It’s really weird when someone you know is now a nationally known public figure. My family has known Harriet Miers for many years now. While I don’t know her very well, I do have a great deal of respect for her. Knowing that you’ve had more than one conversation with someone who could be shaping our country for years to come in a very awe-inspiring thing.
This is a photo of my brother when he recently went to DC and Ms. Miers gave them a personal tour of the White House.
In the words of Glenn Beck callers, “Awwwhhhh Yeeeaaaahhhh!” Costco has the 360 bundle available to order online. I know I’m going to get it when I read these little words: “Backwards Compatible: top-selling Xbox® games can be played on Xbox 360â„¢, including Halo® 2.”
***UPDATE***
Costco has taken the page down. Don’t know why, but you can see if it’s back up here.
Kodak has just started shipping a digital camera that is wi-fi enabled. The idea behind it is that you can email the pictures directly from the camera when you’re connected to a wireless internet connection. It is equipped with 4 megapixels of resolution, 3x optical zoom, storage room for up to 1,500 photos and a 3-inch touch screen. This may sound pretty good, but I don’t see it catching on. Firstly, the pictures will be rather large–roughly 1mb per high-res picture. Most email accounts don’t allow very big attachments, so you’d only be able to send a couple of pictures at a time. Secondly, it’s not very hard to plug most camera’s into computer anymore. Usually you either plug in a usb cable to the camera or take the memory card out and put it in a reader.
Basically Kodak is trying to appeal to people’s general laziness. However, I see it being much more of a hassle getting the camera to connect to a wireless network than the normal process digital camera’s do now. My thought is that it’s a big waste of money.
Read the story here.
I am a little unusual when it comes to the sports teams I like. Ok, I’m a little unusual in more ways than that, but that’s another blog entry. My favorite teams are the Dallas Mavericks (NBA), Texas Rangers (MLB), Dallas Stars (NHL), and the Chicago Bears (NFL). Yes, you read that right, Da Bears. How did I become a local fan of all the Dallas teams, but not with the Cowboys? They’re America’s team! Well, it’s easy to understand with a brief history lesson.
My family moved to Dallas from Sandwich, IL (45 mins from Chicago) in November 1986. The Chicago Bulls at the time were coming off a 30-52 season (1985-86), while the Mavs made the Western Conference Finals the next year (1986-87). I loved the White Sox when we lived up there, but when the Rangers picked up Nolan Ryan, I was hooked. I didn’t really get into hockey until I was in college, so that’s a no brainer. And finally, the Bears won the Super Bowl XX and the Cowboys were mediocre the first few years we lived here. Oh, and don’t forget the Super Bowl Shuffle. Who couldn’t be a Bears fan after that?
Which brings me around to my thoughts on Cowboys fans. I don’t know of a more impatient, fickle bunch of fans on the face of the planet. Anytime something goes wrong, it’s time to change the offense, make a trade for a better Linebacker, switch back to the 4-3 and bench Bledsoe. When something goes right they’re the greatest team known to man and the fans are looking up Super Bowl XL tickets on eBay. I’ve known this for a while, but it was made obvious to me again today when I heard people calling in to ESPN radio suggesting that they either trade Roy Williams or put him at LB. But as Keyshawn was making the touchdown reception to win the game, one of the guys I was with yelled out “greatest team ever” (in a somewhat, but not completely, jokingly tone). I don’t really think it’s a bad thing. It’s just funny. And Rob, don’t book your flight to Detroit just yet.
I was watching the news earlier today here in Dallas and I can’t help but be amused by how much people freak out. I don’t want to minimize the hurricane. It’s a serious threat on a lot of levels to a lot of people. The news story channel 8 was running was people getting gas here in Dallas and the long lines that people have had. I don’t blame people for wanting to get gas now, with reports of the price jumping to $4/gallon if Rita takes down the refineries. But the reporter said that bottled water was flying off the shelves too.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good idea to prepare. But come on people. We’re freakin’ in Dallas!!! When the storm hits us, it won’t be a hurricane anymore. At worst, it might be a tropical storm. Even at that, there would only be sporadic flash flooding. Not widespread destruction.
New Orleans was a unique situation. It was surrounded by levies and sat below sea level. I don’t know if it’s possible, or at least likely, for flooding like that to happen at any other major city in the country.
Let’s all just take a deep breath, say a prayer for those who are left at the Gulf Coast, and don’t panic. This is another storm that may or may not cause a lot of damage. Either way, bottled water will be readily available at Costco stores all over Dallas. And that should make us all smile.
The parents that I mentioned before may not be the worst parents after all. I still don’t think putting your kids in “enclosures” or cages is a good idea. But their intention was to protect the kids from themselves and each other.
Their attorney had this to say:
“The children have been out of control and have caused serious harm to themselves and each other,” said attorney David Sherman, adding that Michael Gravelle built the enclosures to provide the children with a secure space while their parents slept at night.
“The Gravelles love and miss their children and are devastated and brokenhearted with worry, since their children have been ripped away from them,” Sherman said.
“Their motives and intentions were good. They would never harm a child.”
Read the full story.
I emailed Blake Bergstrom, the youth minister who had the little Freudian slip, jokingly asking him to come speak sometime. Surprisingly he emailed me back and included a VIDEO of his little mistake!!! It’s stinking hilarious!
Here’s a copy of his email:
BTW–I’m not Blake.
—–Original Message—–
From: Blake Bergstrom
Sent: Wed 9/14/2005 9:31 AM
Subject: if you thought the audio was funny..wait till you see my face on the video!!
Hi there,
Wow…I never knew that I’d be famous for my theology on
“TENTS and how to PITCH them”!! If you ever need a speaker for your
camps or retreats, my specialties are subjects that most people “feel
uncomfortable with”…I’m the kind of guy that just speaks what really
“needs to be heard”…I really get to the “heart of the matter”…”what
everybody’s thinkin’ but nobody will say”!! HEHEHE
My name is Blake and I am a High School Pastor at an awesome church in
Parker, Colorado, even though they don’t claim me anymore. I recently
sent out an email about a sermon I was preaching and I explained that I
was going through a series called, “Ignite”, which was a series from
Fellowship Church in Grapevine, TX. However, the way that I tackled the
account of Lot was probably a little different slant than the way that
Ed Young preached it!!!! In fact, he didn’t hold a candle to the way
that I “undressed that passage”…I threw him under the table!! (I’m
sure he’ll read this, so let me say this publicly…”I did a much better
job of preaching your sermon than you could ever dream!!!)
So, in case you didn’t get the first audio clip that circled the globe
over night, then you’ll need a little explaining. I was doing a quick
recap of the series and I was explaining to my students that bad company
corrupts good character and that we shouldn’t “pitch our tents” to close
to evil. Let me warn you though, that my version of the Bible might not
read quite like yours. Dude, you try and say it out loud…it’s hard to
say, alright…so get off me!!! It’s amazing how switching around one
letter like an “N” can change the entire phrase!!! The look on my face
after I said it is absolutely priceless. Push pause after I “let it
fly” and look at the horror in my eyes…my left eye actually
crosses…funny stuff!!!!!!!
So, since there have been hundreds of requests for the video, here it
is!!! Now, while I’ve got you here, I just want to thank you for all
your emails confirming the fact that I’m an idiot!! I’m going down in a
blaze of glory on this one…I’ll forever be known as the pinching ____
guy!! I’m trying to embrace this new identity, but to be honest I’m not
real sure I’m diggin’ it! What’s become of me…my parents,
grandparents, my children, and my poor wife will have to carry this
legacy for years to come. They had such incredible dreams for my
life…they wanted me to be a well-polished and dignified–“Prince of
all Preachers”…well, maybe I did become that in my own way…I don’t
know!! All I know to say is…”Thank God for His GRACE!!!” After
talking with God about this whole thing, He let me know that when it
happened… all of heaven fell to their side, they started beating the
ground, with tears streaming down their face, and Lot was running around
pinching himself, and all the heavenly hosts roared with laughter…just
like you did!!!!
God’s favorite character,
Blake Bergstrom
High School Pastor
Southeast Christian Church
Some people have been asking me about this song, so I’ve decided to post it here. Feel free to download it for yourself. If anyone can find out who this is or was, please let me know. I found the song on mp3.com in the late 90s and haven’t been able to figure out who it’s by.
Download the song here.
I must say, I feel a little bad for this kid, but not too bad. This is a good reminder that if ever record yourself doing or saying something, there is a good chance that it will be posted on the internet for anyone in the world to download. Apparently this kid named Troy made a “Mixtape of Love” for his girlfriend Melissa for their six month anniversary. She dumped him a couple days later. Listen to it over here. It’s 14 minutes long, but make sure you listen for at least 6 minutes until he starts singing. Reminds me of “I love technology . . .”
For another embarrassing moment caught on tape, check out the Star Wars Kid.
Just read a disturbing story about some foster parents in Ohio who made 9 of their 11 kids sleep in cages. The cages were rigged with alarms that would sound if they tried to sneak out. They would also block the cages with furniture. The parents are reportedly saying they didn’t think they were abusing or neglecting the kids. Uh, no. DON’T CAGE YOUR KIDS!!! Read the story here.
