Movie Pick - Nacho Libre!

Somehow I was able to convince Kimberly to see Nacho Libre. Great flick! Weird as all get out...but what else would you expect? And it had a good message. All the guy wanted to do was to take the orphans on a real field trip.

Our Anniversary

Since Kimberly is expecting we decided not to travel anywhere this summer for our anniversary besides Oklahoma and Indiana. So we decided to pretend we were tourists in Dallas for the day. We decided to check out some attractions we hadn't seen before. So here's what we did...

We shopped at the original Neiman Marcus in downtown.

We went to Thanksgiving Square and visited the unique prayer tower in downtown.

We toured the Trammel-Crow Asian Art Collection.

We ate lunch at Cafe Brazil.

We went to the Magnolia Theater in the West Village and watched the new Andy Garcia/Bill Murray movie The Lost City about the fall of Havana to Castro.

Then we had a light dinner at Souper Salad! since Kimberly wanted something light.

Then we went home since all the walking was wearing Kimberly out. It was a nice way to celebrate our anniversary and anyone who comes to Dallas should check out some of those attractions that don't get as much attention as others.

Final Thoughts on the NBA Finals

Don't worry, this has not intentionally become a sports themed blog. There's just a lot going on with the World Cup and the NBA Finals. Boom! As I write this Portugal has just scored a goal against Mexico.

I may have to stop watching sports altogether if my blood pressure continues to rise after watching corrupt officials in both the NBA and FIFA. Dwayne Wade drew a foul anytime he touched the ball and what about that mysterious no-call on his blatant back court violation right before he charged for the winning basket in Game 5? There are so many instances to mention I won't waste my time since they won't make a whit of difference.

But more than the refs the Mavs have themselves to blame for an enormous meltdown. Nowitski disappeared when needed most. He was solid...but legends are more than solid...they're clutch and he showed no guts during clutch time. Jason Terry was clutch. Josh Howard was lunch. And I believe Mark Cuban has every right to defend his team without being fined by the totalitarian NBA.

Mexico is getting jobbed. They just got called for a penalty in the box that was totally un-called for. Portugal is lining up for the free kick...boom...goal. Portugal is up 2-0. The Tri-Colores is getting hosed. And I was rooting for Portugal.

One last thing before I close this post...Dwayne Wade is a shiester, a baby, and a fraud. He flops on the ground more than Vlade Divac ever did. The refs fall for it every time. He gets more calls than Shaq or Jordan ever did.

Wow...Mexico is self-destructing...they just got a yellow card for slamming their cleats in the thigh of one of the Portuguese. I need to stop watching sports. Whoa!...Mexico just scored on a corner kick...in the 29th minute. 2-1. Maybe there's hope. I guess I'll keep watching.

Royals beat Astros?!?

Did I just read that right? Did the Royals win their interleague series against the Astros? Did they actually win two of three games on the road against mighty Houston? Man...Astro fans better hope they get Clemens on the mound fast.

The Beautiful Game

I have many friends here in America who simply don't get soccer. They think its boring. That it's for kids. But football, called the Beautiful Game around the world, is finally coming into its own here in the U.S.A.

I read an article in Sunday's Dallas Morning News about how soccer is becoming the favored sport for Gen-X intellectuals...how America is finally grasping the great game.

Baseball is becoming too corrupted by steroids, HGH, and economic inequality to keep my interest. Soccer stirs national and provincal passions like no other sport except maybe college football. The fans are the most intense and have the most fun in the stands than any other sport.

But for simple minded Americans its about points on the scoreboard. Most Americans don't like ties or 1-nil games. But America's tie yesterday against Italy was as thrilling as a victory in most other sports. We tied Italy...one of the great powers in the soccer world...even though we were a man down due to a red card! The stands were packed with spirited Americans which show that the U.S. is finally coming around.

Attendance is up for our domestic league MLS. Most teams either have a soccer specific stadium or are in the planning stages for building one. In ten years MLS will supplant the NHL as the fourth major league in the U.S. if not sooner.

Soccer is not simply about the score. It's about ball movement and anticipation and the experience in the stands. It's about tactics and artistry. And soccer looks accessible to everyone. You don't have to be a freak of nature to play soccer. You don't have to be 7 feet tall or 300 pounds to get on the pitch. And you can play soccer anywhere anytime with just about anything resembling a sphere.

And every nation on earth plays soccer. When I was in Spain one of the great icebreakers in conversation was about soccer. It didn't matter that I was from the United States. We all could talk about Ronaldo or how Real Madrid was Satan's personal team.

So keep your eye on the television this Thursday. If the Yanks beat Ghana and Italy beats the Czech Republic we move on to the round of sixteen. Go Yanks!

Game 5

Stackhouse getting suspended for a hard foul against Shaq?...a complete fraud. This is one of the worst decisions ever made by the NBA. Even Shaq acknowledged this was an acceptable foul. The officiating crew saw it as nothing more than a flagrant one. Why does the NBA want the Heat to win so badly? Cuban has every right to go ballistic on this one.

Either two things will happen in game 5. Either the Mavs will continue to self-destruct and get demolished. Or, they will see this as an 'us-against-the-world' situation and rally like never before. They have even moved to another hotel to regain their focus.

The Digital Age

Well we finally entered the digital age this week. We broke down and purchased a digital camera. We figured with a kid coming around we better spend our money now before we're totally poor...plus we assume we'll be taking lots of pictures.

Kimberly wanted a super sub-compact that could fit in her purse. I wanted a bulky SLR. So we compromised on a super-zoom. We got a Kodak Z650 that has 6.1 Megapixels and 10X optical zoom and 5X digital zoom. It was both reasonable in price, small in size and has a bunch of features that Consumer Reports says is the best buy for the money.

We're still figuring it out but at least we have joined the modern world.

El Copa Mundial

The World Cup is here. The biggest tournament in the world starts today. Unfortunately most Americans are completely ignorant of this great festival. It's one of the few athletic venues where the U.S. are underdogs. This is great because since the end of the Cold War we've been seen as the big bad bullies on the athletic stage. Remember Charles Barkley elbowing that poor Angolan at the Barcelona Olympics? Well if you miss the days of 1980's Miracle on Ice, 1972 Silver Medalists in Basketball, and the good old days of the U.S. having to overcome adversity in sports...check out the World Cup. I love it. I predict the U.S. will make the quarterfinals and Brazil will win the whole thing. If the U.S. doesn't win I'm rooting for England to win their first cup since 1966.

Everwood, Colorado

Alright, I'm man enough to admit it...I'm ticked off that the new CW network is not renewing the show 'Everwood.' Everwood was not as salacious as One Tree Hill or the O.C.. But it was the best written and most realistic show on television. Everything was fantastic about this show. And the series finale was one of the best finales I've seen especially compared to the super lame closing curtain of Alias. Everwood's characters seemed real...a tribute to fine acting and writing. The CW is bringing back the ludicrous 7th Heaven back but they can't bring Everwood back? I'm boycotting the new CW. Everwood's four years were a great ride and I don't usually miss shows once their gone. But Everwood will be missed.

MAVS Mania!

I began rooting for the Dallas Mavericks when I moved to the Dallas area in 1997. They were horrible back then. The Mavs best player was a guy named Samaki Walker...unless you were a Shawn Bradley fan. They had just jettisoned Jason Kidd, Jamal and Jackson and were bottom feeders. But I rooted for them anyway because I was without NBA allegiance.

My favorite team, the Kansas City Kings, had ditched KC for Sacramento in 1985. I still hate the Kings for that. KC's last season theme song in 1985 was 'Jump' by Van Halen. When I hear that song today I still get a little ticked at the guys who owned the Kings at the time. They promised 'yes, we're from Sactown...but we'll never move this franchise.' A year later...Boom...they're gone. They took my two favorite players LaSalle Thompson and Reggie Theueus with them.

So my NBA allegiance wandered aimlessly like a 14th-century Japanese Samurai Ronin. I watched with interest as Jordan took the Bulls to the heights of glory. I was intrigued by Shaq and Penny in Orlando. I dug Zo and LJ in Charlotte. But I could not root for any team. I couldn't root for any team because I like to have some connection with the teams I root for...usually a provincal tie.

So when I moved to DFW I clicked and dragged the Dallas Stars and the Mavericks into my support file. The Stars were an easy addition. They were winners. They won the Stanley Cup in 1999...two years after I started rooting for them. The Mavericks on the other hand were a joke. But I was without team...and they needed all the fans they could get.

It was at Reunion Arena with the Mavs playing the Pacers when I asked my future father-in-law permission to marry his daughter. The Mavs have had a special place in my heart ever since. So I am estatic that the Mavs are in the NBA Finals for the first time. I am a "Nowitness." I look forward to the Big German shutting down the Diesel. If only Shawn Bradley was still on the roster it would be so much sweeter. GO MAVS!!!

photo: That's the Mavs sign I have staked in my front yard...taken with my new digital camera.

My Favorite Month

The month of March used to be my favorite month because my birthday fell right in the middle of it. Nowadays, I have to go with June as my favorite month. First, my anniversary is June 20th. But secondly, June is the first full month of summer vacation. Even in July you know that school is right around the corner. Plus, I usually have an AP Conference to attend in July. But June...it's all about summer. Lazy hazy days of sleeping in and goofing off. Of course, right now I'm busy doing all sorts of errands and chores as any good husband of a pregnant wife would do. But June...what I really need is a hammock to wile this month...my favorite month...away...

Are You Kidding Me?

Okay, I begrudingly admit I watched the first season of American Idol. I even watched bits and pieces of the second season. But from what I've seen of this year's edition that just wrapped...I just gotta ask...what is wrong with America? Taylor Hicks...American Idol? Are you kidding me? This guy's a joke. He sings off-key, jumps around like an idiot, and whoops like a pregnant hyena. This is your American Idol?

The guy might be acceptable for a church special in Terrell, Texas but America's Pop Idol? C'MON! America is stupid. Just look at the books on the bestsellers list. Just look at the songs at the top of the pop charts. Go to Wal*Mart any day of the week. And now...look at our American Idol. What is wrong with our country?!?

My new Palm m515

Several days ago I wrote about how I was going back to using my old Palm PDA. Well Kimberly's Aunt Lisa upgraded her PDA to a cell phone combo thing and gave me her old PDA rather than throwing it away. So now I've got a Palm m515...a serious upgrade from my Palm m100. It actually has a color screen, tons more memory, an extention card, and a docking cradle. Life is getting busier so I needed the help. Thanks Lisa.

Christian...or Christianist?

Andrew Sullivan of Time magazine has written an excellent essay about how many Christians feel their religion has been hijacked by the radical right and Christian fundamentalists. He uses the term Christianist to differentiate between those who are Christian and those who have allowed Christianity to become corrupted by politics, greed and intolerance (i.e. Pat Robertson, Tom Delay, Jerry Falwell and yes, unfortunately, James Dobson who I believe was a great Christian counselor who was corrupted by his far-reaching influence).

I don't agree with all that is in the essay. I don't feel comfortable using Christ's name to describe people who act in ways anti-thetical to His teachings. I would prefer the term pharisee. But the essay brings up interesting points...many of which I do agree with.

Here's the essay...

Are you a Christian who doesn't feel represented by the religious right? I know the feeling. When the discourse about faith is dominated by political fundamentalists and social conservatives, many others begin to feel as if their religion has been taken away from them.

MORE

Remember

Overheard: In Class

This was overheard from a student discussing the movie The Notebook.


"Love killed them at the exact same time." - Lacy D.



Whoa...that 80's hair band Nazareth was right, Love Hurts!

The Last Day of School

Today is the last day of school!

When I was in school the last day of the school year was a time of awesome celebration. The bell would ring, papers would go flying everywhere, a stampede would tear out the doors as fast as possible. That final bell was the ringing announcement of the climax of a long year of work.

What a feeling of pure exhiliration! And I actually liked school for the most part.

I thought I would feel the same way as a teacher. That it would be such an exciting moment when the long busy year finally gave way to summer vacation with the tone of a dismissal bell.

But the way our schedules are arranged these days...the year ends with an anti-climatic whimper. Sure, it's still a great day when you can drive off with 12 weeks of vacation ahead of you...but it no longer begins with that great moment of exhaltation. Now the year ends with a long slow sigh.

The last two days are early release days. The students spend those days taking exams. However; if they passed TAKS, were never suspended and are passing your class they can exempt your exam. I only have eight students out of over 100 taking my exams. Now that can be a good thing since I have less tests to grade. Many students skip those last several review days so the last chance I have to say goodbye to my full classes was a week ago.

They have an orderly locker clean out several days before the last day so there is no paper to throw gloriously into the air on the final day. If you don't have an exam you are required to immediately leave campus. So instead of a stampede on that last day...you have a tepid trickle.

Now all those things are good things. I hated being on duty that last day when students peeled out of the parking lot hurling water balloons and spraying silly stream. I also felt sorry for those janitors who had to clean up the knee deep paper trail.

But admittedly a part of me misses that last explosion of joy as school was out for summer.

Runnin' the Bases

I've been a baseball fan all of my life. Growing up, my family and I often got to sit nine rows behind the hometeam dugout at Royals (now Kauffman) Stadium due to the fact that my Mom was able to get tix from her office who had season tickets.

Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry threw me a ball once, I was able to get lots of autographs, but I never actually got to go on the field...until a couple of weeks ago.

After a Texas Rangers game the crowd was invited to run the bases after the game. So we waited in line and actually ran the bases of the Ballpark in Arlington (forget Ameriquest Field). Sure, the experience would have been even greater had we'd been on the turf of the Kansas City Royals. But I'm not complaining. What an experience. To actually run the bases on a real major league diamond.

They actually made you run...so we took these pictures while on the move. What a day.

The Da Vinci Crap

Christians who simply dismiss The Da Vinci Code as mere fiction are deluding themselves. There is a subtle, yet important, difference between a fiction and a lie.

Fiction is simply something that did not happen. Webster's Dictionary defines fiction as "something made up."

A lie as defined by Webster's is... "to make an untrue statement with intent to deceive. To create a false impression. A deliberate telling of an untruth."

Lies are malicious. And that is what the DaVinci Code is. A malicious deception. The DaVinci Code in book form is libel. The DaVinci Code on screen is slander.

The book makes the unfounded accusation that Jesus Christ had a sexual relationship with Mary Magdalene. This is not only heresy...it's blasphemy. Any Christian who has any respect for Christ will not pay money to support this movie or book and thus support this heresy.

The book also claims certain things as fact (example: that it is fact that a group called the Priory of Scion exists)...none of which are true. The author deliberately fuzzes the line between fact and fiction. He is intentionally trying to mislead those ignorant of the Gospels and Christian history. And any Christian who pays to see this movie or read this book perpetuates the deception. This is not mere entertainment.

This book, claiming certain elements of its fictional story as fact, lies about Christ, The Council of Nicea, Opus Dei and the Roman Catholic Church. It contains shoddy scholarship and deliberate falsehoods.

And I'm sorry, but any Christian who supports the cause of Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code, supports something that is anti-Christian.

Fortunately the message of Christ can withstand any and all attacks. But I urge all Christians who read this to not allow themselves to be used by something that is meant to attack that which they believe.

Photo Update

New photos have been updated on my flickr account. Check 'em out!