it’s hard to believe that playoffs will be coming up soon… and as for the picks, i went a spiffy 8-6 bringing my totals to 82-62 overall… this week the games to watch will be the Broncos and the Falcons, the Bears and Packers, the Titans and the Jags and of course, the two night games – Skins and Boys on Sunday and Bills vs the Browns on Monday… it’s probably the first week this season that i’ve been more excited about Monday Night’s game and it’s only because i rarely get to see the Bills play… maybe next year, i’ll take up a donation to have everyone buy me the NFL ticket or something so i can watch all the Bills games… anyone up for that?… yeah, so anyway, the winners this week…

Jets, Falcons, Panthers, Eagles, Saints…
Giants, Vikings, Dolphins, Packers, Colts…
49ers, Cards, Titans (would you PLEASE LOSE ALREADY?)
Chargers, REDSKINS, BILLS…

okay… that’s the deal, yo…

PS. DON’T MISS THE POST BELOW ABOUT THREE BOOKS

peace… love… bdg…

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So i just finished watchin the Colts hold off the Steelers and the Chiefs blow off a chance at overtime with the Chargers, but i still have one more game to watch from last week (Giants/Eagles) and i’m holding off my picks and results from last week until i see who’s won… I was right about last night’s game though, looks like it was a great game… too bad i don’t have the NFL Network at home and i don’t have a DVR or anything like that set up at work where i do have NFL Network courtesy of the new Sky Angel…

Anyway, i’m clearly way behind on just about everything this week as i’ve been absorbed in the stress and frustration of a pressing situation that i’ll not discuss here… let’s see if i can catch up on some of this stuff that’s hanging over my head while i have a moment to breathe… first off… some books that i’ve read and meant to write about…

BOOKS: SINS OF THE PAST
to the tune of Saint and Sinner – Derek Webb

Sinner
by Ted Dekker

number one on the docket is the first book i’ve ever read from the pen of Ted Dekker… i know that seems amazing, but i’d just never gotten around to digging into any of his books and then, the notion of this 10-book series really seemed a bit too much of a commitment for me to settle down with, especially since i wasn’t certain that it would work out…

Now, having read Sinner, i want to dive into the rest of the series… unfortunately i only have one of the other books in my possession (Showdown) and there’s always the pressure of making time to read them… if you’re anything like i was, though, skeptical of the commitment or whatever, i have to say that even though this is technically part of a larger story, it’s self-contained enough to make it a thrilling tale in and of itself… I had no problems whatsoever staying with the story for the whole 400 or so pages… and, though some broader themes were addressed and some “historical events” were referenced, i didn’t feel out of place at all as i navigated the take…

having said all that, Sinner is a wonderfully-paced adventure with a twinge of reality despite some extraordinary circumstances… it offers readers an escape with a fantastical while still exploring circumstances and events that ring ominously true… and on top of all that, it reads somewhat like a parable, artfully driving home a number of points without once delving into the territory of being too preachy… a definite recommended read, but be forewarned, it’s going to open up a world to you that will lead to a number of other books that you’ll really want to read…

BOOKS: BACK ON THE BUS
to the tune of 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover – Paul Simon

Schooled
by Gordon Korman

What? a Kid’s book? Heck yeah… when i was younger, my favorite author was Beverly Cleary, but when i got a liitle older, i discovered the world of Bruno and Boots and beyond that, the world of author Gordon Korman… since i’ve been recently reinspired to read more consistently, and since i stumbled across this book at a school book fair, i’ve also begun revisiting these books and remembering why i was immediately drawn to the books…

Schooled is new to me, but it tells the tale of a young boy raised as a hippie transplanted into the scary world of eighth grade in a public jr. high school… immediately the outcast because he’s pretty clueless about the ways of the world, he’s elected to the position of class president as a prank… the story unfolds with a series of unexpected events and hilarity… i really enjoyed the multiple perspectives from with the book was written and the narrative was highly entertaining…

Also, as i’ve mentioned in a previous entry, some of the points made really translate well to broader scopes… so, though it is intended for younger audiences, i’ll still give it a thumb’s up because, it’s enjoyable and a quick read…

BOOKS: FAITH OF THE ELECT
to the tune of Faith – Jason Upton

The Faith of Barack Obama
by Stephen Mansfield

As hard as this is going to be, i’m going to try really hard to review the book, The Faith of Barack Obama, and not the faith of Barack Obama… it’s somewhat difficult simply because that’s the main topic of the book and there are so many ideas and insights presented that are certainly worth addressing… including a quote from Obama himself that mentions his need for religion to be a vessel to help him achieve greater levels of success, or Mansfield’s impressions of Trinity United Church of Christ – “This is not just a church; this is a cultural phenomenon”…

I did find it a rather challenging book to read, because i could never quite figure out from which direction Mansfield was coming or to which conclusion he was headed… It seemed almost like a book bi-polar in nature, one chapter devoted to the defense of the Black Liberation Theology, the perspective from which Obama was mentored, followed by a chapter that seemed almost derisive of Obama’s sincerity and intentions… i’m fine with a balanced point of view, but this seemed to bounce between the extremes rather quickly before landing in the lap of Obama like a toy poodle begging for a treat…

one side note: I’m interested in reading the counterpart book dedicated to George W Bush, because i expect that the tone of that book was much more positive towards President Bush than what was referenced here.

What i found most compelling about this book was the references to Obama as a postmodern candidate and a mention that McCain was something of a last chance to infuse the values of a generation that fought for and helped establish this nation as the more traditional religious views are being fazed out in a sense, replaced by what Obama refers to as a civil religion… and it occurred to me, though Mansfield never states it directly, that when our nation elects a president these days, that it’s more than just a political viewpoint or a set of policies that we’re voting for… it seems that we’re actually voting for someone who represents our theological and philosophical views… and that’s kind of a troubling thought, to be perfectly honest…

If nothing else, the book does clear up some details of Obama’s upbringing and some of his faith-based views which are rather eye-opening… and it’s worth reading to get a closer look at our new president elect…

GOODBYE

goodnight… football tomorrow…

peace… love… bdg…

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i’m going with the Jets tonight…

peace… love… bdg…

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A few things off the top… and speaking of the top, check out the new header… it may change again as i continue to tweak a few things and act out my discontent with the way things are… also, Happy Birthday Billy Graham… the honorably Reverend turned 90 today and to celebrate, i posted a walk TRu based on the soundtrack of the new movie Billy: The Early Years, which unfortunately didn’t long enough in the theaters to be showing today…

also, i noticed some bumper stickers this morning asking to impeach Obama… come on, at least give the guy a chance to prove himself… i’m sure that we won’t agree on all (maybe not any) of his policies and actions as President, but good grief… let’s not be petty about it… if you really care about it, make sure you participate more in the political realm next time around… help campaign, spread the word, whatever… don’t start acting disrespectful and rude… let’s be bigger than that… i firmly believe that partisanship is crucial during the election cycle, but once the votes are counted, we’re all simply Americans… we may have disagreements and differing opinions about how best to run the nation, but we need to address those differences appropriately and work together for the good of the country…

okay, i’m off the soapbox and i’m going to head to bed… tomorrow i’m heading to see the Veggietales live show and perhaps i’ll take a crack at a book or two…

peace… love… bdg…

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i’d like to say that this has been a good week so far, but i’d hate to lie… a lot… a LOT has transpired this week and there’s not too much of it that i’m happy about… and honestly, though possibly unbelievably, the election results aren’t even close to the top of the list… since i can’t ignore that though, let me just say that i really think we got it wrong, but that’s the beauty of democracy, right? we can have our disagreements and differing opinions and in the end, after a fair and open election, we have our results, lick any wounds we’ve left behind and work together for the good of the nation…

it would be idiotic of me to wish anything but good on the presidency of Mr. Obama… despite the numerous disagreements i have with his politics and possible plans for the country, he has handily swept through the nation, won over the majority and is deserving of nothing less than our utmost respect and our prayers for wisdom, guidance and safety… my sincerest congratulations to him and his family… it’s an historic moment and let’s hope that it is the beginning of something great…

now, i know that i’m supposed to talk about some books, and incidentally, i’m about a third of the way through a new one called The Faith of Barack Obama by Stephen Mansfield, but football comes early this week… tomorrow night in fact… and that means i’ve got to get this show on the road… if time allows, perhaps i’ll dive into that, but i’ll be honest… it’s very doubtful…

SPORTS: KICKOFF
- to the tune of Kick-off – Relient K

first off… i’ll have my revenge Adam… i’ll have my revenge…

so, while, i continued to dominate the fantasy grid iron in one league this week, my winning streak was derailed by the first place team of the other… no worries, though, i had some key players on a bye week and there’s plenty of time, my friends… plenty of time… now, let’s see about those picks from last week… i was back on the positive side again, flip-flopping last week’s performance into an 8-6 showing this week… (74-56 overall)… hopefully, i’ll do even better this week and, as well, the Bills will recover from this slide they’re suffering from…

This week starts early with the beginning of “The Brady Quinn era” in Cleveland as they take on the battered and slumping Broncos… i think their chances are good… a few other key matchups include the undefeated Titans facing a Bears team that always seems to show up at the oddest of times… the Bills and the Patriots should prove to be well worth watching, for those able to watch… The Packers and the Vikings always fight hard… and last, but not least, the Giants and Eagles, in a big old NFC East slugfest… and here’s how they all will play out…

Browns, Falcons, Bears, Lions
Ravens, Dolphins, Packers, Bills
Rams, Panthers, Colts (oh, that’ll be a good game, too)…
Chargers, Giants, Cards…

and with that, i’m out…

peace… love… bdg…

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okay, now i’m ready for some football… hopefully you are too… let’s get to it…

SPORTS: WEEK NINE

to the tune of Cruella De Vil – Hayden Panettiere

Oh… i blew it with my picks last week… i was cringing at the sight of the scoreboards all day… and when it was all said and done, i ended up with my first losing record for the season… 6-8… bummer… the totals are now 66-50… at least my streaks are still in tact for both fantasay leagues… i think i’ve got a shot at another strong finish…

anyway… the winners this week (i promise this time, but don’t bet and blame me) are as follows:

Bills, Bears, Jaguars, Ravens, Bucs, Texans, Cards, Packers, Broncos, Giants, Falcons, Eagles, Colts, Redskins…

and that’s all that i have time for…

DON’T FORGET

two new items up for peeping… a new Left to Write that actually talks a bit about elections and such… and a new 25 Words or Less that covers ten albums that released in February as i continue to try and dig out of the reviews hole that i put myself in… as always… more later…

peace… love… bdg…

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i just finished reading another book yesterday and one particular quote that really stuck with me from it follows:

“That was when I experienced a moment of stunning understanding. Popularity had nothing to do with the truth. If these kids took a minute to ask themselves where Cap got off writing thousand-dollar checks, they’d be rioting, not applauding. But what really mattered was image. The eighth grade president was a star now. Nobody questioned it when he did something wonderful because that’s what was expected of him.”

Now, the book is called Schooled, by Gordon Korman and it’s about a group of eight-grade students, probably intended for a much younger audience than i gave it, but i think the point of that quote is downright chilling, considering the current presidental campaign that ends in four days… Karl Rove touched on it recently as well, in a brief article titled, Obama: Polls over Policy? (may not be the top article)…

Another chilling quote comes from across the pond…

You have to pinch yourself – a Marxisant radical who all his life has been mentored by, sat at the feet of, worshipped with, befriended, endorsed the philosophy of, funded and been in turn funded, politically promoted and supported by a nexus comprising black power anti-white racists, Jew-haters, revolutionary Marxists, unrepentant former terrorists and Chicago mobsters, is on the verge of becoming President of the United States. And apparently it’s considered impolite to say so.

Ouch. Well, let’s get to the quick and finish up this political chatter i left hanging last time…

POLITICS: CHARACTER

A lot of folks don’t think that character really needs to come into play when it comes to picking the President or other leaders… they may cite the need for seperation of church and state or something silly like that, but they’re wrong… a leader must be a person of character… why do you think the Bible is so particular about who can lead in the church? it’s important… we have a choice between two men, one man has taken stands for his beliefs, his country, and for others… one man has become very popular, but hasn’t exactly taken any stands on anything… in fact, all he’s really taken is money from questionable sources, including the mortgage companies that where instrumental to triggering this economic crisis…

it seems to me that if you refuse to take a stand on anything then you really don’t subscribe to any real system of beliefs… of course, that’s exactly what Obama has argued on his own behalf, ironically… Think back to the whole Rev. Wright incident… Obama attended that church for a long time and looked to Wright as a mentor, but then, once it became a hinderance, he abandoned the whole relationship, stating that he never really heard anything hateful spoken from the pulpit there and that, of course, he didn’t believe in all that was presented… basically, he had spent his entire churched career giving lip-service to the church… it’s hard not to think that he’d do the same as preisdent…

POLITICS: VOTER FRAUD

well, this certainly falls inline with the whole question of character, but this is an issue that’s really sprung up in the last few weeks with the ACORN scandal and what not… i get kind of angry, though, by how it was brushed aside and swept under the rug for the most part… one case involved 1800 registrations of which only SIX were valid… now, these individulas involved were charged, but it’s been pushed aside largely because it’s “voter registration” fraud and not actual voter fraud… the problem though, and why none of these reporters would be very good chess players, is that if you were planning to commit voter fraud, the first step would have to be voter registration fraud… this is clearly step one of a process that could easily result in actual voter fraud and it should be treated as such…

HANGING CHAD

there’s more that i can talk about – i’ve been so absorbed by the atmosphere of this election push, but i don’t know that it has to do with the actual election so, i’ll just leave it at that before i get completely swept away in politics… later today, i’ll do a post about football and after that sometime soon, i have a couple books to review… and after that… who knows…

but before i go, here’s my plug for the front page… two new items up for peeping… a new Left to Write that actually talks a bit about elections and such… and a new 25 Words or Less that covers ten albums that released in February as i continue to try and dig out of the reviews hole that i put myself in… as always… more later…

peace… love… bdg…

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