Author: Kevin

No More “Super Bowl” Parties

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The National Football League is apparently joining the ranks of the Recording Industry Association of America in stupid enforcements of copyright laws. The IndyStar is reporting that the NFL overnighted a letter to the Fall Creek Baptist Church in Indianapolis demanding that they cancel a party that was being promoted. The church’s website has a note from their pastor that reads:

We regret to inform you that we have had to cancel our bash to view the Colts game this Sunday in a family friendly environment due to the fact that the NFL believes we would be in violation of the Copyright Act, because we had planned to show the game on a screen bigger than a 55 inch diagonal. We have appealed to their legal counsel and exhausted all options without success. We have been informed that the only exceptions to view the game are given to sports bars and restaurants. While we have argued that we only intend to provide a family oriented environment that will make no profit from the showing, the NFL claims that our event cannot proceed by law. Therefore, we have no choice but to challenge this in court or cancel the event. We choose to cancel the event. We deeply regret that we have been prohibited by the NFL from providing a family friendly environment for celebrating the Colts great season.

As a minister who has previously hosted Super Bowl parties, I have to say that this is ridiculous. The NFL’s explanation is that it would throw off Nielsen ratings. That is ridiculous. Hey NFL. Get a clue.

Read the IndyStar’s report here.

Initial Reactions to the iPhone

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Unless you’ve been living in 1997 for the past 48 hours, you’ve probably heard that Apple has announced their new, breakthrough device called the iPhone (at least for now). They’re billing it as an iPod, Phone, and revolutionary internet communicator all in one device. Since I’m currently a Treo 650 user and a gadget junkie in general, this has me really interested.

Some basics. It is scheduled to be released in June 2007. There will be two versions–a 4 GB model for $499 and an 8 GB model for $599. I’m fairly sure that the 4GB model won’t sell nearly as many. Without having spent any time with the device, nor being able to read any third-party reviews, I am giving a tentative very positive review.

There are some really cool things that Apple has done. First off, it looks sweet. There are no hard buttons. Everything is touchscreen and done with virtual buttons or tap-scrolling. Another breakthrough they’ve done is having the ability to have multiple touches at the same time. That means that you can use two fingers at once to navigate the phone. You’ll have to see the demonstration. The other thing that seems really cool is the random-access voice mail. That means that you can choose which voice mail you want to listen to when you want to listen to it, in any order. That would be really nice to have TODAY!!!

There are only two negative things I can see from the beginning. First is the “small” storage space. I say small because the normal iPods have 30GB+ of storage. For people who have 10,000+ songs and want them all the time this will not be enough space. But this is A LOT more than my Treo has built in (32MB, yes megabytes). The other is the lack of a removable battery. Two things that worry me about this are running out of juice on the run and reseting the device if it locks. I know, you mac fanboys will tell me that Apples don’t freeze, but my brother-in-law would disagree. His iPod has frozen/locked up on him two or three times. Granted, this won’t be a big deal day-to-day, but it is something to think about.

Service will only be available from Cingular, so us Sprint users will have to make a switch if we decide to get it. You’ll also have to sign a two-year contract. My initial suggestion is to wait at least three to six months before you buy one. Most first-generation devices will have some minor, but annoying, bugs to work out and the price will most likely drop after a year or so. However, if you just have to have it, you’re probably safe to go ahead and buy it. Just make sure you let me play with it for a while!!!

How the Mavs Could Get Iverson

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The Philadelphia 76ers have announced that they will be trading Allen Iverson. Trades in the NBA are complicated. There are restrictions about when a player could be moved and both teams have to fit within certain parameters of the salary cap. That said, there is a scenario that could bring Iverson to Dallas. How likely is it? Probably not very likely, but it’s fun to guess. The Mavericks could trade Jason Terry and Austin Croshere to Philly after December 15 and both teams would stay within the cap requirements.

This deal would obviously benefit Dallas significantly. They would be adding a proven All-Star to compliment Dirk Nowitzki. Iverson can score at will and has never seen a shot he didn’t like. The 76ers would be picking up a scorer to replace Iverson and Croshere’s contract expires at the end of this year, which teams are always happy when they can pick up a player like that.

The downside for Dallas would be taking a risk at messing up the team’s chemistry. Would Iverson be able to share the ball with Dirk? Would he work hard enough for Avery Johnson? Those are big questions, but if the Mavs are willing to take the risk, I think they would make a significant improvement. And there is really no way for Philadelphia to get equal money for AI.

The biggest roadblock that would keep this deal from happening may well be that Terry can’t be dealt until after Dec 15. The Mavs also signed him to five additional years during the off-season. And I would feel bad about Terry going from one of the elite teams to the cellar of the NBA. But only as bad as one can feel for someone who makes millions of dollars playing a game.

To check out how this deal would fit under the cap, go to http://www1.realgm.com/src_checktrade.php?tradeid=3489322.

Creative Editing

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My wife and I have been going to more movies this past month than usual. It seems like we’ve been showing up to the theater about thirty minutes early. It used to be that being at the theater that early meant you’d be listening to crappy music and watching the same 14 slides repeat on the screen. Now they’ve got some pre-show entertainment, which I personally enjoy. It makes the wait seem shorter.

One of the best parts about being there that early is that you get to see the extra previews for movies and TV shows. Brea and I really like previews, and we usually will comment about whether or not we want to see the movies that are coming soon. One problem with this is that previews don’t always give you the most accurate portrayal of what the movie will actually be like. Sometimes, especially in comedies, the previews have a good portion of the best parts of the movie, which pretty much means you’re wasting $9.

Another problem is that you can edit video to make it look however you want. Need proof? There have been a lot of videos uploaded to YouTube that take creative editing to the extreme. Check out a few examples below. If you want to watch more, check out http://www.thetrailermash.com/.

The Shining (Comedy)
Office Space (Suspense)
Mary Poppins (Horror – Great Title, Scary Mary)
The Sound of Music (Horror . . . which is probably an accurate edit)

Dallas is Not the Only City Complaining About Wade

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In danger of bringing terrible memories of the Dallas Collapse of ’06, other teams around the league are starting to say thatthe Dwayne Wade gets too many calls. The Detroit News has an article about it. Here’s an excerpt:

Rasheed Wallace fired up a shot and then threw himself to the floor. Then he got up, faked a limp and did it again. “Working on my D-Wade flop,” he said, laughing. The dead-on impersonation of some of Heat guard Dwyane Wade ‘s theatrics actually had the entire team laughing during Thursday’s shoot-around. But Wade’s flopping, and subsequent trips to the free-throw line didn’t seem funny during the Pistons’ 87-85 victory Thursday night. “You can’t do nothing to D-Wade,” Wallace said. “If you say ‘boogety-boogety booh’ to him, that’s a foul. If you give him a hard look, that’s a foul.” Heading into Thursday, Wade had attempted a league-high 163 free throws — 11.6 per game.

Read the full article here.

John Kerry–An Anti-American Leading America

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Senator John Kerry said some of the stupidest, most insulting comments on Monday and then repeated them again today. He told a group of students in California that those who are not able to navigate through the education system “get stuck in Iraq.” Today at a press conference he said, “You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.” Sen. Kerry tried to claim that he wasn’t meaning to degrade the troops, but he was making reference of President Bush’s leadership.

These comments are some of the most offensive words I’ve heard directed toward the U.S. Military from anyone. It makes it worse that they came from a veteran, and a supposed war hero. I’ve never served in the military, but I’ve known quite a few in my life. I would never call any of them even remotely dumb. Most of them are some of the most upstanding, quality people I know.

I can’t imagine the reaction that people would have if President Bush had made these comments. People would be calling for an impeachment. Senator Kerry needs to retract his statements and apologize. They were anti-American. I’m ashamed that our country is led by people like him.

Read the Yahoo News story.

NBA Pre-Season Predictions

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The NBA season tips off on Tuesday night with a high-octane, run and gun showdown between the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls. It’s about time. I’ve kept myself distracted from the pain of last season’s abrupt collapse by the Dallas Mavericks by watching a little bit of playoff baseball, playing fantasy football, and enrolling in seminary. I can’t wait for the Mavs opener against San Antonio on Thursday night. I’m predicting big things for Dirk and the rest of the team this year.

Let me preface my predictions with a few items of note. First off, I am completely biased. I’ve been a Mavericks fan since the days of James Donaldson, Derek Harper, Rolondo Blackman, Brad Davis, and the rest of the team in 1986-87. I was one of the 2,000 in attendance during the mid-nineties fiasco seasons, when they were lucky to win 15 games. I wear my team spirit on my sleeve, and I make no apologies for it.

Secondly, since I am a Mavericks homer, I know much more about the Western conference, and the Southwest Division in particular, than the East. I couldn’t tell you more than about 15 players from the East, but I could probably tell you the starting lineup for most of the teams in the West. That being said, my predictions for the Eastern teams will not be researched nearly as well as the West.

With that out of the way, here is my forecast for the Eastern Conference:

1-Chicago Bulls (Central Div Winner)
2-Miami Heat (Southeast Div Winner)
3-New Jersey Nets (Atlantic Div Winner)
4-Cleveland Cavaliers
5-Orlando Magic
6-Detroit Pistons
7-New York Knicks
8-Washington Wizards

And the West:

1-Dallas Mavericks (Southwest Div Winner)
2-LA Clippers (Pacific Div Winner)
3-Utah Jazz (Northwest Div Winner)
4-NOK Hornets
5-San Antonio Spurs
6-Phoenix Suns
7-Golden State Warriors
8-Houston Rockets

East Champs-Chichago Bulls
West Champs-Dallas Mavericks
NBA Champs-Dallas Mavericks

You may notice a few bold predictions. First off, the Hornets ahead of the Spurs? Yes. The combination of Chris Paul rising another level and some key additions in the off-season make them a much better team than last year. I also think Tim Duncan’s production will go down this year, causing the Spurs to have a tough season. Also, the Warriors in, Lakers out. Golden State should have been much better last year than they were. They have really good young talent on their roster, and Don Nelson is a coaching genius (in the regular season), which will translate into a trip to the playoffs.

The reason I think Dallas will be the best this year is simple. They have the top 7 players from last year back, and have improved their roster with slots 8-12. Devin George and Gregg Buckner will be serviceable 7-10 minute guys, and Anthony Johnson will give Devin Harris the needed pressure to improve his game to get more playing time. Not to mention, Austin Croshere is an upgrade over Keith Van Horn.

The one thing that can throw everything off is injuries. If any team suffers a key injury to a star player (Pau Gaso of the Grizzliesl, for example) that will dramatically affect their success.

I’ll come back to my predictions and make any updates to this at the All-Star break.

Fake Hype for Kobe and the Lakers

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John Nadel for the Associated Press wrote an article on Wednesday entitled Kobe ready for another runt to NBA title. However it doesn’t mention an NBA title anywhere in the article. Here’s an excerpt: “Bryant hopes the signing of Vladimir Radmanovic, Maurice Evans and Shammond Williams will strengthen the Lakers. ‘We made some key additions with those guys,’ Bryant said. ‘We turned some heads the way we performed last season. We were a very young team. We’re still a young team. I think it will be exciting.'”

Let’s take a look at the stats of these key additions. The most notable player, Radmanovic, has a career average of 10.1 points, 1.5 assists, and 4.6 rebounds per game. He’s thought of as a threat from behind the three point line, where he averages .381 for his career. Maurice Evans career totals are 5.4 ppg, 0.7 assists, and 2.4 rebounds. And finally, Shammond Williams. He hasn’t played in two years, but his career totals are 6.1 ppg, 2.5 assists, and 1.6 rebounds. Those numbers are sure to turn some heads.

In their defense, I didn’t expect the Lakers to make the playoff. I especially didn’t expect them to take Phoenix to 7 games. They did MUCH better than I expected last year. However, it’s very early to start talking about the Finals for Kobe and the Lakers. The first thing they need to do is make consecutive appearances to the playoffs and maybe win a series or two. Then I would be OK with people talking about a title run.

Until then, let’s just be realistic about the Lakers’ title chances. Slim to none.

Creation and Modern Science

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The popular scientific approach to the origin of the universe is naturalistic evolution. The basic assumption is that the world, as we know it, is an advanced development of a process that began billions, trillions, or even more years ago. The concept is that everything began from small, microscopic atoms mutating into more advanced structures, out of which the universe eventually was formed through the Big Bang.

The doctrine of creation is the evangelical answer to the beginnings of man and the universe. The basic concept is that God created the universe ex nihilo, out of nothing. There are, however, tensions between creationism and science, especially in the arena of the age of the cosmos. There are five primary theories which attempt to harmonize this tension.

The first theory is the gap theory, which holds that there was an extended gap of time between God’s creation of the earth and the universe and the six days of creation listed in Genesis. The second theory is the flood theory, which holds that the force of the great flood in the days of Noah accomplished what would naturally take billions of years. The third theory is the ideal-time theory, which states that God created the world in six literal days, but he created it in an aged fashion. That is, he created it as if it were billions of years old. The fourth theory is the age-day theory, which holds that the word “days” in Genesis does not refer to literal days, but an extended period of time. The fifth and final theory is the pictorial-day theory, which holds that the days described in Genesis are a logical structuring, not a chronological one.